1975 in music

Specific genres

• 1975 in country music
• 1975 in heavy metal music
• 1975 in jazz
• 1975 in progressive rock

Events

January–April

• January 2 – New York City U.S. District Court Judge Richard Owen rules that former Beatle John Lennon and his lawyers can have access to Department of Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case.
• January 5 – The Wiz, a new musical version of the classic Wizard of Oz story, opens at Broadway's Majestic Theater in New York City.
• January 6 – Approximately 1.000 Led Zeppelin fans, waiting for tickets to go on sale for Led Zeppelin's February 4 concert, cause an estimated $30,000 in damage to the lobby of the Boston Garden. The fans reportedly broke chairs and doors and caused other damage to the building. Boston Mayor Kevin White cancels the upcoming show.
• January 8 – Three Led Zeppelin concerts at Madison Square Garden sell out in a record four hours.
• January 12 – "The Warner Brothers Music Show" begins a nine-city, 18-show tour of Europe. The tour included Warner Brothers acts Little Feat, Tower of Power, the Doobie Brothers, Bonaroo, Montrose, and Graham Central Station.
• January 24 – Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett plays the solo improvisation 'The Köln Concert' at the Cologne Opera, which, recorded live, becomes the best-selling piano recording in history.
• February 13 – The film Slade In Flame, starring the members of Slade, premieres at the Metropole Theatre in London.
• February 21 – John Lennon releases his Rock 'n' Roll LP, featuring his favorite rock songs from the 1950s. To promote the album he conducts a telephone interview with 20 rock radio stations simultaneously.
• March 1 – The 17th Annual Grammy Awards are presented in New York, hosted by Andy Williams. Stevie Wonder's Fulfillingness' First Finale wins Album of the Year, Olivia Newton-John's "I Honestly Love You" wins Record of the Year and Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were" wins Song of the Year. Marvin Hamlisch wins Best New Artist.
• March 2 – Los Angeles Police make a routine traffic stop that turns out to be Paul McCartney and his wife Linda. Linda is arrested for having 170 to 225 grams (six to eight ounces) of marijuana in her pocketbook.
• March 21 – Alice Cooper, now a solo artist, begins the Welcome to My Nightmare tour in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The elaborate show is among the largest stage spectacles of the decade.
• March 22 – In the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden, the Dutch group Teach-In wins with the song "Ding-A-Dong".
• March 23 – Promoter Bill Graham stages the S.N.A.C.K. (Students Need Athletics, Culture and Kicks) charity concert at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, California, to benefit the city's educational system. Almost 60,000 people come to see The Grateful Dead, The Doobie Brothers, Santana, Jefferson Starship, Tower of Power, Eddie Palmieri, Joan Baez, Graham Central Station and Neil Young joined by members of The Band along with a surprise appearance by Bob Dylan. It's the largest benefit concert in history to date.
• March 26 – The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London.
• March 29 – Jeff Beck releases the album Blow by Blow. It is the first album to be released using just his name.
• April 3 – Steve Miller is arrested and charged with setting fire to the clothes and personal effects of a friend, Benita DiOrio, and resisting arrest. DiOrio drops the charges the following day.
• April 7 – Ritchie Blackmore plays a final show with Deep Purple in Paris before quitting to form his own group, Rainbow.
• April 17 – Cambodian singer-songwriter Sinn Sisamouth and his pregnant wife are among millions forced out of Phnom Penh by the Khmer Rouge.
• April 24 – Pete Ham, founder of the group Badfinger, is found hanged in his London garage. His death is ruled a suicide.
• April 25 – Alice Cooper's first television special with special guest Vincent Price, Welcome to My Nightmare: The Making of a Record Album airs on ABC's Wide World In Concert, part of a short-lived late night variety series.
• April 28 – Tom Snyder interviews John Lennon on the Tomorrow Show.

