1977 in music

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Overview of the events of 1977 in musicTemplate:SHORTDESC:Overview of the events of 1977 in music

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This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.

## Events

### January–February

* January 1 – The Clash headline the opening night of London's only punk rock club, The Roxy
* January 20 – Jimmy Buffett's *Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes* is released, featuring the biggest single of his career, "Margaritaville"
* January 22 – Maria Kliegel makes her London debut at the Wigmore Hall, with a programme of Bach, Kodály, and Franck
* January 26 – Patti Smith falls off the stage while opening for Bob Seger in Tampa, Florida, and is rushed to the hospital for 22 stitches to close head lacerations
* January 27 – After releasing only one single for the English punk rock band, EMI terminates its contract with the Sex Pistols in response to its members' disruptive behaviour at London Heathrow Airport at the beginning of the month
* February 4
	+ Paul Desmond gives his last concert with Dave Brubeck, in New York.
	+ *American Bandstand* celebrates its 25th anniversary on television with a special hosted by Dick Clark; an "all-star band", performing "Roll Over Beethoven", is made up of Chuck Berry, Seals & Crofts, Gregg Allman, Junior Walker, Johnny Rivers, the Pointer Sisters, Charlie Daniels, Doc Severinsen, Les McCann, Donald Byrd, Chuck Mangione and three members of Booker T and the MGs
	+ Fleetwood Mac's widely anticipated *Rumours* is released; it goes on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time
* February 14 – The B-52's give their first public performance at a party in Athens, Georgia.
* February 15 – Sid Vicious replaces Glen Matlock as the bassist of the Sex Pistols.

### March–May

* March 1 – Sara Lowndes Dylan files for divorce from her husband of 11 years, Bob Dylan
* March 4 – The Rolling Stones play the first of two shows at the El Mocambo in Toronto, their first club appearance since 1964
* April – Van Morrison releases a new album, *A Period of Transition*, after a nearly three-year absence
* March 10 – A&M Records signs the Sex Pistols in a ceremony in front of Buckingham Palace (The contract is terminated on March 16 as a result of the band vandalizing property and verbally abusing employees during a visit to the record company's office)
* April 21 – Jesse Winchester, who fled to Canada in January 1967 to avoid military service in Vietnam, performed a concert in Burlington, Vermont, his first on American soil in ten years (recently became free to return under the Presidential pardon given to all draft evaders)
* April 22 – Pink Floyd open the North American leg of their "Animals" tour in Miami, Florida
* April 24 – Several artists, including Joan Baez and Santana, perform at a free concert for 653 inmates of California's Soledad Prison
* April 26 – New York's disco Studio 54 opens
* May 2 – Elton John performed the first of six consecutive nights at London's Rainbow Theatre, his first concert in eight months
* May 7 – Having been postponed from April 2 because of a BBC technicians' strike, the 22nd Eurovision Song Contest finally goes ahead in London's Wembley Conference Centre
* May 11 – The Stranglers and support band London start a 10-week national UK tour
* May 12
	+ Instruments made by all five members of the 17th- and 18th-century Guarneri family of violin makers are auctioned at Sotheby's, with the top price of £105,000 paid for an instrument made in 1738 by Giuseppe Guarnieri del Gesù
	+ Virgin Records announced that they have signed the Sex Pistols (the group had been kicked off two previous labels in 4 months)
* May 28 – Bruce Springsteen and Mike Appel reach an out-of-court settlement, ending the year-long legal battle that has blocked Springsteen's ability to record new music
* May 31 – The musical *Beatlemania* is premièred at the Winter Garden Theatre

### June–August

* June 7
	+ The Nikikai Opera Foundation is founded in Japan.
	+ The Sex Pistols attempt to interrupt Silver Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II by performing "God Save the Queen" from a boat on the River Thames
* June 12
	+ Guitarist Michael Schenker vanishes after a UFO concert at The Roundhouse in London (he is replaced for several months by Paul Chapman)
	+ The Supremes perform for the last time together at Drury Lane Theatre in London before officially disbanding
* June 15 – The Snape Maltings Training Orchestra makes its London debut at St John's, Smith Square
* June 20 – Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart drives his Porsche over the edge of a canyon, suffering multiple broken bones but surviving as a tree breaks his fall
* June 22 – Kiss are elected "most popular band in America" by a Gallup poll
* July 9 – Donna Summer's hit record "I Feel Love" is released in the UK; it was the first hit record to have an entirely synthesised backing track
* July 13 – After a massive blackout hits New York City, NRBQ manages to play an all-acoustic set at The Bottom Line with flashlights taped to their microphone stands
* July 22 – The first night of The Proms are broadcast by BBC Radio 3 for the first time in quadraphonic sound
* July 26 – Led Zeppelin cancels the last seven dates of their American tour after lead singer Robert Plant learns that his six-year-old son Karac has died of a respiratory virus (The show two days before in Oakland proves to be the band's last in the United States)
* August 16 – Elvis Presley is found dead at his home Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee
* August 17 – Florists Transworld Delivery (FTD) reported that in one day the number of orders for flowers to be delivered to Graceland for the funeral of Elvis Presley had surpassed the number for any other event in the company's history
* August 20 – NASA's unmanned probe *Voyager 2* was launched carrying a golden record containing sounds and images representing life and culture on Earth, including the first movements of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Guan Pinghu's *Liu Shui*, played on the guqin, and Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode"

