See also: List of years in music, Timeline of trends in music to 1899, Timeline of trends in music (1900-1950), Timeline of trends in music (1980-present)

1950s

• 1950 in music
  • Music of Cuba
    • Son[?] and rumba, among other influences, combine to form new genres like salsa
  • Music of Trinidad and Tobago
    • The Trinidad All Star Percussion Orchestra[?] tours Europe, marking the beginning of the dominance for newly-invented steelband[?] orchestras
• 1951 in music
  • Music of Trinidad
    • Calypso's mainstream popularity outside of Trinidad begins with artists like Lord Melody, Lord Kitchener, and, most especially, Mighty Spoiler's "Bed Bug".
  • Music of the United States
    • The Bakersfield sound in country music develops in Bakersfield, California as a reaction against the dominant Nashville sound - artists like Buck Owens[?] and Wynn Stewart[?] begin their career
    • Piano Red ("The Wrong Yo Yo", "Just Right Bounce", "Laying the Boogie") is the first blues singer in history to appear on the pop charts
    • Cool jazz is formed as a fusion of jazz and bossa nova
• 1952 in music
  • Music of the United States
    • Hard bop emerges with recordings by Miles Davis (Miles Ahead[?]), Sonny Rollins (Way Out West[?]) and J.J. Johnson (Blue Trombone[?])
    • Bill Haley's pioneering recordings ("Rocket 88") mark the beginning of rockabilly as a distinct genre and commercial force
• 1953 in music
  • Music of Cuba
    • Chachachá begins its reign of popularity in Cuba after developing of Haitian immigrant charanga[?] bands, followed within a year by a short-lived American obsession with the dance music
• 1954 in music
  • Music of the Bahamas
    • Bahamanian junkanoo[?] parades, annual celebrations of music and dance, begin to become more organized, eventually helping solidify the sound of junkanoo and move it towards popularization
  • Music of Jamaica
    • Arguably the start of the Jamaican music scene with R&B and other American genres becoming popular; as these start to become distinctively Jamaican, they will evolve into reggae and dub. The first Jamaican music studios open this year.
  • Music of the United States
    • Bill Haley and his Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", beginning the first rock and roll craze among mainstream listeners; many consider this the end of Tin Pan Alley's dominance of pop music
• 1955 in music
  • Music of the United States
    • The Weavers[?] return to folk music after years of being blacklisted[?]; their concert at Carnegie Hall helps to re-establish folk music's popular acceptance
  • Music of Haiti
    • Compas direct[?] begins its popularization due to artists like Nemours Jean Baptiste[?].
• 1956 in music
  • Music of Trinidad and Tobago
    • Mighty Sparrow's "Jean and Dinah" is the last hit for classical calypso. The song became a hit and led to a new interest in pop-calypso.
  • Music of the United States
    • Hard bop jazz's mainstream success begins with Max Roach (Max Roach Plus Four[?]), Sonny Rollins (Saxophone Colossus[?]), Clifford Brown (At Basin Street[?]), Jimmy Smith[?] (The Champ) and Horace Silver ("Senor Blue")
• 1957 in music
  • Music of Iceland[?]
    • Tony Crombie & His Rockets[?], an English band, popularizes rock and roll in Iceland with a series of thirteen concerts; authorities don't approve and try to offer non-rock related activities for Icelandic youth
  • Music of the United States
    • The chart success of Johnny Cash ("Home of the Blues", "There You Go"), Ferlin Husky[?] ("Gone", "A Falling Star"), George Hamilton IV[?] ("Only One Love") and Marty Robbins ("Knee Deep in the Blues", "A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)") mark the beginning of the Nashville sound's domination of country music
• 1958 in music
  • Music of Brazil
    • Bossa nova emerges from Brazil with artists like João Gilberto[?] ("Bim Bom"), and Antonio Carlos Jobim[?] ("Chega de Saudade")
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • Blues musicians like Big Bill Broonzy, Alexis Korner, Cyril Davies[?] and Muddy Waters achieve great popular acclaim in Great Britain
  • Music of the United States
    • Cuban bolero[?] music is briefly popular, and leaves a long-standing influence on the Nashville Sound
    • The Kingston Trio[?]'s "Tom Dooler" helps to jumpstart a revival in folk music
  • Music of India
    • The films Al Hilal[?] and Mughal-e-Azam[?] are responsible for the blossoming of filmi qawwali[?], as well as its increasing secularization, leading to intense controversy
• 1959 in music
  • Music of Iceland[?]
