Events in 1988
- Tom Parker, singer with The Wanted, was born in Bolton, England.
- Guns N' Roses reached No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with their debut album “Appetite for Destruction” after 57 weeks on the chart. At the time it reached the top, more than 5 million copies had been sold, and the singles “Sweet Child O' Mine,” “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Paradise City” all reached the U.S. Top 10. Worldwide sales of the album later exceeded 28 million copies.
- Thanks to its inclusion on the soundtrack of “Dirty Dancing,” The Contours' 1962 hit “Do You Love Me” returned to the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 11. When originally released, the song reached No. 3 on the pop chart and No. 1 on the R&B chart.
- Yazz and the Plastic Population began a five-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “The Only Way Is Up.” The song also reached No. 1 in Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden, and was originally released as the title track of an album by soul singer Otis Clay in 1982.
- Edie Brickell & New Bohemians released their debut album “Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars.”
- The album Hysteria returned to No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and began its second period at the top of the chart.
- Def Leppard played the first of two concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado as part of the promotion for the album Hysteria.
- The guitarist died at the age of 48 in Fairfax, Virginia, after hanging himself with his own T-shirt in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, where he had been detained for intoxication. His death was ruled a suicide, although friends and family disputed this conclusion. He released more than 15 solo albums, and in 1975 Jeff Beck dedicated the song “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” to him on the album Blow by Blow.
- KISS performed at the Marquee Club in London during their 129-date Crazy Nights tour.
- Rapper Joyner Lucas, whose real name is Gary Maurice Lucas Jr., was born in Worcester, Massachusetts.
- To mark the 100th anniversary of the jukebox, the Amusement and Music Operators Association announced that Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” and Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” had been named the most-played songs on jukeboxes during their first 100 years of existence. The jukebox had been in operation since 1906, while its earliest predecessors appeared as early as 1889.
- Elton John reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with “I Don't Wanna' Go On With You Like That”. Steve Winwood spent his fourth week at No. 1 with “Roll With It”. George Michael moved from No. 8 to No. 2 with “Monkey”, Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine were at No. 3, and Elton John also had “I Don't Wanna' Go On With You Like That” at No. 4. Chicago were at No. 5, Breathe at No. 6, Terence Trent D'Arby at No. 8, and “Sweet Child O' Mine” by Guns N' Roses and “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman entered the Top 10.
- Two fans died during Guns N' Roses' performance at the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England. Singer Axl Rose had previously urged the crowd not to kill one another. Because of the wet surface and a record attendance of 107,000 people, a crowd surge occurred during the performance and two fans were trampled or crushed to death.
- Iron Maiden, KISS, David Lee Roth, Megadeth, Guns N' Roses and Helloween performed at the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England. Despite bad weather before the festival, more than 107,000 people attended. Two rock fans died during Guns N' Roses' performance while slam dancing.
- Soundgarden performed at Capitol Lake Park in Olympia, Washington, as part of the Capitol Lake Jam festival. Nirvana were also on the bill.
- Steve Winwood reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 with his fifth solo studio album, “Roll with It”, which became his first and only album to top the chart. The title track also reached No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart. The album became one of his most commercially successful releases and sold more than three million copies.
- American country singer and multi-instrumentalist Kacey Musgraves was born in Golden, Texas. At the age of eight, she wrote her first song, “Notice Me”, for her elementary school graduation ceremony. She is the recipient of several Grammy Awards.
- The television documentary Aretha Franklin: Queen of Soul was broadcast on PBS.
- The band Good Question released their self-titled debut album.
- English singer, songwriter and actress Alexandra Burke was born. In 2008 she won the British talent competition The X Factor. Her winning single “Hallelujah” became the fastest-selling single in Europe within 24 hours and was the UK's best-selling single of 2008 as well as the Christmas number one.
- Guns N' Roses shortened the extensive Use Your Illusion project and split it into two albums.
