1976 in music



A list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1976.

January–February

 * January 5 – Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot dead by Los Angeles police after refusing to drop what police only later determine is an air rifle.
 * January 7 – Kenneth Moss, a former record company executive, is sentenced to 120 days in the Los Angeles County Jail and four years probation for involuntary manslaughter in the 1974 drug-induced death of Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh.
 * January 13 – A trial begins for seven Brunswick Records and Dakar Records employees. The record company employees are charged with stealing more than $184,000 in royalties from artists.
 * January 19 – Concert promoter Bill Sargent makes an offer of $30 million to the Beatles if they will reunite for a concert.
 * February 15 – Bette Midler bails seven members of her entourage out of jail after they are arrested on charges of cocaine and marijuana possession.
 * February 19 – Former Tower of Power lead singer Rick Stevens is arrested and charged with the drug-related murders of three men in San Jose, California.
 * February 20 – Kiss have their footprints added to the sidewalk outside Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theater.
 * February 24 – Having been released one week before, The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) compilation becomes the first album in history to be certified platinum by the RIAA. The new platinum certification represents sales of at least 1 million copies for albums and 2 million copies for singles.

March–April

 * March 4 – ABBA arrive at Sydney airport for a promotional tour in Australia.
 * March 6 – EMI Records reissues all 22 previously released British Beatles singles, plus a new single of the classic "Yesterday". All 23 singles hit the UK charts at the same time.
 * March 7 – A wax likeness of Elton John is put on display in London's Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.
 * March 9 – The Who's Keith Moon collapses onstage ten minutes into a performance at the Boston Garden.
 * March 15 – Members of The Plastic People of the Universe are arrested in communist Czechoslovakia. They were sentenced from 8 to 18 months in jail.
 * March 20 – Alice Cooper marries Sheryl Goddard in an Acapulco restaurant.
 * March 25 – Jackson Browne's wife Phyllis commits suicide.
 * March 26 – In Paris, France, Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch breaks one of his fingers when he slips in his hotel bathroom following the final performance on the band's European tour. The injury ended up delaying the band's United States tour by three weeks.
 * April 3 – British pop group Brotherhood of Man win the 21st Eurovision Song Contest in The Hague, Netherlands, with the song "Save Your Kisses For Me". It goes on to be the biggest selling Eurovision winner ever.
 * April 14 – Stevie Wonder announces that he has signed a "$13 million-plus" contract with Motown Records.
 * April 23 – The Ramones release their eponymous titled debut studio album Ramones.
 * April 24 – Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels makes a semi-serious on-air offer to pay the Beatles $3000 to reunite live on the show. In a 1980 interview, John Lennon stated that he and Paul McCartney happened to be watching the show together at Lennon's apartment in New York and considered walking down to the SNL studio "for a gag" but were "too tired". On May 22, Michaels raises his offer from $3,000 to $3,200.
 * April 28 – The Rolling Stones open their European tour in Frankfurt, Germany.
 * April 29 – When his tour stops in Memphis, Tennessee, Bruce Springsteen jumps the wall at Elvis Presley's mansion, "Graceland", in an attempt to see his idol. Security guards stop Springsteen and escort him off the grounds.

May–June

 * May 3
 * Paul McCartney and Wings start their Wings over America Tour in Fort Worth, Texas. This is the first time McCartney has performed in the US since The Beatles' last concert in 1966 at Candlestick Park.
 * Paul Simon puts together a benefit show at Madison Square Garden to raise money for the New York Public Library. Phoebe Snow, Jimmy Cliff and the Brecker Brothers also perform. The concert brings in over $30,000 for the Library.
 * May 19
 * Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is involved in a car accident northwest of London. Cocaine is found in his wrecked car. Richards is given a court date of January 12, 1977.
 * Rumour spread by German press: ABBA members killed in plane crash, only Anni-Frid survived.
 * May 25 – Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour ends.
 * June – Former Spring Canyon keyboardist Mark Cook joins Daniel Amos.
 * June 6 – Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg suffer tragedy when their 10-week-old son Tara dies of respiratory failure.
 * June 10 – Alice Cooper collapses and is rushed to UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles, three weeks before the Goes To Hell tour would begin. The tour is cancelled.
 * June 18 – ABBA perform "Dancing Queen" for the first time on Swedish television in Stockholm on the eve of the wedding of King Carl XVI Gustaf to Silvia Sommerlath.
 * June 25 – Uriah Heep performs its last show with David Byron as lead singer in Bilbao, Spain. Byron is sacked shortly afterward.

