''See also:''
1970s In Music .
- January - May - The Bee Gees dominate the singles and album charts as '' Saturday Night Fever '' becomes a cultural phenomenon. At one point, the album was selling 1 million copies per week.
- January 14 - The Sex Pistols played their final show (until a 1996 reunion) at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom .
- January 21 - 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.
- February 14 - Electric Light Orchestra kick off their famous "Out of the Blue" world tour in New Zealand
- 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 Kirshner ) 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
- May 13 - Barry Gibb becomes the first and only songwriter in history to have written 4 consecutive #1 singles on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart.
- May 25 - In a performance used for The Kids Are Alright , The Who play their last show with Keith Moon
- June - The Dead Kennedys form.
- July 19 - The Dead Kennedys play their first concert at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco, California.
- 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.
- September 7 - Keith Moon , drummer of The Who , dies in England.
- A now sober Alice Cooper is released from rehab. He releases the album " From The Inside ", which tells of his stay in the rehab centre.
- November 27 - Def Leppard 's permanent drummer Rick Allen joins the band at the age of 15.
- 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 Eagles ' " Hotel California " was nominated for a Grammy award
- Uli Jon Roth leaves the Scorpions and was replaced by Matthias Jabs until December.
- 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.
- 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 ''.
- Michael Schenker leaves UFO and joined Scorpions in December.
- Ry Cooder records Bop Till You Drop, one of the first popular music albums to be recorded in Compact Disc format.
The following singles achieved the highest chart positions in 1978.
- January 3 - Kimberley Locke , American singer
- February 1 - Jeff Conrad , Phantom Planet
- February 14 - Ryan Griffiths , The Vines
- February 22 - Jenny Frost , Atomic Kitten
- April 22 - Daniel Johns , Silverchair
- May 1 - Matt Lovato, Mest
- May 30 - Kianna Alarid , Tilly And The Wall
- June 9 - Matthew Bellamy , Muse
- June 29 - Sam Farrar , Phantom Planet
- June 19 - Mía Maestro , singer
- June 27 - Lolly , English singer
- August 23 - Julian Casablancas , The Strokes
- August 24 - Darren Robinson , Phantom Planet
- August 27 - Ma , rapper
- August 28 - Max Collins , Eve 6
- September 30 - Steve Klein , New Found Glory
- October 2 - Ayumi Hamasaki
- October 14 - Usher
- October 27 - Vanessa-Mae , violinist
- November 9 - Sisqó
- November 10 - Eve (rapper)
- November 16 - Carolina Parra , Cansei De Ser Sexy
- November 22 - Karen O , Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- November 30 - Clay Aiken
- December 1 - Brad Delson , Linkin Park
- December 2 - Brian Chase , Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- December 15 - Ned Brower , Rooney
- December 23 - Esthero , singer-songwriter
- January 23 - Terry Kath , Chicago guitarist and vocalist
- January 3 - Jack Oakie , actor in many musical films of the 1940s
- January 31 - Greg Herbert , Blood, Sweat & Tears saxophonist
- March 11 - Claude François , singer-songwriter
- March 18 - Peggy Wood , actress and singer
- April 3 - Ray Noble , composer and bandleader
- April 21 - Sandy Denny , Fairport Convention , Fotheringay , cerebral haemorrhage
- May 1 - Aram Khachaturian , composer
- May 26 - Tamara Karsavina , ballerina
- July 14 - Maria Grinberg , pianist
- August 14 - Joe Venuti , US jazz violinist
- August 24 - Louis Prima
- September 7 - Keith Moon , drummer for The Who
- September 24 - Ruth Etting , US singer
- October 9 - Jacques Brel , singer-songwriter
- October 12 - Nancy Spungen , girlfriend of Sid Vicious
- October 23 - Maybelle Carter née Addington, US country singer and musician, member of the Carter Family
- November 12 - Howard Swanson , composer
- December 27 - Chris Bell , singer-songwriter, Big Star
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