May–August

• May 1 – The Rolling Stones announce their forthcoming North American tour by performing Brown Sugar from a flatbed truck on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The occasion was guitarist Ronnie Wood's debut with the band.
• May 10 – Stevie Wonder performs before 125,000 people at the Washington Monument as part of Human Kindness Day festivities.
• June 1 – The Rolling Stones open their North American Tour in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• June 20 – Talking Heads perform their first show at CBGB in New York.
• June 23 – Alice Cooper falls off the stage during a concert in Vancouver, Canada, breaking six ribs.
• June 24 – "Gens du pays", the unofficial national anthem of Quebec, is performed for the first time by Gilles Vigneault in a concert on Montreal's Mount Royal.
• June 30 – Cher and Gregg Allman are married in a Las Vegas hotel suite. That same day, The Jackson 5 leave Motown for CBS Records, but the brothers are forced to change their name to The Jacksons because Motown owns the Jackson 5 name. Jermaine Jackson stays with Motown when his brothers break their contracts and leave for CBS; he is replaced by youngest Jackson brother Randy as a result.
• July 4 – The Texas Senate declares the Fourth of July "Willie Nelson Day", as more than 70,000 fans visit Liberty Hill for the third annual picnic and country rock show headlined by Willie himself.
• August 4 – Robert Plant and his wife Maureen are seriously injured in a car accident while vacationing on the Greek island of Rhodes. The immediate future of Led Zeppelin is cast into doubt, as Plant will not recover for quite some time.
• August 9
  • Dmitri Shostakovich dies in Moscow.
  • The Bee Gees begin their mid-1970s international comeback when "Jive Talkin'" reaches #1 and goes platinum with sales over 1 million.
  • Renato Carosone's comeback concert after a 15-year retirement.
  • The first Rock Music Awards, produced by Don Kirshner, are held in Los Angeles, co-hosted by Elton John and Diana Ross. John wins "Outstanding Rock Personality of the Year". The Who's film Tommy wins "Rock Movie of the Year".
• August 23 – Peter Gabriel leaves British progressive rock group Genesis.

September–December

• September 12 – Pink Floyd releases their ninth album, Wish You Were Here.
• September 29 – Singer Jackie Wilson suffers a massive heart attack while performing on stage in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He survives but never physically recovers.
• October 3 – The Who release their seventh studio album, The Who By Numbers.
• October 7 – John Lennon finally wins his battle to stay in the United States after the New York Court of Appeals overturns Lennon's 1972 deportation order.
• October 9
  • John Lennon and Yoko Ono become parents of Sean Ono Lennon at 2:00 AM. The birth heralds the beginning of John's temporary retirement from the music business as he vows to devote himself to family for the next five years.
  • Rock band Kiss earns publicity by playing the homecoming dance of Cadillac High School in Cadillac, Michigan.
• October 11 – Bruce Springsteen appears at the Monmouth Arts Center (Count Basie Theater) for The Homecoming Concert.
• October 18 – Simon & Garfunkel reunite on the second-ever episode of Saturday Night Live on NBC, performing "The Boxer", "Scarborough Fair", and new collaboration "My Little Town".
• October 27 – Bruce Springsteen appears on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines on the same week.
• October 30 – Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour begins with a concert at Memorial Hall in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• November 6 – The Sex Pistols play their first concert at St. Martin's School of Art in London.
• November 10 – Lev Leshchenko revives "Den Pobedy", one of the most popular World War II songs in the Soviet Union.
• November 15 – The 4th OTI Festival, held at the WKAQ-TV studios in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is won by the song "La felicidad", written by Felipe Gil, and performed by Gualberto Castro representing Mexico.
• November 21 – Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" goes to number one in the U.K., where it remains for five weeks of 1975 and four weeks of 1976.
• December 6 – The Who set the record for largest indoor concert at the Pontiac Silverdome, attended by 78,000 fans.
• December 10 – The John Denver holiday special Rocky Mountain Christmas airs on ABC.
• December 18 – The official break-up of Faces is announced at a London press conference. Rod Stewart will continue his solo career while Ronnie Wood is widely expected to be announced as an official member of The Rolling Stones in the near future.
• December 23 – Bernard Herrmann completes recording his film soundtrack for Taxi Driver, dying the following day.
• December 24 – The first issue of Punk magazine is released with a January 1976 cover date. A drawing of Lou Reed is on the cover.
• December 25 – Bassist Steve Harris forms Iron Maiden, drawing the name from a torture device mentioned in The Man in the Iron Mask.
• December 31
  • The fourth annual New Year's Rockin' Eve airs on ABC, with performances by Average White Band, Melissa Manchester, Freddy Fender, and Neil Sedaka.
  • Elvis Presley performs before the biggest audience of his career, at Pontiac, Michigan's Silverdome. During the show, Elvis rips his pants onstage and has to leave to change.

Also in 1975

• John Rutter becomes Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge.
• Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo leave the 5th Dimension and start solo careers.
• The Goodies have five top twenty singles (in the UK) becoming, according to Bill Oddie, "the first, the only and the most successful comedy rockers".
• Ramones sign to Sire Records.
• First release of "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda", by John Currie, on Australian label M7.

