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.
- 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.
- 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.
- August 24, 1978 is the official publication date shown on the cover of Rolling Stone issue No. 272 featuring Bruce Springsteen.
- American singer, trumpeter, and bandleader Louis Prima, who was known for performing with and leading several bands across different musical genres and scored a hit with his wife Keely Smith in 1958 with “That Old Black Magic,” died of pneumonia in New Orleans at the age of 67.
- 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.
- Epic Records released Molly Hatchet's self-titled debut album. Although it reached No. 64 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, it later received RIAA platinum certification for sales of more than one million copies.
- Steven Tyler of Aerosmith married model Cyrinda Foxe, who was pregnant with their daughter Mia. They divorced in 1987.
- George Harrison, 35, married Olivia Trinidad Arias, 30, a secretary at his record company Dark Horse, in a private ceremony. Their son Dhani was born on August 1. The couple remained together until Harrison’s death in 2001.
- Teddy Pendergrass, former lead singer of Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes, promoted the album “Life Is A Song Worth Singing” with a concert exclusively for women. The concept was highly successful, and further similarly themed performances sold out.
- The Grateful Dead performed before an audience of 66,000 at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.
- Frank Zappa, Scorpions, Brand X, John McLaughlin, Ten Years After, Joan Baez and Genesis appeared at Ludwigsparkstadion in Saarbrücken, Germany.
- AC/DC performed at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.
- Electric Light Orchestra performed at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi.
- Joe Negroni, a founding member and singer with Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, died in New York City from a brain hemorrhage at the age of 37, just four days before his 37th birthday. The group had a major 1956 hit with “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” which reached number one in the UK and number six in the US.
- American rapper Inga DeCarlo Fung Marchand, known by her stage name Foxy Brown, was born in Brooklyn, New York.
- American record producer Thomas "Tom" Wilson died in Los Angeles at the age of 47 from a heart attack. He worked with Bob Dylan on the albums "The Times They Are a-Changin'", "Another Side of Bob Dylan" and "Bringing It All Back Home", with Frank Zappa on "Freak Out!", with Simon & Garfunkel on "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." and with The Velvet Underground on "White Light/White Heat". He also worked with The Mothers of Invention and other artists.
- The Who drummer Keith Moon died in London on September 7, 1978, at the age of 32. He was born on August 23, 1946, at Central Middlesex Hospital in London. He died after overdosing on Heminevrin, a sedative prescribed to treat alcohol-related problems. Moon died in apartment No. 12 at 9 Curzon Place in London's Mayfair, which belonged to singer Harry Nilsson. Exactly four years earlier, Cass Elliot of The Mamas & The Papas had died in the same bedroom. The post-mortem found 32 tablets in his body, 26 of which remained undissolved. The previous evening, Moon had attended a party hosted by Paul McCartney to mark the release of The Buddy Holly Story. Moon played on all of The Who's albums from their 1965 debut My Generation through Who Are You in 1978, which was released two weeks before his death. After his death, he was replaced in The Who by Kenney Jones of Faces.
- Yes performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
- Golden Earring released their thirteenth studio album, “Grab It for a Second”. After the previous tour with Ted Nugent, the band wanted to make a hard rock album, but the record label chose producer Jimmy Iovine. It was also the band’s last album with second guitarist Eelco Gelling.
- Rory Gallagher released his seventh solo studio album, “Photo-Finish”. The band was reduced to a power trio with drummer Ted McKenna of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Notable tracks on the album included “Shin Kicker”, “Shadow Play”, and “Overnight Bag”.
- AC/DC performed at the Sports Arena in Toledo, Ohio.
- Gene Simmons received a platinum award for his self-titled solo album, one of four solo albums released simultaneously by members of KISS. Simmons's album was the most successful of the four in the United States, reaching No. 22.
- During an Aerosmith concert at the Fort Wayne Coliseum in Indiana, police arrested dozens of fans for possession or smoking of marijuana, underage drinking and other minor offenses. Among those arrested was reportedly Steven Tyler's seamstress, who was caught smoking an ordinary cigarette. Tyler strongly protested the police action from the stage, referring to the officers among other things as “Gestapo” and “scumbags.” After the concert, Aerosmith offered to pay bail for all the arrested fans. Estimates of the total number arrested vary considerably among sources, ranging from around 30 to more than 60; however, as many as 28 arrested fans accepted the band's offer. An Aerosmith accountant subsequently paid approximately $4,200 in bail and fines during separate court proceedings.
- American singer, songwriter and musician Jake Shears, born Jason Sellards, and co-founder of Scissor Sisters, was born in Mesa, Arizona. The group's self-titled 2004 album reached No. 1 on the UK chart and became the best-selling album of 2004; all five singles from the album reached the UK Top 20. The group's second No. 1 album, Ta-Dah, produced their first UK chart-topping single, “I Don't Feel Like Dancin'.”
- Tammy Wynette announced that she had been kidnapped from a shopping center in Nashville, beaten, and held in her car for two hours by a man wearing a ski mask. According to her account, the kidnapper threatened her with a gun and forced her to drive approximately 80 miles from Nashville before releasing her. After her death, her daughter Jackie Daly claimed that Wynette had fabricated the kidnapping to cover up domestic violence by George Richey.