    • Native rock and roll musicians begin an Icelandic rock scene. Record companies require lyrics to be in Icelandic, though the youthful listeners prefer English language acts.
  • Music of the United States
    • Recordings by Ornette Coleman (The Shape of Jazz to Come[?]), Sun Ra (The Nubians of Plutonia[?]), John Coltrane (Giant Steps[?]), Cecil Taylor (Stereo Drive[?], Love for Sale[?]) and Eric Dolphy (Hot & Cool Latin[?]) mark a mainstream resurgence in jazz, which has morphed into hard bop, avant-garde jazz[?] and fusion[?] - most important is Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
  • Music of Jamaica
    • Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid, among others, found Jamaican ska-oriented labels, setting the foundation for a distinctively Jamaican music scene

• 1960 in music
  • Music of Iceland[?]
    • The first peak of rock and roll's popularity, with native bands like Lúdó[?], Disco[?] and City[?] dominating live Icelandic music, though few record companies will sign pure rock bands
  • Music of the United States
    • Soul music begins to develop out of gospel with recordings like "Cathy's Clown" (The Everly Brothers) and "Chain Gang" (Sam Cooke)
    • Elvis Presley's His Hand in Mine[?] is released; this is often considered the start of contemporary gospel music
  • Music of Spain
    • In Spain, a major revival of flamenco music begins
• 1961 in music
  • Music of Cuba
    • The term salsa music is first used to describe Tito Puente and similar artists, who had been performing in the style for some twenty-five years
  • Music of Haiti
    • Webert Sicot[?] begins a solo musical career, going on to be a pioneer in the development of compas rampa[?]
  • Music of Jamaica
    • The Folkes Brothers[?]' "Oh Carolina" marks the beginning of Jamaican musicians mixing native beats, gospel, ska and American R&B, eventually forming reggae
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • The popularity of merseybeat outside of Liverpool begins with bands like Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, the Fourmost, Cilla Black, the Searchers, the Merseybeats, and the Mojos.
  • Music of the United States
    • Patsy Cline's (and the Nashville sound in country music) popularity peaks with country singles like "Crazy" and "I Fall to Pieces"
    • The Supremes sign to Motown; they (and Motown) will become the dominant force in R&B and soul for the rest of the decade
    • Dick Dale's "Let's Go Tripping[?]" is a local hit in southern California; it is one of the pivotal recordings in the early development of surf rock
    • Mexican immigrants in the Los Angeles area have established a thriving mariachi[?] scene
  • Music of the Dominican Republic
    • Johnny Ventura[?] adds salsa and rock and roll to make a faster form of merengue
• 1962 in music
  • International trends
    • European popularity of American blues continues to grow with the first American Folk-Blues Festival[?]
  • Music of Jamaica
    • Rural poor Jamaicans begin to move into the cities; they will eventually become known as rude boys[?], and will shift ska into rocksteady
  • Music of the United States
    • Dick Dale and others popularize surf rock
    • Girl groups like The Shirelles ("Soldier Boy") and The Crystals ("There's No Other (Like My Baby)") dominate the charts, alongside other pop vocalists like Chubby Checker ("The Twist[?]"), The Four Seasons ("Big Girls Don't Cry") and Roy Orbison ("Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)")
• 1963 in music
  • Music of the Bahamas
    • The beginning of modern junkanoo[?] in the Bahamas with artists like The Valley Boys[?], The Saxons[?] and The Vikings[?] cementing the sound
  • Music of Finland
    • In Finland, letka[?] (a kind of dance music) becomes popular with the success of Rauno Lehtinen[?]
  • Music of the United States
    • The Bakersfield sound in country music begins its mainstream success with Merle Haggard's "Sing a Sad Song[?]"
