- Jan 3 "Oh Coward!" closes at Helen Hayes Theater NYC after 56 performances
- Jan 3 "Smile" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 48 performances
Hall of Fame
Jan 3 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducts 1st female artist, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
- Jan 20 Rhino Records 1st #1, Billy Vera & Beaters' "At This Moment"
Hall of Fame
Jan 21 Muddy Waters is inducted into the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame"
Muddy Waters
Music Awards
Jan 26 14th American Music Awards: Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie & Alabama
Whitney Houston
Lionel Richie
- Feb 7 "Ronnies Rap" by Ron & DC Crew peaks at #93
- Feb 19 "Stardust" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 102 performances
- Feb 24 29th Grammy Awards: Higher Love, Graceland, Bruce Hornsby wins
- Feb 26 1st release of Beatles compact discs
- Mar 12 "Les Miserables" opens at Broadway/Imperial NYC for 4000+ performances
- Mar 15 "Starlight Express" opens at Gershwin Theater in NYC for 761 performances
- Mar 15 "Sweet Charity" closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 368 performances
Music Awards
Mar 24 1st Soul Train Music Awards: Janet Jackson, Luther Vandross win
Janet Jackson
Music Awards
Apr 6 22nd Academy of Country Music Awards: Hank Williams Jr, Randy Travis, and Reba McEntire win
Hank Williams Jr
- Apr 15 "Barbara Cook: A Concert" opens at Ambassador NYC for 13 performances
- Apr 26 "Barbara Cook: A Concert" closes at Ambassador NYC after 13 performances
- May 3 "Mikado" closes at Virginia Theater NYC after 46 performances
- May 9 32nd Eurovision Song Contest: Johnny Logan for Ireland wins singing "Hold Me Now" in Brussels
- May 16 "Mystery of Edwin Drood" closes at Imperial NYC after 608 performances
Event of Interest
May 16 Weird Al Yankovic performs live at 72nd National Orange Show
Weird Al Yankovic
- May 17 "Stardust" closes at Biltmore Theater NYC after 102 performances
Event of Interest
May 29 Michael Jackson attempts to buy Elephant Man's remains
Michael Jackson
- Jun 7 41st Tony Awards: Fences & Les Miserables win
- Jun 8 21st Music City News Country Awards: Randy Travis
- Jun 28 "Dreamgirls" opens at Ambassador Theater NYC for 177 performances
- Jul 1 WHN-AM in NY City changes call letters to WFAN (now WEVD) replacing WHN's country music, WYNY-FM adopts country music format
- Jul 11 Heart's "Alone" single goes #1 for 3 weeks
Event of Interest
Jul 13 Federal judge throws out Bette Midler's $10 million suit against Ford Motor Co, who used a sound alike voice for their TV commercials
Bette Midler
Music Single
Jul 13 Kylie Minogue releases her debut single "Locomotion"
Kylie Minogue
Event of Interest
Jul 15 Boy George barred from British TV show, he may be a bad influence
Boy George
Album Release
Aug 16 Bon Jovi release their 3rd album "Slippery When Wet" (Billboard's top selling album of 1987)
Richie Sambora
- Aug 22 Madonna's "Who's That Girl" single goes #1
- Aug 25 Madonna sings in Rotterdam
- Aug 31 Michael Jackson's "Bad" video premieres on CBS TV
- Sep 7 "I Want Her" single released by Keith Sweat (Billboard Song of the Year 1988)
- Sep 11 4th MTV Video Music Awards: Peter Gabriel wins
- Sep 14 'Les Miserables' opens at Rock Theatre, Vigzinhaz Budapest
- Sep 20 "Big River" closes at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC after 1005 performances
- Sep 29 "Didn't We Almost Have It All," by Whitney Houston hits #1
- Oct 1 "Roza" opens at Royale Theater NYC for 12 performances
Music Single
Oct 6 "Faith" single released by George Michael (Billboard Song of the Year 1988)
George Michael
Album Release
Oct 10 Bruce Springsteen releases his 9th album "Tunnel of Love"
Bruce Springsteen
- Oct 12 21st Country Music Association Award: Hank William Jr wins
Event of Interest
Oct 12 George Harrison releases "Got My Mind Set On You"
George Harrison
Album Release
Oct 20 Geffen records release their first album, Donna Summer's "The Wanderer"
Donna Summer
- Oct 22 "Cabaret" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 262 performances
- Oct 29 "Don't Get God Started" opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 86 performances
- Oct 30 "Faith" debut album by George Michael is released
- Nov 2 George Harrison releases "Cloud 9" & McCartney releases "All the Best"
- Nov 5 "Into the Woods" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 764 performances
- Nov 5 Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine's musical "Into the Stars," premieres
- Nov 11 "Roza" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 12 performances
- Nov 12 "Teddy & Alice" opens at Minskoff Theater NYC for 77 performances
- Nov 14 "La Cage aux Folles" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 1761 performances
Event of Interest
Nov 16 Paul McCartney releases "Once Upon a Long Ago"
Paul McCartney
- Nov 17 The Madonna compilation album "You Can Dance" is released
- Nov 24 "Make It Last Forever" debut album by Keith Sweat is released (Billboard Song of the Year 1988)
- Nov 27 "Les Miserables" opens at Theatre Royal, Sydney
- Nov 29 "Dreamgirls" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 177 performances
- Dec 15 First National US Tour of "Les Miserables" opens at Shubert Theatre, Boston
- Dec 19 Bruins' Linseman & Blues' Doug Gilmore score goals, 2 seconds apart
Event of Interest
Dec 20 "Nuts" with Barbra Streisand premieres
Barbra Streisand
- Dec 26 "Les Miserables" opens at National Theatre of Iceland, Reykjavik