Events in Music
- May 1 "Day in Hollywood, A Night..." opens at John Golden NYC for 588 performances
- May 1 15th Academy of Country Music Awards: Larry Gatlin and Crystal Gayle win
Event of Interest
May 2 Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in Wall (Part II)" is banned in South Africa
David Gilmour
Roger Waters
Album Release
May 16 Paul McCartney releases "McCartney II" album
Paul McCartney
Event of Interest
May 17 Paul & Linda McCartney appear on "Saturday Night Live"
Linda McCartney
Lorne Michaels
Event of Interest
May 21 "Star Wars Episode V - Empire Strikes Back", produced by George Lucas opens in cinemas in UK and North America
George Lucas
John Williams
Cannes Film Festival
May 23 33rd Cannes Film Festival: "All That Jazz" directed by Bob Fosse and "Kagemusha" directed by Akira Kurosawa jointly awarded the Palme d'Or
Akira Kurosawa
- May 24 "Rock Lobster" by B-52s hits #56
- May 25 "Musical Chairs" closes at Rialto Theater NYC after 15 performances
- May 29 John MacLachlan Gray's musical "Billy Bishop Goes to War" opens at Morosco Theater, NYC; runs for 12 performances, then moves to Off-Broadway
- May 31 "Love Stinks" by J. Geils Band peaks at #38
Birthdays in Music
- May 1 Zaz [Isabelle Geffroy], French singer-songwriter (Je veux), born in Tours, France
- May 6 Taebin, Korean singer (1TYM)
- May 8 Michelle McManus, Scottish pop singer ("All This Time"), born in Glasgow, Scotland
- May 13 Mau Marcelo, Filipino singer
- May 17 Dallas Taylor, American Christian metal singer (Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Underoath), born in Ocala, Florida
- May 18 Ali Zafar, Pakistani singer and model (Channo), born in Lahore, Pakistan
- May 21 Gotye [Wouter De Backer], Belgian-Australian rock singer-songwriter ("Someone That I Used to Know"), born in Bruges, Belgium
- May 22 Rhett Fisher, American actor and musician, born in Indianapolis, Indiana
- May 24 Cecilia Cheung, Hong Kong-Australian actress (Fly Me To Polaris) and cantopop singer, born in Hong Kong
- May 28 Mark Feehily, Irish pop singer (Westlife - "Flying Without Wings"), born in Sligo, Ireland
- May 31 Andy Hurley, American drummer (Fall Out Boy - "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race"), born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
Deaths in Music
- May 12 Lillian Roth [Rutstein], American singer and actress (Animal Crackers; Alice Sweet Alice), dies at 69
- May 14 Wilhelm Weismann, German composer, dies at 79
- May 18 Ian Curtis, English rock vocalist (Joy Division), commits suicide at 23
- May 30 Carl Radle, American bass guitarist (Derek and the Dominoes), dies of a kidney infection at 37