Events in Music
- May 5 West Side Story soundtrack album goes #1 & stays #1 for 54 weeks which is more than 20 weeks longer than any other album
- May 8 "Funny Thing Happened" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 965 performances
- May 9 The Beatles sign their 1st contract with EMI Parlophone
- May 19 "Bravo, Giovanni" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 76 performances
- May 19 "John Birch Society" by Chad Mitchell Trio hits #99
- May 25 Isley Brothers release "Twist & Shout"
- May 26 "All American" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 80 performances
TV Show Appearance
May 29 Barbra Streisand appears on "Garry Moore Show"
Barbra Streisand
- May 29 4th Grammy Awards: Moon River, Peter Nero wins
Birthdays in Music
- May 4 Oleta Adams, American soul singer and pianist, born in Seattle, Washington
- May 5 Jenifer McKitrick, American songwriter
- May 6 Adam Yellin, American record producer
- May 9 Dave Gahan, Essex, rock vocalist (Depeche Mode-Dreaming of Me)
- May 9 John Corbett, actor/singer (Northern Exposure, Sex and the City), born in Wheeling, West Virginia
- May 9 Paul Heaton, rocker (Housemartins-Happy Hour, Over There)
- May 10 Garry Daley, keyboard (China Crisis-Christian)
- May 12 Brett Gurewitz, American songwriter and record producer (Bad Religion) (Epitaph)
- May 14 C. C. DeVille, American rocker (Poison - Talk Dirty to Me), born in Brooklyn, New York
- May 14 Ian Astbury, Merseyside, rock vocalist (Cult-Fire Woman)
- May 17 Tracey Bryn, rocker (Voice of Beehive-Let it Bee)
- May 18 Nanne Grönvall, Swedish singer
- May 18 Sandra Cretu, German singer
- May 19 Iain Harvie, Scottish rock guitarist (Nothing Ever Happens)
- May 26 Colin Vearncombe, singer-songwriter (Black-Wonderful Like), born in Liverpool, Merseyside (d. 2016)
- May 31 Corey Hart, Canadian vocalist (Sunglasses at Night), born in Montreal, Quebec
Deaths in Music
- May 31 Eduardo Toldra, composer, dies at 67