Bands formed

• See Musical groups established in 1975

Bands disbanded

• See Musical groups disestablished in 1975

Albums released

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Release date unknown

Billboard Top popular records of 1975

"TOP RECORDS OF 1975 (from Billboard December 27, 1975)

The information compiled for the top records survey is based on the weekly chart positioning and length of time records were on the respective charts from the issue dates of November 2, 1974 through November 1, 1975. These recaps, as well as the weekly charts, do not reflect actual sales figures. The ratings take into account the number of weeks the disk was on the chart, plus the weekly positions it held during its chart life. Each disk was given points accordingly for its respective chart, and in addition, the number one disk each week was assigned bonus points equal to the total number of positions on its respective charts."

Unfortunately, Billboard's late December print deadline prevented approximately 60 records from completing their full chart runs, and includes data of approximately 50 records from 1976, some of which have enough points to rank in the current years chart. In contrast with the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1975, the chart below does not truncate or split chart runs between years. It does not add two months from 1974, delete two months from 1975 and then call itself the "Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1975", which it is obviously not. Joel Whitburn's Records Research books, archived issues of Billboard for November–December 1974 and December 1975 – March 1976, and Hot 100 Year-End formulas were used to complete the year-end chart reprinted here.

The completed Billboard year-end list for 1975 is composed of records that entered the Billboard Hot 100 between November 1974 and December 1975. Records with chart runs that started in 1974 and ended in 1975, or started in 1975 and ended in 1976, made this chart if the majority of their chart weeks were in 1975. If not, they were ranked in the year-end charts for 1974 or 1976. If their weeks were equal, they were listed in the year they first entered. Appearing in multiple years is not permitted. Each week thirty points were awarded to the number one record, then nineteen points for number two, eighteen points for number three, and so on. The total points a record earned determined its year-end rank. The complete chart life of each record is represented, with number of points accrued. There are no ties, even when multiple records have the same number of points. The next ranking category is peak chart position, then weeks at peak chart position, weeks on Hot 100 chart, weeks in top forty, and finally weeks in top ten. All chart rankings represented below for the Top Soul Singles, Top Country Singles, Top Easy Listening Singles, and Top CashBox pop singles were all calculated in the same manner.

The chart can be sorted by Artist, Song title, Recording and Release dates, Cashbox year-end ranking (CB) or units sold (sales) by clicking on the column header. Additional details for each record can be accessed by clicking on the song title, and referring to the Infobox in the right column of the song page. Billboard also has chart summaries on its website. Sales information was derived from the RIAA's Gold and Platinum database, the BRIT Certified database Archived 2021-02-05 at the Wayback Machine and The Book of Golden Discs, but numbers listed should be regarded as estimates. Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry information with sources can be found on Wikipedia.

Chronological table of U.S. and UK and Japan number one hit singles

Note: best sellers of the year are bold.

Japanese Oricon number one singles and artist
(weeks at number one)

• "Fuyu no Iro" – Momoe Yamaguchi (2 weeks 1974 + 4 weeks 1975)
• "Hajimete no Dekigoto" – Junko Sakurada (1)
• "Shitetsu Ensen" – Goro Noguchi (3)
• "22-sai no Wakare" – Kaze (4)
• "Waga Yoki Tomoyo" – Hiroshi Kamayatsu (4)
• "Showa Kare Susuki" – Sakura & Ichiro (3)
• "Cyclamen no Kaori" – Akira Fuse (5)
• "Kakkoman Boogie / Minato no Yoko Yokohama Yokosuka" – Down Town Boogie Woogie Band (5)
• "Kokoro Nokori" – Takashi Hosokawa (4)
• "Omoide Makura" – Kyoko Kosaka (1)
• "Romance" – Hiromi Iwasaki (3)
• "Toki no Sugiyuku Mama ni" – Kenji Sawada (5)
• "Ichigo Hakusho wo Mou Ichido" – Bang Bang (6)
• "Sentimental" – Hiromi Iwasaki (2)
• "Ano Hi ni Kaeritai" – Yumi Arai (2)