- Metallica released their fourth studio album “...And Justice for All”, which included “One” and “To Live Is To Die” and represented their final project before a significant change in their early musical style.
- English actor, singer and dancer Ray Quinn was born. In the third series of the British talent competition The X Factor he finished second behind Leona Lewis. In 2007 he had the UK number-one album “Doing It My Way”.
- Billboard introduced the New Age Albums chart. The first album to reach No. 1 was pianist David Lanz's “Cristofori's Dream”.
- George Michael reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Monkey”. It was his fourth consecutive single from the album “Faith” to reach the top of the US chart, and his fourth US No. 1 in 1988. It was his eighth US No. 1 single of the 1980s, surpassed only by Michael Jackson.
- Kylie Minogue began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK album chart with her debut studio album “Kylie”. At the age of 20, she became the youngest female artist to reach the top of the UK album chart. The record stood until 2003, when eighteen-year-old Avril Lavigne reached the top with “Let Go”.
- Tracy Chapman's debut album reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 for one week. The song “Fast Car” from the album reached No. 6 on the US chart. At the following Grammy Awards, Chapman won awards for Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best New Artist, while “Fast Car” won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
- Kylie Minogue set a new British record when her debut album “Kylie” became the best-selling album by a female artist in Britain, with sales of almost two million copies. The album was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, who also wrote nine of its ten tracks. Six singles were released from the album, including “I Should Be So Lucky”, which reached No. 1 in both Australia and the UK.
- Metallica released the single “Harvester of Sorrow”.
- As part of the Bad World Tour, Michael Jackson performed at Roundhay Park in Leeds on August 29, 1988. On stage he celebrated his 30th birthday, and roughly 90,000 fans sang "Happy Birthday" to him.
- Bruce Springsteen’s wife Julianne filed for divorce after newspapers published photographs of Springsteen together with backing singer Patti Scialfa.
- Danzig, fronted by former Misfits singer Glenn Danzig, released their self-titled debut album, produced by Rick Rubin. The song “Mother” became a minor hit when it was reissued five years later.
- The cookbook “Rock N' Roll Cuisine” was published and contained 95 recipes from various musicians, including “Dream Soup” by Yoko Ono, “Boyfriend Approved Macaroni Salad” by Cher, Mick Jagger's shrimp curry and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich by “Weird Al” Yankovic.
- The Human Rights Now! world tour in support of Amnesty International began with a concert at Wembley Stadium in London. Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and Youssou N'Dour performed. The tour took place on five continents.
- Def Leppard’s album Hysteria reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and, according to the source, returned to the top for the third time.
- UB40 earned their first No. 1 single with “Red Red Wine” from the album Labour of Love. It was a cover of Neil Diamond’s 1968 recording.
- Elton John had 2,000 items of his personal possessions auctioned at Sotheby's in London. The auction raised $6.2 million and included feather boas, hundreds of pairs of glasses and the giant "Pinball Wizard" boots he wore in the film "Tommy", which sold for $20,000.
- English singer and actor Max George, lead singer of the British-Irish boy band The Wanted, was born. Their debut single "All Time Low" reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart in 2010.
- New Kids On The Block released the breakthrough album "Hangin' Tough". It reached No. 1 in the U.S. and produced five successful singles, including the title track, which topped the chart, and "You've Got It (The Right Stuff)", which reached No. 3.
- Barry Sadler, known for the 1966 hit “Ballad Of The Green Berets”, was shot in the head while riding in a taxi in Guatemala City. It was unclear whether he had been shot by someone else or whether the injury resulted from an accidental discharge of his own pistol. The injury caused severe brain damage and paralysis. After being transferred to the US, he remained in hospital for 14 months and died from complications of his injuries on November 5, 1989, at a veterans' hospital in Tennessee.
