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.
• June 27- Whitney Houston's sophomore album Whitney becomes the first album by a female artist to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200.
• September 25 - Matthew Garrison Chapman is born as the first child of Amy Grant and Gary Chapman. Lead Me On, Amy's 1988 album, is said to have been dedicated to Matt.
• 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
• Fugazi forms
• Poster Children forms
• Nirvana forms
• The Smiths break up
• 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
• Into the Fire - Bryan Adams
• Classics Live II - Aerosmith
• Permanent Vacation - Aerosmith
• Among The Living - Anthrax
• I'm The Man EP - Anthrax
• Strength of Steel - Anvil
• Jackomo - Little Annie Anxiety Bandez
• Raising Fear - Armored Saint
• Suffer - Bad Religion
• Licensed To Ill - The Beastie Boys
• Eternal Idol - Black Sabbath
• Terror Rising EP - Lizzy Borden
• Visual Lies - Lizzy Borden
• Never Let Me Down - David Bowie
• Touch - Laura Branigan
• Locust Abortion Technician - Butthole Surfers
• Speed Metal Symphony - Cacophony
• Heaven on Earth - Belinda Carlisle
• Secrets Of Synthesis - Wendy Carlos
• Raise Your Fist and Yell - Alice Cooper
• Best Before 1984 - Crass
• Electric - The Cult
• Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me - The Cure
• The Best Of Dalida, Vol. 2 - Dalida (compilation)
• Hysteria - Def Leppard
• Music for the Masses - Depeche Mode
• You're Living All Over Me - Dinosaur Jr.
• Dream Evil - Dio
• Back For the Attack - Dokken
• The Blanton-Webster Years - Duke Ellington
• The Circus - Erasure
• Paid in Full - Eric B. & Rakim
• White Fields - The Escape Club (debut)
• Death Before Dishonour - The Exploited
• Introduce Yourself - Faith No More
• Faster Pussycat - Faster Pussycat
• Bombay City - Remo Fernandez
• One Night Stand - Flamin'_Groovies
• Tango in the Night - Fleetwood Mac
• Frehley's Comet - Frehley's Comet
• Official Version - Front 242
• Funhouse - Funhouse
• Tallulah - The Go-Betweens
• ''In The Dark - Grateful Dead
• Once Bitten - Great White
• Rock You To Hell - Grim Reaper (final album)
• 2X4 - Guadalcanal Diary
• Appetite for Destruction - Guns N' Roses (debut)
• I Never Said Goodbye - Sammy Hagar
• Music to Strip By - Half Japanese
• Bad Animals - Heart
• Wild in the Streets - Helix
• Bring the Family - John Hiatt
• Get Close To My Love - Jennifer Holliday
• Songs and Stories - Hüsker Dü (final album)
• Rhyme Pays - Ice-T (debut)
• A More Perfect Union - Icon
• Kick - INXS
• Bad - Michael Jackson
• Jane's Addiction - Jane's Addiction
• Crest of a Knave - Jethro Tull
• Priest... Live! - Judas Priest
• Akwaba Beach - Mory Kanté
• 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
• Too Late To Cry - Alison Krauss
• Shaka Zulu - Ladysmith Black Mambazo
• Trio - Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton
• Running in the Family - Level 42
• Bigger and Deffer - LL Cool J
• By the Light of the Moon - Los Lobos
• Ready or Not - solo debut album of Foreigner lead vocalist Lou Gramm
• Hurricane Eyes - Loudness
• Diminuendo - Lowlife
• Lubricated Goat Plays the Devil's Music (debut) - Lubricated Goat
• Immaculate Deception - Ludichrist
• Strange Weather - Marianne Faithfull
• Deathcrush - Mayhem
• Perfect Timing - McAuley-Schenker Group (first release after Robin McAuley joined and they changed their name)
• Huevos - Meat Puppets
• (The $5.98 EP) Garage Days Re-Revisited - Metallica
• Faith - George Michael
• Diesel and Dust - Midnight Oil
• Stereoland - The Modern Art
• Pool It! - The Monkees
• Girls, Girls, Girls - Mötley Crüe
• Rock 'n' Roll - Motörhead
• Escape From Noise - Negativland
• Tritonian Nash-Vegas Polyester Complex - No Trend
• ''Dirty Dancing - Original Soundtrack
• The Greatest Hits - Roy Orbison
• Tribute - Ozzy Osbourne
• Taking Over - Overkill
• Power Metal - Pantera
• Trio (album) - Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt
• Actually - Pet Shop Boys
• A Momentary Lapse of Reason - Pink Floyd
• Come On Pilgrim - Pixies (debut)
• Buster Poindexter - Buster Poindexter
• Sign 'O' The Times - Prince
• Yo! Bum Rush the Show - Public Enemy
• Right Now! - Pussy Galore
• Halfway to Sanity - The Ramones
• 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)
• I Prefer The Moonlight - Kenny Rogers
• King's Record Shop - Rosanne Cash
• Stinkfist - Clint Ruin and Lydia Lunch
• Hold Your Fire - Rush
• Surfing With the Alien - Joe Satriani
• Hall of the Mountain King - Savatage
• Coming Around Again - Carly Simon
• Floodland - The Sisters of Mercy
• Cleanse Fold and Manipulate - Skinny Puppy
• The World Won't Listen - The Smiths (February, compilation)
• Louder than Bombs - The Smiths (March (U.S.)/May (U.K.), compilation)
• Strangeways, Here We Come - The Smiths (September, final studio album)
• The Perfect Prescription - Spaceman 3
• Sister - Sonic Youth
• Substance 1987 - New Order
• Tunnel of Love - Bruce Springsteen
• Nothing Like the Sun - Sting
• All Systems Go - Donna Summer
• Brenda K. Starr - Brenda K. Starr
• Make It Last Forever - Keith Sweat
• In My Tribe - 10,000 Maniacs
• New Again - TexAns
• Tiffany - Tiffany
• Introducing the Hardline... - Terence Trent D'Arby
• Bridge of Spies - T'Pau
• Love Is for Suckers - Twisted 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
• Starting Up - Roy Wood
• Contagious - Y&T
• 3.V - Zebra
• Tattooed Beat Messiah - Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction
• Gluey Porch Treatments - The Melvins
• Go On... - Mr. Mister
• Clutching at Straws - Marillion