    • Girl groups (The Crystals ("Then He Kissed Me"), The Ronettes ("Be My Baby"), The Chiffons[?] ("He's So Fine") and Lesley Gore ("It's My Party", "Judy's Turn to Cry")) and surf rock (The Surfaris ("Wipe Out"), Jan & Dean ("Surf City") and The Chantays ("Pipeline")) are popular
  • Music of Trinidad & Tobago
    • Lord Shorty[?]'s "Clock and Dagger" is widely considered the beginning of soca
• 1964 in music
  • International trends
    • The Beatles (A Hard Day's Night, ...Introducing the Beatles[?], Meet the Beatles) continue to dominate the charts, along with The Beach Boys ("I Get Around"), The Zombies ("She's Not There"), The Kinks ("You Really Got Me") and The Animals (The Animals[?], "The House of the Rising Sun"). Their chart success heralds the arrival of the British Invasion in the United States, Australia and other countries
  • Music of Brazil
    • A new brand of politically aware bossa nova emerges from Brazil; musicians like Geraldo Vandré[?] respond to the reality of the time with populist songwriting
  • Music of Jamaica
    • In Jamaica, the popularity of ska is unchallenged; native artists like Toots & the Maytals[?], The Wailers, Prince Buster[?] and Desmond Dekker[?] are extremely popular
  • Music of Kenya
    • Southern African performers like Jean Bosco Mwenda[?], Edouard Masengo[?], Peter Tsotsi[?], and Nashil Pichen[?] help define a burgeoning Kenyan pop music scene, influenced strongly by kwela[?] and cavacha[?]
  • Music of the United States
    • Blue-eyed soul[?] artists like the Righteous Brothers, Mitch Ryder[?] and the Rascals are popular
    • Ray Repp[?] begins recording; this is usually considered the beginning of Christian Contemporary Music (CCM)
    • Tony Scott[?], a jazz musician, records Music for Zen Meditation[?], commonly considered the first example of New Age music[?]
• 1965 in music
  • International trends
    • The Beatles endure the heights of Beatlemania while the British Invasion peaks
    • Many of the bands that are later important in psychedelia begin performing, including Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and The Byrds
  • Music of Brazil
    • Música popular brasileira (MPB[?]) develops in Brazil with Chico Buarque[?], Edu Lobo[?] and Elis Regina[?] developing a distinctively Brazilian folk sound
  • Music of Iceland[?]
    • Hljómar[?], a native Merseybeat band, begins dominating Icelandic music with Icelandic language songs directly inspired by The Beatles; the band's first single, "Bláu augun fl'n/Fyrsti kossinn", is released this year
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • Mod reaches the height of its popularity in Britain with bands like The Who (The Who Sings My Generation) and The Small Faces
  • Music of the United States
    • Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone[?]" is one of the first successful singles to be longer than three minutes in duration; the accompanying album, Highway 61 Revisited, is also arguably the first successful fusion of rock and folk
• 1966 in music
  • International trends
    • Early psychedelia from The Who (A Quick One (Happy Jack)[?]) and The Moody Blues (The Magnificient Moodies[?]) is popular, along with bands that begin to merge these more progressive sounds with pop, like The Beatles (Revolver), Shadows of Knight[?] (Gloria[?]), The Troggs (Wild Thing[?]), The Mamas & the Papas (If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears[?]) and, most influentially, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds
    • King Sunny Ade[?] begins performing; he will eventually become one of the most popular African performers
    • Pete Seeger's "Guantanamera" popularizes Cuban guajira[?] internationally
  • Music of Jamaica
    • Rocksteady, the earliest form of reggae, emerges as a genre with the success of performers like Alton Ellis[?].
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • British blues musicians like Cream (Fresh Cream[?]) and The Yardbirds (Roger the Engineer[?]) help invent a distinct British sound
  • Music of the United States
    • Pop-oriented R&B and soul groups like The Supremes (I Hear a Symphony[?], Supremes A' Go-Go[?]) and the Lovin' Spoonful (Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful[?]) are extremely popular
  • Music of Zimbabwe
    • Shona[?] jiti[?] pop-music reaches the peak of its popularity in Zimbabwe
• 1967 in music
  • International trends
    • The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, arguably the pinnacle of psychedelic music -- other psychedelic bands like The Doors (The Doors, The Who (The Who Sell Out) and Jefferson Airplane (Surrealistic Pillow) also release pivotal albums; the whole scene is aided by the blockbuster Monterey Pop Festival[?]
    • Early punk artists like Velvet Underground (The Velvet Underground & Nico, White Light/White Heat[?]) and Iggy Pop begin their careers
  • Music of Brazil
    • Caetano Veloso (Domingo[?], Caetano Veloso[?]) and Gilberto Gil (Louvação[?]) help invent tropicalismo in Brazil
  • Music of Denmark[?]
