1979 in music

Years in music:	1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
Centuries:	19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
Years:	1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982

See also:

• Musical groups established in 1979
• Record labels established in 1979
• 1979 in music (UK)
• other events of 1979
• list of 'years in music'
• 1970s in music

Events

• Stevie Wonder uses Compact Disc technology in recording his album Journey through the Secret Life of Plants.

• EMI's first digital recording - at Abbey Road Studios - of a non-classical music track is released - UK jazz-funk duo Morrissey-Mullen covered the Rose Royce hit Love Don't Live Here Anymore. Released as a limited edition vinyl EP.

• Disco reigned supreme in 1979, with several #1 hits from The Bee Gees and Donna Summer that year. Several artists who were not regarded as dance/disco acts, scored major successes by releasing disco singles, including New Wave band Blondie with their first US number one single "Heart Of Glass", Rod Stewart with "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" and rock band Electric Light Orchestra went disco this year with their UK #1 LP Discovery.

• The backlash against disco among rock loyalists was also peaking. An anti-disco event in Chicago, Illinois ultimately forced the cancellation of a major league baseball game. When The Knack's song "My Sharona" hit Billboard's #1 for six weeks, many rock critics gushed that the band was "the next Beatles" and celebrated the beginning of the end for disco music. While 1979 may have marked the climax of disco, it was also the only popular year for The Knack, who quickly faded into obscurity.

• One event of 1979 which would have later significance was the success of the single "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang, which marked the commercial emergence of hip hop music.

• Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers' Bustin' Loose was released; this is the first go go record.

