See also: 1991 in music, other events of 1992, 1993 in music, 1990s in music and the list of 'years in music'

Events

1992 was a pivotal year in the development of music. Perhaps the most notable event was the release of The Chronic by Dr. Dre. Though other artists (including Dr. Dre as a member of N.W.A., and Public Enemy, LL Cool J and Kurtis Blow) had achieved some mainstream success, The Chronic was perhaps the first real blockbuster hip hop album. It presaged the future mainstream dominance of hip hop, as well as the beginning of G funk-West Coast rap's rule as the most popular and influential type of hip hop.

Thrash metal saw Megadeth moving in a more commercial direction with Countdown to Extinction, while Pantera laid the groundwork for aggro-metal with Vulgar Display of Power.

The Spin Doctors' Pocket Full of Kryptonite spawned three huge hits this year. Though the band was never able to recreate this success, it foreshadowed the future rise of popular jam bands like Phish and Dave Matthews Band.

Garth Brooks continued to be a major force in the music business, having already enjoyed the feat of being the first country music superstar to debut at #1 in the albums charts the previous year with "Ropin' The Wind," his follow up set, "The Chase," also made it's first appearance on both the pop and country charts at #1.

1992 was also the year that the ABBA revival began. With the release of the ABBA Gold compilation, ABBA began to be remembered all over the world. The album soon topped the German, Swedish, and British charts, making them more than a success confined to the 1970s.

• January 11 - Paul Simon is the first major artist to tour South Africa after the end of the cultural boycott.
• January 16 - Mick Jagger attends the Hollywood premiere of his new movie, Freejack, at Mann's Chinese Theatre
• February 18 - Vince Neil leaves Mötley Crüe, after 11 years as the band's lead singer, to spend more time on his career as a race car driver.
• February 24 - Nirvana's Kurt Cobain marries Hole's Courtney Love
• February 24 - The U.S. Postal Service unveils 2 potential designs of its proposed Elvis Presley stamp for fans to vote on. One design is of a "young" 1950s Elvis, and the other is of a much "older" 1970s Elvis. The "young" Elvis wins the vote, and is issued the following January.
• March 10 - Prince wins the lifetime achievement award during the Soul Train Awards
• March 14 - Farm Aid Five takes place in Irving, Texas, hosted by Willie Nelson. Artists performing at the event include John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Paul Simon. Approximately 40,000 people attend the event.
• March 24 - A Chicago, Illinois judge approves cash rebates of up to $3 to anyone proving they bought Milli-Vanilli prior to when the lip synching scandal began on November 27, 1990
• April 1 - Billy Idol, on trial for punching a woman in the face, pleads no contest. Idol is fined and ordered to make public service announcements against alcohol and drug use.
• April 24 - David Bowie marries fashion model Iman
• April 30 - In Los Angeles, California, Madonna's bustier is stolen from a display in Fredrick's Of Hollywood . A $1,000 reward is offered for its return.
• May - The 1st EJCF was held in Basel. It's a great success and will be held every 3 years (the next time was in 1995).
• July - Launch of the "Budafest" Summer Opera & Ballet Festival in Budapest.
• July 4 - Mark Heard suffers a heart attack while performing at the Cornerstone Festival in Illinois. Heard went to the hospital immediately after finishing his set and was released two weeks later.
• July 28 - Mary J. Blige releases her debut album What's the 411?. It is a pivotal album in the world of R&B.
• August - Rozalla becomes the first artist from Zimbabwe to chart on Billboard.
• August - Mark Heard suffers a cardiac arrest and dies.
• Former Beatle George Harrison tells Billboard magazine that he recently discovered that he was born on February 24, and not February 25 as he had thought for most of his life.
• August 27 - John Lennon's original handwritten lyrics to "A Day in the Life" are auctioned off, eventually selling for $87,000.
• October 3 - Sinéad O'Connor stirs up controversy when she rips up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live
• October 31 and November 7 - "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men posted its 12th and 13th consecutive weeks at #1, ending a 36-year record previously held by Elvis Presley. This record was ended on March 6 the next year by Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You"
• November 15 - Megan Jasper of Sub Pop creates the grunge speak hoax, tricking The New York Times into printing an article on a supposed slang used in the Seattle grunge scene
• The Jerky Boys' career begins
• Beginning of musical career of Snoop Doggy Dogg
• Elastica forms
• Korn forms
• Oasis forms
• P.O.D. forms
• The Feelies disbands
• N.W.A. disbands