    • Steppeulvene[?]'s Hip[?] marks the emergence of a distinctive Danish beat[?] scene, as the lyrics are in Danish and reflect a merger of American and Danish folk music with rock
  • Music of Finland
    • A revival in Finnish folk music begins; it will remain popular for most of the next decade
  • Music of Italy[?]
    • Francesco Guccini[?] begins his recording career; he will become the premier Italian folk singer and the first to blend it with rock and roll
  • Music of Kenya
    • Performers like Daniel Kamau[?] begin to bring benga[?] music to commercial success in Kenya; this is the early origin of Afrobeat
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • The Nice's and The Moody Blues' first albums, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack[?] and Days of Future Passed[?] are released; this is the beginning of prog rock
  • Music of the United States
    • DJ Kool Herc moves to New York City, part of a wave of Jamaican immigrants that bring dub to the US; in the Bronx, it will evolve into hip hop
• 1968 in music
  • International trends
    • Hard-edged psychedelia is popular - artists like Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Who, Iron Butterfly and Steppenwolf sell well
  • Music of Jamaica
    • King Tubby invents dub music in Jamaica by removing the vocals from albums and playing the percussion breaks for a dance-crazy audience
    • In Jamaica, rocksteady music reaches the peak of its popularity with two notable releases by Toots & the Maytals[?]: "5446-That's My Number[?]" and "Do the Reggay[?]"; the latter is the first occurrence of the word "reggae"
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • The Canterbury Scene, a type of psychedelic music based out of Canterbury in Kent, emerges as a underground phenomenon led by The Soft Machine[?] (Volume One[?]) and Caravan[?] (Caravan[?])
• 1969 in music
  • International trends
    • folk-oriented psychedelia dominates music with releases from The Doors (The Soft Parade[?]), The Beatles (Abbey Road), The Fifth Dimension (The Age of Aquarius[?]), Youngbloods (Elephant Mountain[?]) and Crosby, Stills & Nash (Déjà Vu[?]) selling extremely well and the blockbuster Woodstock music festival held in Bethel, New York
  • Music of Brazil
    • A revival of traditional choro[?] music begins in Brazil
  • Music of Iceland[?]
    • Many of the previously-popular Beatles-influenced bands break up, and psychedelic groups like Trúbrot[?] and Náttúra[?] dominate Icelandic music
  • Music of Jamaica
    • Roots reggae becomes the dominant sound in Jamaica, with Bob Marley & the Wailers (Soul Shakedown[?]) leading the way towards a new, distinctively Jamaican fusion of folk, R&B, rock and ska
  • Music of the United Kindom[?]
    • The Who releases Tommy, the first rock opera
    • Led Zeppelin's first album, Led Zeppelin I, is released; it is an enormously influential psychedelic blues-rock[?]
  • Music of the United States
    • Larry Norman's Upon This Rock[?] is commonly considered the first Christian rock album
    • King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King[?] solidifies progressive rock into a distinct genre
    • The release of The Stooges' Raw Power is arguably the earliest traces of punk rock

• 1970 in music
  • International trends
    • Simon & Garfunkel release Bridge Over Troubled Water; this, along with releases from James Taylor (Sweet Baby James[?]), Cat Stevens (Tea for the Tillerman[?]) and Joni Mitchell (Ladies of the Canyon[?]) help define the singer-songwriter tradition
  • Music of Canada
    • A revival of traditional folk music of Quebec[?] begins.
