1989 in music



This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.

Events

 * January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР (Back in the USSR) exclusively in the USSR. Bootleg copies sell for as much as US$1,000 in the United States.
 * January 23 – James Brown is sentenced in Georgia, USA, to six years in jail in connection with a police chase through two different states.
 * January 25 – Madonna files for divorce from Sean Penn after three-and-a-half years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.
 * January 27 – Michael Jackson ends the Bad World Tour in Los Angeles, USA.
 * February 12
 * Roy Orbison joins Elvis Presley as the only singers to ever simultaneously have two top 5 albums on the Billboard charts.
 * Tiny Tim launches an unsuccessful campaign to be elected mayor of New York City, USA.
 * February 17 – Whitesnake's David Coverdale marries Tawny Kitaen.
 * March 21 – Madonna's "Like a Prayer" music video, taped in late December 1988, attracts criticism for its use of Catholic Church iconography and for the use of cross burning imagery, but also garners praise for its interpretation of discrimination, rape, and faith. Pepsi drops Madonna as a spokesperson out of fear the video will cause religious groups to boycott the company.
 * April 9 – The Rolling Stones' Bill Wyman announces that he will marry 19-year-old Mandy Smith, his girlfriend for six years.
 * April 12 – Michael Jackson is named "King of Pop" after receiving the Soul Train Heritage Awards.
 * April 28 – Jon Bon Jovi marries his high school sweetheart Dorothea Hurley at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
 * May 1 – California, USA jewelry store employees called the police reporting a suspicious person hanging around their store. The person turns out to be Michael Jackson shopping in disguise.
 * July 9 – All four original members of The Monkees reunite in Los Angeles, USA, for a concert performance at the Universal Amphitheatre. The following day the quartet attend an induction ceremony at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where they receive a star.
 * July 23 – Former Beatle Ringo Starr forms his own band named Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
 * August 3 – Sergio Franchi collapses before scheduled concert; dies 9 months later of brain cancer.
 * August 11-12 – The Moscow Music Peace Festival is held in the Soviet Union. The event is put together by Doc McGhee and the Make-A-Wish Foundation and headline acts include Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe, Skid Row, Cinderella, and the Scorpions.
 * August 31 – The Rolling Stones open their Steel Wheels North American tour in Philadelphia, USA.
 * September 9
 * The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, designed by I. M. Pei, opens in Dallas, Texas, USA.
 * Madonna gives a risqué performance at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards. Clad in baggy black sweatpants and a black bustier, she shocks the audience by simulating masturbation. The version of the song used in the show would later serve as the opening number of 1990's "Blond Ambition World Tour".
 * September 14 – Madonna is granted a divorce from Sean Penn.
 * October 15 – Media Rings Corporation, the Japanese music, video game, and software publishing company, is founded in Akasaka.
 * December 23 – Ice Cube leaves N.W.A after financial problems and several conflicts with their manager Jerry Heller and the group's founder Eazy-E. By this time, Cube has been recording his solo debut album, which will be released next year.

Also in 1989

 * Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith leaves the band and is replaced by ex-Gillan guitarist Janick Gers who had most recently worked with Bruce Dickinson on his solo project.
 * Ars Musica, an annual contemporary music international festival, founded

Bands formed

 * See Musical groups established in 1989

Bands disbanded

 * See Musical groups disestablished in 1989

Bands reformed

 * Cluster
 * Luv'
 * Plasmatics

Albums released
All releases are an LP record unless otherwise stated. Multiple entries for the same day are arranged alphabetically by the album's name. Release dates may vary in different countries.

Biggest hit singles
The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the charts of 1989.