Timeline

• January 1
  • Bill Graham closes San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom following a New Year's Eve performance by the Blues Brothers and the Grateful Dead
  • During a New Year's Eve concert in Cleveland, Ohio, Bruce Springsteen is injured when a fire-cracker is thrown onstage from the audience
• January 4 - The Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, best known for its connections to the early days of the Beatles, reopens.
• January 13 - Singer Donny Hathaway dies after falling 15 storeys from his hotel room in New York City. According to Hathaway's record company, Atlantic, the singer had been having some psychological problems.
• January 15 - MCA Records purchases ABC Records for a reported $20 million.
• February 3 - Dead Man's Curve, a made-for-TV-movie about surf-rock singers Jan & Dean, airs on US television
• The Strange Case Of Alice Cooper, featuring footage from the Mad House Rock Tour, is filmed.
• February 7 - The Clash kick off their first concert on their first American tour at the Berkeley Community Theatre outside San Francisco, California. Bo Diddley opens the show and the Clash open their set with the song "I'm So Bored with the U.S.A.".
• February 10 - Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" hits #1 on the Billboard magazine charts, and stays there for 4 weeks.
• February 11 - 43 million viewers watch "Elvis!" on ABC, a made for TV movie starring Kurt Russell as Elvis.
• February 15 Minnie Riperton appears on the Grammys as a presenter with Stephen Bishop. The Bee Gees collect 4 Grammys for Saturday Night Fever.
• February 23 - Dire Straits begin their first U.S. tour in Boston.
• February 24 - Friedrich Cerha's completion of Alban Berg's opera Lulu is premiered at the Opera Garnier in Paris
• March 21 - The Pretenders sign a contract with Sire Records
• March 5 - MCA Records dissolves ABC Records.
• March 10 - James Brown performs at the Grand Ole Opry
• March 27 - Eric Clapton marries Patti Boyd, ex-wife of Clapton's friend George Harrison
• March 31 - The Eurovision Song Contest, the biggest music festival in the world, takes place for the first time in a country outside Europe - Israel. The amazing show is broadcast live from Jerusalem to Europe and few countries in Asia. The big winner of this night is Israel for the second time after its first victory in 1978. The winning song is "Halelujah" sang by Gali Atari and the backing group Milk and Honey. A few months after winning the song had been translated into more than 82 languages, and broke a new record by entering the Guinness Book of Records as the most translated song in the world.
• April 6 - Rod Stewart marries Alana Hamilton.
• April 7 - 110,000 people attend the California Music Festival at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Performers include Aerosmith, The Boomtown Rats, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent and Van Halen.
• April 12 - Mickey Thomas replaces Marty Balin as the lead singer of Jefferson Starship
• April 13 - During a concert by Van Halen in Spokane, Washington, David Lee Roth collapses from exhaustion.
• May 1 - Elton John becomes the first pop music artist to perform in Israel.
• May 2 - The Who perform their first concert following the death of drummer Keith Moon. The band performed with new drummer Kenny Jones.
• May 5 - "Reunited" by Peaches and Herb hits #1 on the Billboard charts, and stays there for 4 weeks.
• June 1 - Alternative Tentacles record label established by Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra
• June 28 - Bill Haley makes his final studio recordings at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. (He dies in 1981.)
• July 7 - The Bee Gees play to a sold-out crowd at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium as part of their Spirits Having Flown tour.
• July 12
  • Minnie Riperton, singer/songwriter best known for her 1975 #1 hit single "Lovin' You" dies of breast cancer in Los Angeles, she was 31.
  • "Disco Demolition Night", an anti-disco promotional event for a Chicago rock station involving exploding disco records with a bomb, causes a near-riot between games during a baseball major league doubleheader, forcing the cancellation of the second game.
• July 14 - Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" hits #1 on the Billboard charts, and stays there for five weeks
• August 4 - 11-British rock band Led Zeppelin played what were to be their last British concerts at Knebworth in Hertfordshire. Total attendance's for the two concerts approached 400,000
• August 25 - "My Sharona" by The Knack hits #1 on the Billboard charts. This is the first time in over a year that a song hits #1 that is not either a disco song or a ballad. It remains at #1 for six weeks.
• September 2 - U2 enters the studio for the first time to record a locally released single.
• October 10 - Joe Perry officially departs Aerosmith.
• November 26 - Bill Haley & His Comets perform at the Royal Drury Lane Theatre in London in a command performance for Queen Elizabeth. This was Haley's final recorded performance of "Rock Around the Clock".
• December 3 - In Cincinnati, Ohio, a stampede for seats at Riverfront Coliseum during a Who concert kills 11 fans (band members were not made aware of the deaths until after the show).
• The Welsh Philharmonia becomes the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera.
• Diamond Head's career begins
• INXS career begins
• Michael Schenker leaves Scorpions during their tour in france and was replaced by Matthias Jabs.
• The Feelies' musical career begins
• Marianne Faithfull returns to music after a hiatus
• Solid Gold premieres on television.
• Bad Brains forms
• Fishbone forms
• Was (Not Was) forms
• Mr & Mrs No Smoking Sign forms in Sydney (later to become Severed Heads)
• The Runaways disband
• Return To Forever disband
• Bachman-Turner Overdrive disbands