July–August

 * July 2
 * Composer Benjamin Britten accepts a life peerage, only a few months before his death.
 * Brian Wilson performs on stage with The Beach Boys for the first time in three years at a Day on the Green concert in Oakland, California.
 * July 4 – Many outdoor festivals and shows are held all over the United States as the country celebrates its bicentennial. Elton John performs for 62,000 at Shaffer Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, while The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac play for 36,000 at Tampa Stadium, Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top draw 35,000 at Memphis Memorial Stadium and Elvis Presley performs for 11,974 at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
 * July 7 – 50,000 fans brave the rain in New York to attend a free Jefferson Starship concert in Central Park.
 * July 27 – Tina Turner files for divorce from husband Ike.
 * August 5 – Eric Clapton provokes an uproar over comments he makes on stage at a Birmingham concert, voicing his opposition to immigration using multiple racial slurs while exhorting the audience to support Enoch Powell and to "keep Britain white".
 * August 11 – Keith Moon is rushed to hospital for the second time in five months, collapsing after trashing his Miami hotel room.
 * August 13 – The official ABBA logo with the reversed 'B' is adopted.
 * August 16 – Cliff Richard becomes one of the first Western artists ever to perform in the Soviet Union when he gives a concert in Leningrad.
 * August 21 – An estimated 120,000 fans pack Knebworth House to see The Rolling Stones. Todd Rundgren, Lynyrd Skynyrd and 10cc also perform.
 * August 31 – A U.S. district court decision rules that George Harrison had "subconsciously" copied The Chiffons' hit "He's So Fine" when he wrote the song "My Sweet Lord".

September–October

 * September 1 – Ode Records president Lou Adler is kidnapped at his Malibu home and released eight hours later after a $25,000 ransom is paid. Two suspects are soon arrested.
 * September 3 – Rory Gallagher joins the short list of Western popular musicians to perform behind the Iron Curtain with a show in Warsaw, Poland.
 * September 8 – In a candid interview appearing in the October 7 edition of Rolling Stone published today, Elton John publicly discloses his bisexuality for the first time.
 * September 14 – The one-hour Bob Dylan concert special Hard Rain airs on NBC, coinciding with the release of the live album of the same name.
 * September 18
 * Queen performs a massive free concert at London's Hyde Park for over 150,000 people.
 * The second annual Rock Music Awards air on CBS. Peter Frampton wins Rock Personality of the Year, while Fleetwood Mac wins for Best Group and Best Album.
 * September 20 & September 21 – 100 Club Punk Festival, the first international punk festival is held in London. Siouxsie and the Banshees play their first concert.
 * September 25 – Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr form a band called Feedback in Dublin. The band would later be renamed U2.
 * October 2 – Joe Cocker performs a duet of "Feelin' Alright" with himself (as portrayed by John Belushi) on Saturday Night Live.
 * October 8 – English punk rock group the Sex Pistols sign a contract with EMI Records.
 * October 11 – Irish singer Joe Dolan is banned for life by Aer Lingus after an air rage incident en route to Corfu from Dublin.
 * October 20 – The Led Zeppelin concert film The Song Remains the Same premieres at Cinema I in New York.
 * October 31 – George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic begin "The P-Funk/Rubber Band Earth Tour" in Houston, a national live series highlighting one of the biggest and revolutionary stage shows in the history of the music industry (the rock group Kiss would be the other group to do a similar act), relying on elaborate costumes, special lighting and effects, and extremely large props including "the Mothership", which would arrive and land on stage, all of what this band is generally known for. This live set would vary in length (on average of 3 to 5 hours long) and at high volume.

November–December

 * November 18 – Former Tower of Power lead singer Rick Stevens and another person are found guilty on two counts of murder.
 * November 23
 * Thin Lizzy are forced to cancel their U.S. tour when guitarist Brian Robertson injures his hand in a bar fight.
 * Jerry Lee Lewis is arrested after showing up drunk outside Graceland at 3 a.m., waving a pistol and loudly demanding to see Elvis Presley. Presley denied his request.
 * November 25 – The Band gives its last public performance; Martin Scorsese is on hand to film it.
 * November 26 – The Sex Pistols' debut single "Anarchy in the U.K." is released by EMI.
 * December 1 – In the UK, the Sex Pistols cause a national outcry after swearing on Thames Television's Today show.
 * December 2 – The Bee Gees perform at Madison Square Garden and donate the proceeds to the Police Athletic League in New York. In January 1979, they will receive the Police Athletic League's "Superstars of the Year" award.
 * December 3
 * A Pink Floyd album cover shoot in South London goes awry when a large inflatable pig balloon being used for the shoot breaks free of its moorings and drifts out of sight.
 * Bob Marley and several others are injured when gunmen burst into his home in Kingston, Jamaica and open fire.
 * December 8
 * The Carpenters air their "Very First Television Special" on ABC.
 * The Eagles release Hotel California.
 * December 12 – Ace Frehley is shocked on stage during a Kiss concert in Lakeland, Florida after touching an ungrounded metal railing. The incident inspires the song "Shock Me".
 * December 31 – The fifth annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special airs on ABC, with performances by Donna Summer, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Four Seasons, and KC and the Sunshine Band.