Top 40 Chart hit singles

Number One hit singles

Other selected singles

• "All My Friends Are Getting Married" – Skyhooks (# 2 Australia)
• "At Va'Ani" – Shlomo Artzi (# 2 Israel) (Israel's 1975 Eurovision entry)
• "Bony Moronie" – Hush (# 4 Australia)
• "Ego Is Not a Dirty Word" – Skyhooks (# 2 Australia)
• "Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein" – Joy Fleming (# 32 Germany) (Germany's 1975 Eurovision entry)
• "Era" – Wess and Dori Ghezzi (# 6 Switzerland) (Italy's 1975 Eurovision entry)
• "Girls On the Avenue" – Richard Clapton (# 4 Australia)
• "My Little Angel" – William Shakespeare (# 2 Australia)
• "Rak Off Normie!" – Maureen Elkner (# 6 Australia)
• "So Far Away from L.A." – Nicolas Peyrac (# 4 France)
• "That's What Friends Are For" – The Swarbriggs (# 2 Ireland) (Ireland's 1975 Eurovision entry)
• "Tonite Is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love" – April Wine (# 5 Canada)
• "Wart auf mich" – Michael Holm (# 4 Germany)
• "Yesterday's Hero" – John Paul Young (# 8 Australia)

Notable singles

Other Notable singles

• "Gamblin' Bar Room Blues" b/w "Shake That Thing" – The Sensational Alex Harvey Band

Published popular music

• "And All That Jazz" w. Fred Ebb m. John Kander. Introduced by Chita Rivera in the musical Chicago
• "Anytime (I'll Be There)" w.m. Paul Anka
• "At Seventeen" w.m. Janis Ian
• "Calypso" w.m. John Denver
• "I'm Not in Love" w.m. Graham Gouldman & Eric Stewart
• "I'm Sorry" w.m. John Denver
• "Love Will Keep Us Together" w.m. Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield
• "Mamma Mia" w.m. Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus
• "Movin' On Up" w.m. Jeff Barry and Ja'net Dubois, theme from the TV series The Jeffersons
• "New York State of Mind" w.m. Billy Joel
• "One" w. Edward Kleban m. Marvin Hamlisch
• "Rockin' All Over the World" w.m. John C. Fogerty
• "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" w.m. Freddy Fender & Wayne Duncan
• "The Way I Want To Touch You" w.m. Toni Tennille
• "What I Did For Love" w. Edward Kleban m. Marvin Hamlisch
• "You" w.m. Tom Snow

Classical music

• Samuel Adler – Symphony No. 5, We are the Echoes
• Osvaldas Balakauskas – Sonata of the Mountains
• Claude Bolling and Jean-Pierre Rampal – Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano
• Mario Davidovsky – Scenes from Shir ha-Shirim for soprano, two tenors, bass soli and chamber ensemble
• Klaus Huber – Blätterlos for piano
• Wojciech Kilar – Bogurodzica for mixed choir and orchestra
• Theo Loevendie – Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra, Incantations
• Witold Lutosławski – Les Espaces du sommeil
• Krzysztof Meyer
  • Sonata for piano, No. 5
  • Sonata for solo violin
• Frederic Rzewski – The People United Will Never Be Defeated!
• Karlheinz Stockhausen
  • Harlekin, for clarinet, Nr. 42
  • Der kleine Harlekin, for clarinet, Nr. 42½
  • Musik im Bauch, for six percussionists and music boxes, Nr. 41
  • Tierkreis, for a melody and/or chording instrument, Nr. 41½
• Alexander Vustin – The Word
• Dmitri Shostakovich – Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147 (his final work)

Opera

• Viktor Ullmann – Der Kaiser von Atlantis (16 December, Bellevue Centre, Amsterdam)
• John Rutter – Bang! (14 March, Fairfield Halls, Croydon)
• Aulis Sallinen – The Horseman (17 June, Savonlinna Opera Festival)

Jazz

Musical theatre

• Chicago – Broadway production opened at the 46th Street Theatre and ran for 936 performances
• A Chorus Line (Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban) – Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theatre and ran for 6137 performances, the longest run of any Broadway musical at the time
• A Little Night Music (Stephen Sondheim) – London production
• Dance With Me – Broadway production opened at the Mayfair Theatre and ran for 396 performances
• The Wiz – Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre and ran for 1672 performances

Musical films

• At Long Last Love
• Funny Lady
• Lisztomania
• The Magic Flute
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Tommy
• Train Ride to Hollywood