Top hits on record

• "Alone" - Heart
• "Angel" - Angela Winbush
• "At This Moment" - Billy Vera and the Beaters
• "Bad" - Michael Jackson
• "Ballerina Girl" - Lionel Richie
• "Big Love" - Fleetwood Mac
• "Big Time" - Peter Gabriel
• "C'est La Vie" - Robbie Nevil
• "Change of Heart" - Cyndi Lauper
• "Come Go with Me" - Exposé
• "Control" - Janet Jackson
• "Didn't We Almost Have It All" - Whitney Houston
• "Don't Dream It's Over" - Crowded House
• "Don't Mean Nothing" - Richard Marx
• "Every Little Kiss" - Bruce Hornsby and the Range
• "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" - Wang Chung
• "Faith" - George Michael
• "Hazy Shade of Winter" - The Bangles
• "Heat of the Night" - Bryan Adams
• "Here I Go Again" - Whitesnake
• "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" - Belinda Carlisle
• "I Found Someone" - Cher
• "I Heard a Rumour" - Bananarama
• "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" - Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett
• "(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight" - Cutting Crew
• "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
• "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" - Whitney Houston
• "I Want Your Sex" - George Michael
• "In Too Deep" - Genesis
• "Is This Love" - Survivor
• "Jacob's Ladder" - Huey Lewis and the News
• "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" - Georgia Satellites
• "La Bamba" - Los Lobos
• "Land of Confusion" - Genesis
• "Lean on Me" - Club Nouveau
• "Livin' On a Prayer" - Bon Jovi
• "Let's Go" - Wang Chung
• "Looking for a New Love" - Jody Watley
• "Love You Down" - Ready for the World
• "Luka" - Suzanne Vega
• "Mandolin Rain" - Bruce Hornsby and The Range
• "Midnight Blue" - Lou Gramm
• "Need You Tonight" - Inxs
• "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" - Starship
• "Notorious" - Duran Duran
• "Only in my Dreams" - Debbie Gibson
• "Open Your Heart" - Madonna
• "Point of No Return" - Exposé
• "The Power Of Love" - Laura Branigan
• "Respect Yourself" - Bruce Willis
• "Rock Steady" - The Whispers
• "Rhythm Is Going to Get You" - Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine
• "Shake You Down" - Gregory Abbott
• "Shakedown" - Bob Seger
• "Someday" - Glass Tiger
• "Songbird" - Kenny G
• "Somewhere Out There" - Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram
• "Stone Love" - Kool & the Gang
• "The Final Countdown" - Europe
• "The Finer Things" - Steve Winwood
• "The Way It Is" - Bruce Hornsby and the Range
• "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" - Genesis
• "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)" - Samantha Fox
• "U Got The Look" - Prince and Sheena Easton
• "Victory" - Kool & the Gang
• "Walk Like An Egyptian" - The Bangles
• "War" - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
• "We're Ready" - Boston
• "Where the Streets Have No Name" - U2
• "Who's That Girl?" - Madonna
• "Will You Still Love Me" - Chicago
• "With or Without You" - U2
• "You Got It All" - The Jets
• "You Keep Me Hanging On" - Kim Wilde