Also in 1976

 * The last practitioner of the rekuhkara form of throat-singing dies, in Hokkaido, Japan.
 * Tenor Franco Corelli retires from the stage at the age of 55.
 * Cheryl Byron performs rapso in calypso tents for the first time, beginning the popularization of rapso.
 * Peter Brown's solo career begins.
 * Peter Tosh's solo career begins.
 * Bunny Wailer's solo career begins.
 * Leif Garrett's solo career begins.
 * .38 Special's musical career begins.
 * Y&T (Yesterday & Today)'s musical career begins.
 * Sergio Franchi becomes TV spokesman for Chrysler Corporation's Plymouth "Volare" and media spokesman for Hills Brothers coffee.
 * Steve Martin signs a contract with Warner Bros.
 * Eddie Money signs a contract with CBS.
 * "Ten Percent", by Double Exposure, becomes the first 12-inch single commercially available to the public (as opposed to DJ-only promotional copies).
 * The Chinese Music Society of North America is founded.
 * Gabin Dabiré embarks on a tour of Italy.

Bands formed

 * See Musical groups established in 1976

Bands reformed

 * The Pirates

Bands disbanded

 * See Musical groups disestablished in 1976

Biggest hit singles
The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the charts of 1976.

Albums released

 * 1) Station to Station David Bowie
 * 2) Songs in the Key of Life Stevie Wonder
 * 3) Ramones Ramones
 * 4) Rising Rainbow
 * 5) The Modern Lovers The Modern Lovers
 * 6) Sad Wings of Destiny Judas Priest
 * 7) Desire Bob Dylan

Singles released

 * 1) Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel Tavares
 * 2) (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty KC and the Sunshine Band
 * 3) Ships in the Night Be-Bop Deluxe
 * 4) (I Believe) Love's a Prima Donna Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
 * 5) A Little Bit More Dr. Hook
 * 6) The Combine Harvester (Brand New Key) The Wurzels
 * 7) Man to Man Hot Chocolate
 * 8) Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto De Aranjuez Manuel & the Music of the Mountains
 * 9) If Not You Dr. Hook

Published popular music

 * "Always and Forever"    w.m. Rod Temperton
 * "Dancing Queen"    w.m. Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus
 * "Devil Woman"    w.m. Terry Britten & Christine Authors
 * "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" w. Tim Rice m. Andrew Lloyd Webber
 * "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" w.m. Richard Leigh
 * "Empty Tables"    w. Johnny Mercer m. Jimmy Van Heusen
 * "Evergreen"    w. Paul Williams m. Barbra Streisand
 * "Fernando"    w.m. Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus
 * "Gonna Fly Now" (aka "Theme From Rocky")     w. Carol Connors & Ayn Robbins m. Bill Conti
 * "I Never Do Anything Twice" aka "The Madam's Song" w.m. Stephen Sondheim. Introduced by Régine in the film The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
 * "Isn't She Lovely?"    w.m. Stevie Wonder
 * "Like A Sad Song"    w.m. John Denver
 * "A Little Bit More"    w.m. Bobby Gosh
 * "Making Our Dreams Come True" w.m. Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox, from the TV series Laverne and Shirley
 * "Money, Money, Money"    w.m. Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
 * "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word"    w.m.Elton John
 * "Welcome Back" w.m. John Sebastian. Theme song from the television series Welcome Back Kotter

Other notable songs

 * "Ballade pour Adeline" m. Paul de Senneville and Olivier Toussaint
 * "Djambo, Djambo" w.m. Peter Reber
 * "El Pasadiscos" w.m. Diego Verdaguer
 * "Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein" w. Sahir Ludhianvi m. Khayyam

