1982 in music

Events

• January 15 - K.C. and the Sunshine Band's Harry Wayne Casey[?] is seriously injured in an automobile accident in Miami, Florida.
• January 17 - Tommy Tucker[?], writer of "Hi Heel Sneakers", dies of carbon tetrachloride poisoning sustained while he was finishing floors in his home
• January 20 - Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off of a live bat thrown at him during a performance. Osbourne is hospitalized with rabies.
• January 21 - B.B. King donates his personal record collection, which includes nearly 7,000 rare blues records, to the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture.
• February 13 - A 300 pound gravestone from the grave of Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zant[?] is stolen from an Orange Park, Florida cemetery. Police found the gravestone 2 week later in a dry river bed.
• February 20 - Pat Benatar[?] marries her guitarist, Neil Geraldo[?] on the Hawaiian island of Maui
• March 4 - Frank Zappa's son Dweezil and daughter Moon Unit[?] form Fred Zeppelin[?]
• March 5 - Comedian and Blues Brother John Belushi is found dead of an apparent drug overdose in the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles, California
• March 18 - Teddy Pendergrass[?] is severely injured in a car accident in Philadelphia. Pendergrass' injuries result in him being paralyzed from the waist down
• March 19 - Ozzy Osbourne's lead guitarist, Randy Rhoads is killed in a freak accident in Leesburg, Florida when the plane he's riding in buzzes Osbourne's tour bus and crashes into a house. The plane's pilot and a female passenger are also killed.
• March 28 - In Los Angeles, California, David Crosby is arrested for possession of Quaaludes and drug paraphernalia, driving under the influence of cocaine and carrying a concealed weapon
• March 29 - Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney release their single "Ebony and Ivory[?]"
• March 31 - The Doobie Brothers announce that they are breaking up
• April 15 - Billy Joel is seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in Long Island, New York. Joel spends over a month in the hospital undergoing physical therapy for his hand.
• April - Amy Grant marries Gary Chapman[?]
• April 26 - Rod Stewart is mugged in Los Angeles, California. Stewart loses his $50,000 Porsche to the mugger, but was not hurt.
• The first compact discs appear in music stores.
• A benefit concert takes place in Downey, California to replace the guitars belonging to Daniel Amos which were stolen early in the year. Performers included Tom Howard[?], Mark Heard and Randy Stonehill.
• Janet Jackson releases first recording
• Caution[?] and Plee Fresh[?] begin recording; this is the birth of a distinctively Chicago sound in hip hop
• Madonna's career begins
• Metallica's career begins
• Ronnie James Dio leaves Black Sabbath for solo career
• The Smiths form
• Pantera forms
• Faith No More forms
• Slayer forms
• Violent Femmes forms
• The Eagles break up
• Wendy O. Williams[?] leaves the Plasmatics for a solo career

