1976 in music

See also: 1975 in music, other events of 1976, 1977 in music, 1970s in music and the list of 'years in music'

Events

January-February

• January 7 - Kenneth Moss, a former record company executive, is sentenced to 120 days in the Los Angeles County Jail and four years probation for involuntary manslaughter in the 1974 drug induced death of Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh.
• January 13 - A trial begins for seven Brunswick Records and Dakar Records employees. The record company employees are charged with stealing more than $184,000 in royalties from artists.
• February 15 - Bette Midler bails seven members of her entourage out of jail after they are arrested on charges of cocaine and marijuana possession
• January 19 - Concert promoter Bill Sargent makes an offer of $30 million to the Beatles if they would reunite for a concert
• February 19 - Former Tower of Power lead singer Rich Stevens is arrested and charged with the drug related murders of three men in San Jose, California.
• February 20 - Kiss gets their footprints added to the sidewalk outside Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theater.
• February 24 - Having been released one week before, The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) compilation becomes the first album in history to be certified platinum by the RIAA. The new platinum certification represents sales of at least 1 million copies for albums and 2 million copies for singles.

March-April

• March 4 - ABBA arrive at Sydney airport for a promotional tour in Australia.
• March 6 - EMI Records reissues all 22 previously released British Beatles singles, plus a new single of the classic "Yesterday". All 23 singles hit the UK charts at the same time
• March 7 - A wax likeness of Elton John is put on display in London's Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.
• March 9 - The Who's Keith Moon collapses onstage ten minutes into a performance at the Boston Garden.
• Alice Cooper marries his two year girlfrind, Sheryl Goddard.
• March 15 - KISS releases Destroyer, their best-selling album ever, continuing their popularity through the 1970s.
• March 15 - arresting members of The Plastic People of the Universe in communistic Czechoslovakia started. They were sentenced from 8 to 18 months.
• March 25 - Jackson Browne's wife Phyllis commits suicide.
• March 26 - In Paris, France, Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch breaks one of his fingers when he slips in his hotel bathroom following the final performance on the band's European tour. The injury ended up delaying the band's United States tour by three weeks.
• April 14 - Stevie Wonder announces that he has signed a "$13 million-plus" contract with Motown Records
• April 24 - Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels makes an on-air offer to pay the Beatles $3000 to reunite on the show. Lennon and McCartney were apparently watching the show together in New York and considered walking down to the studio to accept the check. On May 22, he raises his offer from $3000 to $3,200.
• April 29 - When his tour stops in Memphis, Tennessee, Bruce Springsteen jumps the wall at Elvis Presley's mansion, "Graceland", in an attempt to see his idol. Security guards stop Springsteen and escort him off the grounds.

May-December

• May 3 - Paul McCartney and Wings start their Wings over America Tour in Fort Worth, Texas. This is the first time McCartney has performed in the US since The Beatles' last concert in 1966 at Candlestick Park.
• May 3 - Paul Simon puts together a benefit show at Madison Square Garden to raise money for the New York Public Library. Phoebe Snow, Jimmy Cliff and the Brecker Brothers also perform. The concert brings in over $30,000 for the Library.
• May 19 - Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is involved in a car accident. Cocaine is found in his wrecked car. Richards is given a court date of January 12, 1977.
• May 19 - Rumour spread by German press: ABBA members killed in plane crash, only Ani-Fridh survived.
• Alice Cooper collapses and is rushed to UCLA Hospital in Los Angelos, two days before the Goes To Hell tour would begin. The tour was cancelled.
• June - Former Spring Canyon keyboardist Mark Cook joins Daniel Amos
• August- Cheap Trick receives a long term recording contract with Epic Records
• August 13 - The official ABBA logo with the reversed 'B' is born.
• September 20 & September 21 - 100 Club Punk Festival, the first international punk festival is held in London.
• September 25 - Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr form a band called Feedback in Dublin. The band would later be renamed U2.
• October 8 - The Sex Pistols sign a contract with EMI Records.
• October 10 - ABBA in New York on The Midnight Special performing 'Fernando', 'Dancing Queen', 'Mamma Mia' and 'S.O.S.' live.
• November - Former Tower of Power lead singer Rich Stevens, and another person, are found guilty on two counts of murder.
• November 15- KISS Rock & Roll Over is released.
• November 24 - The Band gives its last public performance; Martin Scorsese is on hand to film it.
• December 1 - The Sex Pistols cause media furor when they swear on prime time British TV.