### September–December

* September 1 – World première at the Royal Albert Hall in London of the expanded version of Luciano Berio's *Coro*
* September 3 – Nearly 110,000 fans pack Englishtown Raceway in Old Bridge, New Jersey, for an 11-hour concert by Grateful Dead, Marshall Tucker Band and New Riders of the Purple Sage
* September 15 – The third - and final - annual Rock Music Awards aired on NBC (Fleetwood Mac dominates, winning five awards while Linda Ronstadt receives the Best Rock Female Vocalist trophy for the third time.
* September 16 – T.Rex frontman Marc Bolan is killed in an automobile accident
* September 29 – Billy Joel's *The Stranger* is released containing "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)", "Just the Way You Are" and "Only the Good Die Young"
* October 3 – *Elvis in Concert*, a TV concert special filmed during Elvis Presley's final tour, is aired on CBS
* October 5 – The bicentennial season of La Scala opens in Milan with a production of Giuseppe Verdi's *Don Carlo*
* October 9 – Aerosmith cancels several tour dates after Joe Perry and Steven Tyler are injured by an M-80 explosive thrown onstage at the Philadelphia Spectrum, burning Tyler's left cornea and cutting Perry's left hand
* October 20 – A plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in a forest in Mississippi, killing songwriter & vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, background vocalist Cassie Gaines and assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick and seriously injuring many of the remaining band members
* October 27 – British punk band Sex Pistols release *Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols* on the Virgin Records label. Despite refusal by major UK retailers to stock it, it debuts at number one on the UK Album Charts the week after its release. In a promotional stunt the group perform on a boat on the River Thames shortly afterwards, only for the police to wait for them and make several arrests, including that of Malcolm McLaren, the band's manager at this time
* October 28 – British rock band Queen release the album *News of the World*
* October 31 – The original version of Karlheinz Stockhausen's *Jahreslauf* is premièred at the National Theatre of Japan in Chiyoda, Tokyo, by the Imperial Gagaku Ensemble
* November 25 – *10 Years of Rolling Stone*, a television special commemorating the tenth anniversary of *Rolling Stone* magazine, airs on CBS. Guests include Bette Midler, Art Garfunkel, Billy Preston, Melissa Manchester, and Keith Moon
* November 30 – Bing Crosby's final Christmas special, *Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas*, airs on CBS (containing the notable segment of Crosby joined by David Bowie for the duet "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy")
* December 14 – *Saturday Night Fever* appears in theaters, igniting a new popularity for disco music and pushing it to the forefront of American pop culture, with the soundtrack to the film by Bee Gees (who had composed most of the tracks)
* December 17 – Elvis Costello makes his American television début on *Saturday Night Live*, but is banned after substituting the scheduled performance of "Less than Zero" with "Radio, Radio" instead
* December 31 – The sixth annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special airs on ABC, with performances by Ohio Players, Crystal Gayle, Kenny Rogers, KC and the Sunshine Band, and Andy Gibb

### Also in 1977

* "Bohemian Rhapsody" named "The Best Single Of The Last 25 Years" by BPI
* St Magnus Festival of the Arts founded in Orkney by local resident, composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
* The Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe begins its annual festival based on the music of George Frideric Handel
* Luigi Sagrati becomes president of the Unione Musicisti di Roma
* The IRCAM Center, a scientific institute for music and sound and avant-garde electro-acoustical art music, opens in Paris
* The Cars sign a contract with Elektra Records
* Devo signs a contract with Warner Bros
* Element Ethan signs a contract with Columbia in the US and is internationally expected to release the first two studio albums by Atlantic Worldwide
* Midnight Oil sign a contract with CBS Records
* The Neville Brothers sign a contract with A&M Records
* The Police sign a contract with A&M Records
* Van Halen signs a contract with Warner Bros

## Bands formed

* *See Category:Musical groups established in 1977*

## Bands disbanded

* *See Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1977*

## Biggest hit singles

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions
in the charts of 1977.

