1978 in music

See also:

Events

• January 14 - The Sex Pistols played their final show (until a 1996 reunion) at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom.
• April 22 - The Blues Brothers make their first appearance on Saturday Night Live. The duo of Jake & Elwood Blues (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) was introduced by Paul Shaffer (as Don Kirschner) and performed "Hey Bartender".
• April 26 - Ringo Starr's, Ringo, a musical version of The Prince and the Pauper airs on American television. Starr's fellow former Beatle George Harrison provides the narration.
• May 6 - The Knack forms
• June - The Dead Kennedys form.
• August 26 - The first Canada Jam Festival is held in Ontario, featuring sets by the Doobie Brothers, the Commodores, Kansas, Dave Mason and the Atlanta Rhythm Section.
• November 27 - Def Leppard's permanent drummer Rick Allen joins the band at the age of 15.
• Sony introduces the first portable stereo, which is called the Walkman.
• Gary Busey stars in The Buddy Holly Story, which won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Busey) and Best Sound.
• The Beatles spoof, "The Rutles - All You Need Is Cash" airs on television.
• The Eagles' 5-star record, "Hotel California" was nominated for a Grammy award
• Kenny Rogers continues his highly successful solo career with the single (and album) "The Gambler" and will go on to star in no less than 5 movies based around the song.
• Steve Martin performs the original "King Tut" on Saturday Night Live. The song is later released as a single and becomes a hit for the comedian.
• In the UK, singles sales are at their all-time high this year, boosted by the simultaneous peak of the disco and punk phenomena and the success of singles from the movie Grease.
• The Feelies' musical career starts
• Van Halen's musical career begins
• Duran Duran form
• The Beastie Boys form
• The Pretenders form
• Social Distortion form