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • First performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's influential rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar
  • Music of the United States
    • Important country-influenced albums are released by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (Déjà Vu[?], Merle Haggard (Okie from Muskogee[?]), Creedence Clearwater Revival (Cosmo's Factory[?]) and The Grateful Dead (American Beauty, Workingman's Dead[?]) -- the beginning of a distinctly country rock sound
    • Miles Davis' Bitches Brew[?] is the first truly successful fusion[?] of jazz and rock and roll
    • The beginning of the success of a group of Afrocentric poets and musicians, including the The Last Poets (The Last Poets[?]) and Gil Scott-Heron (Small Talk at 125th and Lennox[?]); this is an early forerunner of hip hop
• 1971 in music
  • International trends
    • ABBA ("Don't Know How to Love Him") begins the dominance of Europop on the continental music charts
    • Singer-songwriters like John Denver (Poems, Prayers and Promises[?]), Van Morrison (Tupelo Honey[?]), Joni Mitchell (Blue[?], Don McLean (American Pie[?]), Elton John (Tumbleweed Connection[?], Madman Across the Water[?]), Billy Joel (Cold Spring Harbor[?]), Cat Stevens (Teaser and the Firecat[?]) and Carole King (Tapestry[?]) release influential and popular albums
    • Early prog rock bands like Genesis (Nursery Cryme[?]), Deep Purple (Fireball), Electric Light Orchestra (Electric Light Orchestra[?]), Yes (The Yes Album[?]), Gong (Camembert Electrique[?]), Procol Harum (Broken Barricades[?]), Pink Floyd (Meddle[?]) and Jethro Tull (Aqualung) release influential albums; this is progressive rock's peak
  • Music of Cuba
    • Nueva trova[?] songs, marked by confrontational political and social lyrics, become popular; Los Van Van[?] also invents songo[?]
  • Music of Germany
    • Krautrock[?] begins with German musicians like Amon Düül II[?] (Tanz der Lemminge[?]), Faust (Faust) and Can (Tago Mago[?]), moving progressive rock towards new sonic territory, eventually influencing genres including New Wave, electronica and industrial rock
  • Music of Martinique and Guadeloupe
    • Haitian immigrants to Martinique bring with them kadans[?], which will dominate Martinican music for the next decade
  • Music of Iceland[?]
    • The beginning of the English language period of domination
  • Music of Kenya
    • Simba Wanyika's career as a popular performer in Kenya begins, marking the beginning of a fusion between African rhythms and western pop sounds, and the commercial success of Swahili music
  • Music of Trinidad & Tobago
    • Lancelot Layne[?]'s "Blown Away" is the beginning of rapso[?]
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • Black Sabbath's Paranoid and Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin IV are enormously influential albums in the development of heavy metal
  • Music of the United States
    • Maranatha![?] and Love Song[?] release The Everlastin' Livin' Jesus Concert[?] and Love Song[?]; this is the beginning of the popularization of Christian Contemporary Music (CCM)
    • Funkadelic releases Maggot Brain, an early fusion of soul, funk and heavy metal; releases from Roberta Flack (Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway[?]), Isaac Hayes (Black Moses[?]) and Sly & the Family Stone (There's a Riot Goin' On[?]) similarly influence the development of a more pop-oriented funk and soul
• 1972 in music
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • David Bowie releases Ziggy Stardust, which marks the height of glam rock and is an important influence on the development of punk rock; similarly influential albums by Lou Reed (Transformer[?]) and Mott the Hoople (All the Young Dudes[?]) are also released
    • Deep Purple releases Machine Head, one of the first pure heavy metal albums
    • Eggs Over Easy (Good 'n' Cheap[?]) and Kippington Lodge formulate a sound known as pub rock
  • Music of the United States
    • Neil Young's Harvest is the top-selling album in the United States and foreshadows the future popularity of country-rock
    • Curtis Mayfield's Superfly (soundtrack to the Blaxploitation film of the same name) and Marvin Gaye's What's Going On? are popular and help redefine soul music; most influentially, they add a socially aware tone to the lyrics
    • Cuban immigrants in New York City and elsewhere invent salsa music, drawing on rumba, mambo, son[?] and other Cuban forms
• 1973 in music
  • International trends
    • Singer-songwriters Elton John (Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player[?], Goodbye Yellow Brick Road[?]), Jim Croce (I Got a Name[?]), Roberta Flack (Killing Me Softly[?]) and Billy Joel (Piano Man) release hugely successful albums and singles
  • Music of Sweden
    • "Hiki haisee ja haitari soi" is popular among Finnish-Swedish dancehalls; the song is distinctively Finnish-Swedish tango, unlike Swedish or Finnish works
  • Music of India
    • Ravi Shankar releases Ragas[?]; it is enormously popular in India and reflects the commercial pinnacle of eastern music in western markets
  • Music of Jamaica
    • Jimmy Cliff's soundtrack to The Harder They Come[?] is the first commercially successful reggae music in western markets -- meanwhile, Bob Marley & the Wailers most well-reviewed works are released, though sales are limited outside of Jamaica
    • Early dub artists like Lee Scratch Perry (Cloak & Dagger[?]), Bunny Lee[?], U-Roy (Version Galore[?]), Clive Chin and King Tubby reach the peak of their popularity in Jamaica, as they revolutionize mixing techniques and toasting; Perry and Tubby's Blackboard Jungle[?] is particularly notable
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon is released; the album is often considered the best concept album and the height of experimental rock[?].