Albums released

• 5 - J.J. Cale
• 20 Hottest Hits - Hot Chocolate
• 154 - Wire
• A Collection Of Their 20 Greatest Hits - The Three Degrees
• A Curious Feeling - Tony Banks
• A Different Kind of Tension - Buzzcocks
• The Adventures of the Hersham Boys - Sham 69
• Angel Station - Manfred Mann's Earth Band
• Another Kind of Blues - UK Subs
• Armed Forces - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
• Astaire - Peter Skellern
• At Budokan - Cheap Trick (live)
• The B-52s - The B-52s
• Back to the Egg - Wings
• Bad Girls - Donna Summer
• Barbra Streisand Greatest Hits Volume 2 - Barbra Streisand
• Bee Gees Greatest - Bee Gees
• The Best Days Of My Life - Johnny Mathis
• The Best of Chic - Chic
• The Best of the Dooleys - The Dooleys
• The Billie Jo Spears Singles Album - Billie Jo Spears
• Black Rose: A Rock Legend - Thin Lizzy
• Bob Dylan at Budokan - Bob Dylan (live)
• Bomber - Motörhead
• Bop Till You Drop - Ry Cooder
• Breakfast in America - Supertramp
• Bridges - John Williams
• Bursting Out - Jethro Tull (live)
• Candy-O - The Cars
• Classic Rock - The Second Movement - London Symphony Orchestra
• Coming Up For Air - Penetration
• Communiqué - Dire Straits
• Cornerstone - Styx
• The Crack - The Ruts
• Crepes and Drapes - Showaddywaddy
• Cut - The Slits
• Dart Attack - Darts
• David Essex Album - David Essex
• Days in Europa - The Skids
• Desolation Angels - Bad Company
• Discovery - Electric Light Orchestra
• Do It Yourself - Ian Dury & the Blockheads
• Down to Earth - Rainbow
• Drums and Wires - XTC
• Dynasty - KISS
• Eat to the Beat - Blondie
• Echoes of Gold - Adrian Brett
• The Eddie Cochran Singles Album - Eddie Cochran
• ELO's Greatest Hits - Electric Light Orchestra
• Euroman Cometh - Jean-Jacques Burnel
• Exposed - Mike Oldfield (live)
• Facades - Sad Café
• Fate for Breakfast - Art Garfunkel
• Fear of Music - Talking Heads
• Feats Don't Fail Me Now - Herbie Hancock
• Feel No Fret - The Average White Band
• The Fine Art of Surfacing - The Boomtown Rats
• Flex - Lene Lovich
• Force Majeure - Tangerine Dream
• Frenzy - Split Enz
• George Harrison - George Harrison
• Ghost Riders in the Sky - Slim Whitman
• Go West - Village People
• The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle - Sex Pistols (OST)
• Greatest Hits - Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Greatest Hits 1972-1978 - 10cc
• Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 - Rod Stewart
• Greatest Hits Volume 2 - ABBA
• Heimweh nach Tahiti - Die Flippers
• Highway to Hell - AC/DC
• Hydra - Toto
• I'm the Man - Joe Jackson
• I Am - Earth Wind & Fire
• Imperial Wizard - David Essex
• In the Skies - Peter Green
• In Through the Out Door - Led Zeppelin
• The Incredible Shrinking Dickies - The Dickies
• Inflammable Material - Stiff Little Fingers
• Into the Music - Van Morrison
• It's Alive - Ramones (live)
• Join Hands - Siouxsie & the Banshees
• Journey through the Secret Life of Plants - Stevie Wonder
• The Kenny Rogers Singles Album - Kenny Rogers
• The Kids Are Alright - The Who (OST)
• L.A. (Light Album) - The Beach Boys
• Last the Whole Night Long - James Last
• Lena's Music Album - Lena Martell
• Life in a Day - Simple Minds
• Live and Learn - Elkie Brooks
• Live Killers - Queen (live)
• Live (X Cert) - The Stranglers (live)
• Lodger - David Bowie
