1983 in music

• 1983 in British music
• 1983 in Norwegian music

• 1983 in country music
• 1983 in heavy metal music
• 1983 in hip hop music
• 1983 in jazz

• Classical music on CD has become popular among listeners.[1]

• See Musical groups established in 1983

• See Musical groups disestablished in 1983

• The Animals
• The Everly Brothers

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the charts of 1983.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart Entries
1	Culture Club	"Karma Chameleon"	1983		UK 1 – September 1983, US BB 1 – February 1984, Canada 1 – December 1983, Netherlands 1 – September 1983, Sweden (alt) 1 – October 1983, Switzerland 1 – October 1983, Norway 1 – October 1983, Republic of Ireland 1 – September 1983, New Zealand 1 for 6 weeks October 1983, Australia 1 for 5 weeks July 1984, Austria 3 – November 1983, Germany 3 – January 1984, South Africa 7 of 1984, Poland 8 – September 1983, Australia 8 of 1983, US CashBox 14 of 1984, POP 15 of 1984, Italy 16 of 1983, KROQ 25 of 1983, US BB 29 of 1984, RYM 49 of 1983, Scrobulate 71 of 80s, Germany 159 of the 1980s, OzNet 979
2	Michael Jackson	"Billie Jean"	1983		UK 1 – January 1983, US BB 1 – January 1983, Canada 1 – February 1983, Switzerland 1 – March 1983, Republic of Ireland 1 – March 1983, Australia 1 for 5 weeks February 1984, Netherlands 2 – January 1983, Sweden (alt) 2 – March 1983, France 2 – January 1983, US CashBox 3 of 1983, Austria 3 – April 1983, Poland 3 – February 1983, Germany 3 – March 1983, Australia 4 of 1983, RYM 4 of 1983, POP 4 of 1983, Norway 6 – April 1983, Italy 8 of 1983, South Africa 15 of 1983, 15 in 2FM list, Scrobulate 16 of pop, Global 33 (5 M sold) – 1983, Acclaimed 33, Europe 40 of the 1980s, Party 53 of 2007, Rolling Stone 58, Germany 139 of the 1980s, OzNet 249, WXPN 620
3	Irene Cara	"Flashdance...What a Feeling"	1983		US BB 1 – April 1983, US CashBox 1 of 1983, Canada 1 – May 1983, Canada RPM 1 for 3 weeks – June 1983, Sweden (alt) 1 – May 1983, France 1 – July 1983, France SNEP 1 – September 1983, Switzerland 1 – June 1983, Norway 1 – June 1983, Italy 1 for 9 weeks – November 1983, New Zealand 1 for 6 weeks – July 1983, Australia 1 for 7 weeks – June 1983, UK 2 – June 1983, Austria 4 – August 1983, Japan 1 for 2 weeks – August 1983, Germany 4 – June 1983, Netherlands 13 – April 1983, Belgium 20 – May 1983, Poland 21 – July 1983, US BB 6 of 1983, Japan 7 of all time (international songs), Australia 2 of 1983, POP 3 of 1983, South Africa 9 of 1983, Scrobulate 31 of gay, AFI 55, Germany 57 of the 1980s, RYM 121 of 1983, OzNet 243, RIAA 256, Oscar in 1983
4	David Bowie	"Let's Dance"	1983		UK 1 – March 1983, US BB 1 – April 1983, Canada 1 – March 1983, Netherlands 1 – March 1983, Sweden (alt) 1 – April 1983, France 1 – March 1983, Switzerland 1 – April 1983, Norway 1 – March 1983, Republic of Ireland 1 – April 1983, New Zealand 1 for 6 weeks April 1983, Austria 2 – May 1983, Germany 2 – April 1983, US CashBox 4 of 1983, Poland 5 – April 1983, KROQ 6 of 1983, US BB 15 of 1983, Italy 19 of 1983, Australia 24 of 1983, RYM 32 of 1983, Scrobulate 40 of 80s, POP 47 of 1983, Germany 172 of the 1980s, Belgium 258 of all time, Acclaimed 1445
5	The Police	"Every Breath You Take"	1983		UK 1 – May 1983, US BB 1 – July 1983, US BB 1 of 1983, Canada 1 – May 1983, Republic of Ireland 1 – June 1983, US CashBox 2 of 1983, Sweden (alt) 2 – June 1983, Norway 2 – June 1983, KROQ 3 of 1983, Poland 5 – June 1983, South Africa 5 of 1983, Netherlands 6 – May 1983, Switzerland 6 – July 1983, Austria 8 – August 1983, Germany 8 – June 1983, France 10 – May 1983, Australia 10 of 1983, Italy 10 of 1983, Virgin 12, Scrobulate 13 of 80s, US BB 16 of 1983, RYM 16 of 1983, Europe 33 of the 1980s, Acclaimed 38, OzNet 38, RIAA 44, POP 49 of 1983, Poland 68 of all time, TheQ 76, Rolling Stone 84, 90 in 2FM list, Belgium 110 of all time, WXPN 216