unknown dates

• The Flowers of Romance, a band that included many seminal individuals within the punk movement, forms in the summer.
• Bonnie Raitt records Sweet Forgiveness, which will be a blockbuster album in 1977
• War records Galaxy, which will be a blockbuster album in 1977
• Joe Cocker performs a duet with himself (as portrayed by John Belushi) on Saturday Night Live .
• Evita is performed for the first time
• Cheryl Byron performs rapso in calypso tents for the first time, beginning the popularization of rapso
• Peter Brown's solo career begins

• Devo's career begins
• Leif Garrett's solo career begins
• .38 Special's musical career begins
• Y&T (Yesterday & Today)'s musical career begins
• Elvis Costello & the Attractions form
• The Jam forms
• Black Flag forms
• The Clash forms
• Culture forms
• The Cure forms
• The Damned form
• Diamond Head forms
• Foreigner forms
• Generation X forms
• Iron Maiden forms
• Madness forms
• Rubber City Rebels form
• Throbbing Gristle forms
• U.K. Subs form
• Wire forms

• The Clash sign up to CBS
• Elvis Costello signs a contract with Columbia Records
• Steve Martin signs a contract with Warner Bros.
• Eddie Money signs a contract with CBS
• "Ten Percent" by Double Exposure, the first 12-inch single commercially available to the public (as opposed to DJ-only promotional copies).
• Grand Funk Railroad disband
• Ike & Tina Turner split up
• Roxy Music go on hiatus until 1980
• Soft Machine disband
• The Pretty Things disband
• Argent disbands
• Deep Purple disband (they reform in 1984)
• The Mahavishnu Orchestra disbands

Albums released

1-9

• 15 Big Ones - The Beach Boys

A-C

• A Kind of Hush - Carpenters
• A New World Record - Electric Light Orchestra
• Agents Of Fortune - Blue Öyster Cult
• Alice Cooper Goes to Hell - Alice Cooper
• Arrival - ABBA
• Automatic Man - Automatic Man
• Blondie - Blondie
• Boston - Boston
• Chestnut Street Incident - Johnny Cougar
• Chicago X - Chicago
• Children of the World - Bee Gees

D-J

• Destroyer - Kiss
• Coup de chapeau au passé - Dalida
• Southern Tracks & Fantasies - Paul Davis
• Come Taste the Band - Deep Purple
• Streetheart - Dion DiMucci
• Slow Down World - Donovan
• Desire - Bob Dylan
• Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band - Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band
• Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) - The Eagles
• Hotel California - The Eagles
• Works Volume I - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
• Fitzgerald and Pass... Again - Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Pass
• Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac
• Frampton Comes Alive! - Peter Frampton
• Hardcore Jollies - Funkadelic
• Tales of Kidd Funkadelic - Funkadelic
• A Trick of the Tail - Genesis
• Wind and Wuthering - Genesis
• R-O-C-K - Bill Haley & His Comets
• Bigger Than Both of Us - Hall & Oates
• Thirty Three & 1/3 - Geroge Harrison
• The Jacksons - The Jacksons
• Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius
• Oxygene - Jean-Michel Jarre
• M.U. --- Best of - Jethro Tull
• Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! - Jethro Tull
• Turnstiles - Billy Joel
• Blue Moves - Elton John
• Wanted! the Outlaws - Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson
• Look into the Future - Journey
• Sad Wings of Destiny - Judas Priest
• Summertime Dream - Gordon Lightfoot

K-Q

• Leftoverture - Kansas
• Part 3 - KC & The Sunshine Band
• Rock 'n' Roll Over - Kiss
• Presence - Led Zeppelin
• The Song Remains the Same - Led Zeppelin
• One More from the Road - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Rastaman Vibration - Bob Marley & the Wailers
• Wings at the Speed of Sound - Paul McCartney & Wings
• Wings over America - Paul McCartney & Wings
• Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Kate & Anna McGarrigle
• The Wild Tchoupitoulas - The Meters, George & Amos Landry, The Neville Brothers
• The Mini-Album - The Sex Pistols (live EP)
• Fly Like an Eagle - Steve Miller Band
• Hejira - Joni Mitchell
• Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers
• Watashi no koe ga kikoemasuka - Miyuki Nakajima
• Come on Over - Olivia Newton-John
• Free-for-All - Ted Nugent
• Clones of Dr. Funkenstein - Parliament
• Mothership Connection - Parliament
• Howlin' Wind - Graham Parker & the Rumour
• Music from the Penguin Cafe Orchestra -Penguin Cafe Orchestra
• Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (debut)
• A Day at the Races - Queen