• London Calling - The Clash
• Look Sharp! - Joe Jackson
• The Long Run - The Eagles
• Love Tracks - Gloria Gaynor
• Lovedrive - Scorpions
• Lovehunter - Whitesnake
• Machine Gun Etiquette - The Damned
• Made It Through the Rain - Gerard Kenny
• The Magic Is You - Shirley Bassey
• Manifesto - Roxy Music
• Marathon - Santana
• The Mark II Purple Singles - Deep Purple
• Marty Robbins Collection - Marty Robbins
• Metal Box - Public Image Ltd.
• Mick Taylor - Mick Taylor
• Midnight Magic - Commodores
• Mingus - Joni Mitchell
• Mission Accomplished But the Beat Goes On - The Rezillos
• Morning Dance - Spyro Gyra
• Mr. Universe - Gillan
• New Dimensions - The Three Degrees
• New Horizons - Don Williams
• Night in the Ruts - Aerosmith
• Night Owl - Gerry Rafferty
• No Mean City - Nazareth
• Not That I'm Biased - Max Boyce
• Oceans of Fantasy - Boney M
• Off the Wall - Michael Jackson
• On the Radio - Greatest Hits Volume 1 & 2 - Donna Summer
• One Step Beyond... - Madness
• One Voice - Barry Manilow
• Out of This World - The Moody Blues
• Overkill - Motörhead
• Platinum - Mike Oldfield
• The Pleasure Principle - Gary Numan
• Quadrophenia - The Who (OST)
• The Raven - The Stranglers
• Reality Effect - The Tourists
• Reflections - George Hamilton IV
• Reggatta de Blanc - The Police
• Remote Control - The Tubes
• Repeat When Necessary - Dave Edmunds
• Replicas - Tubeway Army
• Rhapsodies - Rick Wakeman
• Rickie Lee Jones - Rickie Lee Jones
• Rise - Herb Alpert
• Risqué - Chic
• Rock 'N' Roll Juvenile - Cliff Richard
• Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young and Crazy Horse
• Scared to Dance - The Skids
• Secondhand Daylight - Magazine
• Semi-Detached Surburban - Manfred Mann
• Setting Sons - The Jam
• Sheik Yerbouti - Frank Zappa
• Shooting Stars - Dollar
• Sid Sings - Sid Vicious
• Singles Going Steady - Buzzcocks
• Sky - Sky
• Slim Whitman's 20 Greatest Love Songs - Slim Whitman
• Slow Train Coming - Bob Dylan
• Some Product: Carri on Sex Pistols - Sex Pistols
• Sometimes You Win - Dr. Hook
• Songbird - Ruby Winters
• Songs of the Seashore - James Galway
• Sound on Sound - Bill Nelson's Red Noise
• The Specials - The Specials
• Spectral Mornings - Steve Hackett
• Spirits Having Flown - Bee Gees
• Street Machine - Sammy Hagar
• Strangers in the Night - UFO (live)
• Squeezing Out Sparks - Graham Parker & the Rumour
• Street Life - The Crusaders
• String of Hits - The Shadows
• Survival" - Bob Marley & The Wailers
• Teenage Warning - Angelic Upstarts
• Thank You Very Much - Reunion Concert At The London Palladium - Cliff Richard and The Shadows
• That Summer - Original Soundtrack
• Three on the Trail - Riders in the Sky
• Tranquility - Mary O'Hara
• TRB TWO - Tom Robinson Band
• Tusk - Fleetwood Mac
• The Undertones - The Undertones
• Tokyo Tapes (Live) - Scorpions
• Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
• Unleashed in the East - Judas Priest
• The Unrecorded Jasper Carrott - Jasper Carrott
• Van Halen II - Van Halen
• The Very Best Of Leo Sayer - Leo Sayer
• Volcano - Jimmy Buffett
• Voulez-Vous - ABBA
• Walking On Sunshine - Eddy Grant
• The Wall - Pink Floyd
• We Are Family - Sister Sledge
• Wet - Barbra Streisand
• Whatever You Want - Status Quo
• The World Is Full of Married Men - Original Soundtrack
• You Don't Bring Me Flowers - Neil Diamond

