See also: 1986 in music, other events of 1987, 1988 in music, 1980s in music and the list of 'years in music'
Events
- January 3 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- January 16 - The Beastie Boys become the first act to be censored by American Bandstand.
- January - Steve "Silk" Hurley's innovative "Jack Your Body" becomes the first house music record to top the UK singles chart.
- February 6 - Sonny Bono announces his candidacy for mayor of Palm Springs, California
- February 14–March 7 - Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer" is the #1 song. It would be 1987's Biggest hit song.
- March 7 - The first five Beatles albums, Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale and Help! are released on Compact disc. Capitol Records decides to release the original UK mixes of the Beatles albums, which means that the first four CDs are released in mono. This marks the first time that many of these mono mixes were available in the US.
- March 9 - Carole King is inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York City
- March 13 - Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- March 13 - In the US, Bryan Adams "Heat of the Night" becomes the first single to be commercially released on cassette. Cassette singles become known as cassingles.
- March 27 - Inspired by The Beatles' 1969 rooftop concert, U2 shoots a music video for the song "Where the Streets Have No Name" on a rooftop in Los Angeles, California.
- April 23 - Carole King sues the owner of her record company, Lou Adler, claiming that she is owed more than $400,000 in royalties. King also asks for rights to her old recordings.
- October 12 - Twisted Sister breaks up
- October - electronic data gathering completely replaces the old sales diary technique in compiling the UK singles and albums chart.
- October 19 - Mötley Crüe release the song "You're All I Need" as a single. Its lyrics cause MTV to refuse to play its video. Radio stations never play the song either.
- November 13 - Sonny and Cher reunite for a performance on Late Night with David Letterman.
- Social Distortion returns to record Prison Bound
- Jane's Addiction's career begins
- Public Enemy's career starts
- Paul Oakenfold's career begins
- Tori Amos' career begins
- Danzig's career begins
- Gin Blossoms forms
- Mr. Big forms
- Nirvana forms
- Pennywise forms
- Zebra breaks up
- Wham! breaks up
- Hüsker Dü breaks up
- Jane's Addiction signs to Warner Bros
- Winger signs to Atlantic Records
- Kylie Minogue's recording career begins, when her cover version of the Little Eva hit The Loco-Motion spends seven weeks at number one in her native Australia and leads to a contract with UK based record producers Stock Aitken Waterman
Albums released
- Compilation - Accept
- Classics Live II - Aerosmith
- Permanent Vacation - Aerosmith
- Among The Living - Anthrax
- I'm The Man EP - Anthrax
- Strength of Steel - Anvil
- Raising Fear - Armored Saint
- Heaven on Earth - Belinda Carlisle
- Eternal Idol - Black Sabbath
- Tunnel of Love - Bruce Springsteen
- Into the Fire - Bryan Adams
- Speed Metal Symphony - Cacophony
- Raise Your Fist and Yell - Alice Cooper
- Best Before 1984 - Crass
- Electric - The Cult
- Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me - The Cure
- Hysteria - Def Leppard
- Dream Evil - Dio
- You're Living All Over Me - Dinosaur Jr.
- Back For the Attack - Dokken
- White Fields - The Escape Club (debut)
- Paid in Full - Eric B. & Rakim
- Introduce Yourself - Faith No More
- Faster Pussycat - Faster Pussycat
- Frehley's Comet - Frehley's Comet
- Official Version - Front 242
- Funhouse - Funhouse
- Faith - George Michael
- Once Bitten - Great White
- Rock You To Hell - Grim Reaper (final album)
- Appetite for Destruction - Guns n' Roses (debut)
- I Never Said Goodbye - Sammy Hagar
- Music to Strip By - Half Japanese
- Wild in the Streets - Helix
- Bring the Family - John Hiatt
- Warehouse: Songs and Stories - Hüsker Dü (final album)
- A More Perfect Union - Icon
- Rhyme Pays - Ice-T (debut)
- Bad - Michael Jackson
- Jane's Addiction - Jane's Addiction
- Crest of a Knave - Jethro Tull
- Priest... Live! - Judas Priest
- Keel - Keel
- Abigail - King Diamond
- Crazy Nights - KISS
- 1987 (What the Fuck is Going On?) - KLF (Kopyright Liberation Front)/The Jams. Subsequently destroyed after copyright infringement claim
- Shaka Zulu - Ladysmith Black Mambazo
- Trio - Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton
- Running in the Family - Level 42
- Terror Rising EP - Lizzy Borden
- Visual Lies - Lizzy Borden
- Bigger and Deffer - LL Cool J
- By the Light of the Moon - Los Lobos
- Hurricane Eyes - Loudness
- Immaculate Deception - Ludichrist
- Strange Weather - Marianne Faithfull
- Huevos - Meat Puppets
- (The $5.98 EP) Garage Days Re-Revisited - Metallica
- Diesel and Dust - Midnight Oil
- Girls, Girls, Girls - Mötley Crüe
- Rock N' Roll - Motörhead
- Perfect Timing - McAuley-Schenker Group (first release after Robin McAuley joined and they changed their name)
- Escape From Noise - Negativland
- Tribute - Ozzy Osbourne
- Taking Over - Overkill
- Power Metal - Pantera
- Actually - Pet Shop Boys
- A Momentary Lapse of Reason - Pink Floyd
- Come On Pilgrim - Pixies (debut)
- Sign O' the Times - Prince
- Yo! Bum Rush the Show - Public Enemy
- Randy Travis - Randy Travis
- Document - R.E.M.
