See also: 1984 in music, other events of 1985, 1986 in music, 1980s in music and the list of 'years in music'

Events

• January 28 - Various artists, including Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry, Kenny Loggins, Willie Nelson, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and Stevie Wonder, record the song "We Are The World".
• February 21 - Whitney Houston releases her first album.
• March 3 - A wax likeness of Michael Jackson is unveiled at London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum.
• March 26 - South African radio stations ban Stevie Wonder's music in response to Wonder dedicating the Oscar he had won the night before to Nelson Mandela.
• April 1 - David Lee Roth "Officially" leaves Van Halen to begin a solo career. Although...Both sides (Roth & the rest of Van Halen) had been talking about it since 1985 began.
• July 13 - Live Aid concert in Wembley and Philadelphia.
• August 1 - Michael Jackson purchases the publishing rights for most of the Beatles' music for dollar|US$" target="_blank" >^*47 million, much to the dismay of Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
• August 16 - On her 27th birthday, Madonna marries actor Sean Penn. They will divorce in 1989.
• September 19 - the P.M.R.C's infamous "senate hearing on rock censorship" was held on this day in Washington D.C. Heavy metal singer Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, rock star Frank Zappa and country singer John Denver testified against the P.M.R.C.
• September 22 - Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Illinois.
• December 5 - The first fully digital reggae single, Wayne Smith's "(Under Me) Sleng Teng", is recorded at Prince Jammy's studio; it is the beginning of ragga style reggae.
• Eric B. & Rakim meet and begin making music together
• The former Beatles producer George Martin works with Country music legend Kenny Rogers on the album 'The Heart Of The Matter'.
• Phranc solo career starts.
• Widespread Panic forms.
• Private Domain forms.
• The Feelies reunites.
• The Modern Art releases its debut single.
• The Police disbands.
• The Specials disband
• The Clash disbands
• Men At Work disbands
• Quarterflash disbands
• Weather Report disbands
• The Minutemen disband
• Orange Juice disbands
• Chic disbands
• The Sugarhill Gang disbands
• Dr. Hook disbands
• Split Enz disbands
• Devo disbands (they reform in 1987, and disband again in 1990)
• The J. Geils Band disbands

Albums released

• 3-Way Tie (For Last) - The Minutemen
• 7800 Fahrenheit - Bon Jovi
• A Classic Case - Jethro Tull
• A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse - Giorno Poetry Systems
• A Sense of Wonder - Van Morrison
• Armed and Dangerous EP - Anthrax
• Around the World in a Day - Prince and the Revolution
• Asylum - KISS
• Backwaxed - Anvil
• Beat Happening - Beat Happening
• Behind the Sun (Eric Clapton album) - Eric Clapton
• Bites - Skinny Puppy
• Bonded by Blood - Exodus
• Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits
• Clan Of Xymox (album) - Clan Of Xymox
• Company Of Justice - Play Dead
• Code Of Honor EP - Mark Edwards
• Centerfield - John Fogerty
• Come Out And Play - Twisted Sister
• Crazy from the Heat EP - David Lee Roth (solo debut release)
• Cupid & Psyhe '85 - Scritti Politti
• Dare to Be Stupid - "Weird Al" Yankovic
• Delirious Nomad - Armored Saint
• Despite Straight Lines - Marilyn
• Diamond Life - Sade
• Disturbing The Peace - Alcatrazz
• Done With Mirrors - Aerosmith
• Don't Stand Me Down - Dexys Midnight Runners
• Down for the Count - Y&T
• The Dream of the Blue Turtles - Sting
• Fables of the Reconstruction - R.E.M.
• Fear No Evil - Grim Reaper
• Feel The Fire - Overkill
• Fight to Survive - White Lion
• The Firm - The Firm
• First and Last and Always - The Sisters of Mercy
• The Firstborn is Dead - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
• Fly on the Wall - AC/DC
• For The Working Class Man - Jimmy Barnes
• Folksinger - Phranc
• Frankenchrist - Dead Kennedys
• Futile Combat - Skeletal Family
• Greatest Hits - The Cars (debut compilation)
• Halber Mensch (or ½ Mensch; English: "Half Man") - Einstürzende Neubauten
• The Head on the Door - The Cure
• Heart - Heart
• The Heart Of The Matter - Kenny Rogers
• Hell Awaits - Slayer
• Hellbound - Warlock
• Hold Me - Laura Branigan
• Horror Epics - The Exploited
• Hounds of Love - Kate Bush
• Hunting High And Low - A-Ha
• I Am The Night - Pantera
• Ice on Fire - Elton John
• Into The Fire Live - Play Dead
• Invasion of your Privacy - Ratt
• Kingdom In The Streets - Dion DiMucci
• Killer Dwarfs - Killer Dwarfs
• Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! - Megadeth (debut)
• The Last Command - W.A.S.P.
• Listen Like Thieves - Inxs
• Little Creatures - Talking Heads
• Live After Death - Iron Maiden
• Long Way to Heaven - Helix
• Loose Nut - Black Flag
• Love - The Cult (debut)
• Love You To Pieces - Lizzy Borden
• Low-Life - New Order
• Marching Out - Yngwie Malmsteen
• Make it Big - Wham!
• Metal Heart - Accept
• Midnite Dynamite - Kix
• Misplaced Childhood - Marillion
• New Day Rising - Hüsker Dü
• The Night of the Crime - Icon
• No Jacket Required - Phil Collins
• No Tellin' Lies - Zebra
• Off The Board - Ludichrist
• Open Fire - Y&T
• Original Masters - Jethro Tull
• Oironaoshi (The Change) - Miyuki Nakajima
• Power Station - Power Station
• Power Windows - Rush
• Mersh - The Minutemen
• Promise - Sade
• Radio - LL Cool J
• Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
• Ready to Strike - King Kobra
• Rescue You - Joe Lynn Turner (solo debut)
• The Right to Rock - Keel
• Riptide - Robert Palmer
• Rough Cutt - Rough Cutt
• Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash - The Pogues
• Run for Cover - Gary Moore
• Sacred Heart - Dio
• Say You Love Me - Jennifer Holliday
• Scarecrow - John Cougar Mellencamp
• Seven The Hard Way - Pat Benatar
• Shaken N' Stirred - Robert Plant
• Soldiers Under Command - Stryper
• Songs from the Big Chair - Tears for Fears
• Soul To Soul - Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
• Spoiled Girl - Carly Simon
• Spreading the Disease - Anthrax
• Stella - Yello
• Steve McQueen (US Title: Two Wheels Good) - Prefab Sprout
• Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
• Talk About The Weather - Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
• Machine Age Voodoo - SPK (band)
• Syirin Farthat - Elvy Sukaesih
• The Best Of Elvy Sukaesih - Elvy Sukaesih
• Telephone Free Landslide Victory - Camper Van Beethoven
• Three-Way Tie for Last - Minutemen
• Theatre of Pain - Mötley Crüe
• Thunder in the East - Loudness (American debut)
• Thursday Afternoon - Brian Eno
• Tim - The Replacements
• To Mega Therion - Celtic Frost
• Under Lock and Key - Dokken
• Unguarded - Amy Grant
• Up on the Sun - Meat Puppets
• VU - The Velvet Underground
• Waiting For The Roar - Fastway
• We Are the World - USA for Africa
• Welcome to the Real World - Mr. Mister
• Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston
• Who's Zooming Who - Aretha Franklin
• Without Love - Black N' Blue
• World-Wide Live - Scorpions
• Youthquake - Dead or Alive