Chronological Table of US and UK Number One Hit Singles

US Number One Singles and Artist (Weeks at Number One)

UK Number One Singles and Artist (Weeks at Number One)

"Le Freak" - Chic (2 weeks in 1978 + 4 weeks in 1979) "Too Much Heaven" - Bee Gees (2) "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" - Rod Stewart (4) "I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor (3) "Tragedy" - Bee Gees (2) "What a Fool Believes" - Doobie Brothers (1) "Knock on Wood" - Amii Stewart (1) "Heart of Glass" - Blondie (1) "Reunited" - Peaches & Herb (4) "Hot Stuff" - Donna Summer (3) "Love You Inside Out" - Bee Gees (1) "Ring My Bell" - Anita Ward (2) "Bad Girls" - Donna Summer (5) "Good Times" - Chic (1) "My Sharona" - The Knack (6) best selling 7" single of the year "Sad Eyes" - Robert John (1) "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" - Michael Jackson (1) "Rise" - Herb Alpert (2) "Pop Muzik" - M (1) "Heartache Tonight" - The Eagles (1) "Still" - Commodores (1) "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" - Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer (2) "Babe" - Styx (2) "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" - Rupert Holmes (2 weeks in 1979 + 1 week in 1980) Also see: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1979

"Y.M.C.A." - Village People (3) best selling single of the year "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" - Ian Dury & The Blockheads (1) "Heart of Glass" - Blondie (4) "Tragedy" - Bee Gees (2) "I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor (4) "Bright Eyes" - Art Garfunkel (6) "Sunday Girl" - Blondie (3) "Ring My Bell" - Anita Ward (2) Are 'Friends' Electric?- Tubeway Army (4) "I Don't Like Mondays" - Boomtown Rats (4) "We Don't Talk Anymore" - Cliff Richard (4) Cars - Gary Numan (1) "Message in a Bottle" - The Police (3) "Video Killed the Radio Star" - The Buggles (1) "One Day At A Time" - Lena Martell (3) "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" - Dr. Hook (3) "Walking on the Moon" - The Police (1) "Another Brick In The Wall, Part II" - Pink Floyd (3 weeks in 1979 + 2 weeks in 1980)