Albums Released

• Lexicon of Love[?] - ABC (band)
• Big Science[?] - Laurie Anderson
• Asia - Asia
• Mesopotamia - The B-52's
• Bad Brains[?] - Bad Brains
• Rough Diamonds[?] - Bad Company
• How Could Hell Be Any Worse?[?] - Bad Religion (debut full-length)
• Damaged - Black Flag
• Live Evil[?] - Black Sabbath
• The Mob Rules[?] - Black Sabbath
• The Hunter[?] - Blondie (final album)
• The Distance[?] - Bob Seger[?] and the Silver Bullet Band
• Dreaming - Kate Bush
• 16[?] - Chicago
• Timepieces: Best of Eric Clapton[?] - Eric Clapton (Best of 1969-1979)
• Combat Rock[?] - The Clash
• Computer Games[?] - George Clinton
• Hello, I Must Be Going! - Phil Collins
• Imperial Bedroom[?] - Elvis Costello & the Attractions
• American Fool[?] - John Cougar Mellencamp
• Christ The Album - Crass
• Pornography[?] - The Cure
• Milo Goes to College[?] - The Descendents
• Oh No!, It's Devo[?] - Devo
• Love over Gold[?] - Dire Straits
• Fast Women & Slow Horses[?] - Dr. Feelgood
• Rio - Duran Duran
• Nightfly[?] - Donald Fagen[?]
• Hex Enduction Hour[?] - The Fall
• The Record[?] - Fear[?]
• Mirage[?] - Fleetwood Mac
• Security - Peter Gabriel
• Another Day/Another Dollar[?] - Gang of Four
• Songs of the Free[?] - Gang of Four
• Midnight Love[?] - Marvin Gaye
• H2O[?] - Daryl Hall[?] & John Oates[?]
• Groovy Decay[?] - Robyn Hitchcock[?]
• The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
• Dare[?] - Human League
• Everything Falls Apart[?] - Hüsker Dü
• Day and Night[?] - Joe Jackson
• Thriller - Michael Jackson
• The Broadsword and the Beast[?] - Jethro Tull
• Nylon Curtain[?] - Billy Joel
• Jump Up![?] - Elton John
• Escape - Journey
• Screaming for Vengeance[?] - Judas Priest
• Revelations[?] - Killing Joke[?]
• Beat[?] - King Crimson
• CODA - Led Zeppelin
• Meat Puppets[?] - Meat Puppets
• Business as Usual[?] - Men at Work
• In My Eyes[?] - Minor Threat
• Minor Threat[?] - Minor Threat
• Bean Spill[?] - Minuteman
• Too Fast for Love[?] - Mötley Crüe (debut)
• Diary of a Madman - Ozzy Osbourne & Blizzard of Ozz (final album with Randy Rhoads)
• Speak of the Devil - Ozzy Osbourne (Live)
• Death Wish II - Jimmy Page
• Ghost in the Machine - The Police
• 1999 - Prince
• The Tunes of Two Cities[?] - The Residents
• Chronic Town[?] EP - R.E.M.
• Stink[?] - The Refreshments[?]
• Signals - Rush
• Naked[?] - Sex Gang Children[?]
• Alice[?] - The Sister of Mercy[?]
• Sweets From a Stranger[?] - Squeeze[?]
• Mommy's Little Monster - Social Distortion
• Sonic Youth[?] - Sonic Youth
• Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen
• Shoot out the Lights[?] - Richard and Linda Thompson[?]
• Hour Live[?] - Toots & the Maytals[?]
• Toto IV[?] - Toto[?]
• Diver Down[?] - Van Halen
• Original Musiquarium - Greatest Hits - Stevie Wonder
• Under the Big Black Sun[?] - X
• English Settlement[?] - XTC
• Upstairs at Eric's[?] - Yaz[?]

Top Hits

• "Abracadabra" - Steve Miller Band
• "Believer" - Ozzy Osbourne
• "Centerfold" - J. Geils Band[?]
• "Don't You Want Me" - Human League
• "Ebony and Ivory" - Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder
• "Electric Eye" - Judas Priest
• "Every Little Story She Does Is Magic" - The Police
• "Eye of the Tiger" - Survivor[?]
• "Flying High Again" - Ozzy Osbourne
• "Heat Of The Moment" - Asia
• "Hungry Like The Wolf" - Duran Duran
• "I Love Rock 'N Roll" - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts[?]
• "Invisible Sun" - The Police
• "Jack & Diane" - John Cougar Mellencamp
• "Maneater" - Hall & Oates
• "The Message" - Grandmaster Flash
• "Over The Mountain" - Ozzy Osbourne
• "Planet Rock" - Afrika Bambaataa
• "Pressure" - Billy Joel
• "Quiero Ser" - Menudo
• "Rock The Casbah" - The Clash
• "Shake It Up" - The Cars
• "Since You're Gone" - The Cars
• "Spirits In The Material World" - The Police
• "Still They Ride" - Journey
• "Sube A Mi Motora" - Menudo
• "TV Party" - Black Flag
• "Vacation" - The Go-Gos
• "Valley Girl" - Frank Zappa
• "Up Where We Belong" - Jennifer Warnes & Joe Cocker
• "Who Can It Be?" - Men at Work
• "You Can't Hurry Love" - Phil Collins
• "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" - Judas Priest

Births

• August 28 - LeAnn Rimes

Deaths

• January 17 - Tommy Tucker[?], songwriter
• February 17 - Thelonious Monk
• February 21 - Murray the K[?], disc jockey
• March 5 John Belushi (The Blues Brothers) died in Hollywood of an accidental drug overdose.
• May 8 - Neil Bogart[?], 39, Owner of Casablanca Records[?], cancer
• July 28 - Keith Green, gospel singer, plane crash
• October 4 - Glenn Gould

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1982

Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1982