Top hit singles

 * 1) The Look Roxette

Births

 * January 13 – Triinu Kivilaan, Estonian singer and model
 * January 14 – Frankie Sandford, British singer (S Club Juniors & The Saturdays)
 * January 24 – Calvin Goldspink, British singer (S Club Juniors)
 * January 25 – Yasmien Kurdi, Filipina singer and actress
 * January 28 – Carly Paoli, British mezzo-soprano
 * February 3 – Ryne Sanborn, American actor, singer, and dancer
 * February 17 – Stacey McClean, British singer (S Club Juniors)
 * February 22 – Anna Sundstrand, singer and model
 * February 27 – Sam Sweeney, English folk musician
 * March 1 – Sonya Kitchell, jazz singer-songwriter
 * March 9 – TaeYeon, member of South Korean pop girl group Girls' Generation
 * March 11 – Shin Soohyun, member of South Korean pop boy group U-KISS
 * March 21 – Rochelle Wiseman, British singer (S Club Juniors & The Saturdays)
 * March 25 – Alyson Michalka, singer-songwriter and actress
 * April 8
 * Alexander DeLeon, American singer-songwriter (The Cab)
 * Hitomi Takahashi, singer
 * April 11 – Zola Jesus, singer
 * April 18 – Jessica, member of Girls' Generation
 * May 1 – Tim Urban, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * May 5 – Chris Brown, singer and actor
 * May 15 – Sunny, member of Girls' Generation
 * May 28 – Asuca Hayashi, singer
 * May 30 – Kevin Covais, American Idol finalist
 * June 13 – Lisa Tucker, singer
 * June 14 – Lucy Hale, actress and singer
 * June 18 – Renee Olstead, actress and jazz singer
 * June 17 – Simone Battle, American actress, singer, and dancer (G.R.L) (died 2014)
 * June 20 – Benyamin Nuss, pianist
 * June 28 – Lacey Schwimmer, American singer and dancer
 * July 5 – Joseph King, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Canvas and Deadbeat Darling)
 * July 13 – Sayumi Michishige (Morning Musume)
 * July 20 – Brooke Candy, American rapper and dancer
 * August 1 – Tiffany, member of Girls' Generation
 * August 2 – Priscilla Betti, French singer
 * August 15
 * Belinda Peregrin, singer, songwriter and actress
 * Joe Jonas, vocalist
 * August 19 – Lil' Romeo, entertainer
 * September 1 – Bill and Tom Kaulitz of Tokio Hotel
 * September 10 – Sanjaya Malakar, American Idol finalist
 * September 22 – HyoYeon, member of Girls' Generation
 * October 30 – Jay Asforis, British singer (S Club Juniors)
 * November 2 – Katelyn Tarver, singer-songwriter
 * November 11 – Reina Tanaka (Morning Musume)
 * November 30 – Daisy Evans, British singer (S Club Juniors)
 * December 5 – YuRi, member of Girls' Generation
 * December 12
 * Janelle Arthur, American singer
 * Marcel "Shin" Gothow of Cinema Bizarre, German drummer
 * December 13 – Taylor Swift, country pop singer
 * December 22 – Jordin Sparks, American Idol Season 6 winner
 * December 27 – Calyssa Davidson, violinist

Deaths

 * January 12 – Chellapilla Satyam, Indian film music director, 65
 * January 20 – Beatrice Lillie, Canadian actress and singer, 94
 * February 5 – Joe Raposo, composer and lyricist, Bein' Green, 51 (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma)
 * February 6 – King Tubby Jamaican DJ and composer, father of dub reggae, 58 (gunshot wounds)
 * February 14 – Vincent Crane (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown), 45 (drug overdose)
 * February 23 – Florencio Morales Ramos, singer and composer, 72
 * March 19 – Alan Civil, horn player, 59
 * March 20 – Archie Bleyer, US arranger and bandleader, 79
 * April 8 – A. M. Rajah, Indian playback singer and composer, 59 (rail accident)
 * April 26 – Lucille Ball, US actress and singer, 77
 * May 9 – Keith Whitley, American singer, guitarist, and producer, 34
 * May 10 – Woody Shaw, jazz musician, 44 (kidney failure)
 * May 15 – Johnny Green, composer, conductor and arranger, 80
 * May 30 – Zinka Milanov, operatic soprano, 83
 * June 14 – Pete de Freitas, drummer with Echo & the Bunnymen, 27 (motorcycle accident)
 * June 22 – Henri Sauguet, composer, 88
 * June 24 – Hibari Misora, Japanese enka singer, 52 (hepatitis)
 * July 5 – Ernesto Halffter, Spanish composer and conductor, 84
 * July 16 – Herbert von Karajan, conductor, 81
 * July 21 – Mushtaq Ali Khan, Indian sitar, surbahar and pakhawaj player, 78
 * August 1 – John Ogdon, pianist, 52 (diabetes-related)
 * August 2 – Luiz Gonzaga, Brazilian musician, 76
 * August 21 – Raul Seixas, singer and songwriter, 44 (diabetes-related)
 * August 25 – Gunnar Berg, Danish composer
 * September 7 – Mikhail Goldstein, violinist and composer, 71
 * September 14 – Perez Prado, Cuban bandleader and composer, 72
 * September 15 – Jan DeGaetani, mezzo-soprano, 56 (leukemia)
 * September 22 – Irving Berlin, composer, lyricist, 101
 * September 24 – Jean Perrin, pianist and composer, 79
 * September 30 – Virgil Thomson, composer, 92
 * October 17 – Morteza Hannaneh, composer, 66
 * October 19 – Alan Murphy, guitarist, member of Level 42 and Go West, 35 (AIDS-related)
 * October 22 – Ewan MacColl, folk singer, 74
 * October 31 – Conrad Beck, Swiss composer, 88
 * November 5 – Vladimir Horowitz, pianist, 86
 * November 15 – Alejo Durán, composer of vallenatos, 80
 * December 6
 * Billy Lyall, keyboardist of Pilot and Bay City Rollers, 46 (AIDS-related)
 * Sammy Fain, US composer, 87
 * December 21 – Ján Cikker, Slovak composer, 78
 * December 26 – Sir Lennox Berkeley, composer, 86

Awards

 * The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Dion, Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones, The Temptations and Stevie Wonder
 * Grammy Awards of 1989
 * Country Music Association Awards
 * Eurovision Song Contest 1989
 * 31st Japan Record Awards

Charts

 * List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1989 (U.S.)

US Top 40 Hits

 * Billboard Top 40 of 1989