• "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" w. Bernie Taupin m. Elton John
• "An Innocent Man" w.m. Billy Joel
• "Karma Chameleon" w.m. George O'Dowd, Jon Moss, Roy Hay, Mikey Craig & Phil Rickett
• "Uptown Girl" w.m. Billy Joel
• "Total Eclipse of the Heart" – w.m. Jim Steinman

• Robert Ashley – Perfect Lives (An opera for television)
• Leonard Bernstein – A Quiet Place
• Oliver Knussen – Where the Wild Things Are (children's)
• Olivier Messiaen – Saint François d'Assise
• Per Nørgård – Det guddommelige Tivoli (The Divine Circus)

• La Cage aux Folles – Broadway production opened at the Palace Theatre and ran for 1781 performances
• Doonesbury – Broadway production opened at the Biltmore Theatre and ran for 104 performances
• Mame (Jerry Herman) – Broadway revival
• Merlin – Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre and ran for 199 performances
• Oliver! (Lionel Bart) – London revival
• On Your Toes – Broadway revival
• My One and Only – Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre and ran for 767 performances
• Singin' in the Rain – London production
• The Tap Dance Kid – Broadway production opened at the Broadhurst Theatre and ran for 699 performances
• Zorba – Broadway revival

• Carmen
• Eddie and the Cruisers
• Flashdance
• Le Bal
• Mangammagari Manavadu
• Narcissus
• Neti Bharatam
• The Pirates of Penzance
• Rock & Rule
• Staying Alive
• Yentl