Births

January

• January 2
  • Doug Robb (Hoobastank)
  • Chris Cheney, Australian rock musician (The Living End)
  • Jung Sung-hwa, South Korean actor
• January 3
  • Thomas Bangalter, French record producer, singer-songwriter, DJ and composer (Daft Punk)
  • Christian Argenti, Australian singer and radio presenter (Invertigo)
• January 5 – Bradley Cooper, American singer, actor, film maker, voice actor and producer (A Star Is Born, 2018, starring Lady Gaga)
• January 8
  • Harris Jayaraj, Indian film composer and producer
  • DJ Clue, American DJ, record producer, radio personality and record executive
• January 11
  • Venetian Snares, electronic dance music composer, influential in breakcore
  • Timbuktu, Swedish rapper and singer
• January 13 – Jason King, radio DJ
• January 15
  • Edith Bowman, British radio DJ
  • Belinda Chapple, Australian singer, actress and creative director
• January 17
  • Rami Yacoub, Swedish-born Palestinian music producer and songwriter (Cheiron Studios and Maratone)
  • Coco Lee, Hong Kong–born American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actress (d. 2023)
• January 22 – Balthazar Getty, American actor, musician and member of Getty family.
• January 24 – Paul Marazzi, English singer (A1)
• January 28
  • Tanya Chua, Singaporean singer-songwriter
  • Lee Latchford-Evans, British singer (Steps)
• January 29 – Kelly Packard, American singer-actress-hostess
• January 30 – Yumi Yoshimura, Japanese singer (Puffy Amiyumi)

February

• February 1 – Big Boi (OutKast)
• February 3 – Markus Schulz, German DJ and record producer
• February 4 – Natalie Imbruglia, Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress
• February 5 – Adam Carson, drummer (AFI)
• February 6
  • Tomoko Kawase, Japanese singer
  • Matt Alber, American singer-songwriter
• February 7 – Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit)
• February 14 – Scott Owen, Australian rock musician (The Living End)
• February 17 – Harisu, South Korean singer, model and actress
• February 18 – Simon Kvamm, Danish singer, keyboard player, and actor (Nephew)
• February 19 – Daniel Adair, Canadian rock drummer (Nickelback)
• February 20 – Brian Littrell, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
• February 21 – Heri Joensen, Faroese rock musician (Týr)
• February 22 – Sébastien Tellier, an independent French singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (Worked with Dita Von Teese)
• February 23 – Robert Lopez, American composer and lyricist of musicals

March

• March 1 – Valentina Monetta, Sanmarinese singer
• March 2 – Lee Sun-kyun, South Korean actor (d. 2023)
• March 4 – Hawksley Workman, Canadian rock singer-songwriter
• March 6
  • Misha, Slovak singer
  • Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Canadian conductor
• March 8 – Peggy Zina, Greek singer
• March 10
  • DJ Aligator, Danish producer and DJ
  • Jerry Horton, American alternative rock lead guitarist (Papa Roach)
• March 11 – Big Boy, Puerto Rican reggaeton and hip hop rapper
• March 12 – Kelle Bryan, British singer (Eternal)
• March 15
  • will.i.am, American musician, rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, record producer and entrepreneur (The Black Eyed Peas)
  • Eva Longoria, American actress and producer
• March 17
  • Justin Hawkins, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Darkness)
  • Jairzinho Oliveira, Brazilian singer-songwriter-composer
• March 18 – Sutton Foster, American actress, singer and dancer
• March 19 – Brann Dailor, American drummer and singer (Mastodon)
• March 24 – Krisdayanti, Indonesian singer
• March 25 – Melanie Blatt, English singer-songwriter and actress (All Saints)
• March 27 – Fergie (Stacy Ferguson), American singer-songwriter and dancer (The Black Eyed Peas)

April

• April 5 – Juicy J, American rapper and record producer
• April 7 – Karin Dreijer, Swedish singer-songwriter and record producer
• April 8 – Anouk, Dutch singer-songwriter and musician
• April 10 – Chris Carrabba, American rock musician (Dashboard Confessional)
• April 13 – Lou Bega, German singer
• April 14 – Stefano Miceli, Italian conductor and pianist
• 22 April – Anders Nyström, Swedish guitarist (Katatonia & Bloodbath)
• 23 April
  • Jonsi, Icelandic musician and member of Sigur Ros
  • Olga Kern, Russian pianist
• April 26
  • Joey Jordison, American musician and songwriter (Slipknot) (d. 2021)
  • José Pasillas (Incubus)
• April 30 – Tomi Joutsen, Finnish metal musician