Births

 * January 8 – Jenny Lewis, vocalist (Rilo Kiley)
 * January 16 – Stuart Fletcher (The Seahorses)
 * January 18 – Damien Leith, Australian singer/songwriter
 * January 20 – Sid Wilson (Slipknot)
 * January 21 – Emma Bunton, British singer (Spice Girls)
 * January 23 – Tony Lucca, American singer-songwriter, producer and actor
 * January 29 – Chris Castle, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * February 4 – Cam'ron, rapper
 * February 13 – Leslie Feist (Broken Social Scene)
 * February 15
 * Brandon Boyd (Incubus)
 * Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. (The Killers)
 * February 28 – Ja Rule, American rapper
 * March 8 – Gareth Coombes, British singer (Supergrass)
 * March 16 – Blu Cantrell, singer
 * March 17 – Stephen Gately, Irish singer (Boyzone) (d. 2009)
 * March 20 – Chester Bennington (Linkin Park)
 * March 26 – Dave Keuning (The Killers)
 * April 2 – Lucy Diakovska, German-Bulgarian pop singer
 * April 10 – Jan Werner Danielsen, Norwegian singer (d. 2006)
 * April 18 – Sean Maguire, British actor and singer
 * April 29 – Jay Orpin, Swedish composer and record producer
 * May 8
 * Martha Wainwright, singer-songwriter, daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle
 * Ian "H" Watkins, British singer (Steps)
 * May 10 – Udo Mechels, Belgian singer
 * May 14 – Hunter Burgan (AFI)
 * May 17 – Kandi Burruss (Xscape)
 * May 22 – Daniel Erlandsson, Swedish drummer (Arch Enemy)
 * May 29 – Dave Buckner (Papa Roach)
 * June 2
 * Tim Rice-Oxley, British musician (Keane)
 * Adrian Olivares (Menudo)
 * June 6 – Emilie-Claire Barlow, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
 * June 7 – Necro (Ron Braunstein), American rapper and record producer
 * June 11 – Tai Anderson, American rock bassist (Third Day)
 * June 13
 * Jason "J" Brown, English rock musician (5ive)
 * Kym Marsh, English singer (Hear'Say)
 * June 15
 * Gary Lightbody, Northern Irish rock musician and songwriter (Snow Patrol)
 * Dryden Mitchell (Alien Ant Farm)
 * June 18 – Blake Shelton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * June 20 – Jerome Fontamillas, American singer and guitarist (Switchfoot, Mortal and Fold Zandura)
 * June 21 – Mike Einziger (Incubus)
 * June 22 – Gordon Moakes (Bloc Party)
 * June 23 – Joe Becker, American guitarist and composer
 * June 26 – Paul Phillips, guitarist (Puddle of Mudd)
 * June 27 – Leigh Nash, American singer (Sixpence None the Richer)
 * July 1
 * Justin Lo, Hong Kong singer and actor
 * Plies, American rapper
 * July 3 – Shane Lynch, Irish singer (Boyzone)
 * July 5
 * Bizarre, African American rapper
 * Mike DeWolf, American rock musician (Taproot)
 * July 8 – David Kennedy, American guitarist and songwriter (Angels & Airwaves, Box Car Racer, Hazen Street and Over My Dead Body)
 * July 10 – Elijah Blue Allman, American musician, son of Cher and Greg Allman
 * July 12 – Tracie Spencer, American singer-songwriter and actress
 * July 16 – Chiara Zeffirelli, crossover soprano
 * July 20 – Andrew Stockdale, Australian rock singer/guitarist (Wolfmother)
 * July 22 – Kokia, Japanese singer-songwriter
 * August 8
 * JC Chasez, American singer (*NSYNC)
 * Drew Lachey, American singer (98 Degrees)
 * August 11
 * Brendan Bayliss, American rock guitarist and vocalist
 * Ben Gibbard, American rock musician (Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service)
 * August 12
 * Mikko Lindström, Finnish rock guitarist
 * Wednesday 13, American rock lead singer (Murderdolls, FDQ)
 * Lina Rafn, Danish singer
 * August 13 – Roddy Woomble, Scottish musician
 * August 14 – Maya Nasri, Lebanese actress and singer
 * August 18 – Alex Katunich, (Incubus)
 * September 12 – Bizzy Bone, American rapper, member of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
 * September 16
 * Tina Barrett, British singer (S Club 7)
 * Elīna Garanča, operatic soprano
 * October 6 – Barbie Shu, Taiwanese actress and singer
 * October 7 – Taylor Hicks, American singer
 * October 19 – Omar Gooding, rapper
 * October 20 – Tom Wisniewski (MxPx)
 * October 22 – Jon Foreman, American rock singer/guitarist (Switchfoot)
 * November 2 – Mike Leon Grosch, German singer
 * November 11 – Jesse F. Keeler (Death from Above 1979)
 * November 12 – Tevin Campbell, singer-songwriter
 * November 13 – Shagrath, Dimmu Borgir
 * November 16 – Mario Barravecchia, Italian singer
 * November 18 – Shagrath, Norwegian black metal musician (Dimmu Borgir)
 * November 19 – Jun Shibata, Japanese singer and songwriter
 * December 4 – Amie Comeaux, American country music singer (d. 1997)
 * December 12 – Dan Hawkins, British rock guitarist (The Darkness)
 * December 18 – Red Café (Jermaine Denny), rapper
 * December 23 – Amjad Sabri, Qawwali singer (murdered 2016)
 * December 25
 * Tuomas Holopainen, Finnish metal keyboardist (Nightwish)
 * Armin van Buuren, Dutch music producer and DJ
 * date unknown
 * Philip Howard, pianist and composer
 * John Collura (The Ataris)
 * Patrick Riley (The Ataris)