Other Singles

• We Connect- Stacey Q.
• "Shattered Glass" - Laura Branigan
• "Somebody Save Me" - Cinderella
• "Why Can't I Be You?" - The Cure
• "Just Like Heaven" - The Cure
• "Pour en arriver là" - Dalida
• "Les hommes de ma vie" - Dalida
• "Behind the Wheel" - Depeche Mode
• "Never Let Me Down Again" - Depeche Mode
• "Strangelove" - Depeche Mode
• "Bring Him Back Home" - Hugh Masekela
• "Beds Are Burning" - Midnight Oil
• "True Faith" - New Order
• "In The Dutch Mountains" - The Nits
• "China in your hand" - T'Pau
• "You Can Call Me Al" - Paul Simon
• "Free" - Stryper
• "Hot Love" - Twisted Sister
• "Wait" - White Lion
• "Sugar Free" - WaWaNee

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

• Mario Davidovsky - Quartetto for flute, violin, viola and violoncello
• Philip Feeney - Mémoire Imaginaire (ballet)
• Malcolm Forsyth - Songs from the Qu'appelle Valley
• Juan Maria Solare - Doce variaciones 1987 (for piano)
• Joan Tower - Fanfare for the uncommon woman no 1

Opera

• John Adams - Nixon in China
• Friedrich Cerha - Der Rattenfänger (The Pied Piper)
• Michael Nyman - Vital Statistics
• Judith Weir - A Night at the Chinese Opera

Musical theater

• 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

• Lady Sovereign
• January 27 - Katy Rose
• January 27 - Ashley Perez Moza
• February 12 - O'Ryan
• March 9 - Bow Wow
• April 9 - Jesse McCartney
• April 10 - Hayley Westenra
• April 11 - Joss Stone
• April 30 - Nikki Webster
• June 16 - Diana DeGarmo
• September 7 - Evan Rachel Wood, Actress
• September 26 - Rosie Munter
• September 28 - Hilary Duff
• September 28 - Chloe Hanslip, violinist

Deaths

• January 10 - Marion Hutton, singer and actress
• January 15 - Ray Bolger, actor, of cancer
• February 4 - Liberace, US pianist
• March 3 - Danny Kaye, actor, singer, dancer and comedian
• March 15 - Don Gant, singer/songwriter, record producer
• March 21 - Dean Paul Martin, singer and actor
• March 21 - Robert Preston, star of The Music Man, Mame, etc.
• March 28 - Maria von Trapp, subject of The Sound of Music
• 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
• May 14 - Rita Hayworth, dancer and film star
• May 24 - Hermione Gingold, actress and singer
• June 3 - Andrés Segovia, guitar virtuoso
• June 18 - Kid Thomas Valentine, jazz trumpeter & bandleader
• June 22 - Fred Astaire, dancer, actor and singer
• June 25 - Boudleaux Bryant, Hall of Fame songwriter
• July 1 - Snakefinger, guitarist
• August 14 - Vincent Persichetti, composer
• August 27 - Andrew Benoit-Vocalist
• September 21- Jaco Pastorius, jazz bassist
• September 23 - Bob Fosse, dancer, choreographer and director of musicals
• October 19 - Jacqueline Du Pré, English cellist
• October 28 - Woody Herman, US bandleader
• December 10 - Jascha Heifetz, violinist
• December - Conny Plank, record producer

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

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1987

Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1987

Charts

List of No. 1 Hits

• Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1987

KROQ

• KROQ Top 106.7 Countdown of 1987

1987 in music

1987 en musique | 1987 - muzyka | 1987 в музыке | Musikåret 1987