R-U

• Rainbow Rising - Rainbow
• The Ramones - The Ramones
• Music, Music - Helen Reddy
• Coney Island Baby - Lou Reed
• Rock 'n' Roll Heart - Lou Reed
• Home Plate by Bonnie Riatt
• Black and Blue by The Rolling Stones
• Hasten Down the Wind - Linda Ronstadt
• The Runaways- The Runaways
• Faithful - Todd Rundgren
• 2112 - Rush
• Party Music/Partimusik - Röda Kapellet
• Virgin Killer - The Scorpions
• Howzat - Sherbet
• Another Passenger - Carly Simon
• Silk Degrees - Boz Skaggs
• Blue For You - Status Quo
• The Royal Scam - Steely Dan
• Both Sides of Ray Stevens - Ray Stevens
• Just for the Record - Ray Stevens
• Misty - Ray Stevens
• Atlantic Crossing - Rod Stewart
• A Night on the Town - Rod Stewart
• Crystal Ball - Styx
• A Love Trilogy - Donna Summer
• Four Seasons Of Love - Donna Summer
• Give Us a Wink - Sweet
• Legalize It - Peter Tosh
• Second Annual Report- Throbbing Gristle
• No Heavy Petting - UFO
• Ripper '76 - Various Artists

W-Z

• Blackheart Man - Bunny Wailer
• Small Change -Tom Waits
• Greatest Hits - War
• Love Is All Around - War
• Why Can't We Be Friends - War
• Milky Shade - Kazumi Watanabe
• Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder
• Yesterday And Today - Y&T (debut)
• Zoot Allures - Frank Zappa
• Warren Zevon - Warren Zevon

Chronological Table of US and UK Number One Hit Singles

US Number One Singles and Artist (Weeks at Number One)

UK Number One Singles and Artist (Weeks at Number One)

"Saturday Night" - Bay City Rollers (1) "Convoy" - C.W. McCall (1) "I Write The Songs" - Barry Manilow (1) "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" - Diana Ross (1) "Love Rollercoaster" - Ohio Players (1) "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" - Paul Simon (3) "Theme From S.W.A.T." - Rhythm Heritage (1) "Love Machine" - The Miracles (1) "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) - The Four Seasons (3) "Disco Lady" - Johnnie Taylor (4) "Let Your Love Flow" - Bellamy Brothers (1) "Welcome Back" - John Sebastian (1) "Boogie Fever" Sylvers (1) "Silly Love Songs" - Paul McCartney & Wings (5) "Love Hangover" - Diana Ross (2) "Afternoon Delight" - Starland Vocal Band (2) "Kiss And Say Goodbye" - The Manhattans (2) "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" - Elton John & Kiki Dee (4) "You Should Be Dancing" - Bee Gees (1) "(Shake,Shake,Shake) Shake Your Booty" - KC & The Sunshine Band (1) "Play That Funky Music" - Wild Cherry (3) "A Fifth Of Beethoven" - Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band (1) "Disco Duck" - Rick Dees & His Cast Of Idiots (1) "If You Leave Me Now" - Chicago (2) "Rock'n Me" - Steve Miller Band (1) "Tonight's The Night" - Rod Stewart (7 weeks 1976 + 1 week 1977), best seller of the year

"Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen (5 weeks 1975 + 4 weeks 1976) "Mamma Mia" - ABBA (2) "Forever And Ever" - Slik (1) "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" - The Four Seasons (2) "I Love To Love (But My Baby Just Loves To Dance)" - Tina Charles (3) "Save Your Kisses For Me" - Brotherhood of Man (6), best seller of the year "Fernando" - ABBA (4) "No Charge" - J.J. Barrie (1) "The Combine Harvester (Brand New Key)" - Wurzels (2) "You To Me Are Everything" - Real Thing (3) "Forever And Ever" - Demis Roussos (1) "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" - Elton John & Kiki Dee (6) "Dancing Queen" - ABBA (6) "Mississippi" - Pussycat (4) "If You Leave Me Now" - Chicago (3) "Under The Moon Of Love" - Showaddywaddy (3) "When A Child Is Born (Soleado)" - Johnny Mathis (1 week 1976 + 2 weeks 1977)