May

• May 2 – David Beckham, English footballer (Married to Victoria Beckham, Worked with Geri Halliwell)
• May 3 – Maksim Mrvica, Croatian crossover pianist
• May 8 – Enrique Iglesias, Spanish singer-songwriter, actor and record producer
• May 9 – Tamia, Canadian singer and songwriter
• May 13 – Evelin Samuel, Estonia singer and songwriter
• May 15
  • Frode Haltli, Norwegian accordionist
  • Peter Iwers, Swedish rock bassist (In Flames)
• May 16
  • Tony Kakko, Finnish singer
  • B.Slade, American singer
• May 17 – Laura Voutilainen, Finnish pop singer
• May 18
  • Jack Johnson, American singer-songwriter, musician and documentary film-maker
  • Jem, Welsh singer-songwriter
• May 19 – Jonas Renkse, Swedish vocalist (Katatonia) and bassist (Bloodbath)
• May 20 – Andrew Sega, American electronic musician
• May 24 – Alex Lacamoire, American musical arranger (Hamilton)
• May 25
  • Lauryn Hill, American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actress (The Fugees)
  • Alex Orbison, American musician
• May 27
  • André 3000, American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor (OutKast)
  • Chrigel Glanzmann, Swiss metal singer
  • ZP Theart, South African singer and songwriter
  • Jadakiss, American rapper
• May 29 – Melanie Brown, English singer-songwriter, presenter, television personality, dancer, actress, author and model (Spice Girls)

June

• June 2
  • Gisle Torvik, Norwegian jazz guitarist
  • Zia McCabe, American keyboardist (The Dandy Warhols)
• June 4
  • Russell Brand, English actor, comedian and DJ
  • Julian Marley, British-Jamaican musician, songwriter, producer and humanitarian
• June 5 – Scott Holroyd, American actor
• June 8 – Emm Gryner, Canadian singer-songwriter
• June 11 – Choi Ji-woo, South Korean actress and model
• June 13 – Kim Jo-sun, South Korean archer
• June 16 – Anabel Conde, Spanish singer
• June 18 – Silkk the Shocker, American rapper
• June 20 – Loon, American rapper
• June 23
  • KT Tunstall, Scottish singer-songwriter and musician
  • DJ Antoine, Swiss DJ and record producer
• June 26
  • KJ-52, American rapper (Peace of Mind)
  • Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Canadian operatic contralto
• June 28
  • Jon Nödtveidt, Swedish singer (d. 2006)
  • Ning Baizura, Malaysian singer

July

• July 1 – Sufjan Stevens, American folk musician
• July 2 – Erik Ohlsson, Swedish guitarist (Millencolin)
• July 3 – Javier Weyler (Stereophonics)
• July 5 – Gunnar H. Thomsen, Faroese rock bassist (Týr)
• July 6 – 50 Cent, American rapper, actor, businessman, and investor
• July 7 – DJ Green Lantern, American disc jockey and record producer
• July 8 - I-20, American rapper
• July 9
  • Isaac Brock, American musician
  • Shona Fraser, British-born music journalist and judge
  • Jessica Folcker, Swedish singer
  • Jack White, American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor (The White Stripes)
• July 11 – Rubén Baraja, Spanish footballer
• July 12 – Tracie Spencer, American singer and actress
• July 14
  • Jaime Luis Gomez, known as "Taboo", rapper/singer of the Black Eyed Peas
  • Tameka Cottle known as "Tiny", American singer/songwriter member of the group Xscape
  • Jamey Johnson, American country singer and songwriter
• July 17 – Darude, Finnish DJ and record producer
• July 18
  • Daron Malakian (System of a Down)
  • M.I.A., British rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and activist
• July 21 – Fredrik Johansson, Swedish rock guitarist
• July 22 – Aile Asszonyi, operatic soprano
• July 25 – Håvard Ellefsen (Mortiis)

August

• August 5 – Eicca Toppinen, Finnish cellist (Apocalyptica)
• August 7 – Gaahl, black metal vocalist
• August 15 – Big Noyd, American rapper
• August 19 – Mỹ Linh, Vietnamese singer
• August 21 – Sharissa, American singer
• August 27
  • Björn Gelotte Swedish guitarist (In Flames)
  • Mase, rapper
• August 28 – Marek Szulen, electronic music composer
• August 31
  • Daniel Harding, English orchestral conductor and airline pilot
  • Sara Ramirez, Mexican American actress, singer-songwriter and activist