## Published popular music

* "After the Lovin'" w. Richie Adams m. Alan Bernstein
* "Annie" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical *Annie*
* "Brazzle Dazzle Day" w.m. Al Kasha & Joel Hirschhorn, from the film *Pete's Dragon*
* "But the World Goes 'Round" w. Fred Ebb m. John Kander. Introduced by Liza Minnelli in the film *New York City*
* "Child In A Universe" w.m. Laura Nyro
* "Come In From The Rain"     w.m. Melissa Manchester & Carole Bayer Sager
* "Easy Street" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical *Annie*
* "The Greatest Love of All"     w. Linda Creed m. Michael Masser
* "Happy Endings" w. Fred Ebb m. John Kander. Introduced by Liza Minnelli, Larry Kert and chorus in the film *New York, New York*
* "Here You Come Again"     w.m. Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil
* "I Don't Need Anything But You" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical *Annie*
* "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical *Annie*
* "It's Not Easy" w.m. Al Kasha & Joel Hirschhorn, from the film *Pete's Dragon*
* "It's the Hard-Knock Life" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical *Annie*
* "Just the Way You Are" w.m. Billy Joel
* "Little Girls" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical *Annie*
* "*The Love Boat* theme song" w.m. Norman Gimbel & Paul Williams
* "Love Is in the Air"     w.m. George Young & Harry Vanda
* "Maybe" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical *Annie*
* "Maybe I'm Amazed" w.m. Paul McCartney
* "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" w.m. Billy Joel
* "N.Y.C." w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical *Annie*
* "A New Deal For Christmas" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical *Annie*
* "New York, New York"     w.m. Fred Ebb & John Kander. Introduced by Liza Minnelli in the film *New York City*
* "Nobody Does It Better"     w. Carole Bayer Sager m. Marvin Hamlisch
* "She's Always a Woman" w.m. Billy Joel
* "Someone's Waiting for You"      w. Carol Connors & Ayn Robbins m. Sammy Fain from the film *The Rescuers*
* "Something Was Missing" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical *Annie*
* "Star Wars-Main Theme" m. John Williams from the *Star Wars* films
* "Stayin' Alive"     w.m. Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb & Robin Gibb
* "Thank You for the Music"     w.m. Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
* "There Goes the Ball Game" w. Fred Ebb m. John Kander. Introduced by Liza Minnelli in the film *New York, New York*
* "Tomorrow"     w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse, from the musical *Annie*
* "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical *Annie*
* "You Won't Be an Orphan for Long" w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse from the musical *Annie*
* "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile"     w. Martin Charnin m. Charles Strouse, from the musical *Annie*

## Punk rock

Main article: Punk rock
Perhaps most important is the beginning of what has become known as the punk rock explosion. 1977 was the year of formation of The Avengers, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Crass, Discharge, Fear, the Flesh Eaters, the Germs, the Misfits, 999, The Pagans, The Plasmatics, VOM, The Weirdos, X, and X-Ray Spex.

1977 also saw the release of several pivotal albums in the development of punk music. widely acknowledged as masterpieces and among the earliest first full-length purely punk albums, *The Clash* by The Clash, The Damned's *Damned, Damned, Damned*, the Dead Boys' *Young, Loud and Snotty*, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers' *L.A.M.F.*, The Jam's *In the City*, the Ramones' *Rocket to Russia*, Richard Hell and the Voidoids' *Blank Generation*, the Sex Pistols' *Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols*, Television's *Marquee Moon*, and Wire's *Pink Flag* are usually considered their respective masterpieces, and kick-started punk music as the musical genre it eventually became. The year also saw the release of debut albums by bands often associated with, if not defined as, punk, thought to be the beginnings of "New Wave" such as Elvis Costello's *My Aim Is True*, Suicide's *Suicide*, and Talking Heads' *Talking Heads: 77*. It also saw the release of Iggy Pop's *Lust for Life*, his second record as a solo artist.

