Events in 1978
- The Rolling Stones reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with “Miss You,” where it spent one week. It was their eighth U.S. No. 1 hit, and the song reached No. 3 in the UK.
- “Substitute,” performed by the South African group Clout and recorded by the studio group Circus, reached No. 2 on the UK singles chart and became a major international hit.
- “King Tut” by Steve Martin reached No. 17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and later sold more than one million copies.
- Pete Meaden, former manager and publicist for The Who, died at the age of 36.
- Aerosmith performed at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
- Aerosmith vystoupili na Comiskey Park v Chicagu.
- Neil Diamond performed at Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan.
- Muddy Waters performed at a White House picnic for President Jimmy Carter.
- Luke Concannon, guitarist and singer of the British duo Nizlopi, was born.
- Bruce Springsteen performed at the Agora Theater in Cleveland during his Darkness Tour. The concert became well known and was widely circulated through unofficial recordings.
- Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and Keith Moon each arrived separately at Universal Studios in Hollywood for a press launch of the new album “Who Are You”. The party was held on the set of the television series “Battlestar Galactica”.
- Thin Lizzy performed at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee.
- Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly, a member of rap duo Kris Kross, was born in Atlanta. The duo, consisting of Chris Kelly and Chris Smith, became famous for the hit “Jump,” which reached No. 1 in the US and No. 2 in the UK in 1992. Kelly was 12 or 13 when the song was recorded. The duo was also known for wearing their clothes backwards, a style called “totally krossed out.”
- The Commodores achieved their first No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Three Times A Lady”; the song remained at the top for two weeks.
- Lionel Richie later said that the inspiration for “Three Times a Lady” came from his father's speech at his parents' 37th wedding anniversary celebration.
- AC/DC performed at Gusman Philharmonic Hall in Miami, Florida.
- They released their third single, “Can’t Stand Losing You”, which followed their debut hit “Roxanne”. The song was written by singer and bassist Sting as a song about suicide and caused controversy with its cover depicting Stewart Copeland appearing to hang himself.
- Epic Records released Boston's second studio album Don't Look Back. The album reached No. 1 on the US Billboard chart and No. 9 in the UK, sold more than one million copies within its first ten days and later received a seven-times-platinum certification. The title track reached No. 4 and “A Man I'll Never Be” reached No. 31.
- AC/DC performed at the Concert Hall in Calderone, New York.
- Melvin Franklin of The Temptations was shot four times in the hand and leg in Los Angeles while attempting to prevent a man from stealing his car. Although he survived the attack, his injuries prevented him from taking part in The Temptations' upcoming tour of Poland.
- The Who released the album Who Are You, the band's last studio album with drummer Keith Moon.
- Bruce Springsteen performed at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Actor Gary Busey joined the band for Buddy Holly’s “Rave On”.
- After nine weeks at number one on the UK singles chart, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John’s “You’re the One That I Want” was knocked off the top by The Commodores’ “Three Times a Lady”, which began a five-week run at number one on the UK singles chart. In 2013, with two million copies sold in the UK, “You’re the One That I Want” was still ranked fifth among the country’s best-selling singles of all time. Lionel Richie wrote “Three Times a Lady” about his love for his wife, mother and grandmother, hence the title “Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady”. The album “Elvis – NBC TV Special” also reached number 50 on the UK album chart that week.
- “Whenever I Call You Friend” became Kenny Loggins’ first solo Top 40 hit after his three Billboard Top 40 songs with Jim Messina in 1972 and 1973. The duet with Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the chart for 15 weeks. Loggins later scored a total of 14 solo Top 40 hits.
- Soul group The Commodores began a five-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Three Times a Lady”. The song also reached No. 1 in Ireland and Australia. Lionel Richie wrote it about his love for his wife, mother and grandmother, hence the title “Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady”.
- Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols made his final live stage appearance when he appeared together with Rat Scabies of The Damned, former Sex Pistols member Glen Matlock, and Nancy Spungen at London's Electric Ballroom. The audience included Elvis Costello, Blondie, Joan Jett, The Slits, and Captain Sensible.
- Bruce Springsteen appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
- Singer, songwriter and frontman of rock band The Strokes Julian Casablancas was born in New York. His father is business magnate John Casablancas, founder of Elite Model Management, and his mother is Danish model Jeanette Christiansen, who was crowned Miss Denmark in 1965. The Strokes had the 2001 UK hit “Last Nite” and the debut album “Is This It”, which changed the shape of guitar rock.
- Louis Prima, who had the 1958 hit “That Old Black Magic” with his wife Keely Smith, died of pneumonia in New Orleans at the age of 67.
- Comedian Steve Martin received a gold record for his novelty song “King Tut”, which reached number 17 on Billboard and had sold more than 500,000 copies when it received its gold certification. It later reached million-selling status in the US. Although it was credited to “Steve Martin and the Toot Uncommons”, the backing band was actually The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
- Bruce Springsteen appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
- American singer, trumpeter and bandleader Louis Prima died at the age of 67. He became known for leading and performing with several bands across various musical genres.
- The first edition of the Canada Jam festival took place at Mosport Park north of Bowmanville in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. More than 110,000 people attended, and performers included The Doobie Brothers, Dave Mason, The Commodores, The Village People, Triumph, Kansas and The Atlanta Rhythm Section.
- Fleetwood Mac, The Cars, Todd Rundgren, Bob Welch and Eddie Money performed at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
- Frankie Valli reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with “Grease”, written by Barry Gibb and featured in the film musical of the same name. Almost sixteen years after his first US No. 1 single, “Sherry”, he returned to the top with another song. “Grease” sold more than two million copies in the US, reached No. 3 in the UK and sold more than seven million copies worldwide.
- Frankie Valli released the single “Grease”, which later reached No. 1 on the US chart.
- Blue Öyster Cult performed at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee.
- Boston’s album “Don’t Look Back” was released.
- Devo released the album “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo”.
- Genesis performed at the Stadthalle concert hall in Vienna, Austria.
- Patti Smith performed at The Odeon in Edinburgh, Scotland.
- The Grateful Dead performed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.
- The Grateful Dead performed "Shakedown Street" live for the first time at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.