September

• September 1
  • Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Australian actress and singer
  • Omar Rodríguez-López (At the drive-in, The Mars Volta)
• September 2 – MC Chris, American rapper, comedian, voice actor and writer
• September 3
  • Redfoo, American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, record producer and DJ
  • Gala, Italian pop singer and songwriter
• September 4 – Mark Ronson, British DJ and music producer
• September 8 – Richard Hughes, British drummer (Keane)
• September 9 – Michael Bublé, Canadian-Italian big band, swing, vocal jazz singer, songwriter, actor and record producer.
• September 11
  • Brad Fischetti, LFO
  • Elephant Man, Jamaican singer
• September 16 – Shannon Noll, Australian singer
• September 17 – Constantine Maroulis, American singer (Pray for the Soul of Betty)
• September 20 – Asia Argento, Italian actress, singer, model, activist and director.
• September 21
  • Lil Rob, Chicano rapper
  • U-Jean, American pop, R&B and hip-hop artist
• September 22 – Mystikal, rapper
• September 23 – Chris Hawkins, British radio personality
• September 25 – Declan Donnelly, English television and singer (Ant & Dec)
• September 26 – Pete Gofton, English musician and record producer (Kenickie)
• September 27
  • Tim Campbell (actor), Australian stage actor, actor, singer and musician (Anthony Callea)
  • Thanos Petrelis, Greek singer
• September 30
  • Georges-Alain Jones, French singer
  • Glenn Fredly, Indonesian R&B singer and songwriter (d. 2020)
  • Marion Cotillard, French actress

October

• October 3 – India Arie, American singer-songwriter, actress, musician and record producer
• October 7
  • Damian Kulash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (OK Go and 8in8)
  • Tim Minchin, British-Australian singer-songwriter, comic performer and director
• October 9
  • Alain Altinoglu, French conductor
  • Brandy Clark, American country music singer-songwriter
  • Sean Ono Lennon, American singer-songwriter and actor, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono
• October 12 – Jorane, French-Canadian singer and cellist
• October 13 – Freekey Zekey, American rapper (The Diplomats)
• October 14 – Shaznay Lewis, English singer (All Saints)
• October 23 - Jessicka, American singer/songwriter (Jack Off Jill)
• October 25 – Melissa Graham, English singer
• October 27
  • Kate Havnevik, Norwegian film composer and singer-songwriter
  • Max Lilja, Finnish cellist (Apocalyptica)
• October 30
  • Ian D'Sa, Canadian rock guitarist (Billy Talent)
  • Steve Kazee, American singer and actor (Jenna Dewan)

November

• November 1 – Bo Bice, American singer
• November 2 – Chris Walla, American guitarist (Death Cab for Cutie)
• November 5
  • Lisa Scott-Lee, Welsh singer-songwriter and dancer (Steps)
  • Jamie Spaniolo (Jamie Madrox), American rapper
  • Keala Settle, American actress and singer.
• November 8 – Ángel Corella, Spanish dancer
• November 10 – Jim Adkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Jimmy Eat World)
• November 12 – Aaron Solowoniuk, Canadian rock drummer (Billy Talent)
• November 14
  • Travis Barker, American musician, drummer and producer (blink-182)
  • Faye Tozer, English singer-songwriter, dancer and stage actress (Steps)
• November 17 – Yoon Son-ha, South Korean actress and singer
• November 18 – Ant McPartlin, English television presenter and singer (Ant & Dec)
• November 19 – Tamika Scott, American singer/songwriter and producer
• November 20
  • Dierks Bentley, American singer-songwriter
  • Davey Havok, AFI
  • Jeffrey Lewis, American anti-folk singer
• November 25 – Paul Mealor, composer
• November 26 – DJ Khaled, American DJ and record producer

December

• December 5 – Paula Patton, American songwriter under the pseudonym "Max"
• December 10 - Kristel Verbeke, Flemish singer (K3)
• December 13 – Tom Delonge, American musician (blink-182)
• December 14 – Justin Furstenfeld (Blue October)
• December 16 – Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian rock lead singer (Billy Talent)
• December 18
  • Sia, Australian singer-songwriter, record producer and music video director (Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Kate Pierson)
  • Shay Haley, American musician (N.E.R.D.)
• December 21 – Paloma Herrera, Argentine ballet dancer
• December 22 – Amy Wadge, British singer-songwriter
• December 23
  • Katie Underwood, Australian singer-songwriter (Bardot)
  • Lady Starlight, American DJ and Producer, frequently worked with Lady Gaga
• December 27
  • Nike Ardilla, Indonesian singer (d. 1995)
  • Solomun (musician), Bosnian DJ and music producer
• December 30 – Yoma Komatsu, former member of the female J-Pop group BeForU

