- 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
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.
- Jan 31 "Love Rollercoaster" by Ohio Players hits #1
Music Awards
Jan 31 3rd American Music Awards: Olivia Newton-John & John Denver win
Music Single
Feb 6 George Harrison releases single "This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)"
Grammy Awards
Feb 28 18th Grammy Awards: "Love Will Keep Us Together" Record of the Year; Natalie Cole 1st African American to win Best New Artist
Music Awards
Mar 1 11th Academy of Country Music Awards: Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn win
- Mar 2 Musical revue featuring song from the Harlem Renaissance "Bubbling Brown Sugar" opens at ANTA Theater, NYC; runs for 766 performances
- Mar 25 "My Fair Lady" opens at St James Theater NYC for 384 performances
- Mar 25 "Rex" opens at Lunt-Fontaine Theater NYC for 48 performances
- Mar 26 Wings release "Wings at the Speed of Sound" album
- Apr 3 21st Eurovision Song Contest: Brotherhood of Man for United Kingdom wins singing "Save Your Kisses for Me" in The Hague
Music History
Apr 6 1st quadrophonic movie track: "Ladies & Gentlemen The Rolling Stones"
- Apr 20 George Harrison sings "The Lumberjack Song" with Monty Python in NYC
- Apr 27 "So Long 174th St" opens at Harkness Theater NYC for 16 performances
- Apr 30 "Silly Love Songs" single released by Wings (Billboard Song of the Year, 1976)
Music Premiere
May 4 Leonard Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner's musical "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" opens at Mark Hellinger, NYC; runs for 7 performances
- May 8 Leonard Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner's musical "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" closes at Mark Hellinger, NYC, after 7 performances
- May 9 "So Long 174th St" closes at Harkness Theater NYC after 16 performances
- May 15 "Fonz Song" by Heyettes hits #91
- May 15 Kentucky Moonrunner by Cledus Maggard hits #85
Album Release
May 19 Columbia Records releases "Turnstiles", singer-songwriter Billy Joel's fourth studio album
- May 27 Musical whodunit "Something's Afoot" opens at Lyceum Theater, NYC; runs for 61 performances
Music History
May 29 Car tune "One Piece At A Time" by Johnny Cash hits #29
- May 31 The Who set the record for the loudest concert of all time, 120 decibels at 50 metres, at The Valley in Charlton, London, England
- Jun 3 Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" goes gold
- Jun 5 "Bigfoot" by Bro Smith hits #57
- Jun 10 67,000 fans attends Wings concert at Seattle's Kingdome
- Jun 11 Beatles "Rock & Roll Music" compilation LP is released in USA
Music History
Jun 12 "Yes, Yes, Yes" single by Bill Cosby hits #46
Music History
Jun 13 Bob Marley performs at Jaap Edenhal, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Music History
Jul 3 Brian Wilson performs with the Beach Boys after his 12 year stage absence, at Anaheim Stadium in California
- Jul 12 Ian Dury & Kilburns disband
- Jul 18 "Something's Afoot" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 61 performances
- Jul 19 British rock group Deep Purple disbands
- Jul 19 Allman Brother's roadie Scooter Herring sentenced to 75 years for providing drugs for the group, based on Gregg Allman's testimony
- Jul 21 "Guys & Dolls" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 239 performances
- Jul 22 "Let My People Come" opens at Morosco Theater NYC for 106 performances
- Jul 23 Wings release single "Let 'em In"
Music History
Aug 11 "The Who" drummer Keith Moon collapses and is hospitalized in Miami
Telethon
Sep 6 Jerry Lewis' 11th Muscular Dystrophy telethon, Dean Martin appears
- Sep 7 US courts find George Harrison guilty of 'subconsciously' plagiarizing "He's So Fine" for his song "My Sweet Lord"
- Sep 17 Ringo Starr releases album "Ringo's Rotogravure"
- Sep 19 New York concert promoter Sid Bernstein offers $230 million to charity for a Beatles reunion; they politely decline
- Sep 19 "Going Up" opens at John Golden Theater NYC for 49 performances
Oh! Calcutta! - The Bare Facts
Sep 24 "Oh! Calcutta!" revival opens at Edison Theater, NYC; runs for 5,959 performances, Broadway’s longest-running musical revue
- Sep 25 George Gershwin's "Porgy & Bess" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 122 performances
Music History
Sep 25 Bono, David Evans, his brother Dik, and Adam Clayton respond to an advertisement on a bulletin board at Mount Temple posted by fellow student Larry Mullen Jr. to form a rock band, which becomes U2
- Sep 28 A&M sues George Harrison who fails to meet deadline for LP completion
Album Release
Sep 28 "Songs in the Key of Life" 18th studio album by Stevie Wonder is released (Billboard Song of the Year 1977)
Music History
Sep 29 Boy George expelled from school
Music History
Sep 29 Jerry Lee Lewis, attempting to shoot soda bottles hits his bass player Norman Owens twice in the chest
- Oct 2 "Let My People Come" closes at Morosco Theater NYC after 106 performances
- Oct 9 "Robber Bridegroom" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 145 performances
- Oct 11 10th Country Music Association Award: Mel Tillis wins
- Oct 15 Ringo Starr releases single "A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll"; peaks at 26 in US, fails to chart in UK
- Oct 30 "Going Up" closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 49 performances
- Nov 1 "Don't Step on My Olive Branch" opens at Playhouse NYC for 16 performances
- Nov 14 "Don't Step on My Olive Branch" closes at Playhouse NYC after 16 performances
- Nov 19 George Harrison releases single "This Song", an expression of his frustration at being sued for copyright infringement
- Nov 20 George Harrison appears on "Saturday Night Live": haggling with Lorne Michaels; performing "Here Comes the Sun" and "Homeward Bound" with Paul Simon; and airing two music videos
Music Concert
Nov 25 The Band's farewell concert at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California; guest performers include Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, and the Staples Singers; concert film "The Last Waltz" directed by Martin Scorcese
- Nov 26 East Germany strips singer-songwriter and poet Wolf Biermann his citizenship while he tours West Germany
- Nov 26 Ringo Starr releases single "Hey Baby"
Music Single
Nov 26 Sex Pistols release their debut single "Anarchy In The UK"
- Dec 1 Sex Pistols using profanity on TV, gets them branded as "rotten punks"
Film Premiere
Dec 18 Second remake of "A Star is Born" film, directed by Frank Pierson and starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, premieres
- Dec 20 "Music Is" opens at St James Theater NYC for 8 performances
- Dec 22 "Your Arm's Too Short..." opens at Lyceum NYC for 429 performances
- Dec 22 East Germany grants rock singer Nina Hagen her request to leave the country, after refusing her stepfather re-entry
- Dec 26 Richard Adler and Will Holt's musical "Music Is", based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest", starring Christopher Hewitt, and directed by George Abbott, closes at St James Theater, NYC after 8 performances
- Dec 28 "Fiddler on the Roof" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 167 performances