See also: 1967 in music, other events of 1968, 1969 in music, 1960s in music and the list of 'years in music'

Events

• January 4 - Guitarist Jimi Hendrix is jailed by Stockholm police, after trashing a hotel room during a drunken fist fight with bassist Noel Redding.
• January 6 - Gibson Guitar Corporation patents its Gibson Flying V electric guitar design.
• January 21 - Simon and Garfunkel release album The Graduate Original Soundtrack.
• January - The Beatles launch Apple Corps, Ltd., a disastrously mismanaged entertainment company that included a recording studio, a record label, and clothing store.
• February 1 - Priscilla Presley gives birth to Elvis' only child, Lisa Marie at the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
• February 1 - Universal Studios offers the Doors $500,000 to star in a feature film. The film is never made.
• February 10 - The Beatles shut down "Beatles U.S.A.", their fan club and business office in the United States. The band also fires their US press agents and withdraw from Brian Epstein's NEMS Enterprises. The band then turns all business affairs over to the newly formed record company, Apple.
• February 12 - Jimi Hendrix is given an honorary high school diploma from Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington. Hendrix is also given the key to the city.
• February 16 - The Beatles, Mike Love, Mia Farrow, Donovan and others travel to India to visit the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at Rishikesh.
• February 18 - David Gilmour joins Pink Floyd, replacing founder Syd Barrett, who checked himself into a psychiatric hospital
• February 21 - McGraw-Hill, Inc. outbids eight other publishers and pays $150,000 for the U.S. rights to Hunter Davies' authorized biography of the Beatles.
• February 28 - Frankie Lymon dies.
• March 8 - Bill Graham opens the Fillmore East in an abandoned movie theater in New York City.
• March 25 - The 58th and final episode of The Monkees airs on television.
• March 26 - Blues artist Little Willie John dies in prison after being convicted of manslaughter.
• March 30 - The Yardbirds record their live album Live Yardbirds at the Anderson Theater.
• April 3 - Simon and Garfunkel release the critically acclaimed album Bookends.
• April 4 - James Brown appears on national television, in an attempt to calm feelings of anger in the United States following the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
• April 6 - The Beatles' new record company, and management and publishing firm, Apple Corps, Ltd., opens offices in London
• April 29 - The rock musical Hair opened on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre.
• May 4 - Mary Hopkin performs on the British TV show Opportunity Knocks. Hopkin catches the attention of model Twiggy, who recommends her to Beatle Paul McCartney. McCartney would soon sign Hopkin to Apple Records.
• May 5 - Buffalo Springfield performs together for the last time in Long Beach, California.
• May 30 - The Beatles begin recording what would become their double-LP The White Album. Sessions would span over 4 months, ending on October 14.
• August 4 - Yes performs for the first time, at a summer camp.
• August 23 - Simon and Garfunkel give live concert at the Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, California. Recording is later released on CD in 1994 by Australian company Vigotone Records as Voices Of Intelligent Dissent.
• August - Blind Faith is formed, which includes Eric Clapton, and Ginger Baker from Cream and Steve Winwood from Traffic.
• Summer - Simon and Garfunkel, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin and John Sebastian give live concert at Shea Stadium in New York City as campaign benefit for Democratic presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy.
• September 14 – The two small sons of singer Roy Orbison, Roy DeWayne Orbison age 10, and Anthony King Orbison age 6, die in a house fire in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
• November 8 - John Lennon and his wife Cynthia divorce.
• November 15 - 500,000 people march in Washington DC for peace, which becomes the largest anti-war rally in U.S. history. In attendance: Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul and Mary, John Denver, Mitch Miller, touring cast of Hair
• November 26 - Cream plays their farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall. It will be the last time Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker play together until their 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• December 1 - Jimi Hendrix's manager Chas Chandler quits over differences with Hendrix during the recording of Electric Ladyland
• New Jersey Police confiscate 30,000 copies of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Two Virgins album at Newark Airport, saying that the cover, which features a nude photo of the two artists, is "pornographic." In Chicago, Illinois, police officers shut down a record shop for displaying the album cover.
• Elvis Presley's 1968 Comeback Special airs on NBC.
• Led Zeppelin is formed after the breakup of The Yardbirds.
• Rush is formed in Toronto.
• The Band's musical career begins.
• James Taylor's musical career begins.
• Joni Mitchell's musical career begins.
• Carpenters' musical career begins.
• Warren Zevon's musical career begins.
• Deep Purple/Roundabout's musical career begins.
• Nazareth's musical career begins.
• Yes's musical career begins.