  • Music of the United States
    • Philadelphia soul[?] artists like The Delfonics ("I Don't Want to Make You Wait"), The O'Jays (Ship Ahoy[?]) and The Stylistics (Rockin' Roll Baby[?]) are extremely popular
• 1974 in music
  • International trends
    • Singer-songwriters like Jackson Browne (Late for the Sky), Elton John (Caribou[?]), Joni Mitchell (Court and Spark[?]), Randy Newman (Good Old Boys[?]), Billy Joel (Piano Man), Harry Chapin (Verities and Balderdash[?]) and Van Morrison (Veedon Fleece[?]) are extremely popular
  • Music of Trinidad
    • Ras Shorty I[?]'s Sweet Music[?] and Lord Shorty[?]'s Endless Vibrations[?] are released, thus beginning the international popularization of soca
  • Music of the United States
    • Patti Smith's "Hey Joe" is released; it is commonly considered the first punk single
    • Outlaw country[?]'s domination of the country music scene is exemplified by the chart success of Waylon Jennings (The Rambling Man[?], This Time[?]), David Allan Coe (Once Upon a Rhyme[?], Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy[?]), Merle Haggard ("Things Aren't Funny Anymore", "Old Man from the Mountain"), Kris Kristofferson (Spooky Lady's Sideshow[?]) and Willie Nelson (Phases and Stages[?]) this year
• 1975 in music
  • Music of Iceland[?]
    • Musicians like Gunnar Þórðarson[?], Megas[?], Stuðmenn[?] and Magnús Eiríksson[?] (then of Mannakorn[?]), songwriters like Þorsteinn Eggertsson[?], begin using Icelandic language lyrics and begin to develop a distinctively Icelandic rock sound inspired by Bob Dylan and similar folk- and country-influenced artists
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • Lovers rock begins its period of popularity in Britain with Louisa Marks[?]' "Caught You in a Lie"
    • Brinsley Schwarz and Ducks Deluxe break up, ending the pub rock trend
  • Music of the United States
    • Bruce Springsteen makes the cover of Time Magazine and Newsweek on the same week, releases Born to Run, and breaks into the mainstream
    • 1970s-style funk is at the height of its popularity with important releases from Parliament (Chocolate City[?]), War (Why Can't We Be Friends?[?]) and The Meters (Fire on the Bayou[?])
    • The first radio stations with a Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) format begin broadcasting
    • Country-oriented songs are popular, including releases from Linda Ronstadt (Prisoner in Disguise[?]), John Denver ("Calypso", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", "I'm Sorry", "Sweet Surrender", "Sunshine on My Shoulders"), The Eagles (One of These Nights[?]), Lynyrd Skynyrd (Nuthin' Fancy[?]), Glen Campbell ("Rhinestone Cowboy") and B.J. Thomas ("(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song")
    • Fusion jazz[?]'s golden age ends and contemporary jazz[?] emerges
    • Smokey Robinson's Quiet Storm[?] is released, defining what comes to be known as easy listening
• 1976 in music
  • International trends
    • Hard rock and heavy metal bands like Aerosmith (Rocks), AC/DC (High Voltage[?]), Blue Öyster Cult (Agents of Fortune) and Judas Priest (Sin After Sin[?]) release landmark albums
    • Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach[?] is an early example of minimalism
  • Music of Algeria
    • Ahmad Baba Rachid[?] and other performers begin popularizing Algerian rai music outside of North Africa; the new pop singers call themselves cheb
  • Music of the Bahamas
    • Bahamanian junkanoo[?] pioneers the Music Makers[?] begin performing and adding a more up-tempo beat to the music's sound
  • Music of Jamaica
    • The height of King Tubby's popularity in Jamaica, setting the stage for the diversification of sounds in the 1980s and 90s.
