See also: 1974 in music, other events of 1975, 1976 in music, 1970s in music and the list of 'years in music'

Events

• January 2 - New York City US District Court Judge Richard Owen rules that former Beatle John Lennon and his lawyers can have access to Department of Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case.
• January 5 - The Wiz, a new version of the classic The Wizard of Oz story, opens at Broadway's Majestic Theater in New York City
• January 6 - Approximately 1000 Led Zeppelin fans cause an estimated $30,000 in damage to the lobby of the Boston Garden. The fans had been waiting for tickets to go on sale for Led Zeppelin's February 4 concert. The fans reportedly broke chairs and doors and caused other damage to the building. Boston Mayor Kevin White cancels the upcoming show
• January 8 - Three Led Zeppelin concerts at Madison Square Garden sell out in a record four hours.
• January 12 - "The Warner Brothers Music Show" begins a nine city, 18 show tour of Europe. The tour included Warner Brothers acts Little Feat, Tower of Power, the Doobie Brothers, Bonaroo , Montrose & Graham and Central Station
• February 15 - Soul Train makes it national television debut after 5 years as a local show in Chicago, Illinois. The shows first performance is by Gino Vannelli
• February 21 - John Lennon releases his "Rock & Roll" LP, featuring John singing his favorite early rock songs from the 50's. To promote the album he conducts a telephone interview with 20 rock radio stations simultaneously.
• March 2 - Los Angeles Police make a routine traffic stop that turns out to be Paul McCartney and his wife Linda. Linda McCartney is arrested for having six to eight ounces of marijuana in her pocketbook.
• March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premiers in London
• April 3 - Steve Miller is arrested and charged with setting fire to the clothes and personal effects of a friend, Benita DiOrio, and resisting arrest. DiOrio drops the charges the following day.
• April 18 - Alice Cooper's first television special, Welcome To My Nightmare: The Making Of A Record Album airs
• April 23 - Badfinger's Peter Ham hangs himself in his London garage
• April 28 - Tom Snyder interviews John Lennon on the Tomorrow Show.
• May 10 - Stevie Wonder performs before 125,000 people at the Washington Monument as part of Human Kindness Day festivities.
• August 9 - Renato Carosone's comeback concert after 15-year retirement
• Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour
• Firefall forms
• The Ramones sign to Sire Records
• The Sex Pistols form
• Pere Ubu forms in August
• .38 Special forms
• Motörhead forms
• Ocean disbands
• John Rutter becomes Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge.

Albums released

• ABBA - ABBA
• Tryin' to Get the Feeling - Barry Manilow
• Main Course - The Bee Gees
• Sabotage - Black Sabbath
• Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
• The Basement Tapes - Bob Dylan & The Band
• Young Americans - David Bowie
• Another Green World - Brian Eno
• Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain & Tennille
• Horizon - Carpenters
• I'm Still In Love With You - Roy Orbison
• IX - Chicago
• VIII - Chicago
• Welcome to My Nightmare - Alice Cooper
• J'Attendrai - Dalida
• Hair of the Dog - Nazareth
• An Evening with John Denver - John Denver
• Windsong - John Denver
• One of These Nights - The Eagles
• Gratitude - Earth, Wind & Fire
• That's the Way of the World - Earth, Wind & Fire
• Face the Music - Electric Light Orchestra
• Feel Like Makin' Love - Roberta Flack
• Experience Gloria Gaynor - Gloria Gaynor (debut)
• Never Can Say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor
• Daryl Hall & John Oates - Hall & Oates (debut)
• Elite Hotel - Emmylou Harris
• Between the Lines - Janis Ian
• Red Octopus - Jefferson Starship
• Minstrel in the Gallery - Jethro Tull
• Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy - Elton John
• Rock of the Westies - Elton John
• All the Girls in the World Beware - Grand Funk Railroad
• Journey - Journey
• U.S.A. - King Crimson
• Dressed To Kill and Alive! - Kiss
• Autobahn - Kraftwerk
• Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
• Live! - Bob Marley and the Wailers
• Venus and Mars - Paul McCartney & Wings
• Fire on the Bayou - The Meters
• Ted Nugent- Ted Nugent
• Live - Old & in the Way
• Have You Never Been Mellow - Olivia Newton-John
• Chocolate City - Parliament
• Mothership Connection - Parliament
• Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
• Still Crazy After All These Years - Paul Simon
• A Night at the Opera - Queen
• Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow - Rainbow
• Quiet Storm - Smokey Robinson
• Heart Like a Wheel - Linda Ronstadt
• Caress of Steel - Rush
• Fly by Night - Rush
• Horses- Patti Smith
• Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
• Katy Lied - Steely Dan
• Atlantic Crossing - Rod Stewart
• Bolan's Zip Gun - T. Rex
• Force It - UFO
• Why Can't We Be Friends? - War
• The Who By Numbers - The Who
• Venus & Mars - Wings
• Dream Weaver - Gary Wright
• Tonight's the Night - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
• Fandango - ZZ Top