Albums released

• Any Day Now - Joan Baez
• Music from Big Pink - The Band
• Recital na Boite Barroco - Maria Bethânia
• Last Time Around - Buffalo Springfield
• The Beatles (The White Album) - The Beatles
• Child is Father to the Man - Blood, Sweat & Tears
• The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw - Paul Butterfield Blues Band
• ''Switched On Bach - Walter Carlos
• Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
• Gal Costa - Gal Costa
• Wheels of Fire - Cream
• Le Temps des Fleurs - Dalida
• Dion - Dion DiMucci
• For Little Ones - Donovan
• Donovan in Concert - Donovan
• The Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan
• Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival - Bill Evans
• Music In a Doll's House - Family
• 30 by Ella - Ella Fitzgerald
• Misty Blue - Ella Fitzgerald
• Electric Ladyland - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• This Was - Jethro Tull
• The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees - The Monkees
• HEAD (Motion Picture Soundtrack) - The Monkees
• Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
• A Saucerful of Secrets - Pink Floyd
• Bookends - Simon and Garfunkel
• The Graduate Original Soundtrack - Simon and Garfunkel (incidental music by Dave Grusin)
• Francis A. & Edward K. - Frank Sinatra (with Duke Ellington)
• Cycles - Frank Sinatra
• ''The Sinatra Family Wish You A Merry Christmas - Frank Sinatra
• The Transformed Man - William Shatner
• Beggars Banquet - The Rolling Stones
• Dusty in Memphis - Dusty Springfield
• God Bless Tiny Tim - Tiny Tim
• Traffic - Traffic
• White Light/White Heat - The Velvet Underground
• The Who On Tour - The Who
• Diversions - Barry Booth
• Lady Soul - Aretha Franklin
• Karyobin - Spontaneous Music Ensemble

Top hits on record

• "Albatross" - Fleetwood Mac
• "Azadeh" - HayedehLandon
• "Bend Me, Shape Me" - The American Breed
• "Bend Me, Shape Me" - Amen Corner
• "Born To Be Wild" - Steppenwolf
• "Build Me Up Buttercup" - The Foundations
• "Chain of Fools" - Aretha Franklin
• "Cloud Nine" - The Temptations
• "Dance To The Music" - Sly & The Family Stone
• "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" - Dionne Warwick
• "Fire Brigade" - The Move
• "Grazing in the Grass" - Hugh Masekela
• "Green Tambourine" - Lemon Pipers
• "Harper Valley P.T.A" - Jeannie C. Riley
• "Hello Goodbye" - The Beatles
• "Hello, I Love You" - The Doors
• "Hey Jude"/"Revolution" - The Beatles
• "High In The Sky - Amen Corner
• "Honey" - Bobby Goldsboro
• "Ice In The Sun" - Status Quo
• "I Wish It Would Rain" - The Temptations
• "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" - Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations
• "Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)" - John Fred & his Playboy Band
• "Jumpin' Jack Flash" - Rolling Stones
• "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" - Kenny Rogers and The First Edition
• "Lady Madonna" - The Beatles
• "Lady Willpower" - Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
• "Love Child" - Diana Ross & The Supremes
• "Love Is Blue" - Paul Mauriat
• "Lovin' Things" - The Marmalade
• "Midnight Confessions" - The Grass Roots
• "Mony Mony" - Tommy James & the Shondells
• "Mrs. Robinson" - Simon and Garfunkel
• "My Little Lady" - The Tremeloes
• "Need Your Love So Bad" - Fleetwood Mac
• "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" - The Marmalade
• "Over You" - Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
• "Pictures Of Matchstick Men" - Status Quo
• "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" - Otis Redding
• "Suddenly You Love Me" - The Tremeloes
• "Sunshine Of Your Love" - Cream
• "Suzie Q" - Creedence Clearwater Revival
• "This Guy's in Love With You" - Herb Alpert
• "Tighten Up" - Archie Bell & the Drells
• "Valleri" - The Monkees
• "Young Girl" - Gary Puckett & The Union Gap

