Events in Music
- May 1 Last British concert by Beatles (Empire Pool in Wembley)
Music Single
May 6 The Rolling Stones release the single "Paint It Black", featuring prominent sitar played by Brian Jones, in the US
- May 7 Mamas & Papas "Monday Monday" hits #1
- May 13 The Rolling Stones release "Paint it Black" in the UK
- May 14 A Lover's Concerto by Mrs Miller hits #95
- May 16 The Beach Boys release their groundbreaking album "Pet Sounds", containing hit singles "Sloop John B" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice", and "God Only Knows"
- May 21 "Downtown" by Mrs Miller hits #82
- May 21 "Time for Singing" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 41 performances
- May 21 Louie Louie by The Kingsmen reentered the chart & hits #97
Music Premiere
May 24 Jerry Herman's musical "Mame", starring Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur, opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 1508 performances, wins 3 Tony Awards
- May 28 "Ballad Of Irving", parody song by Frank Gallop peaks at #34 in US
Music History
May 28 Dmitri Shostakovich's 11th String quartet premieres in Leningrad
- May 30 The Beatles release single "Paperback Writer" / "Rain" in US; "Rain" featured experimental studio tricks of slowed down bass and drums tracks, and backwards vocals in the fade out
Birthdays in Music
- May 1 Johnny Colt [Charles Brandt], American rock bassist (Black Crowes), born in Cherry Point, North Carolina
- May 5 Shawn Drover, Canadian heavy metal drummer (Megadeth), born in Montreal, Quebec
- May 8 Daniel Glass, American jazz and R&B drummer, music writer, historian and educator (Royal Crown Revue; Daniel Glass Trio), born in Lincoln, Nebraska
- May 8 Marta Sánchez, Spanish singer (De Mujer a Mujer), born in Madrid, Spain
- May 11 Christoph Schneider, German drummer (Rammstein), born in Pankow, East Germany
- May 11 Julian Joseph, British jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, (Dance of the Three Legged Elephants), and broadcaster (BBC), born in London, England
- May 12 Bebel Gilberto, Brazilian-American pop and bossa nova singer, born in New York City
- May 13 Alison Goldfrapp, English singer-songwriter (Seventh Tree), born in London
- May 13 Darius Rucker, American rock singer (Hootie & the Blowfish - "Only Wanna Be With You"), born in Charleston, South Carolina
- May 14 Fab Morvan, French singer-songwriter, dancer, and de-frocked Grammy Award winner (Milli Vanilli with Rob Pilatus), born in Paris, France
- May 14 Mike Inez, American rock bassist (Alice in Chains - "Facelift"; Ozzy Osbourne), born in San Fernando, California
- May 14 Raphael Saadiq, American musician (Tony! Toni! Toné!), born in Oakland California
Janet Jackson (57 years old)
May 16 American pop singer (Control, "Nasty"), sister of Michael, born in Gary, Indiana
- May 18 Michael Tait, American Christian musician (dc Talk, Tait), born in Washington D.C.
- May 22 Kenny Hickey, American guitarist (Type O Negative), born in NYC, New York
- May 27 Sean Kinney, American rock drummer (Alice in Chains - "Check My Brain"; "Hollow"), born in Renton, Washington
- May 30 Stephen Malkmus, American songwriter, singer and guitarist (Pavement), born in Santa Monica, California
Weddings in Music
Dolly Parton
May 30 American country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton (20) weds Carl Dean (23) in Ringgold, Georgia
Country Singers
Jazz Musicians
Opera Singers
Pop Stars
Rappers
Rockers