Top hits

• "A View to a Kill" - Duran Duran
• "Alive And Kicking" - Simple Minds
• "Angel" - Madonna
• "Barbados" - The Models
• "Born in the U.S.A." - Bruce Springsteen
• "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" - The Smiths
• "The Boys Of Summer" - Don Henley
• "Broken Wings" - Mr. Mister
• "Brothers In Arms" -Dire Straits
• "Can't Fight This Feeling" - REO Speedwagon
• "Centerfield" - John Fogerty
• "C'était mon ami" - Dalida
• "Close To Me" - The Cure
• "Crazy for You" - Madonna
• "Dancing In The Street" - David Bowie and Mick Jagger
• "Dirty Old Town" - The Pogues
• "Don't Come Around Here No More" - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• "Don't Lose My Number" - Phil Collins
• "Don't You (Forget About Me)" - Simple Minds
• "Dress You Up" - Madonna
• "Duel" - Propaganda
• "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" - Tears For Fears
• "Everything She Wants" - Wham!
• "Everytime You Go Away" - Paul Young
• "Find A Way" - Amy Grant
• "Faron Young" - Prefab Sprout
• "Fortress Around Your Heart" - Sting
• "Freeway of Love" - Aretha Franklin
• "Gambler" - Madonna
• "Glory Days" - Bruce Springsteen
• "(Gotta Be) Wrong Way To Love" - Dynamic Hepnotics
• "Head Over Heels" - Tears For Fears
• "The Heat Is On" - Glenn Frey
• "Heaven" - Bryan Adams
• "How Soon Is Now?" - The Smiths
• "If You Love Somebody (Set Them Free)" - Sting
• "I'm Going Down" - Bruce Springsteen
• "I'm On Fire" - Bruce Springsteen
• "In Between Days" - The Cure
• "Into The Groove" - Madonna
• "Indianapolis" - Menudo
• "I Want to Know What Love Is" - Foreigner
• "Jealous Guy" - John Lennon
• "Johnny Come Home" - Fine Young Cannibals
• "Kayleigh" - Marillion
• "Le temps d'aimer" - Dalida
• "Le Vénitien de Levallois" - Dalida
• "Legs" - ZZ Top
• "Let's Go Crazy/Take Me With U" - Prince and the Revolution
• "Lovergirl" - Teena Marie
• "Loverboy" - Billy Ocean
• "Miami Vice Theme" - Jan Hammer
• "Merry Christmas Everyone" - Shakin' Stevens
• "Money for Nothing" - Dire Straits
• "19" -- Paul Hardcastle
• "Oh Sheila" - Ready for the World
• "One Lonely Night" - REO Speedwagon
• "One More Night" - Phil Collins
• "One Night in Bangkok" - Murray Head
• "Only the Young" - Journey
• "Out Of Mind Out Of Sight" - The Models #1
• "Party All The Time" - Eddie Murphy
• "Part Time Lover" - Stevie Wonder
• "Private Dancer" - Tina Turner
• "The Power of Love" - Huey Lewis & the News
• "Reviens-moi" - Dalida
• "Saving All My Love For You" - Whitney Houston
• "Say You, Say Me" - Lionel Richie
• "Separate Lives" Phil Collins with Marilyn Martin
• "Shout" - Tears For Fears
• "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" - Judas Priest
• "Some Like It Hot" - Power Station
• "Somebody" - Bryan Adams
• "Spanish Eddie" - Laura Branigan
• "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion" - John Parr
• "Suddenly" - Billy Ocean
• "Summer of 69" - Bryan Adams
• "Sussudio" - Phil Collins
• "Take On Me" - a-ha
• "The Big Money" - Rush
• "The Whole Of The Moon" - The Waterboys
• "Walk Like a Man" - Divine
• "We Are the World" - USA for Africa
• "We Built This City" - Starship
• "West End Girls" - Pet Shop Boys
• "Wise Up" - Amy Grant
• "What You Need" - Inxs
• "Working Class Man" - Jimmy Barnes
• "You Give Good Love" - Whitney Houston

