Events in Music
- Jan 1 "A Musical Jubilee" closes at St James Theater, NYC, after 92 performances
- Jan 4 "Candide" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 740 performances
- Jan 9 C. W. McCall CB song "Convoy" hits #1 on the country music charts
Music Single
Jan 9 Ringo Starr releases single "Oh My My" in the UK
Music Premiere
Jan 11 Stephen Sondheim's musical "Pacific Overtures" opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 193 performances, wins 2 Tony and 2 Drama Desk Awards
#1 in the Charts
Jan 17 "I Write the Songs" cover by Barry Manilow hits #1
Music Single
Jan 17 Blondie release their debut single "X Offender" written by Debbie Harry and Gary Valentine
Album Release
Jan 23 RCA releases "Station to Station", David Bowie's 10th studio album, recorded in Los Angeles; it peaks in the U.S. charts at No.3, and No. 5 in the U.K.
American Music Awards
Jan 31 3rd American Music Awards: Olivia Newton-John & John Denver win
Birthdays in Music
- Jan 5 Matt Wachter, American bassist (30 Seconds to Mars), born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania
- Jan 9 Svitlana Azarova, Ukrainian-Dutch contemporary classical music composer (Momo and the Time Thieves), born in the Ukrainian SSR
- Jan 12 Miki Nakatani, Japanese actress and singer, born in Tokyo, Japan
- Jan 17 Aga Zaryan [Agnieszka Skrzypek], Polish jazz singer (A Book of Luminous Things), born in Warsaw, Poland
- Jan 18 Damien Leith, Irish-Australian singer-songwriter (Australian Idol, 2006), born in Dublin, Ireland
Emma Bunton (47 years old)
Jan 21 British Pop Singer (Spice Girls - "Girl Power"), born in London, England
- Jan 23 Angelica Lee, Taiwanese actress & singer, born in Alor Setar, Malaysia
- Jan 26 Willie Adler, American rock guitar player (Lamb Of God), born in Richmond, Virginia
- Jan 27 Ruby Lin, Taiwanese actress and singer
- Jan 28 Jarrod Montague, American rock drummer (Taproot), born in Linden, Michigan
- Jan 28 Rick Ross [William Leonard Roberts II] American rapper and songwriter (Port Of Miami; "Aston Martin Music"), born in Clarksdale, Mississippi
Deaths in Music
- Jan 3 Mateusz Glinski, Polish conductor, musicologist, and composer, dies at 83
- Jan 5 Georges Migot, French composer, and poet (Les Agrestide; L'Arche), dies at 84
- Jan 5 Mal Evans, British Beatles roadie and personal assistant, dies in a confrontation with police at his Los Angeles home at 40
- Jan 10 Howlin' Wolf [Chester Arthur Burnett], American blues musician (Smokestack Lightnin', Killing Floor), dies of complications during kidney surgery at 65
- Jan 23 Paul Robeson, American stage and screen bass-baritone singer ("Old Man River"), actor, and civil rights activist, dies of stroke complications in Philadelphia at 77
- Jan 28 Chris Kenner, American R&B singer-songwriter (I Like it Like That), dies at 46
- Jan 30 Beau De Glen "Mance" Lipscomb, American blues singer and guitarist ("Shine On, Harvest Moon"), dies of a stroke at 80
- Jan 31 Buster Brown, American blues singer and harmonica player (Fannie Mae), dies at 64