## Births

* January 3 - Michelle Stephenson, British singer (Spice Girls)
* January 18 – Richard Archer, British singer (Hard-Fi)
* January 20 – Melody, Belgian singer
* January 25 - Christian Ingebrigtsen, Norwegian singer (A1)
* January 26 - Tye Tribbett, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
* January 28 - Joey Fatone, American singer (\*NSYNC)
* February 2
	+ Shakira, Colombian singer and dancer
	+ Jessica Wahls, German pop singer
* February 3 – Daddy Yankee, Puerto Rican musician
* February 4 – Gavin DeGraw, American musician
* February 8 – Dave "Phoenix" Farrell (Linkin Park)
* February 11 – Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park, Fort Minor)
* February 15 – Brooks Wackerman (Bad Religion)
* February 18 – Sean Watkins, American guitarist and songwriter
* February 20 – Amal Hijazi, Lebanese singer and model
* March 2 – Chris Martin, British singer (Coldplay)
* March 3 – Ronan Keating, Irish singer (Boyzone)
* March 4 – Jason Marsalis, American jazz musician
* March 6 – Bubba Sparxxx, rapper
* March 7 – Paul Cattermole, British singer (S Club 7)
* March 10
	+ Bree Turner, American dancer and actress
	+ Colin Murray, British radio disc jockey
	+ Matt Rubano, American rock bassist (Taking Back Sunday)
* March 11 – Jason Greeley, Canadian singer
* March 15 – Joseph Hahn (Linkin Park)
* March 16 – Ben Kenney, American rock bassist (Incubus)
* March 18 – Devin Lima, LFO
* April 9 – Gerard Way, vocalist (My Chemical Romance)
* April 17 – Frederik Magle, Danish composer, concert organist, and pianist
* April 23 – John Cena, American professional wrestler, actor and singer
* April 25 - Matthew West, American guitarist, singer, contemporary christian (CCM)
* April 28 – Joanne Yeoh, Malaysian violinist
* May 1 – Dan Regan (Reel Big Fish)
* May 7 - Lisa Kelly, Irish singer
* May 8 – Joe Bonamassa, American musician
* May 12 - Wu Fei, Chinese musician and composer
* May 31
	+ Scott Klopfenstein (Reel Big Fish)
	+ Joel Ross, British disc jockey
* June 3 – Yuri Ruley (MxPx)
* June 5 – Nourhanne, Lebanese singer
* June 8 – Kanye West, African-American rapper and record producer
* June 10 – Adam Darski, Polish musician (aka Nergal, Holocausto)
* June 12 – Kenny Wayne Shepherd, guitarist
* June 23 – Jason Mraz, American singer-songwriter
* June 28
	+ Mark Stoermer, American rock guitarist (The Killers)
	+ Harun Tekin, Turkish rock vocalist and guitarist (Mor ve Ötesi)
* June 29 – DEALZ, American rapper
* July 1 – Tom Frager, French-born singer and surfer
* July 7 – Dan Whitesides, American drummer (The Used and The New Transit Direction)
* July 10 – Jesse Lacey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Brand New and Taking Back Sunday)
* July 12 – Airin Older, American musician
* July 14 – Gordon Cree, composer
* July 15 – Ray Toro (My Chemical Romance)
* July 18 – Tony Fagenson (Eve 6)
* July 28 – Coby Dick (Papa Roach)
* July 29 – Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley)
* July 30 – Ian Watkins, vocalist (*Lostprophets*)
* August 2 – Dave Farrel, American musician
* August 10 – Aaron Kamin (The Calling)
* August 12 – Park Yong-ha, South Korean actor and singer (d. 2010)
* August 16 – Tamer Hosny, Egyptian singer/actor
* August 17
	+ Claire Richards, British singer (Steps)
	+ Tarja Turunen, Finnish operatic soprano
* August 30 – Jens Ludwig, German guitarist
* August 31 – Craig Nicholls (The Vines)
* September 1 – Chris Cain, American rock bassist (We Are Scientists)
* September 2 – Elitsa Todorova, Bulgarian singer-songwriter
* September 4
	+ Ian Grushka (New Found Glory)
	+ Lucie Silvas, English singer
* September 6 – Kiyoshi Hikawa, Japanese enka singer
* September 11
	+ Jonny Buckland, British guitarist (Coldplay)
	+ Ludacris
* September 13 – Fiona Apple, American singer-songwriter
* September 15 – Angela Aki, Japanese singer-songwriter
* September 19 – Ioana Maria Lupascu, Romanian pianist
* September 20
	+ Namie Amuro, Japanese singer
	+ The-Dream, American singer
* September 23 – Susan Tamim, Lebanese singer and actress (murdered) (d. 2008)
* October 1 – Owen Biddle, rock bass guitarist (The Roots)
* October 2 – Jeremiah Rangel (Mest)
* October 12 - Young Jeezy, American rapper
* October 13 – Justin Peroff (Broken Social Scene)
* October 16
	+ John Mayer, American musician
	+ Chris Knapp, The Ataris
* October 17 – Nicole Cabell, American operatic soprano
* October 25 – Yehonathan Gatro, Israeli singer and actor
* November 1 – Alistair Griffin, British singer and songwriter
* November 4 - Kavana, British singer
* November 13
	+ Chanel Cole, New Zealand-born singer
	+ Huang Xiaoming, Chinese actor and singer
* November 14 – Obie Trice, African-American rapper
* November 15 – Logan Whitehurst, American one man band
* November 20 – Daniel Svensson, Swedish drummer
* November 30 – Steve Aoki, electro house DJ
* December 1
	+ Brad Delson (Linkin Park)
	+ Akiva Schaffer - member of The Lonely Island
* December 7 – Dominic Howard, drummer (Muse)
* December 21 – Toby Rand, Australian singer-songwriter (Juke Kartel)