See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1968 (USA)

Other singles

• "The Weight" - The Band
• "I Am the Walrus" - The Beatles
• "Going Up The Country" - Canned Heat
• "White Room" - Cream
• "Le Temps des Fleurs" - Dalida
• "Je m'endors dans tes bras" - Dalida
• "Si j'avais des millions" - Dalida
• "Dona Dona" - Patty Duke
• "Since You've Been Gone" - Aretha Franklin
• "All Along The Watchtower" - Jimi Hendrix
• "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida" - Iron Butterfly
• "Delilah" - Tom Jones
• "Ride My See Saw" - The Moody Blues
• "Where Will You Be?" - Sue Nicholls
• "Old Friends/Bookends" - Simon and Garfunkel
• "Feeelin' Alright" - Traffic
• "Magic Bus" - The Who
• "Goodnight Sweet Josephine" - The Yardbirds

Published popular music

• "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman from the film of the same name
• "Classical Gas" m. Mason Williams
• "Dear World" w.m. Jerry Herman from the musical Dear World
• "Eli's Coming" w.m. Laura Nyro
• "The Fool On The Hill" w.m. John Lennon & Paul McCartney
• "For The Good Times" w.m. Kris Kristofferson
• "Galveston" w.m. Jim Webb
• "Heffalumps and Woozles" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman from the film Winnie The Pooh and the Blustery Day
• "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" w. Hal David m. Burt Bacharach from the musical Promises, Promises
• "Indian Lake" w.m. Tony Romeo
• "Indian Reservation" w.m. John D. Loudermilk, first recorded by Don Fardon
• "Little Green Apples" w.m. Bobby Russell
• "MacArthur Park" w.m. Jim Webb
• "Mister Bojangles" w.m. Jerry Jeff Walker
• "My Way" (French: "Comme d'habitude") w.m. Claude François & Jacques Revaux, Eng.: Paul Anka
• "The Night They Raided Minsky's" w. Lee Adams m. Charles Strouse from the film The Night They Raided Minsky's
• "A Perfect Gentleman" w. Lee Adams m. Charles Strouse Introduced by Jason Robards and Norman Wisdom in the film The Night They Raided Minsky's
• "Promises, Promises" w. Hal David m. Burt Bacharach from the musical Promises, Promises
• "Save The Country" w.m. Laura Nyro
• "Stand By Your Man" w.m. Billy Sherrill & Tammy Wynette
• "Stoned Soul Picnic" w.m. Laura Nyro
• "Sweet Blindness" w.m. Laura Nyro
• "Take Ten Terrific Girls' w. Lee Adams m. Charles Strouse from the film The Night They Raided Minsky's
• Ten Feet off the Ground w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman from the film The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
• "This Guy's In Love With You" w. Hal David m. Burt Bacharach
• "Wichita Lineman" w.m. Jim Webb
• "The Windmills Of Your Mind" w. Alan Bergman & Marilyn Bergman m. Michel LeGrand from the film The Thomas Crown Affair
• "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman from the film Winnie The Pooh and the Blustery Day
• "You Rat, You" w. Lee Adams m. Charles Strouse from the film The Night They Raided Minsky's

Classical music

• Luciano Berio - O King
• John Corigliano - Piano Concerto
• George Crumb - Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death for baritone, electric guitar, electric double bass, amplified piano/electric harpsichord, and two percussionists
• Mario Davidovsky - Music for Solo Violin
• Ladislav Kupkovic - Souvenir (one of his few recorded works)
• Per Nørgård - Rejse ind i den gyldne skærm (Journey into the Golden Screen)
• John Tavener - The Whale (cantata)
• David Tudor & Lowell Cross - Reunion

Opera

• Astor Piazzolla - Maria de Buenos Aires

Musical theater

• Cabaret (Kander and Ebb) - London production
• Canterbury Tales     London production
• Dames at Sea     Off-Broadway production opened at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre on December 20 and transferred to the Theatre de Lys on April 22, 1969 for a total run of 575 performances.
• The Dancing Years (Ivor Novello) - London revival
• Darling of the Day (w. E. Y. Harburg m. Jule Styne) Broadway production opened at the George Abbott Theatre on January 27 and ran for 31 performances. Starred Patricia Routledge and Vincent Price
• George M!     Broadway production
• Golden Boy     London production
• Hair - Broadway and London productions
• House Of Flowers     off-Broadway revival
• Lady, Be Good!     London revival
• Man Of La Mancha     London production
• Promises, Promises     Broadway production
• The Happy Time - musical/comedy - 286 performances at the Broadway Theatre featuring Robert Goulet 1968 Tony Award winner for Best Actor in a Musical. Winner 1968 Tony Award Best Musical.