See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1985

Classical music

• Mario Davidovsky - Capriccio for Two Pianos
• Henri Dutilleux - Violin Concerto L'arbre des Songes
• Jacques Hétu - Missa pro trecentisimo anno
• Nicholas Jackson - Organ Sonata
• Witold Lutosławski - Symphony No. 3
• John Rutter - Requiem
• Joan Tower - Piano Concerto
• Robert Ward - Raleigh Divertimento

Opera

• Dominick Argento - Casanova's Homecoming
• Dorothy Rudd Moore - Frederick Douglass

Musical theater

• Big River - Broadway production
• Dames at Sea - off-Broadway revival
• The King and I (Rodgers & Hammerstein) - Broadway revival
• Me and My Girl (Noel Gay) - London revival
• Les Misérables - London production
• Mystery of Edwin Drood - Broadway production
• Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (Saul Chaplin, Gene de Paul and Johnny Mercer) - London production
• Singin' in the Rain - Broadway production
• Song and Dance - Broadway production

Musical films

• A Chorus Line
• That's Dancing!

Births

• February 7 - Ai Kago, Japanese singer (W (Double You). Morning Musume, MiniMoni)
• February 20 - Yulia Volkova, Russian musician (t.A.T.u.)
• May 10 - Asley Poole, singer Dream (Group)
• May 22 - Vangie Tang, singer
• June 15 - Nadine Walsh, Girls Aloud
• August 1 - Dina, singer
• August 3 - Holly Arnstein, Singer Dream (Group)
• September 23 - Diana Ortiz, Singer Dream (Group)
• October 15 - Nicola Roberts, Girls Aloud
• October 22 - Zachary Hanson, Hanson
• December 10 - Raven-Symoné, actress and singer

Deaths

• January 9 - Anton Karas, Austrian zither player and composer
• February 11 - Heinz Eric Roemheld
• February 11 - Ulysses Simpson Kay
• February 12 - Leslie Sarony, English singer, comedian and songwriter
• February 18 - Gábor Darvas, composer and musicologist
• February 22 - Efrem Zimbalist, violinist
• February 28 - David Byron, Uriah Heep
• March 31 - Jeanine Deckers, known as The Singing Nun and had a hit record, "Dominique"
• May 19 - Hilding Rosenberg, composer
• July 23 - Kay Kyser, US bandleader
• September 6 - Little Brother Montgomery
• October 6 - Nelson Riddle, US conducter, composer and arranger
• October 11 - Tex Williams, US country singer
• October 14 - Emil Gilels, pianist
• October 21 - Ricky Wilson, founding member of The B-52's
• December 12 - Ian Stewart, The Rolling Stones, cerebrovascular accident
• December 22 - D. Boon, lead singer of The Minutemen
• December 31 - Ricky Nelson, singer, former teen idol

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1985

Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1985

Charts

List of No. 1 Hits

• Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1985

KROQ

• KROQ Top 106.7 Countdown of 1985

External Charts

• Pop Culture Madness 1985 Music Chart

1985 in music

1985 en musique | 1985 - muzyka | 1985 в музыке | Musikåret 1985