- Aerosmith performed at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Dolly Parton became the first female country singer to pose for Playboy magazine.
- Guitarist and singer James Valentine was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is known as a member of the pop rock band Maroon 5.
- English musician Patrick Walden, known as the guitarist for Babyshambles, was born.
- Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida) of ABBA were married in a private ceremony in Lidingö, Sweden. Their marriage lasted approximately three years; they separated in 1981 and divorced the same year.
- Australian “King of Rock'n'Roll” Johnny O'Keefe, considered the first major Australian rock'n'roll star, died at the age of 43 after an accidental overdose of prescribed medication caused a heart attack. He was the first Australian rock'n'roll performer to tour the United States and had 29 Australian Top 40 hits between 1958 and 1974. He was known for songs including “Wild One” and “Shout!”, while his 1958 hit “Real Wild Child” was later recorded by Iggy Pop in 1986.
- Mick Jagger apologized to Reverend Jesse Jackson over the controversial lyrics of “Some Girls,” which Jackson described as racist and offensive toward Black people and women. Jagger nevertheless refused to change the lyrics and explained that the song was parodying real racial stereotypes rather than endorsing them. Atlantic Records, represented by Ahmet Ertegun, also met with Jackson about the song.
- English singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, and television personality Alesha Dixon was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. She became famous as a member of the R&B and garage group Mis-Teeq.
- Dire Straits released their self-titled debut album. It was initially more successful in the UK and Australia, later gaining ground in the US, where the single “Sultans of Swing” reached the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100.
- The soundtrack to the film musical Grease began a 13-week run at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart on October 7, 1978. The album remained at the top of the UK chart for a total of 13 weeks.
- Billboard reported that Marvin Gaye had filed for personal bankruptcy and bankruptcy protection for his company Right On Productions twice during the year. His financial problems were connected to heavy debts, tax liabilities, and his divorce settlement with Anna Gordy.
- Merle Haggard married his third wife, Leona Williams, a country singer and member of his backing band. The marriage lasted until 1983.
- The Rolling Stones were both hosts and musical guests on the premiere episode of Season 4 of Saturday Night Live on NBC, where they performed “Beast of Burden.” A month later, the song reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Toto released their first single, “Hold The Line,” which became a hit.
- Yes performed at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum in Oakland, California.
- Bob Dylan appeared at Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York.
- Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan married his longtime girlfriend, former model Kim Kerrigan, who was the first wife of The Who drummer Keith Moon.
- Belgian singer-songwriter and actor Jacques Brel died at the age of 49. His songs were recorded or performed in translation by artists including Ray Charles, Scott Walker, Alex Harvey, Frank Sinatra, Dusty Springfield, David Bowie, John Denver, Nina Simone and Terry Jacks.
- Judas Priest released their fifth album, "Hell Bent for Leather" in the United States and "Killing Machine" in most other territories.
- Irish singer and songwriter Nicholas "Nicky" Byrne was born in Dublin, Ireland. He is best known as a member of the boy band Westlife, who scored 14 UK No. 1 singles and sold over 50 million records worldwide.
- The Rolling Stones released "Beast of Burden" in the US, where it reached No. 8. Rolling Stone later ranked it No. 435 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
- During an Aerosmith concert in Philadelphia, an object was thrown onto the stage, injuring Joe Perry and Steven Tyler. The band performed behind a security barrier for the rest of the tour.
- The second UK tour by Stiff Records began, featuring Wreckless Eric, Jon Lewie, Rachel Sweet, Lene Lovich and Micky Jupp. They traveled around Britain by train and then continued to the U.S. without Jupp, who was afraid to fly.
- Columbia Records released Billy Joel's sixth studio album, 52nd Street. The album spent eight non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard album chart and produced the hits "My Life," which reached No. 3 in the United States and No. 12 in the UK; "Big Shot," which reached No. 14 in the United States; and "Honesty," which reached No. 24. The album won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In 1982, it was also among the first 50 albums released on compact disc.
- Black Sabbath performed at the Stadthalle in Offenbach, West Germany.
- Aerosmith perform at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
- Billy Joel releases 52nd Street, following the success of The Stranger and helping solidify his place in the music scene.
- Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, is found dead with stab wounds in a room at New York’s Chelsea Hotel. Vicious calls the police and is arrested and charged with her murder. He is later released on bail but dies of a heroin overdose in February 1979 before the trial. New York police then close the case.
- AC/DC released the live album "If You Want Blood You've Got It", the band's first live album and the only live album featuring Bon Scott as lead vocalist.
- Bob Dylan performed at The Olympia in Detroit, Michigan.
- Led Zeppelin began rehearsals for a new album that would later become their final studio album, In Through the Out Door.
- Queen released the double-sided single “Fat Bottomed Girls” / “Bicycle Race” in the UK. The cover combined visual themes from both songs. The record reached number 11 on the UK chart and, after its US release eleven days later, peaked at number 24 on the American chart.