- INXS, the new sensation from Australia, were the big winners at the MTV Video Music Awards, receiving five awards including Video of the Year for “Need You Tonight/Mediate”. The songs are separate tracks on the album but were combined for the music video; “Mediate” is a tribute to Bob Dylan's 1965 film “Subterranean Homesick Blues”.
- Bon Jovi reached No. 1 on the UK album chart for the first time with “New Jersey”. The band’s fourth album also topped the charts in the USA, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, and Switzerland. It produced five Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, the highest number of Top 10 hits at the time for a hard rock album; “Bad Medicine” and “I’ll Be There for You” reached No. 1.
- Brittany Howard, an American musician, singer, and guitarist, was born in Athens, Alabama. She later formed the band Alabama Shakes with her high-school friend Zac Cockrell, serving as its lead singer and guitarist; she is also known as a member of Thunderbitch. Alabama Shakes' 2012 debut album “Boys & Girls” included the hit “Hold On” and earned the group numerous awards. Their second album, “Sound & Color,” released in 2015, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and won four Grammy Awards. Howard began her solo career in 2018, when Alabama Shakes went on hiatus.
- A$AP Rocky, born Rakim Athelaston Mayers, was born in Harlem, New York. He was named Rakim after the legendary rapper Rakim of the duo Eric B. & Rakim. In 2007, he joined the rap collective A$AP Mob and adopted the stage name A$AP Rocky. In 2011, he attracted major attention with the song “Peso” and subsequently with his debut mixtape Live. Love. A$AP. His 2012 single “Fuckin' Problems,” featuring Drake, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar, became his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 8; it also received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song. In 2013, he released his debut studio album Long. Live. A$AP, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and, according to the original record, sold more than two million copies.
- Keith Richards released his first solo album, Talk Is Cheap. The album was created during a period of tension within the Rolling Stones, and its release was connected with the disagreements between Richards and Mick Jagger at the time.
- Twenty-year-old Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, married her first husband, musician Danny Keough. They had two children together – daughter Riley Keough, born May 29, 1989, and son Benjamin Storm Keough, born October 21, 1992. They divorced on May 6, 1994, after nearly six years of marriage. Even after ending their relationship, they remained close friends and devoted co-parents.
- Ringo Starr and his wife Barbara Bach flew to Tucson, Arizona, where they entered the Sierra Tucson Rehabilitation Clinic for treatment of alcohol and drug addiction. They completed an approximately six-week program together and subsequently returned to England.
- American singer, cellist, and beatboxer Kevin Olusola, a member of the a cappella group Pentatonix, was born in Owensboro, Kentucky.
- The documentary film Imagine: John Lennon, commissioned by Yoko Ono and directed by Andrew Solt, premiered in theaters.
- Def Leppard's “Love Bites” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the band's only single to top the chart; “Pour Some Sugar on Me” peaked at No. 2.
- Keith Richards appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, where he performed his first solo song, “Take It So Hard.”
- Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon finally left the Billboard album chart after a record 741 weeks. Following a later rule change that allowed catalog albums to return to the main chart, the album returned repeatedly and reached a record 996 weeks on the chart at the beginning of 2026. It has sold approximately 50 million copies worldwide.
- U2 achieved their first No. 1 on the UK singles chart with their twelfth single, “Desire.” The song came from the album Rattle and Hum, also reached No. 1 in Australia and five other countries, and peaked at No. 3 in the US.
- Cliff Gallup, guitarist with Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps, died of a heart attack at the age of 58. He had played on Gene Vincent's 1956 hit "Be-Bop-A-Lula", which reached No. 7 in the US and No. 16 in the UK, but left the band later that year because he did not want to tour. At the time of his death he was director of maintenance and transportation for the Chesapeake, Virginia, city school system. At his family's request, local newspaper obituaries made no mention of his musical career.
- U2 released the live album Rattle And Hum.
- Sarah McLachlan released her debut album, Touch, on Nettwerk Records. The album was remixed and reissued the following year.
- Poison releases the single “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.”