## Deaths

* January 1 – Michael Mann, violinist, son of Thomas Mann, 57 (suicide)
* January 2 – Erroll Garner, jazz pianist, 53 (heart attack)
* January 16 - Tom Archia, jazz saxophonist, 57
* January 23 – Dick Burnett, folk songwriter, 94
* February 8 – Eivind Groven, microtonal composer and music theorist, 75
* February 10 – Grace Williams, composer, 70
* February 12 – Ernst Mehlich, German-Brazilian conductor and composer, 89
* February 23 - Margaret Daum, operatic soprano, 70
* February 26 – Bukka White, blues guitarist and singer, 67
* February 28 – Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, comic actor and singer, 71
* March 10 – E. Power Biggs, organist, 70
* May 6 - Joseph Hislop, operatic and concert tenor, 93
* May 22 – Hampton Hawes, jazz pianist, 48 (brain haemorrhage)
* May 26 - William Powell (The O'Jays), 35 (cancer)
* May 30 – Paul Desmond, jazz saxophonist, 52 (lung cancer)
* June 5 – Sleepy John Estes, blues guitarist and singer, 78
* June 13 – Matthew Garber, former child star of *Mary Poppins*, 21 (pancreatitis)
* June 22 – Peter Laughner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Rocket From the Tombs and Pere Ubu) (b. 1952)
* July 2 – Gert Potgieter, South African operatic tenor and actor, 47 (car accident)
* July 20 – Gary Kellgren, American record producer, co-founded Record Plant, 38 (drowned)
* July 26 – Gena Branscombe, composer and conductor, 95
* August 16 – Elvis Presley, singer, 42 (heart attack)
* August 19 – Groucho Marx, comedian, actor, singer and performer, 86
* September 1 - Ethel Waters, American blues, jazz and gospel singer, 80
* September 5 – George Barnes, swing jazz guitarist, 56
* September 13 – Leopold Stokowski, conductor, 95
* September 16
	+ Marc Bolan, singer-songwriter, 29 (car crash)
	+ Maria Callas, operatic soprano, 53 (heart attack)
* September 29 – Alexander Tcherepnin, composer, 78
* September 30 – Mary Ford, guitarist and vocalist, 53 (diabetes-related)
* October 13 – Shirley Brickley, the Orlons, 32 (shot)
* October 14 – Bing Crosby, singer and actor, 74
* October 20 – Ronnie Van Zant, 29, Steve Gaines, 28, and Cassie Gaines, 29, members of Lynyrd Skynyrd (plane crash)
* November 5 – Guy Lombardo, violinist and bandleader, 75
* November 14 – Richard Addinsell, *Warsaw Concerto* composer, 73
* December 5 – Rahsaan Roland Kirk, jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, 42 (stroke)
* December 24 - Salvatore Papaccio, Canzone Napoletana tenor, 87
* December 25 – Charlie Chaplin, actor and composer, 88
* December 28 – Sam Brown, jazz guitarist, 38
* December 30 – St. Louis Jimmy Oden, blues singer, 74
* *date unknown* – Jimmy Cooper, hammered dulcimer player, 70

## Awards

* Grammy Awards of 1977
* Country Music Association Awards
* Eurovision Song Contest 1977

## References

1. ↑ About Tokyo Nikikai Opera Foundation. Accessed 11 August 2014
2. ↑ "The Tragic Loss That Changed Led Zeppelin Forever". *Ultimate Classic Rock*. Retrieved October 21, 2016.