Other significant singles

• "A Message to You Rudy/Nite Klub" - The Specials
• "Accidents Will Happen" - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
• "After the Love Has Gone" - Earth, Wind & Fire
• "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" - McFadden & Whitehead
• "Ambition" - Vic Godard and Subway Sect
• "Angel Eyes" - Roxy Music
• "Angeleyes" - ABBA
• "Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor Doctor)" - Robert Palmer
• "Bang Bang" - B.A. Robertson
• "Bat Out of Hell" - Meat Loaf
• "Big Shot" - Billy Joel
• "Boogie Wonderland" - Earth Wind and Fire with the Emotions
• "(Boogie Woogie) Dancin' Shoes" - Claudja Barry
• "Born to Be Alive" - Patrick Hernandez
• "Boys Don't Cry" - The Cure
• "Boys Keep Swinging" - David Bowie
• "Breakfast at Sweethearts" - Cold Chisel
• "Breakfast in America" - Supertramp
• "Bright Side of the Road" - Van Morrison
• "Broken Hearted Me" - Anne Murray
• "California Über Alles" - The Dead Kennedys
• "Can You Feel The Force" - The Real Thing
• "Can't Stand Losing You" - The Police
• "Chiquitita" - ABBA
• "Come to Me" - France Joli
• "Comme disait Mistinguett" - Dalida
• "Computer Games" - Mi-Sex
• "Contact" - Edwin Starr
• "Cool for Cats" - Squeeze
• "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" - Queen
• "Cruel To Be Kind" - Nick Lowe
• "Dance Away" - Roxy Music
• "Death Disco" - Public Image Ltd.
• "Deeper Than the Night" - Olivia Newton-John
• "Dim All the Lights" - Donna Summer
• "Disco Nights" - GQ
• "Do Anything You Wanna Do" - Thin Lizzy
• "Do You Think I'm Disco?" - Steve Dahl & Teenage Radiation
• "Does Your Mother Know" - ABBA
• "Don't Bring Me Down" - Electric Light Orchestra
• "Don't Do Me Like That" - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
• "Don't Throw Stones" - The Sports
• "Dreaming" - Blondie
• "Driver's Seat" - Sniff 'n' the Tears
• "Duchess" - The Stranglers
• "Electricity" - OMD
• "Even the Losers" - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
• "Every Day Hurts" - Sad Café
• "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" - Buzzcocks
• "Freedom's Prisoner" - Steve Harley
• "Gangsters" - The Specials AKA
• "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" - ABBA
• "Girls Talk" - Dave Edmunds
• "Go West" - Village People
• "Good Times Roll" - The Cars
• "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" - Viola Wills
• "Goodbye Girl" - Squeeze
• "Goodbye Stranger" - Supertramp
• "Half the Way" - Crystal Gayle
• "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio" - Edwin Starr
• "He Must Have Been Eighteen" - Dalida
• "He's the Greatest Dancer" - Sister Sledge
• "Heaven Knows" - Donna Summer w/Brooklyn Dreams
• "Helwa Ya Baladi" - Dalida
• "Here Comes the Summer" - The Undertones
• "Highway to Hell" - AC/DC
• "Hold the Line" - Toto
• "Honesty" - Billy Joel
• "I Just Fall In Love Again" - Anne Murray (the #1 US Country hit of the year)
• "I Want You To Want Me (live)" - Cheap Trick
• "I Want Your Love" - Chic
• "I Was Made For Lovin' You" - KISS
• "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" - Barbara Mandrell
• "Il faut danser reggae" - Dalida
• "I'll Never Love This Way Again" - Dionne Warwick
• "In the Navy" - Village People
• "Into the Valley" - The Skids
• "Is It Love You're After?" - Rose Royce
• "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" - Joe Jackson
• "Japanese Girls" - Riff Regan
• "Jimmy Jimmy" - The Undertones
• "Just the Way You Are" - Barry White
• "Just What I Needed" - The Cars
• "Kid" - The Pretenders
• "Lady Writer" - Dire Straits
• "Lady" - Little River Band
• "Lay Your Love On Me" - Racey
• "Lead Me On" - Maxine Nightingale
• "Let Me Dance Tonight" - Dalida
• "Let's Go" - The Cars
• "A Little Lovin' (Keeps the Doctor Away)" - The Raes
• "Living On The Front Line" - Eddy Grant
• "London Calling" - The Clash
• "Lonesome Loser" - Little River Band
• "Love don't live here anymore" - Morrissey-Mullen
• "Love Drive" - The Scorpions
• "Lucky Number" - Lene Lovich
• "The Main Event/Fight" - Barbra Streisand
• "Making Plans for Nigel" - XTC
• "Memory Lane" - Minnie Riperton w. Riperton Rudolph St. Lewis Dozier
• "Milk And Alcohol" - Dr. Feelgood
• "Monday, Tuesday... Laissez-moi danser" - Dalida
• "Morning Dance" - Spyro Gyra
• "My Forbidden Lover" - Chic
• "My Girl" - Madness
• "Oliver's Army" - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
• "On My Radio" - The Selecter
• "One Step Beyond" - Madness
• "One Way Or Another" - Blondie
• "One Way Ticket" - Eruption
• "On the Inside" - Lynn Hamilton
• "Parisenne Walkways" - Gary Moore
• "Queen of Hearts" - Dave Edmunds
• "Rapper's Delight" - The Sugarhill Gang
• "Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3)" - Ian Dury & the Blockheads
• "Roll Over Beethoven (EP)" - Chuck Berry
• "Roxanne" - The Police
• "Sarah" - Thin Lizzy
• "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" - The Jacksons
• "Shake Your Groove Thing" - Peaches & Herb
• "Shape I'm In" - Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons
• "She Believes In Me" - Kenny Rogers
• "Shine a Little Love - Electric Light Orchestra
• "Ships" - Barry Manilow
• "Shooting Star" - Dollar
• "Slap and Tickle" - Squeeze
• "Smash It Up" - The Damned
• "Some Girls" - Racey
• "Something Else"/"Friggin' in the Riggin'" - Sex Pistols
• "Somewhere In the Night" - Barry Manilow
• "Song on the Radio" - Al Stewart
• "Spiral Scratch(EP)" - Buzzcocks
• "Stop Your Sobbing" - Pretenders
• "Strange Town" - The Jam
• "Sultans of Swing" - Dire Straits
• "Take Me to the River" - Talking Heads
• "Take On the World" - Judas Priest
• "Talking In Your Sleep" - Crystal Gayle
• "Tears of a Clown"/"Ranking Full Stop" - The Beat
• "The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan" - Marianne Faithfull
• "The Cost of Living (EP)" - The Clash
• "The Diary of Horace Wimp" - Electric Light Orchestra
• "The Eton Rifles" - The Jam
• "The Gambler" - Kenny Rogers
• "The Logical Song" - Supertramp
• "The Long Run" - The Eagles
• "The Prince" - Madness
• "The Sound Of The Suburbs" - The Members
• "The Worker" - Fischer Z
• "Time for Action" - Secret Affair
• "Time Passages" - Al Stewart
• "Transmission" - Joy Division
• "Union City Blue" - Blondie
• "Up There Cazaly" - Two Man Band
• "Up The Junction" - Squeeze
• "Vedrai Vedrai" - Dalida
• "Voulez-Vous" - ABBA
• "Waiting for an Alibi" - Thin Lizzy
• "We Are Family" - Sister Sledge
• "We Don't Talk Anymore" - Cliff Richard
• "Whatever You Want" - Status Quo
• "Who Where You With in the Moonlight" - Dollar
• "Wonderful Christmastime" - Paul McCartney
• "You Decorated My Life" - Kenny Rogers
• "You Needed Me" - Anne Murray (in the UK; hit #1 in the US in 1978)