Albums released

• Gold: Greatest Hits - ABBA
• Spellbound - Paula Abdul
• Dirt - Alice In Chains
• Sap - Alice In Chains
• Selected Ambient Works 85-92 - Aphex Twin
• Arrogant Worms -Arrogant Worms
• Generator - Bad Religion
• Gordon - Barenaked Ladies
• Check Your Head - Beastie Boys
• The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion - The Black Crowes
• Dehumanizer - Black Sabbath
• Blind Melon - Blind Melon (debut)
• Keep the Faith - Bon Jovi
• The Chase - Garth Brooks
• Tomb of the Mutilated - Cannibal Corpse
• The Future - Leonard Cohen
• Wish - The Cure
• Peel Sessions: No AIDS, No Salmonella, and No Gulf War Respectively - Datblygu
• Adrenalize - Def Leppard
• Legion - Deicide
• Céline Dion - Céline Dion
• The Chronic - Dr. Dre
• Images and Words - Dream Theater
• Black Moon - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
• Chorus - Erasure
• Unplugged - Eric Clapton
• Home For Christmas - Amy Grant
• Fear of the Dark - Iron Maiden
• A Little Light Music - Jethro Tull
• King's X - King's X
• Bricks Are Heavy - L7
• It's a Shame About Ray - Lemonheads
• Lynch Mob - Lynch Mob
• Triumph of Steel - Manowar
• Baby I'm Yours - Maureen McGovern
• Countdown To Extinction - Megadeth
• Are You Normal? - Ned's Atomic Dustbin
• Psalm 69 - Ministry
• Your Arsenal - Morrissey
• Piece of Cake - Mudhoney
• Henry's Dream - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
• Hormoaning - Nirvana (EP, released in Australia and Japan)
• Incesticide - Nirvana (compilation of old stuff)
• The End Complete - Obituary
• Ignition - The Offspring
• Tubular Bells II - Mike Oldfield
• King of Hearts - Roy Orbison
• Vulgar Display of Power - Pantera
• Shine On - Pink Floyd (9 CD boxed set)
• Dry - PJ Harvey
• Automatic for the People - R.E.M.
• Amused to Death - Roger Waters
• Peppermint - Sloan
• Grave Dancer's Union - Soul Asylum
• Hotwired - The Soup Dragons
• Homebelly Groove - Spin Doctors (live)
• Pocket Full of Kryptonite - Spin Doctors
• Human Touch - Bruce Springsteen
• Lucky Town - Bruce Springsteen
• Peng! - Stereolab
• Core - Stone Temple Pilots
• Twilight Time - Stratovarius
• 40 Oz. to Freedom - Sublime (debut studio album)
• Reflecter - Sun Dial
• Fazer - Sun Dial
• The Ritual - Testament
• Apollo 18 - They Might Be Giants
• Fear - Toad the Wet Sprocket
• Opiate - Tool
• America's Least Wanted - Ugly Kid Joe
• The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History - The Vaselines
• There and Back Again - Vertical Horizon
• The Crimson Idol - W.A.S.P.
• Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine

Top hits on record

• "Alive" - Pearl Jam
• "All 4 Love" - Color Me Badd
• "All I Want" - Toad the Wet Sprocket
• "Baby Got Back" - Sir Mix-A-Lot
• "Come As You Are" - Nirvana
• "End of the Road" - Boyz II Men
• "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad?" - Def Leppard
• "How Do You Talk To An Angel" - Whitney Houston
• "I Will Always Love You" - Whitney Houston
• "Jimmy Olsen's Blues" - Spin Doctors
• "Jump" - Kris Kross
• "Layla" - Eric Clapton
• "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" - Spin Doctors
• "Missing You Now" - Michael Bolton
• "Mrs. Robinson" - Lemonheads
• "Mysterious Ways" - U2
• "One" - U2
• "Tears in Heaven" - Eric Clapton
• "To Be With You" - Mr. Big
• "Two Princes" - Spin Doctors
• "Under The Bridge" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
• "We Shall Be Free" - Garth Brooks

See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1992

Classical music

• Chan Ka Nin - Saxophone Quartet
• Mario Davidovsky - Synchronisms No. 10 for guitar and electronic sounds
• Percy Grainger - Bridal Lullaby transcribed for orchestra by John Pickard
• Andreas Kunstein - String quartet No. 1, 10 Epigrams for toy piano
• William Mathias - Flute Concerto

Opera

• Jukka Linkola - Elina

Musical theater

• Crazy For You     Broadway production
• Falsettoes      Broadway production
• Guys and Dolls     Broadway revival
• Jelly's Last Jam      Broadway production
• The Most Happy Fella     Broadway revival

Musical films

• Aladdin     animated feature

Deaths

• January 15 - Dee Murray , bassist for Elton John, cancer
• January 27 - Allan Jones, singer and actor
• February 21 - Jane Pickens Langley Hoving , the Pickens Sisters
• March 4 - Mary Osborne (70), Jazz Guitarist, liver cancer
• April 27 - Olivier Messiaen, composer
• May 17 - Lawrence Welk, accordion player and bandleader
• June 20 - Sir Charles Groves, conductor
• July 5 - Astor Piazzolla, tango musician and composer
• July 25 - Alfred Drake, US singer and actor
• August 12 - John Cage, U.S. composer
• August - Mark Heard, U.S. singer
• September 19 - Sir Geraint Evans, opera singer
• November 14 - Teddy Riley, New Orleans jazz trumpeter

Awards

• The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Bobby Blue Bland, Booker T. and the M.G.s, Johnny Cash, The Isley Brothers, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Sam & Dave and The Yardbirds

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1992

Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1992

Mercury Music Prize

• Screamadelica - Primal Scream wins.