| 1901 | USA | ‘Ragtime’ music, an African-American musical style characterized by a syncopated beat, is popular in the USA, but the American Federation of Musicians condemns it because of its association with black Americans and ‘low dives’ and recommends that its members refrain from playing it. |
| 1906 | USA | The John Gabel Automatic Entertainer, the first selective disc-playing jukebox, is introduced in the USA. |
| 1945 | USA | The first recorded music album sales chart is released, in the USA. |
| 1952 | UK | Hit Parade is the first television pop music show on British television. |
| 14 November 1952 | UK | The popular music magazine New Musical Express publishes Britain's first pop singles chart. |
| 1956 | USA | The US rock singer Elvis Presley releases the singles ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, ‘Don't Be Cruel’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, and ‘Hound Dog’ which, with sales of over 3 million, is the top-selling single of the 1950s in the USA. |
| 1956 | USA, UK | Rock 'n' roll music dominates dance floors in the USA and Britain. |
| 1956 | UK | The popularity of singer Lonnie Donegan's ‘Rock Island Line’ (recorded in 1954) triggers the skiffle craze in Britain. The sound is based on acoustic guitar and home-made percussion, including washboards. Its main significance is to make the British market more receptive to blues music. |
| 1956 | Europe | The Eurovision Song Contest is launched. The first winner is Switzerland's Lys Assia with ‘Refrains’. |
| 1957 | USA, UK | The US rock singer Elvis Presley releases the singles ‘All Shook Up’ – his first number one in Britain – and ‘Jailhouse Rock’. |
| 1958 | USA | The US rhythm and blues musician Chuck Berry releases the singles ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’ and ‘Johnny B Goode’. |
| 1959 | USA | Berry Gordy founds Motown Records in Detroit, Michigan, and launches the Tamla record label with ‘Come to Me’, by Marv Johnson. |
| 1960 | UK, Germany | The first public performance by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best as the Beatles takes place, at Bruno Koschminder's Indra Club in Hamburg, West Germany. |
| 1960 | USA, UK | The US rock singer Elvis Presley releases the single ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ It enters the US charts on 14 November 1960, and becomes the best-selling single of 1961 in Britain. |
| 1960–1969 | UK | The Beatles' song ‘She Loves You’ is the best-selling single of the 1960s in Britain. The Beatles are responsible for five out of the top six singles in Britain in the 1960s. |
| 1961 | UK, USA | The US rock singer Elvis Presley's album G I Blues, the soundtrack from the film, is this year's best-selling album in Britain. |
| 1961 | USA | The twist dance craze takes off in the USA, inspired by Chubby Checker's song ‘The Twist’. It will change the way young people dance, introducing a more freeform style. |
| 1961 | UK | The British rock group the Rolling Stones is formed. Founder members include Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, and Ian Stewart; the long-standing bassist Bill Wyman joins in late 1962, and drummer Charlie Watts in January 1963. |
| 21 March 1961 | UK | The British rock group the Beatles make their British debut at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England. |
| 1963 | UK | The British rock group the Beatles release the singles ‘Please Please Me’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘Twist and Shout’, and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, which will sell more than 12 million copies worldwide, and enters the US charts at No. 1. The album Please Please Me is also recorded in 12 hours at EMI's Abbey Road studios. |
| 1964 | UK | The British rock group the Beatles releases the single and album A Hard Day's Night from their film of the same name. They also release the single ‘Can't Buy Me Love’, the best-selling single of the year in Britain. |
| 1964 | UK | The film A Hard Day's Night, directed by Richard Lester, is released in Britain. Starring the British rock group the Beatles, its mixture of music and comedy is very popular and it is a big commercial success. |
| 1964 | UK | The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) restricts the number of pop records played on radio, because of fears that over-dependence on recorded music will lessen the importance of live performances. |
| 1964 | USA | The Beatles have four hit singles and two hit albums in the first three months of the year in the USA, partly due to their North American tour which includes an appearance on the US Ed Sullivan Show. Sales of Beatles' records represent 60% of all records sold in this period. Their success also marks the beginning of a period of domination by British groups of the US charts. |
| 25 July 1965 | USA | US folksinger Bob Dylan plays an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival, supported by the Butterfield Blues Band; his fans jeer, but he shows how folk music could merge with rock. |
| 1966 | UK | US-style open air music festivals become popular in Britain. |
| 1966 | UK | The British rock group the Who releases the single ‘My Generation’ and an album of the same name. |
| 1966 | UK | Soul is fashionable in Britain, with the music of James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, and Stevie Wonder very popular. |
| 4 March 1966 | UK, USA | John Lennon speculates that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus Christ; in response, Beatles records are burnt in the US Bible belt. |