Other significant singles

• "All By Myself" - Eric Carmen
• "Anarchy in the U.K." - Sex Pistols
• "Arms Of Mary" - Sutherland Brothers and Quiver
• "Back In The USSR" - The Beatles
• "Beautiful Noise" - Neil Diamond
• "Bennie And The Jets" - Elton John
• "Besame Mucho" - Dalida
• "Better Use Your Head" - Little Anthony and the Imperials
• "Blinded By The Light" - Manfred Mann's Earth Band
• "Blue Jeans" - Skyhooks
• "Born To Be With You" - Dion
• "The Boston Tea Party" - The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
• "Both Ends Burning" - Roxy Music
• "The Boys Are Back In Town" - Thin Lizzy
• "Candy Store Rock" - Led Zeppelin
• "Cherry Bomb" - The Runaways
• "Child's Play - Sherbet
• "Couldn't Get It Right" - Climax Blues Band
• "Dancing Queen" - ABBA
• "Darktown Strutters Ball" - TMG
• "Devil Woman"- Cliff Richard
• "Do You Feel Like We Do" - Peter Frampton
• "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" - Julie Covington
• "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" - Blue Öyster Cult
• "Don't Give Up On Us" - David Soul
• "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long" - Barry White
• "Don't Stop It Now" - Hot Chocolate
• "Don't Take Away The Music" - Tavares
• "Dream Weaver" - Gary Wright
• "Dust In The Wind" - Kansas
• "Every Little Bit Hurts" Shirley Strachan
• "Extended Play (EP)" - Bryan Ferry
• "Fernando" - ABBA
• "Fly Like An Eagle" - Steve Miller Band
• "Foggy Notion-Inside Your Heart" - Velvet Underground
• "Fool to Cry" - The Rolling Stones
• "Freebird(EP)" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• "Get Up And Boogie" - Silver Convention
• "Girls Girls Girls" - Sailor
• "Harvest For The World" - The Isley Brothers
• "Hasten Down The Wind" - Warren Zevon
• "Heading In The Right Direction" - Renee Gayer
• "Heart On My Sleeve" - Gallagher and Lyle
• "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" - Tavares
• "Hello Old Friend" - Eric Clapton
• "Here Comes The Sun" - Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel
• "Here Comes The Weekend" - Dave Edmunds
• "Hey Baby" - J.J. Cale
• "Honey I" - George McCrae
• "Hot Line" - The Sylvers
• "Hot Stuff" - The Rolling Stones
• "Hot Valves(EP)" - Be Bop Deluxe
• "Howzat" - Sherbet
• "Hurricane" - Bob Dylan
• "Hurt" - The Manhattans
• "I Don't Know What To Do With Myself" - Marcia Hines
• "I Love Music" - The O'Jays
• "I Love to Boogie " - T. Rex
• "I Want You" - Marvin Gaye
• "I Wish" - Stevie Wonder
• "I Never Cry" - Alice Cooper
• "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" - England Dan and John Ford Coley
• "I'm Mandy Fly Me" - 10cc
• "I'm Your Puppet" - James and Bobby Purify
• "If Not You" - Dr. Hook
• "In Dulce Jubilo/On Horseback" - Mike Oldfield
• "It's Over" - Boz Scaggs
• "It Keeps You Running" - Carly Simon
• "J'Attendrai" - Dalida
• "Jailbreak" - Thin Lizzy
• "Jump In My Car" - TMG
• "The Killing of Georgie, Pt. 1-2" - Rod Stewart
• "Landslide" - Fleetwood Mac
• "Last Child" - Aerosmith
• "Last Romance" - Mark Holden
• "Le petit bonheur" - Dalida
