1986 in Music

January 30 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, holds its first induction ceremony with many rock pioneers attending.
February 25
The 28th Annual Grammy Awards are presented in Los Angeles, hosted by Kenny Rogers. Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required wins Album of the Year, while USA for Africa’s “We Are the World” wins both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Sade win Best New Artist.
Also, Whitney Houston wins her first GRAMMY award which she won the Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.
March 8 – After almost a year, Houston’s debut album topped the charts and remained for 7 weeks, followed by another on May 17.
May 3 – The 31st Eurovision Song Contest, held in Bergen, Norway, is won by Belgium with the song “J’aime la vie”, performed by Sandra Kim. At 13 years old, Kim is the youngest-ever Eurovision winner.
May 28 – The Monkees held a press conference at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City to announce officially that they will embark on a 100-plus city tour. The tour became one of the biggest grossing tours of the year.

June 10 – Bob Geldof is awarded an honorary UK knighthood in recognition of his work in organizing Live Aid and other concerts that raised millions of dollars for the starving people of Africa.
June 15
The final show of the A Conspiracy of Hope benefit concert – organized by Amnesty International – took place at the Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The show was headlined by U2, Sting, and Bryan Adams, and also features Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Joan Baez, and The Neville Brothers.
Also, The Police would perform one last time on stage during the show before disbanding that same year.
June 30 – Madonna releases her “True Blue” album, which tops the charts in over 28 countries and becomes the best selling album of 1986.
August 9 – Queen performed the band’s final concert of the Magic Tour at Knebworth Park, which would be the last performance of the band with singer Freddie Mercury and bassist John Deacon. Later Mercury would be diagnosed with AIDS in 1987, dying in 1991, and Deacon would retire from the band in 1997.

September 27 – A tour bus carrying the heavy metal band Metallica crashes in Sweden, killing their influential bassist, Cliff Burton.
October – Popular music magazine Q is launched in the United Kingdom.
November 15 – The 15th OTI Festival, held at the Municipal Theatre in Santiago, Chile, is won by the song “Todos”, written by Vilma Planas, and performed by Dámaris Carbaugh, Miguel Ángel Guerra [es], and Eduardo Fabián representing the United States.
November 17–18 – Billy Eckstine makes his final recordings, later released on his album Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter.
December 12 – The Smiths play Brixton Academy, the last gig before their dissolution.