Published popular music

• "Don't Cry Out Loud" w. Carole Bayer Sager m. Peter Allen
• "The Facts of Life" w.m. Alan Thicke, Gloria Loring, and Al Burton, from the TV series of the same name
• "I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love" w.m. Carole Bayer Sager & Peter Allen
• "Knots Landing theme" m. Jerrold Immel
• "New York State Of Mind" w.m. Billy Joel
• "The Rainbow Connection" w.m. Kenny Ascher & Paul Williams, from the film The Muppet Movie
• Sultans of Swing w.m. Mark Knopfler

Classical music

• Arno Babadjanian - Third String Quartet
• Osvaldas Balakauskas - Symphony no 2
• George Crumb - Apparition for soprano and amplified piano
• George Crumb - Celestial Mechanics (Makrokosmos IV) for amplified piano (four hands)
• George Crumb - Star-Child (1977, revised 1979) for soprano, antiphonal children's voices, male speaking choir, bell ringers, and large orchestra
• Mario Davidovsky - Pennplay for sixteen players
• Hugh Flynn - Birds
• Jacques Hétu - Bassoon Concerto
• Miloslav Kabelac - Metamorphoses II, for piano and orchestra, op. 58
• Allan Pettersson - Viola Concerto

Opera

• Dominick Argento - Miss Havisham's Wedding Night
• Libby Larsen - The Silver Fox