  • Music of Trinidad & Tobago
    • Cheryl Byron[?] performs rapso[?] in calypso tents[?], marking the beginning of rapso's mainstream acceptance in Trinidad
  • Music of the United States
    • The Eagles release Hotel California, one of the best-selling albums of the year and all time; this is the commercial peak of southern rock
    • Blondie's debut, Blondie[?], solidifies the New Wave sound in punk music, centered in New York City
    • Soft, disco-oriented ballads by The Bee Gees (Children of the World[?], "You Should Be Dancing"), Bay City Rollers ("Saturday Night", "Money Honey"), Orleans ("Still the One"), The Doobie Brothers (Takin' It to the Streets[?]), Starland Vocal Band ("Afternoon Delight"), Peter Frampton (Frampton Comes Alive[?]) and Paul Simon ("50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", "Still Crazy After All These Years") are popular
• 1977 in music
  • International trends
    • The Sex Pistols release Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols, kickstarting the punk rock movement in the UK, while the Ramones' Rocket to Russia helps break in punk in the US - art-punk bands like Television (Marquee Moon[?]), Elvis Costello (My Aim Is True[?]), The Damned (Machine Gun Etiquette[?]), Richard Hell & the Voidoids (Blank Generation), UFO (Lights Out) and Talking Heads (Talking Heads: 77[?]) also emerge
    • The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever (largely by the Bee Gees) is the dominant album of the year and helps cement disco as the most popular genre; Chic also releases a pivotal disco album, Risque[?]
    • Pop and prog rock bands like Chicago (Chicago XI[?]), Electric Light Orchestra (Out of the Blue[?]), Jethro Tull (Songs from the Wood[?]), Journey (Next), Kansas (Point of Know Return), Rush (A Farewell to Kings), Pink Floyd (Animals) and Steely Dan (Aja) release important and popular albums
  • Music of the United States
    • Hip hop DJ Grandwizard Theodore invents scratching
• 1978 in music
  • International trends
    • Important releases cement the sound of heavy metal and begin to move it towards the mainstream; this includes albums from Blue Öyster Cult (Some Enchanted Evening[?]), Van Halen (Van Halen, Judas Priest (Stained Class[?], Killing Machine[?]), Ace Frehley (Ace Frehley[?]), Rush (Hemispheres) and Styx (Pieces of Eight)
  • Music of Australia
    • Groups like The Saints (Prehistoric Sounds[?]) and Radio Birdman (Radios Appear[?]) help create a distinctively Australian punk scene
  • Music of Kenya
    • Wanyika[?] emerges in Kenya, adding rumba influences and becoming very popular as the dominant form of Swahili music
  • Music of the United States
    • Gary Numan (Tubeway Army), Human League ("Being Boiled") and similar artists pioneer the development of New Wave and synth pop out of the avant-garde stylings of Roxy Music and Kraftwerk
    • Brian Eno produces No New York[?], which cements the avant-garde sound of No Wave and includes material from bands like Teenage Jesus & the Jerks[?], DNA[?], Mars and Chance & the Contortions[?]
    • Early industrial music appears, spearheaded by bands like Suicide (Suicide[?]), Throbbing Gristle (D.O.A.: The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle[?]) and Cabaret Voltaire
• 1979 in music
  • International trends
    • Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead" marks the beginning of Gothic rock in the US; The Cure (Three Imaginary Boys), Joy Division (Unknown Pleasures[?]) and Siouxsie & the Banshees (The Scream) move punk in the same direction in the UK
  • Music of Jamaica
    • Recordings by Roots Radic[?] backing Barrington Levy mark the beginning of dancehall music[?]
  • Music of Mexico
    • Country musician Linda Ronstadt helps lead a popularization of Mexican mariachi[?] music, beginning with a major festival in San Antonio, Texas
  • Music of the United Kingdom
    • The Clash releases London Calling, a pivotal album in the development of hardcore punk
  • Music of the United States
    • The Sugarhill Gang releases what is commonly considered the first successful hip hop single, "Rappers Delight[?]"
    • Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers[?]' Bustin' Loose[?] is released; this is the first go go record.
    • Casper[?]'s "Groovy Ghost Show" is the first recorded hip hop from Chicago, while Jocko Henderson[?]'s "Rhythm Talk" is the first recorded hip hop from Philadelphia