• Salad Days

• January 13 – William Hung, American musician
• January 18 – Samantha Mumba, Irish singer and actress
• January 19 – Hikaru Utada, Japanese singer and songwriter
• January 20 – Mari Yaguchi, Japanese singer (Morning Musume) and host
• January 21 – Rapsody, American rapper
• January 24 – Frankie Grande, American actor, singer, and dancer
• January 25 – Andrée Watters, Canadian singer
• January 30 – Ella Hooper, Australian rock singer-songwriter, musician, radio presenter and TV personality (Killing Heidi + The Verses)
• February 1 – Andrew VanWyngarden, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (MGMT)
• February 5 – Baby K, Singaporean-Italian singer-songwriter
• February 8 – Jim Verraros, American singer
• February 10 – Bless, Canadian rapper
• February 13 – Joel Little, New Zealand record producer, musician and Grammy Award-winning songwriter (Lorde, Taylor Swift)
• February 17 – Kevin Rudolf, American record producer and musician
• February 19 – Mika Nakashima, Japanese singer and actress
• March 3 – Katie White, British singer (The Ting Tings)
• March 8 – Piano Squall, American pianist
• March 9 – Mayte Perroni, Mexican singer and actress
• March 10 – Carrie Underwood, American singer/songwriter
• March 14 – Taylor Hanson American band member (Hanson)
• March 15 – Florencia Bertotti, Argentine actress and singer
• March 19 – Ana Rezende (Cansei de Ser Sexy), Brazilian
• March 29
  • Luiza Sá (Cansei de Ser Sexy), Brazilian
  • Jamie Woon, British singer, songwriter and record producer,
• March 30 – Hebe Tian, member of the Taiwanese girl-group S.H.E
• March 31 – 40 (record producer), Canadian record producer, collaborator with Drake
• April 4 – Tei, Korean ballad singer
• April 15 – Margo Price, American singer-songwriter
• April 16 – Marié Digby, American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist
• April 18 – Reeve Carney, American singer-songwriter and actor
• April 20 – Sebastian Ingrosso, Swedish DJ, actor and record producer.
• May – October (singer), British musician, producer, singer-songwriter, experimentalist and recording artist
• May 8 – Matt Willis, British musician (Busted) and presenter
• May 10 – Moshe Peretz, Israeli musician
• May 11 – Holly Valance, Australian actress, singer and model.
• May 14 – Anahí, Mexican singer and actress
• May 15 – Devin Bronson, American guitarist, songwriter and producer
• June 2 – Brooke White, American singer
• June 3 – Kelela, American singer and songwriter.
• June 8 – Lee Harding, Australian singer
• June 15 – Laura Imbruglia, Australian indie rock singer-songwriter.
• June 16 – Jen Majura, German guitarist, bassist and singer.
• June 17
  • Connie Fisher, British actress and singer
  • Lee Ryan, British singer
• June 27 – Evan Taubenfeld, American guitarist, singer, and songwriter (Avril Lavigne)
• June 30
  • Patrick Wolf, English singer-songwriter
  • Cheryl, former member of Girls Aloud, British singer-songwriter and television personality
• July 1
  • Leeteuk, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor.
  • Marit Larsen, Norwegian musician (M2M)
• July 2 – Michelle Branch, American singer-songwriter and musician (The Wreckers)
• July 3
  • Steph Jones, American singer-songwriter
  • Matt Papa, American singer-songwriter
• July 4
  • Ben Jorgensen, American singer, guitarist, member of Armor For Sleep
  • Andrew Mrotek, American drummer (The Academy Is...)
• July 7 – Ciara Newell, Irish singer (Bellefire)
• July 9 – Lucia Micarelli, violinist and actress
• July 10 – Heechul, South Korean singer, songwriter
• July 11 – Marie Serneholt (A*Teens)
• July 18 – Aaron Gillespie, drummer (Underoath)
• July 21 – Eivør Pálsdóttir, Faroese singer and composer
• July 23 – Bec Hewitt, Australian singer, dancer, and actor
• July 24 – Morgan Sorne, American singer-songwriter and multi-media artist
• August 7 – Christian Chávez, Mexican singer and actor
• August 8 – Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer/songwriter
• August 9 – Ashley Johnson, American actress, voice actress and singer.
• August 14 – Sunidhi Chauhan, playback singer
• August 18
  • Danny!, American record producer/recording artist
  • Mika, British singer
  • Emma McKenna, Canadian singer-songwriter
• August 19
  • Tammin Sursok, South African-born Australian actress and singer.
  • Missy Higgins, Australian singer-songwriter, musician and actress.
• August 21 - Brody Jenner, American dj
• August 25 – James Righton, English musician, multi instrumentalist
• August 28 – Alfonso Herrera, Mexican singer and actor
• August 30 – Jun Matsumoto, Japanese singer and actor
• September 12 – Frank Dukes, Canadian record producer and dj
• September 14 – Amy Winehouse, English soul, jazz, blues and rnb singer-songwriter (died 2011)
• September 17 – Jennifer Peña, American singer and actress
• September 25 – Donald Glover, American actor, comedian, writer, director, rapper, and DJ
• September 30 – T-Pain, American rapper & singer-songwriter
• October 7 – Flying Lotus, American rapper and producer, founded Brainfeeder
• October 10
  • Alyson Hau, Hong Kong radio DJ
  • Jack Savoretti, English acoustic artist (Kylie Minogue)
  • Lzzy Hale, American singer, songwriter, and musician. (Halestorm)
• October 20 – Alona Tal, Israeli singer and actress.
• October 22 – Plan B, English hip hop rapper
• October 24 – Adrienne Bailon, American singer and actress
• October 26 – Houston, American R&B singer
• October 29
  • Amit Sebastian Paul, Swedish singer (A-Teens)
  • Richard Brancatisano, Australian actor/musician
• October 30 – Diana Karazon, Jordanian singer
• November 7 – Forrest Kline, American singer and songwriter (Hellogoodbye)
• November 10 – Miranda Lambert, American country musician
• November 14
  • Lil Boosie, American rapper
  • Chelsea Wolfe, American singer-songwriter
• November 16
  • Fallon Bowman, South African–born guitarist (Kittie)
  • K, South Korean singer
• November 27 – Nyla, Jamaican singer and songwriter (Brick & Lace)
• November 28
  • Rostam Batmanglij, American musician (Vampire Weekend)
  • Tyler Glenn, American alternative singer (Neon Trees)
• December 3 – Sherri DuPree, American singer-songwriter
• December 12 – Katrina Elam, American country singer-songwriter
• December 15 – Brooke Fraser, New Zealand singer-songwriter, musician
• December 17 – Kosuke Saito, Japanese DJ
• December 29 – Jessica Andrews, American country music singer
• December 31 – Sayaka Ichii, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
• unknown
  • Dan Sultan, Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter-guitarist
  • Joseph Tawadros, Egyptian-born Australian oud virtuoso