- Pleased to Meet Me - The Replacements
- Kane Roberts - Kane Roberts (former Alice Cooper guitarist's solo debut)
- King's Record Shop - Rosanne Cash
- Hold Your Fire - Rush (band)
- Hall of the Mountain King - Savatage
- Sister - Sonic Youth
- Floodland - The Sisters of Mercy
- New Again - TexAns
- Introducing the Hardline... - Terence Trent D'Arby
- Bridge of spies - T'Pau
- Love Is for Suckers - Twister Sister (final album)
- The Joshua Tree - U2
- To the Power of 3 - 3
- Calm Before The Storm - Venom
- Live...in The Raw - W.A.S.P.
- Live...Animal EP W.A.S.P.
- Triumph And Agony - Warlock (final album)
- Whitecross - Whitecross
- Pride - White Lion (2nd album, major label (Atlantic Records) debut)
- Whitesnake - Whitesnake
- Characters - Stevie Wonder
- Contagious - Y&T
- 3.V - Zebra
- Tattooed Beat Messiah - Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction
Top hits on record
- "Livin' on a Prayer" - Bon Jovi
- "Somebody Save Me" - Cinderella
- "(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight" - Cutting Crew
- "Beds Are Burning" - Midnight Oil
- "Walk Like An Egyptian" - The Bangles
- "Shake You Down" - Gregory Abbott
- "Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days" - Judas Priest
- "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me" - Aretha Franklin & George Michael
- "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" - U2
- "I Think We're Alone Now" - Tiffany
- "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" - Starship
- "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (who loves me)" - Whitney Houston
- "La Bamba" - Los Lobos
- "With or Without You" - U2
- "Where the Streets Have No Name" - U2
- "Alone" - Heart
- "Faith" - George Michael
- "Luka" - Suzanne Vega
- "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" - Belinda Carlisle
- "Don't Dream It's Over" - Crowded House
- "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" - Genesis
- "You Can Call Me Al" - Paul Simon
- "Free" - Stryper
- "China in your hand" - T'Pau
- "Hot Love" - Twisted Sister
- "Wait" - White Lion
- "Here I go Again" - Whitesnake
Published popular music
- "Children Will Listen" w.m. Stephen Sondheim
- "The Time Of My Life" w.m. Franke Previte, Donald Markowitz & John DeNicola
Classical music
- Juan Maria Solare - Doce variaciones 1987 (for piano)
- John Adams - Nixon in China
- Friedrich Cerha - Der Rattenfänger (The Pied Piper)
- Anything Goes Broadway revival
- Bless the Bride London revival
- Cabaret (Kander and Ebb) - Broadway revival
- Dreamgirls Broadway revival
- Into the Woods Broadway production
- Les Misérables Broadway production
- Oil City Symphony Broadway production
- Starlight Express (Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe - Broadway production
Births
- March 9 - Bow Wow
- May 21 - Ashlie Brillault
- September 7 - Evan Rachel Wood
- September 28 - Hilary Duff
- Chloe Hanslip, violinist
Deaths
- January 15 - Ray Bolger, actor, of cancer
- February 4 - Liberace, US pianist
- April 2 - Buddy Rich, brain tumor
- April 7 - Maxine Sullivan, US singer
- May 2 - Larry Clinton - US bandleader and songwriter
- May 3 - Dalida commits suicide
- May 4 - Paul Butterfield, drug overdose
- May 11 - Peter Tosh is murdered
- October 19 - Jacqueline Du Pre, English cellist
- October 28 - Woody Herman, US bandleader
- December 10 - Jascha Heifetz, violinist
Awards
- The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The Coasters, Eddie Cochran, Bo Diddley, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Bill Haley, B. B. King, Clyde McPhatter, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Smokey Robinson, Big Joe Turner, Muddy Waters, and Jackie Wilson