| 29 August 1966 | USA | The British rock group the Beatles give their last concert, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California. |
| 1967 | USA | The US rock group the Doors releases the single ‘Light My Fire’ and the album The Doors. |
| 1967 | USA | The US rock group the Jimi Hendrix Experience releases the albums Are You Experienced? and Axis: Bold As Love, and the single ‘Purple Haze’. |
| 1967 | UK | The British pop singer Sandie Shaw releases the single ‘Puppet on a String’, Britain's winning entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. |
| 27 May 1967 | UK | The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) bans the Beatles' single ‘A Day in the Life’, as it is seen to be encouraging drug-taking. |
| June 1967 | USA | The Summer of Love begins in San Francisco, California, with the Monterey Pop Festival. From this atmosphere emerge alternative lifestyles that are established particularly in San Francisco. Acts include the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Janis Joplin. |
| 1968 | UK | For the first time in Britain, albums are outselling singles. |
| 1968 | USA | The US jazz singer and trumpeter Louis Armstrong releases the single ‘What a Wonderful World’. |
| 1968 | UK | The British rock group the Beatles releases the single ‘Hey Jude’, the best-selling single of the year in Britain, and the album The Beatles (known as The White Album). |
| 1968 | UK | The British rock band Cream, founded by Eric Clapton, releases the album Wheels of Fire – the first album to sell 1 million copies – and the single ‘Sunshine of Your Love’. |
| 1969 | UK | The British rock group the Beatles make their last ever public appearance on the roof of the Apple Records building in London, England. It is recorded as part of their film Let It Be. The police are called out by people in neighbouring buildings who are disturbed by the noise. The group also releases the album Abbey Road and the single ‘Something’ by George Harrison, the first Beatle hit not to have been written by John Lennon or Paul McCartney. |
| 1969 | UK | In Britain, the soundtracks to The Sound of Music, South Pacific, and West Side Story are among the best-selling albums of the 1960s. |
| 1969 | UK | The British heavy metal/rock group Led Zeppelin releases the albums Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin II. |
| 15–17 August 1969 | USA | Half a million people attend the three-day Woodstock Music and Arts Fair on a farm in New York State. The line-up includes Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and Santana. |
| 1970 | UK | The British rock group the Beatles release the single ‘Let It Be’ and an album of the same name. The group officially split up; all four members release solo albums. |
| 1970 | USA | Shortly after the deaths of Jimi Hendrix of inhalation asphyxia, associated with alcohol and drugs, and of Janis Joplin from a heroin overdose, the US president Richard M Nixon appeals for restrictions on pop music which promotes drug use. |
| 1970 | UK | The underground music of the 1960s, typified by bands such as Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, and the early Rolling Stones, has by the end of the decade been absorbed into mainstream culture. |
| 1971 | UK | Glam rock emerges. A reaction against progressive rock, it is characterized by elaborate costumes, makeup, and stage posturing, as exemplified by British bands such as T Rex and the Sweet. |
| 1971 | UK | The first Glastonbury music festival takes place, in England. |
| 1 August 1971 | USA | George Harrison, joined by Ravi Shankar, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Ringo Starr, and Bob Dylan, performs in the Benefit for Bangladesh in Madison Square Gardens, New York City. |
| 1972 | UK, USA | Groups such as the Bay City Rollers, the Jackson Five, the Osmonds, and David Cassidy mark the era of ‘Teenybop’, with the bands appealing particularly to teenage girls. |
| 17 March 1973 | UK | The British progressive rock band Pink Floyd releases the album The Dark Side of the Moon. It will sell 20 million worldwide and remain in the US top 200 albums for 17 years. |
| 1974 | Sweden | The Swedish pop group Abba wins the Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Waterloo’ and shoots to international stardom. |
| 15 March 1975 | UK | The British heavy metal rock group Led Zeppelin releases the album Physical Graffiti and becomes the first band ever to have six albums in the US chart simultaneously. |
| 20 December 1975 | UK | The British pop group Queen promotes its song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, from the album A Night at the Opera, with the first pop video. The video, produced by Bruce Gowers on a £4,500 budget, debuts on the television programme Top of the Pops. |
| 1977 | England, USA | The Anglo-American rock group Fleetwood Mac releases the album Rumours, one of the best-selling pop albums to date. |
| 1977 | UK | Punk music comes to prominence in the UK, with the emergence of bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Buzzcocks, the Damned, and the Stranglers. |
| 1978 | USA | Disco music predominates, as the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever tops the album charts. |
| 1978 | England, USA | The English punk rocker Sid Vicious (born John Simon Ritchie) is arrested in New York City in connection with the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. He is to die of a heroin overdose before going to trial. |