• "Let 'Em In" - Paul McCartney & Wings
• "Let's Stick Together" - Bryan Ferry
• "A Little Bit More" - Dr. Hook
• "Livin' Thing" - Electric Light Orchestra
• "Lost in France" - Bonnie Tyler
• "Love And Affection" - Joan Armatrading
• "Love And Other Brusies" - Air Supply"
• "Love Is Alive" - Gary Wright
• "Love Really Hurts Without You" - Billy Ocean
• "Love So Right" - Bee Gees
• "Love To Love You Baby - Donna Summer
• "Love's A Prima Donna" - Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel
• "Low Rider" - War
• "Man to Man" - Hot Chocolate
• "Misty Blue" - Dorothy Moore
• "Mohammed's Radio" - Warren Zevon
• "Money, Money, Money" - ABBA
• "Moonlight Feels Right" - Starbuck
• "More, More, More" - Andrea True Connection
• "More Than a Feeling" - Boston
• "Movin'" - Brass Construction
• "Mozambique" - Bob Dylan
• "Music" - John Miles
• "My First Night Alone Without You" - Bonnie Raitt
• "Mystery Song" - Status Quo
• "Nadia's Theme (The Young & The Restless)" - Barry DeVorzon & Perry Botkin, Jr.
• "New Rose" - The Damned (debut)
• "Old Sid" - Daryl Braithwaite
• "Pinball Wizard" - Elton John
• "Rain" - Status Quo
• "Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)" - Fleetwood Mac
• "Right Back Where We Started From" - Maxine Nightingale
• "Ring Out Solstice Bells(EP)" - Jethro Tull
• "Rock Me Gently" - Sherbet
• "Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto(Concerto De Aranjuez))" - Manuel and the Music of the Mountains
• "The Rubberband Man" - The Detroit Spinners
• "Sara Smile" - Daryl Hall & John Oates
• "Say You Love Me" - Fleetwood Mac
• "She's Gone" - Daryl Hall & John Oates
• "Ships In The Night" - Be Bop Deluxe
• "Show Me The Way" - Peter Frampton
• "Sing Me An Old Fashioned Song" - Billie Jo Spears
• "So It Goes" - Nick Lowe
• "Somebody To Love" - Queen
• "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word"- Elton John
• "Still The One" - Orleans
• "Stop Me(If You've Heard It All Before)" - Billy Ocean
• "(I'm) Stranded" - The Saints
• "Suffragette City" - David Bowie
• "Sugar Mama" - Bonnie Raitt
• "Sunshine Day" - Osibisa
• "Take It To The Limit" - The Eagles
• "Take The Money And Run" - Steve Miller Band
• "Taking It To The Streets" - The Doobie Brothers
• "That'll Be The Day" - Linda Ronstadt
• "Things We Do For Love" - 10cc
• "This Is It" - Melba Moore
• "This Old Heart Of Mine" - Rod Stewart
• "TVC 15" - David Bowie
• "Uptown Uptempo Woman" - Randy Edelman
• "(What A) Wonderful World" - Johnny Nash
• "What I've Got In Mind" - Billie Jo Spears
• "Why Can't We Be Friends" - War
• "World Turning" - Fleetwood Mac
• "Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" - Gordon Lightfoot
• "Yesterday" - The Beatles
• "You Don't Have To Go" - The Chi-Lites
• "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" - Leo Sayer
• "You See The Trouble With Me" - Barry White
• "You Sexy Thing" - Hot Chocolate
• "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" - Lou Rawls
• "You're My Best Friend" - Queen
• "Young Hearts Run Free" - Candi Staton