• January 5 – Amy Evans, operatic soprano and actress, 98
• January 7 – Edith Coates, operatic mezzo-soprano, 74
• January 28 – Billy Fury, singer, 42 (heart attack)
• January 31 – Lorraine Ellison, soul singer, 51
• February 4 – Karen Carpenter, singer and drummer, 32 (cardiac arrest due to anorexia nervosa)
• February 8
  • Charles Kullman, operatic tenor, 80
  • Alfred Wallenstein, cellist, 84
• February 12 – Eubie Blake, pianist, 96
• February 18 – Leopold Godowsky, Jr., violinist and chemist, 82
• February 22 – Sir Adrian Boult, conductor, 93
• February 23 – Herbert Howells, organist and composer, 90
• February 28 – Winifred Atwell, Trinidadian pianist, 69
• March 6 – Cathy Berberian, singer and composer, 57
• March 7
  • Igor Markevitch, Ukrainian composer and conductor, 70
  • William Walton, British composer, 80
• April 4 – Danny Rapp (Danny and the Juniors), 41 (suicide by gunshot)
• April 5 – Cliff Carlisle, country and blues singer, 79
• April 13 – Dolo Coker, jazz pianist and composer, 55
• April 14 – Pete Farndon (The Pretenders), English bassist, 30 (drug overdose)
• April 17 – Felix Pappalardi, American producer and bassist, 43 (gunshot)
• April 23 – Earl Hines, American jazz pianist, 79
• April 30
  • Muddy Waters, blues singer and guitarist, 70 (heart attack)
  • George Balanchine, Russian-American choreographer, 79
• May 23
  • George Bruns, film composer, 68
  • Finn Mortensen, composer and music critic, 61
• May 25 – Paul Quinichette, saxophonist, 67
• June 2 – Stan Rogers, folk musician, 33
• June 25 – Alberto Ginastera, Argentine composer, 67
• July 4 – Claus Adam, cellist, 66
• July 5 – Harry James, bandleader, 67
• July 12 – Chris Wood, rock musician, 39
• July 23 – Georges Auric, French composer, member of Les Six, 84
• July 27 – Jerome Moross, composer, conductor and orchestrator, 69
• July 30 – Howard Dietz, lyricist, 86
• August 2 – James Jamerson, bassist, 47
• August 3 – Helge Bonnén, pianist and composer, 87
• August 6 – Klaus Nomi, singer, 39 (complications from AIDS)
• August 13 – Zdeněk Liška, Czech film composer, 61
• August 14 – Omer Létourneau, pianist, organist, composer and conductor, 92
• August 17 – Ira Gershwin, American lyricist, 86
• August 24 – Arkady Filippenko, composer, 71
• September 5 – John Gilpin, dancer, 53 (heart attack)
• September 24 – Isobel Baillie, operatic soprano, 88
• September 25 – Paul Jacobs, American pianist, 53 (complications from AIDS)
• October 16
  • Øivin Fjeldstad, violinist and conductor, 80
  • George Liberace, violinist and arranger, 72
• November 3 – Alfredo Antonini, conductor, 82
• November 7 – Germaine Tailleferre, composer, only female member of Les Six, 88
• November 15 – John Grimaldi, English keyboard player and songwriter (Argent), 28
• November 19 – Tommy Evans, bassist of the rock group Badfinger, 36 (suicide)
• December 6 – Lucienne Boyer, French singer, 80
• December 11 – Simon Laks, Polish composer and violinist, 82
• December 28 – Dennis Wilson, American singer, songwriter and drummer, 39 (drowned)
• date unknown
  • Antonio Mairena, Andalusian flamenco singer, 73 or 74
  • Pat Smythe, Scottish-born jazz pianist, 59 or 60

• Ronald Reagan in music