Chronological Table of US and UK Number One Hit Singles

Other significant singles

• "At 17"-Janis Ian
• "Bad Time" - Grand Funk Railroad
• "Ballroom Blitz" - Sweet
• "Born To Run" - Bruce Springsteen
• "C'est mieux comme ça (Le Parrain 2)" - Dalida
• "Calypso" - John Denver
• "Cut The Cake" - Average White Band
• "Et de l'amour... de l'amour" - Dalida & Richard Chanfray as "St-Germain"
• "Feelings" - Morris Albert
• "Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• "Get Down Tonight" - K.C. and the Sunshine Band
• "Hey You" - Bachman Turner Overdrive
• "Holy Roller" - Nazareth
• "How Sweet It Is" - James Taylor
• "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" - ABBA
• "The Late Show" - Jackson Browne
• "Lyin' Eyes" - The Eagles
• "Mamma Mia" - ABBA
• "Mein Lieber Herr" - Dalida
• "Ne lui dis pas" - Dalida
• "No No Song" - Ringo Starr
• "Rock and Roll All Night" - Kiss
• "Roll On Down The Highway" - Bachman Turner Overdrive
• "Saturday Night Special" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• "Shame, Shame, Shame" - Shirley and Company
• "SOS" - ABBA
• "Sweet Emotion" - Aerosmith
• "Trampled Underfoot" - Led Zeppelin
• "When Will I Be Loved" - Linda Ronstadt
• "Who Loves You" - The Four Seasons
• "Why Can't We Be Friends" - War
• "You Are So Beautiful" - Joe Cocker

Published popular music

• "Anytime (I'll Be There)"     w.m. Paul Anka
• "Calypso"     w.m. John Denver
• "I'm Not In Love"     w.m. Graham Keith Gouldman & Eric Michael Stewart
• "I'm Sorry"     w.m. John Denver
• "Mamma Mia"     w.m. Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus
• "Love Will Keep Us Together"     w.m. Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield
• "Movin' On Up" w.m. Jeff Barry and Ja'Net DuBois , theme from the TV series The Jeffersons
• "New York State Of Mind" w.m. Billy Joel
• "One"     w. Edward Kleban m. Marvin Hamlisch
• "Rockin' All Over The World" w.m. John C. Fogerty
• "Wasted Days Wasted Nights"     w.m. Freddy Fender & Wayne Duncan
• "The Way I Want To Touch You"     w.m. Toni Tennille
• "What I Did For Love"     w. Edward Kleban m. Marvin Hamlisch
• "You"     w.m. Tom Snow

Classical music

• Samuel Adler - Symphony No. 5, "We are the Echoes"
• Claude Bolling and Jean Pierre Rampal - Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano
• Mario Davidovsky - Scenes from Shir ha-Shirim for soprano, two tenors, bass soli and chamber ensemble
• Theo Loevendie - Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra, "Incantations"
• Witold Lutoslawski - Les Espaces du Sommeil

Opera

Musical theatre

• Chicago - Broadway production
• A Chorus Line (Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban ) - Broadway production
• A Little Night Music(Stephen Sondheim) - London production
• The Wiz - Broadway production

Musical films

• Funny Lady

Births

• January 2 - Emm Gryner
• February 7 - Wes Borland, Limp Bizkit
• February 20 - Brian Littrell, The Backstreet Boys
• March 10 - Jerry Horton , Papa Roach
• March 25 - Melanie Blatt, singer
• April 26 - Jose Pasillas, Incubus
• May 8 - Enrique Iglesias
• May 18 - Jack Johnson
• May 25 - Lauryn Hill, The Fugees
• May 29 - Melanie Brown (Scary Spice), The Spice Girls
• September 9 - Michael Bublé
• September 11 - Brad Fischetti , LFO
• September 16 - Shannon Noll, Australian singer and actor
• September 22 - Mystikal
• October 9 - Sean Ono Lennon, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono
• November 6 - Mike Herrera, MxPx
• November 14 - Travis Barker, blink-182
• December 13 - Tom Delonge, blink-182

Deaths

• February 22 - Lionel Tertis, viola player
• April 23 - Peter Ham, Badfinger, suicide
• May 18 - Leroy Anderson, US composer and conductor
• June 29 - Tim Buckley, drug overdose
• July 14 - Zutty Singleton, US jazz drummer
• July 19 – Lefty Frizzell, Country Music Hall of Fame singer
• August 9 - Dmitri Shostakovich, heart attack
• September 5 - Bill Sprouse Jr. The Road Home, heart attack
• October 30 - John Scott Trotter , US arranger and conductor
• December 17 - Noble Sissle, US bandleader and singer
• December 24 - Bernard Herrmann, composer

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1975

Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1975