Events in 1982
- José Feliciano married Susan Omillian in California on August 2, 1982.
- Metallica performed at the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, California.
- The film “Pink Floyd The Wall,” starring Bob Geldof, premiered in theaters in New York. Roger Waters wrote it as a companion project to Pink Floyd's self-titled double album.
- Dexys Midnight Runners and the Emerald Express se skladbou „Come On Eileen“ obsadili první místo britského singlového žebříčku. Šlo o jejich druhý a poslední hit číslo jedna. Skladba se stala nejprodávanějším singlem roku 1982, získala cenu Brit Award za nejlepší britský singl a dostala se na první místo také v Austrálii, Belgii, Irsku, na Novém Zélandu, v Jižní Africe, Švýcarsku a USA.
- Fleetwood Mac se svým třináctým studiovým albem „Mirage“ dostali na první místo amerického albového žebříčku Billboard Top LPs & Tape (Billboard 200), kde zahájili pětitýdenní pobyt na vrcholu. Šlo o jejich třetí album na prvním místě amerického žebříčku. Album se dostalo do Top 5 také ve Velké Británii, Austrálii, Kanadě a Norsku.
- The Grateful Dead odehráli první ze dvou koncertů v Alpine Valley Music Theatre v East Troy ve Wisconsinu.
- John Cipollina, founding member of Quicksilver Messenger Service, joined The Grateful Dead on stage during the final six songs of the second set of their concert at Alpine Valley Music Theatre.
- Yekaterina Samutsevich, Russian singer and member of Pussy Riot, was born.
- Queen performed at the Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut, during their North American tour.
- Frank Zappa and Moon Unit Zappa performed “Valley Girl” on “Late Night with David Letterman.”
- The Grateful Dead played their only performance on this date at the University of Iowa Fieldhouse in Iowa City.
- Donna Summer and her husband Bruce Sudano became parents to their first daughter, Amanda Grace Sudano.
- The Museum of Modern Art in New York opened the Performance Video exhibition, which featured, among others, the music videos “Mickey” by Toni Basil and “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads.
- “Someday Someway” entered the Billboard Top 40, where it reached number 36. The song was featured on the soundtrack to the film Night Shift.
- “Eye Of The Tiger” spent its fourth week at number one, once again holding off John Cougar's “Hurts So Good”.
- ZZ Top performed at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
- The city of Liverpool named four streets after members of The Beatles: John Lennon Drive, Paul McCartney Way, George Harrison Close and Ringo Starr Drive.
- During Queen’s North American tour, they performed at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi.
- King Crimson and Roxy Music performed in Belenenes in Lisbon, Portugal.
- Fleetwood Mac's album “Mirage” was at No. 1 on the album chart ahead of “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor. Asia was at No. 3, John Cougar (Mellencamp) at No. 4 with “American Fool”, Robert Plant at No. 5 with “Pictures At Eleven”, Steve Miller Band at No. 6 with “Abracadabra”, REO Speedwagon at No. 7 with “Good Trouble”, Crosby, Stills & Nash at No. 8 with “Daylight Again”, The Go-Go's moved from No. 42 to No. 9 with “Vacation”, and Genesis entered the Top 10 with “Three Sides Live”.
- Chicago reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with “Hard To Say I'm Sorry”.
- Survivor spent their fifth week at No. 1 with “Eye Of The Tiger”. John Cougar (Mellencamp) spent three weeks at No. 2 with “Hurts So Good”, while Steve Miller Band and Fleetwood Mac remained at No. 3 and No. 4. Chicago was at No. 5 with “Hard To Say I'm Sorry”, Air Supply at No. 6 with “Even the Nights Are Better”, REO Speedwagon at No. 7 with “Keep The Fire Burnin'”, The Go-Go's at No. 8 with “Vacation”, Crosby, Stills & Nash at No. 9 with “Wasted On The Way”, and Paul McCartney entered the Top 10 with “Take It Away”.
- Blue Öyster Cult performed at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia.
- King Crimson and Roxy Music performed at the Velodrome in San Sebastián, Spain.
- Alice Cooper's album “Zipper Catches Skin” was released.
- English DJ, musician, songwriter and producer Adam George Dyment, known as Duke Dumont, was born in London. He became known for the singles “Need U (100%)” and “I Got U”, both of which reached No. 1 on the UK chart.
- George Strait made his film debut in “The Soldier”, where he sang his song “Fool Hearted Memory” in a honky-tonk during the outbreak of a fight. The song later became the first of his 44 country No. 1 hits.
- Queen performed at the Myriad in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, during their North American tour.
- Robert Plant's solo album “Pictures at Eleven” was certified gold for sales of 500,000 copies. It was his first recording following the breakup of Led Zeppelin after the death of drummer John Bonham.
- The Clash released the single “Should I Stay or Should I Go” in the UK.
- George Strait scored his first No. 1 country hit with “Fool Hearted Memory” from his second album “Strait From The Heart”, which also contained his famous cover of “Amarillo By Morning”. He quickly became one of country music’s most successful hitmakers and had 17 No. 1 hits by the end of the decade.
- Country singer LeAnn Rimes, whose full name is Margaret LeAnn Rimes, was born in Jackson, Mississippi. At the age of eight, she became known as the winner of the original version of “Star Search” with Ed McMahon, followed at age 13 by the release of Bill Mack’s song “Blue”. She later recorded the single “How Do I Live”, which reached No. 3 in the US in 1997 and No. 7 in the UK in 1998.
- Actress and singer Ingrid Bergman died at the age of 67.
- The Charlie Daniels Band performed at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.
- Judas Priest released the album “Screaming for Vengeance” in the United States.
- Queen performed at McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, during their North American tour.