Published popular music

• "Always And Forever"     w.m. Rod Temperton
• "Devil Woman"     w.m. Terry Britten & Christine Authors
• "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" w. Tim Rice m. Andrew Lloyd Webber
• "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" w.m. Richard Leigh
• "Empty Tables"     w. Johnny Mercer m. Jimmy Van Heusen
• "Evergreen"     w. Paul Williams m. Barbra Streisand
• "Fernando"     w.m. Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus
• "Gonna Fly Now" (aka "Theme From Rocky")     w. Carol Connors & Ayn Robbins m. Bill Conti
• "Isn't She Lovely?"     w.m. Stevie Wonder
• "Knowing Me, Knowing You"     w.m. Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
• "Like A Sad Song"     w.m. John Denver
• "A Little Bit More"     w.m. Bobby Gosh
• "Making Our Dreams Come True" w.m. Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox, from the TV series Laverne and Shirley
• "Money, Money, Money"     w.m. Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
• "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word"     w.m.Elton John

Classical music

• Elliot Carter - A Symphony of Three Orchestras
• Brian Cherney - String Trio
• George Crumb - Dream Sequence (Images II) for violin, cello, piano, percussion (one player), and off-stage glass harmonica (two players)
• George Crumb - Night Music I (1963, revised 1976) for soprano, piano/celeste, and two percussionists
• Mario Davidovsky - String Quartet No. 3
• Henri Dutilleux - Ainsi la nuit
• Einar Englund - Symphony No. 4 Nostalgic (in memory of Shostakovich)
• Henryk Górecki - Symphony No. 3 Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
• Krzysztof Penderecki - Violin Concerto No. 1

Opera

• Peter Maxwell Davies - The Martyrdom of St Magnus
• Carlisle Floyd - Bilby's Doll

Musical theater

• Bubbling Brown Sugar     Broadway production
• The Club     Broadway production
• Fiddler on the Roof (Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick) - Broadway revival
• Guys and Dolls     Broadway revival
• Irene     London revival
• My Fair Lady (Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe) - Broadway revival
• Oh Calcutta     Broadway revival
• Pacific Overtures (Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman) - Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on January 11 and ran for 193 performances
• Porgy and Bess     Broadway revival
• Salad Days (Julian Slade) - London revival
• Side by Side by Sondheim     London production
• The Threepenny Opera (Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill) - Broadway revival

Musical films

• Bugsy Malone
• The Slipper and the Rose
• The Song Remains the Same
• A Star Is Born
• That's Entertainment II

Births

• January 16 - Stuart Fletcher, The Seahorses
• January 20 - Sid Wilson, Slipknot
• January 21 - Emma Bunton, Spice Girls
• February 4 - Cam'ron
• February 15 - Brandon Boyd, Incubus
• February 28 - Ja Rule
• March 8 - Gareth Coombes, Supergrass
• March 17 - Stephen Gately, Boyzone
• March 20 - Chester Bennington, Linkin Park
• May 17 - Kandi Burruss, Xscape
• May 29 - Dave Buckner, Papa Roach
• May 31 - Scott Klopfenstein, Reel Big Fish
• June 2 - Adrian Carlos Olivares, Menudo
• June 15 - Dryden Mitchell, Alien Ant Farm
• June 21 - Mike Einziger, Incubus
• June 26 - Paul Phillips, Puddle Of Mudd
• June 27 - Leigh Nash, Sixpence None The Richer
• July 3 - Shane Lynch, Boyzone
• July 11 - Lil' Kim
• July 12 - Tracie Spencer
• August 8 - Drew Lachey, 98 Degrees
• August 8 - JC Chasez, *NSYNC
• August 18 - Dirk 'Alex' Lance, Incubus
• September 11 - Ludacris
• October 1 - Blu Cantrell
• October 20 - Tom Wisniewski, MxPx
• November 12 - Tevin Campbell
• December 13 - Tom Delonge, Blink-182
• John Collura, The Ataris
• Mike Davenport, The Ataris
• Patrick Riley, The Ataris

Deaths

• January 8 - George Baker, singer
• January 10 - Howlin' Wolf, blues musician
• January 23 - Paul Robeson
• January 30 - Mance Lipscomb
• January 31 - Evert Taube, composer and singer
• February 5 - Rudy Pompilli, saxophone player and 20-year member of Bill Haley & His Comets
• February 9 - Percy Faith
• February 12 - Sal Mineo, actor and singer, murdered
• February 13 - Lily Pons, coloratura soprano
• February 22 - Florence Ballard, The Supremes
• March 14 - Busby Berkeley
• March 19 - Paul Kossoff, Free, Back Street Crawler, cerebral and pulmonary oedema
• March 26 - Duster Bennett, car accident.
• April 8 - Phil Ochs, suicide
• May 12 - Rudolf Kempe, conductor
• May 14 - Keith Relf, The Yardbirds, Renaissance, Medicine Head, Armageddon, cardiac arrest due to electrocution
• May 15 - David Munrow, early music performer, suicide
• June 25 - Johnny Mercer
• June 28 - Yakov Zak, pianist and music teacher
• August 26 - Lotte Lehmann, opera singer
• August 27 - Mukesh, Indian singer
• October 3 - Victoria Spivey, US singer, pianist and composer
• October 11 - Connee Boswell, US singer, member of the Boswell Sisters
• October 11 - Alfredo Bracchi, Italian lyricist
• November 12 - Walter Piston, composer
• December 4 - Benjamin Britten
• December 4 - Tommy Bolin
• December 28 - Freddie King, blues musician

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1976

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1976

External Charts

• Pop Culture Madness 1976 Pop Music Chart