# 1976 in heavy metal music

This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1976.

## Bands formed

* Accept
* Angel Witch (as Lucifer)
* Black Flag
* Bronz
* Chrome
* Citron
* Crys
* Diamond Head
* Ethel the Frog
* Foreigner
* Heavy Load
* Kick Axe
* Līvi
* Marseille
* McCoy
* Mentors
* The Obsessed
* Paice Ashton Lord
* Pat Travers
* Ratt
* Rose Tattoo
* Running Wild (as Granite Hearts)
* Sorcery
* Spider
* Sister
* The Clash
* The Godz
* Thor
* Zoetrope

## Bands disbanded

* Deep Purple (reformed in 1984)
* New York Dolls
* Steppenwolf

## Events

* "Fast" Eddie Clarke became the second guitarist for Motörhead. Shortly after his arrival, the original guitarist Larry Wallis departed, returning the band to a trio, which is now recognized as the "classic line-up".
* Uriah Heep parted ways with their original vocalist, David Byron, due to his struggles with heavy drinking.
* Guitarist Dave Murray joined Iron Maiden.

## Deaths

* December 4 – Thomas Richard "Tommy" Bolin, former guitarist of Zephyr, James Gang, and Deep Purple, died from an overdose of heroin and other substances, including alcohol, cocaine and barbiturates at the age of 25.

## Albums

* Krokus – Krokus
* Lucifer's Friend – Mind Exploding
* Moxy – Moxy II
* Y&T – Yesterday & Today

### January

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 30 | Bad Company | Run with the Pack |
| | Black Sabbath | We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll |
| | Golden Earring | To the Hilt |
| | Grand Funk Railroad | Born to Die |

### February

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 2 | Lynyrd Skynyrd | Gimme Back My Bullets |
| 7 | James Gang | Jesse Come Home |
| 16 | Sweet | Give Us a Wink |

### March

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 15 | Kiss | Destroyer |
| 26 | Judas Priest | Sad Wings of Destiny |
| 26 | Thin Lizzy | Jailbreak |
| 31 | Led Zeppelin | Presence |
| | Buffalo | Mother's Choice |
| | Nazareth | Close Enough for Rock 'n' Roll |
| | Rush | 2112 |
| | Wishbone Ash | Locked In |

### April

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 15 | Van der Graaf Generator | Still Life |
| 23 | Jethro Tull | Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! |
| 23 | Ramones | Ramones |
| | Budgie | If I Were Brittania I'd Waive the Rules |

### May

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 3 | Aerosmith | Rocks |
| 14 | AC/DC | High Voltage (international version) |
| 17 | Rainbow | Rising |
| 21 | Blue Öyster Cult | Agents of Fortune |
| | UFO | No Heavy Petting |
| | Uriah Heep | High and Mighty |

### June

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 25 | Alice Cooper | Alice Cooper Goes to Hell |

### August

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 9 | Grand Funk Railroad | Good Singin', Good Playin' |
| 25 | Boston | Boston |
| 27 | Hawkwind | Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music |
| | Taste | Tickle Your Fancy |

### September

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 20 | AC/DC | Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap |
| 29 | Rush | All the World's a Stage |
| | Montrose | Jump on It |
| | Ted Nugent | Free-for-All |

### October

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 22 | Led Zeppelin | The Song Remains the Same |
| 22 | Black Sabbath | Technical Ecstasy |
| | Thin Lizzy | Johnny the Fox |
| | Styx | Crystal Ball |
| | Van der Graaf Generator | World Record |
| | Wishbone Ash | New England |

### November

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 11 | Kiss | Rock and Roll Over |
| 22 | Scorpions | Virgin Killer |
| | Deep Purple | Made in Europe (live album) |
| | Nazareth | Play 'n' the Game |

### December

| Day | Artist | Album |
| 10 | Queen | A Day at the Races |
| | Bow Wow | 吼えろ! バウワウ (Hoero! Bow Wow) |