- Fleetwood Mac played the second concert of their 33-date Mirage Tour at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia. Men at Work were the opening act, and their debut album Business as Usual was rapidly climbing the US charts. Two weeks after the tour ended in October, Men At Work embarked on their own tour as the headlining act.
- Culture Club released the single “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” in the United Kingdom. Critics were not particularly favorable; Smash Hits magazine described it as “fourth-rate reggae”.
- Steve Wozniak financed and organized the three-day US Festival in San Bernardino, California, featuring Fleetwood Mac, The Police, Grateful Dead, Tom Petty, The Cars, Talking Heads, The Kinks, Jackson Browne, Santana, B-52’s and others. According to the source, more than 400,000 people attended; the festival grossed approximately $10 million but ended with a loss of more than $12 million.
- Frank Zappa's single “Valley Girl” reached number 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was the only time Zappa placed a song in the US Top 40.
- Glenn Frey's solo single “The One You Love” moved from number 75 to number 53.
- Pat Benatar, The Cars, Santana, The Kinks, Eddie Money and Dave Edmunds performed during an all-day music program at the US Festival at Glen Helen Regional Park near San Bernardino, California.
- Steve Miller Band began a two-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Abracadabra,” their third US number-one hit, which reached number two in the UK. The song was reportedly inspired by Diana Ross, whom Miller met while they were both appearing on Hullabaloo in the 1960s. Another source states that the song began a two-week run at number two in the US, so the sources disagree on this detail. It was later certified gold by the RIAA and subsequently double platinum.
- Survivor were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Eye of the Tiger,” the title song from the film Rocky III, beginning a four-week run at the top. After spending six weeks at number one in the US, the song reached the top of the UK chart. It was their only UK number-one hit. The song won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance.
- Paul McCartney released the single "Tug Of War".
- Peter Gabriel released the album "Security", also known as "Peter Gabriel 4".
- The first compact disc was released in the United States; it was a German-made reissue of Billy Joel’s 1978 album “52nd Street”.
- John Cougar Mellencamp simultaneously topped the US album and singles charts with the album “American Fool” and the song “Jack and Diane”. He released the album under the name John Cougar, and “Jack and Diane” became his biggest hit.
- Sony launched the first commercially available compact disc player, the CDP-101, in Tokyo. The device cost 168,000 yen, equivalent according to different source variants to approximately $650–$730.
- Accept released their fourth studio album, “Restless and Wild.” The album was self-produced by the band and included, among other songs, “Fast as a Shark,” which many consider one of the recordings that helped give rise to speed metal.
- Dire Straits began a four-week run at No. 1 on the British album chart with Love Over Gold.
- Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett reunited with their former Genesis bandmates for a one-off benefit concert at the Bowl in Milton Keynes, England. The concert raised funds for Gabriel's financially troubled World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) project.
- The word “jobsworth” first appeared in the London Times. The expression was popularized, or according to the source possibly coined, by singer-songwriter Jeremy Taylor.
- Jethro Tull performed at The Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts.
- John Cougar reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Jack & Diane.” “Hurts So Good” remained at No. 10, while the album “American Fool” was at No. 1 on the album chart. According to the source, this combination made him the first male solo artist to have an album at No. 1 and two songs in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously.
- Musical Youth reached No. 1 on the British singles chart with “Pass The Dutchie.” The group consisted of boys from Birmingham aged 11 to 16. The song was a cover of “Pass The Kutchie” by The Mighty Diamonds, with the reference to a cannabis pipe changed so that the group could avoid a ban because of the drug reference.
- Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett reunited with their former Genesis bandmates for a one-off benefit concert at Milton Keynes Bowl in Buckinghamshire, England. Gabriel performed with Genesis for the first time since leaving the group in 1975 and, according to the source, this was the only occasion on which he sang Genesis songs on stage after his departure. The concert was intended to raise money for Gabriel's WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) project, or to repay debts incurred during his WOMAD tour.
- The band Squeeze broke up.
- The Smiths played their first live concert during the student music and fashion event An Evening of Pure Pleasure at the Ritz in Manchester. Blue Rondo A La Turk appeared as the support act, and The Smiths performed three songs: The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, Suffer Little Children, and Handsome Devil.
- EMI reissued the single “Love Me Do” in the UK exactly twenty years after its original release. The anniversary edition reached No. 4 on the UK singles chart. Because the original studio master had been destroyed, a new master was created from a perfectly preserved 1962 vinyl single.
- While still a member of the Commodores, Lionel Richie released his self-titled solo debut album through Motown. The album was recorded with 35 backing musicians and strings, included “Truly,” “You Are” and “My Love,” reached No. 3 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart and No. 1 on the Cashbox Album Chart, and later went four-times platinum in the U.S. and platinum in the UK.
- Madonna released her debut single “Everybody” on Sire Records, launching her music career. The song did not enter the Billboard Hot 100 but reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, performed well on dance charts and helped Madonna gain her first attention from the music press. It later appeared on her 1983 debut album Madonna.
- American multi-instrumentalist and songwriter William “Will” Butler, best known as a member of the indie rock band Arcade Fire, was born in Truckee, California.
- A London court found Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page guilty of possessing cocaine. He received a 12-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £100 in court costs.
- Culture Club released their debut album Kissing to Be Clever in the UK. When it was released in the U.S. several months later, it produced three Top 10 hits and helped launch the wave of British artists associated with MTV, including Duran Duran and Eurythmics.
- Rush played at Mecca Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- Grateful Dead performed at Frost Amphitheatre at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
- Van Halen performed at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.
- Van Halen perform at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.
- KISS released the album Creatures of the Night, marking a return to a harder rock sound. Ace Frehley still appeared on the cover, although the guitar parts on the recording were played by Vinnie Vincent.
- The Who performed at Shea Stadium in the Queens borough of New York City.
- Van Halen performed at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.