Musical films

• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Finian's Rainbow
• Funny Girl
• The Jungle Book - animated feature film
• The Night They Raided Minsky's - released December 22 starring Jason Robards and Britt Ekland
• Oliver!
• The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
• Star!
• Yellow Submarine - animated feature film

Births

• January 11 - Tom Dumont
• June 29- Thoeren Fleury
• January 12 - Heather Mills McCartney
• January 14 - L.L. Cool J.
• January 27 - Mike Patton, Faith No More
• January 27 - Tricky, rapper
• January 28 - Sarah McLachlan
• February 1 - Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley
• February 5 - Chris Barron, Spin Doctors
• February 7 - Sully Enra, Godsmack
• February 12 - Chynna Phillips, Wilson Phillips, daughter of John & Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas
• February 22 - Brad Nowell, Sublime (d. 1996)
• March 4 - Patsy Kensit, actress and singer
• March 8 - Shawn Mullins
• March 11 - Lisa Loeb
• March 15 - Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray
• March 23 - Damon Albarn, Blur
• March 26 - James Iha, Smashing Pumpkins
• March 26 - Kenny Chesney, Country singer
• March 30 - Céline Dion
• April 3 - Sebastian Bach, Skid Row
• April 29 - Carnie Wilson, Wilson Phillips, daughter of Brian Wilson
• May 1 - D'Arcy Wretzky, The Smashing Pumpkins
• May 28 - Kylie Minogue, Australian actress and singer
• June 12 - Bobby Sheehan, Blues Traveler
• July 16 - Olga Souza ("Corona"), singer
• July 22 - Rhys Ifans, actor and former vocalist with Super Furry Animals
• August 10 - Michael Bivins, New Edition, Bell Biv Devoe
• August 11 - Charlie Sexton
• September 10 - Big Daddy Kane
• September 11 - Kay Hanley, Letters To Cleo
• September 12 - Ler LaLonde, Primus, Possessed, No Forcefield
• September 25 - Catherine Zeta-Jones
• October - Shaggy, reggae singer
• October 1 - Kevin Griffin, Better Than Ezra
• October 6 - Dominique A, singer-songwriter
• October 7 - Toni Braxton
• October 7 - Thom E. Yorke, Radiohead
• October 11 - Jane Krakowski, actress and singer
• October 12 - Hugh Jackman, actor and singer
• October 17 - Ziggy Marley
• October 31 - Vanilla Ice, rapper
• November 15 - Ol' Dirty Bastard, rapper (d. 2004)
• November 21 - Alex James, Blur
• November 28 - Dawn Robinson, En Vogue
• November 29 - Martin Carr, Boo Radleys
• December 2 - Nate Mendel, Foo Fighters
• December 9 - Brian Bell, Weezer
• December 29 - Glen Phillips, Toad The Wet Sprocket

Deaths

• January 18 - Gribouille, French songstress
• February 5 - Luckey Roberts, ragtime composer and pianist
• February 15 - Little Walter, blues singer and harmonica player
• February 28 - Frankie Lymon, American singer
• March 16 - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, composer
• March 26 - Little Willie John, Blues artist.
• May 19 - Coleman Hawkins, jazz musician
• June 26 - Ziggy Elman, US trumpet player
• August 5 - Luther Perkins, guitarist of The Tennessee Two
• August 18 - Arthur Marshall (ragtime composer)
• September 19 - Red Foley, country singer
• October 30 - Pops Foster, jazz musician
• date unknown - Billy Pigg, bagpiper

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1968

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1968

External Charts

• Pop Culture Madness 1968 Pop Music Chart

1968 in music

1968 en musique | 1968 - muzyka | 1968 в музыке | Musikåret 1968