Deaths

 * January 8 – George Baker, singer, 90
 * January 10 – Howlin' Wolf, blues musician, 65
 * January 16 – Vasco Campagnano, operatic tenor, 65
 * January 18 – Friedrich Hollaender, composer, 79
 * January 23 – Paul Robeson, singer, 77
 * January 25 – Chris Kenner, American singer-songwriter, 46 (heart attack)
 * January 29 – Jesse Fuller, blues musician, 79
 * January 30 – Mance Lipscomb, blues musician, 80
 * January 31 – Evert Taube, composer and singer, 85
 * February 5 – Rudy Pompilli, saxophone player and 20-year member of Bill Haley & His Comets, 50 (lung cancer)
 * February 6 – Vince Guaraldi, jazz musician and pianist, 47
 * February 9 – Percy Faith, bandleader and composer, 67
 * February 12 – Sal Mineo, actor and singer, 37 (murdered)
 * February 13 – Lily Pons, coloratura soprano, 77
 * February 22 – Florence Ballard, The Supremes, 32 (coronary thrombosis)
 * February 25 – Tarquinia Tarquini, operatic soprano, 93
 * March 14 – Busby Berkeley, musical director and choreographer, 80
 * March 19 – Paul Kossoff, guitarist, (Free), 25 (cerebral and pulmonary oedema)
 * March 25 – Maria Zamboni, operatic soprano, 80
 * March 26 – Duster Bennett, blues musician, 29 (car accident)
 * April 8 – Phil Ochs, protest singer, 35 (suicide)
 * April 14 – Erna Ellmenreich, operatic soprano, 90
 * April 25 – Alexander Brailowsky, pianist, 80
 * May 12 – Rudolf Kempe, conductor, 65
 * May 14 – Keith Relf, vocalist (The Yardbirds), 35 (cardiac arrest due to electrocution)
 * May 15 – David Munrow, early music performer, 33 (suicide)
 * May 21 – Harold Blair, operatic tenor, 51
 * May 26 – Maggie Teyte, operatic soprano, 88
 * June 6 – Elisabeth Rethberg, operatic soprano, 81
 * June 25 – Johnny Mercer, singer and songwriter, 66
 * June 28
 * Malcolm Lockyer, film composer and conductor, 52
 * Yakov Zak, pianist and music teacher, 62
 * August 2 – Cecilia (singer), Spanish singer-songwriter, 27 (road accident)
 * August 6 – Gregor Piatigorsky, Russian cellist, 73
 * August 24 – Michael Head, composer, 76
 * August 26 – Lotte Lehmann, opera singer, 88
 * August 27 – Mukesh, Indian singer, 53 (heart attack)
 * August 29 – Jimmy Reed, US blues musician, 50
 * September 26 – L.C. Robinson, US blues musician, 61
 * October 3 – Victoria Spivey, US singer, pianist and composer, 69
 * October 11
 * Connee Boswell, US singer, member of the Boswell Sisters, 68
 * Alfredo Bracchi, Italian lyricist, 78
 * Werner Haas, pianist, 45 (car accident)
 * October 21 – Jean Berveiller, organist and composer, 73
 * November 12 – Walter Piston, composer, 82
 * December 4
 * Benjamin Britten, composer, 63
 * Tommy Bolin, guitarist, 25 (drug-induced suffocation)
 * December 6 – Raymond Hanson, composer, 63
 * December 28 – Freddie King, blues musician, 42
 * Date Unknown – Patrick Kelly, Irish folk fiddler

Grammy Awards

 * Grammy Awards of 1976

Eurovision Song Contest

 * Eurovision Song Contest 1976