Musical theater

• Ain't Misbehavin' (Music: Fats Waller, Lyrics: Various Book: Murray Horwitz & Richard Maltby Jr.). London production opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on March 22.
• Evita (Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lyrics and Book: Tim Rice). Broadway production opened at the Broadway Theatre on September 25 and ran for 1567 performances
• The King and I London revival opened at the Palladium on June 12 and ran for 538 performances
• My Old Friends (Music, Lyrics and Book: Mel Mandel and Norman Sachs). Off-Broadway production opened at the Orpheum Theatre on January 12 and transferred to the 22 Steps Theatre on Broadway on April 12 for a total run of 154 performances.
• Oklahoma! (Music: Richard Rodgers, Lyrics and Book: Oscar Hammerstein II) - Broadway revival opened at the Palace Theatre on December 13 and ran for 310 performances
• Peter Pan (Music: Mark Charlap, Lyrics and Book: Carolyn Leigh with additional songs, Music: Jule Styne and Lyrics: Betty Comden & Adolph Green)). Broadway revival opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on September 6 and ran for 551 performances.
• Saravà (Music: Mitch Leigh, Lyrics and Book: N. Richard Nash). Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on February 23 and ran for 140 performances
• Sugar Babies Broadway revue opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on October 8 and ran for 1208 performances.
• Sweeney Todd (Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim, Book: Hugh Wheeler) - Broadway production opened at the Uris Theatre on March 1 and ran for 557 performances
• They're Playing Our Song (Music: Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics: Carole Bayer Sager, Book: Neil Simon). Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on February 11 and ran for 1082 performances
• Tommy London production opened at Queen's Theatre on February 6 and ran for 118 performances
• The Venetian Twins (Music: Terence Clarke, Lyrics and Book: Nick Enright). Opened at the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre on October 26.
• Whoopee (Music: Walter Donaldson, Lyrics: Gus Kahn, Book: William Anthony McGuire). Broadway revival opened at the ANTA Theatre on February 14 and ran for 212 performances.

Musical films

• All That Jazz
• Hair
• The Muppet Movie

Births

• January 5 - Kathleen Edwards, singer
• January 10 - Kris Kross
• January 16 - Aaliyah Haughton (d. 2001)
• January 20 - Rob Bourdon, Linkin Park, Will Young
• February 11 - Brandy Norwood
• February 21 - Jennifer Love Hewitt
• March 8 - Tom Chaplin, British singer (Keane)
• March 11 - Benji Madden,Joel Madden Good Charlotte
• March 14 - Jacques Brautbar, Phantom Planet
• March 30 - Norah Jones, American singer-songwriter
• April 10 - Sophie Ellis-Bextor, British singer
• April 11
  • Chris Gaylor, The All-American Rejects
  • Sebastien Grainger, Death from Above 1979
• April 22 - Daniel Johns, Silverchair
• April 29
  • Jo O'Meara, S Club 7
  • Matt Tong, Bloc Party
• June 8 - Derek Trucks, guitarist, songwriter
• July 25 - Amy Adams, singer
• July 26 - Tamyra Gray, singer
• August 20 - Jamie Cullum
• August 27 - Jon Siebels, Eve 6
• September 3 - Jason McCaslin, Sum 41
• September 6 - Foxy Brown, rapper
• September 8 - Pink
• October 3 - Shannyn Sossamon, actress and musician
• October 9 - Alex Greenwald, Phantom Planet
• October 12 - Jordan Pundik, New Found Glory
• October 15 - Jaci Velasquez
• October 17 - Nick Cannon
• October 24 - Ben Gillies, Silverchair
• November 5 - Nick Giggler, Mest
• November 10 - Chris Joannou, Silverchair
• December 26 - Chris Daughtry

Deaths

• January 5 - Charles Mingus
• January 13 - Donny Hathaway, singer
• January 14 - Marjorie Lawrence, soprano
• February 2 - Sid Vicious, punk rocker, 21
• March 22 - Walter Legge, record producer
• April 10 - Nino Rota, composer
• April 29 - Julia A. Perry, composer and conductor
• June 5 - Jack Haley, Wizard of Oz star
• July - Pedro Flores, composer
• July 3 - Louis Durey, composer
• July 6 - Van McCoy, singer, 35
• July 12 - Minnie Riperton, singer, 31
• July 16 - Alfred Deller, countertenor
• August 19 - Dorsey Burnette
• September 6 - Guy Bolton, English librettist
• September 27 - Gracie Fields, actress and singer
• October 1 - Roy Harris, composer
• October 13 - Rebecca Helferich Clarke, viola player and composer
• October 22 - Nadia Boulanger
• November 11 - Dimitri Tiomkin, film composer and conductor
• November 30 - Joyce Grenfell, actress and singer-songwriter
• December 30 - Richard Rodgers, composer and songwriter
• date unknown - Nansi Richards, harpist

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1979

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1979