| 1978 | UK, USA | As punk declines, new wave music emerges into the mainstream, influenced particularly by US bands such as Talking Heads, Blondie, and the Ramones. An early influence on punk, new wave's roots are in New York City, especially venues such as the club CBGB's. |
| 1978 | UK | The music magazine Smash Hits is launched; it will become the most successful magazine for the teenage market in the UK. |
| 23 September 1978 | USA | The US new wave group Blondie releases the album Parallel Lines. |
| 1979 | USA | As a reaction against the ubiquitous disco music, rap is created by urban black musicians. |
| 15 December 1979 | UK | The British progressive rock group Pink Floyd releases the concept album The Wall. A film is later made by the British director Alan Parker, starring Bob Geldof. |
| 1980 | UK | Two-Tone music emerges in Britain, led by bands such as Madness and the Specials. |
| 1980 | UK | The first ‘indie’ chart (for albums on independent recording labels) is launched in Britain: the first album to head it is Adam and the Ants' Dirk Wears White Socks. |
| 1980 | world | Digitally recorded LP records are widely marketed for the first time. |
| 1 August 1981 | USA | With a target audience aged 12–34, and an estimated 2.5 million subscribers, the MTV (music television) channel is launched, with the video of the Buggles' single ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’. |
| 25 December 1982 | USA | Michael Jackson's Thriller confirms his status as a pop icon. Within ten years, 40 million copies will have been sold, making it the best-selling album of all time. |
| 1984 | USA, world | Rap, a music style developed by inner-city black and Latino teenagers in the 1970s in New York City, becomes popular worldwide. Breakdancing, a highly energetic and athletic form of dancing often done on the street, develops from the rap scene. |
| 1985 | USA | The Parents' Music Resource Center, formed by Tipper Gore and Susan Baker in the USA, moves to make recording companies print warnings on records with explicit lyrics. |
| 8 June 1985 | UK | The British pop group Dire Straits releases the album Brothers in Arms. It becomes the first CD to sell 1 million copies. |
| 29 June 1985 | USA, England | The most expensive piece of pop memorabilia to date is sold at Sotheby's in New York City when John Lennon's Rolls Royce fetches over £1.75 million. |
| 13 July 1985 | UK, USA | Live Aid, organized by Band Aid to raise funds for famine-relief in Africa, is a day-long concert held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London, England, and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Over $70 million is raised worldwide. |
| 1987 | Europe | Satellite television channel MTV is launched in Europe, with the video of Dire Straits' ‘Money For Nothing’. |
| 1990 | UK | A pop concert is held at Wembley Stadium in London, England, to celebrate the release from detention of South African leader Nelson Mandela. |
| 1991 | UK | Following the death from AIDS of the British rock group Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury, the single ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is re-released and goes to number one in the UK charts for the second time. |
| 1991 | USA, UK | The resurgence in use of the hallucinogenic drug LSD in the UK and the USA is accompanied by the development of ambient techno music. |
| 1991 | USA | The US rock group Nirvana releases the album Nevermind; it marks the advent of grunge music, much of it coming from Seattle, Washington. |
| 1993 | UK | The British rock group Radiohead releases the album The Bends. |
| 26 August 1993 | USA | The US pop singer Michael Jackson, in the face of allegations of child abuse made on 17 August, withdraws from part of his world tour, and loses his sponsorship from Pepsi on 13 November. He later makes an out-of-court settlement with the boy involved, Jordy Chandler. |
| 1994 | USA | Woodstock 94 takes place in New York State. A commemoration of the original Woodstock concert 25 years before, it features acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, and Joe Cocker. |
| 1994 | UK | The British rock group Blur releases the album Parklife. |
| 1994 | UK | The British rock group Oasis releases the album Definitely Maybe. |
| 1994 | UK | The British progressive rock group Pink Floyd releases the album The Division Bell. |
| 1994 | USA | The US rock group REM releases the album Monster. |
| 1995 | UK | ‘Britpop’ comes to the fore in Britain – white, guitar-based bands, such as Blur, Oasis, and Pulp, playing song-based pop-rock, often influenced by the Beatles and 1960s British pop. |
| 20 September 1997 | UK | The English pop star Elton John releases the single ‘Candle in the Wind ‘97’ as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. It goes immediately to number one and becomes the best-selling single of all time. |
| 7 June 1998 | UK | British pop musicians Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, the three surviving ex-Beatles, make their first public appearance together for 30 years at the memorial service for McCartney's wife, Linda, who died of cancer in April. |
| April 2001 | | Hear'Say become the first British pop music band to top the single and album charts at the same time with their debut releases ‘Pure and Simple’ and Popstars. |
| 2 July 2005 | | Live8, an international rock music charity event emulating the 1984 Live Aid campaign and targeted against continuing global poverty, attracts 1.1 million people to concerts around the world and is watched on television by 2 billion people. |
| 18 November 2007 | UK | Spirit by English singer Leona Lewis becomes the fastest-selling debut album in British music chart history. |