Unknown month

• • Jonas Jeberg, Danish producer, singer songwriter, and musician
  • Slow (DJ), Finnish DJ and music producer

Deaths

• January 8 – Richard Tucker, operatic tenor, 61 (heart attack)
• January 11 – Max Lorenz, Wagnerian tenor, 73
• January 16 – Paul Beaver, electronic jazz keyboardist, 49
• January 26 – Toti Dal Monte, operatic soprano, 81
• January 30 – Boris Blacher, composer, 72
• February 2 – Eleanor French, singer, 59
• February 3 – Umm Kulthum, singer, songwriter and actress
• February 4 – Louis Jordan, jazz musician, 66
• February 10 – Dave Alexander, bassist (The Stooges), 27 (pulmonary edema)
• February 13 – Eric Thiman, English composer, 74
• February 16–- Norman Treigle, operatic bass-baritone, 47
• February 19 – Luigi Dallapiccola, composer, 71
• February 22 – Lionel Tertis, viola player, 98
• March 3 – Sandy MacPherson, theatre organist, 78
• March 4 – Cornel Chiriac, Romanian record producer, broadcaster and jazz musician, 33 (murdered)
• March 14 – Will Mastin, American vaudevillian, 100
• March 15 – Sandy Brown, jazz musician, 46 (heart attack)
• March 16 – T-Bone Walker, African-American musician, 64
• March 27 – Sir Arthur Bliss, Master of the Queen's Musick, 83
• April 12 – Josephine Baker, African-American dancer, 68
• April 14 – Michael Flanders, lyricist, actor, humorist and singer (Flanders and Swann), 53 (intracranial berry aneurysm)
• April 21 – Sir Jack Westrup, musicologist, 70
• April 23 – Pete Ham, singer and songwriter (Badfinger), 27 (suicide)
• May 2 – Conchita Badía, operatic soprano, 77
• May 3 – Sarah Fischer, Canadian soprano (born 1896)
• May 13 – Bob Wills, American Western swing bandleader, 70
• May 18 – Leroy Anderson, American composer and conductor, 66
• June 4 – Frida Leider, operatic soprano, 87
• June 7 – Robert Schmertz, American folk musician and architect, 77
• June 16 – Don Robey, songwriter and producer, 72
• June 21 – David Tamkin, composer, 68
• June 29 – Tim Buckley, singer-songwriter, 28 (drug overdose)
• July 5 – Gilda Dalla Rizza, operatic soprano, 82
• July 10 – Ernst Fischer, composer, 75
• July 14 – Zutty Singleton, American jazz drummer, 77
• July 19 – Lefty Frizzell, Country Music Hall of Fame singer, 47 (stroke)
• August 8 – Cannonball Adderley, American saxophonist, 46
• August 9 – Dmitri Shostakovich, composer, 68 (heart attack)
• August 10 – Neva Carr Glyn, operatic contralto, 67
• September – Flora Perini, operatic soprano, 87
• September 5
  • Georg Ots, Estonian opera singer, 55
  • Bill Sprouse Jr., Christian singer and songwriter, 26 (heart attack)
• September 6 – Shelton Brooks, Canadian-born African American song composer, 89
• September 20 – Vincent Lopez, American bandleader, 79
• October 1 – Al Jackson, Jr., R&B drummer, 39 (shot)
• October 19 – Cátulo Castillo, tango composer, 69
• October 28 – Oliver Nelson, jazz saxophonist, 43
• October 30 – John Scott Trotter, U.S. arranger and conductor
• December 8 – Gary Thain, rock bassist, 27 (heroin overdose)
• December 14 – Mongezi Feza, jazz trumpeter and flautist, 30 (pneumonia)
• December 17
  • Noble Sissle, U.S. bandleader and singer, 86
  • Hound Dog Taylor, blues musician, 60
• December 24
  • Peter Gibbs, violinist
  • Bernard Herrmann, film composer, 64
  • Tilly Losch, dancer and actress, 72
• December 25 – Julio Cueva, trumpeter, bandleader and composer, 78

Borns

Jaheim Hines

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1975

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1975

Leeds International Piano Competition

• Dimitri Alexeev

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship

• Ravi Shankar
• Zubin Mehta