Events in Music
- Jan 8 "Make Mine Manhattan" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 429 performances
- Jan 8 "My Romance" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 95 performances
- Jan 8 "Small Wonder" closes at Coronet Theater NYC after 134 performances
- Jan 13 "Along 5th Avenue" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 180 performances
- Jan 16 "Rape of Lucretia" closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 23 performances
- Jan 22 "All for Love" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 121 performances
Birthdays in Music
- Jan 1 Daniel E Gawthrop, American composer
- Jan 2 Chick Churchill, Wales, keyboardist (Ten Years After-I'm Going Home)
- Jan 5 George Brown, rock drummer (Kool & the Gang-Celebration)
- Jan 6 Richard Horowitz, composer
- Jan 7 John Christopher Parry, rocker (Cure)
- Jan 7 Marshall Chapman, Spartanburg SC, country singer
- Jan 11 Tom Netherton, singer (Lawrence Welk Show), born in Munich. Germany
- Jan 11 [Frederick] Dennis Greene, American singer (Sha Na Na), born in New York, (d. 2015)
- Jan 11 Daryl Braithwaite, Australian rock singer
- Jan 12 Wayne Wang, director (Chan is Missing, Slamdance)
- Jan 12 Kentaro Haneda, Japanese composer (d. 2007)
- Jan 19 Robert Palmer, Batley England, singer (Power Station)
- Jan 22 James P Pennington, rocker (Exile)
- Jan 22 Steve Perry, Hanford California, vocalist (Journey-Open Arms, Oh Sherry)
- Jan 24 John Belushi, comedian and actor (SNL, Blues Brothers), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Jan 26 Derek Holt, rocker (Climax Blues Band)