View source for 1981 in music

{{Short description|none}}
<!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2011}}
{{YYYY music|1981}}
{{Year topic navigation|1981|music|radio|television|film}}
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in 1981.

==Specific locations==
*[[1981 in British music]]
*[[1981 in Japanese music]]
*[[1981 in Norwegian music]]
*[[1981 in Scandinavian music]]

==Specific genres==
*[[1981 in country music]]
*[[1981 in heavy metal music]]
*[[1981 in hip hop music]]
*[[1981 in jazz]]
*[[Timeline_of_progressive_rock_(1980–1989)#1981|1981 in progressive rock]]

==Events==
===January–April===
*[[January]] – Nearly a year after the suicide of [[Ian Curtis]], the surviving members of [[Joy Division]] plus Gillian Gilbert, now under the name [[New Order (band)|New Order]], release their debut single [[Ceremony (New Order song)|"Ceremony"]]; the single and its B-side, "In a Lonely Place", are both re-recordings of songs originally written and performed by Curtis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.neworder.com/newordernow/2018/12/19/movement-definitive-edition.html|title=New Order - New Order - Movement 'Definitive Edition'|access-date=February 23, 2019|archive-date=September 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190913171424/http://www.neworder.com/newordernow/2018/12/19/movement-definitive-edition.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The single's release marks the band's first public use of the "New Order" moniker, which they retained for the remainder of their career.
*[[10 January]] – A revival of the [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] [[operetta]] ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' opens at Broadway's [[Gershwin Theatre|Uris Theatre]], starring [[Linda Ronstadt]] and [[Rex Smith (entertainer)|Rex Smith]].
*[[11 January]] – Country singer [[Hank Williams Jr.]] releases his 32nd album, ''[[Rowdy (Hank Williams Jr. album)|Rowdy]]''. It is certified Gold by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]].
*[[18 January]] – [[Wendy O. Williams]] of [[Plasmatics|The Plasmatics]] is arrested in [[Milwaukee]] for simulating masturbation with a sledgehammer on stage. In a scuffle with the police Williams is pinned to the floor and receives a cut above the eye requiring twelve stitches.<ref name="Rock Yearbook 1982">{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Rock Yearbook 1982 |url=https://archive.org/details/rockyearbook198200newy/page/22 |location=New York |publisher=Virgin Books Ltd. |page=[https://archive.org/details/rockyearbook198200newy/page/22 22] |date=1981 |isbn=0-312-68784-2 |url-access=registration }}</ref>
*[[24 January]] – [[Aerosmith]] lead singer [[Steven Tyler]] is injured in a motorcycle crash that leaves him hospitalized for two months.
*[[9 February]] – [[Phil Collins]] releases his first solo album, ''[[Face Value (album)|Face Value]]'', whose opening track "[[In the Air Tonight]]" popularizes the [[gated reverb]] drum sound that became ubiquitous for the next ten years; while the album ended up a smash success, Collins remained a member of [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] until 1995.
*[[14 February]]
**[[Ultravox]] reach number 2 on the UK Singles Chart with "[[Vienna (Ultravox song)|Vienna]]", but despite huge radio play and massive sales it is subsequently held off the top position for two consecutive weeks by [[Joe Dolce]]'s novelty song "[[Shaddup You Face]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/18593/ultravox/ |title=Ultravox |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref>
**[[Billy Idol]] leaves the band [[Generation X (band)|Generation X]] to begin a solo career.
*[[25 February]] – The [[23rd Annual Grammy Awards]] are presented in [[New York City|New York]], hosted by [[Paul Simon]]. [[Christopher Cross]], with his [[Christopher Cross (album)|self-titled debut album]] and its single "[[Sailing (Christopher Cross song)|Sailing]]", becomes the first artist to win all four General Field awards in a single ceremony, controversially beating [[Pink Floyd]]'s ''[[The Wall (album)|The Wall]]'' for [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]].
*[[14 March]] – Suffering from bleeding ulcers, [[Eric Clapton]] is admitted to United Hospital in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], USA. Clapton's 60-city tour of the US is cancelled, and he remains in hospital for a month.
*[[21 March]] – [[Yellow Magic Orchestra]] release their fourth studio album, ''[[BGM (album)|BGM]]''; the album is the first to make use of the [[Roland TR-808]] [[drum machine]], which would go on to become an influential device in both [[electronic dance music]] and [[hip hop music]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.factmag.com/2015/01/22/the-essential-yellow-magic-orchestra/|title=The Essential... Yellow Magic Orchestra|last=Jones|first=Mikey IQ|date=22 January 2015|website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|FACT Magazine]]|access-date=24 August 2017}}</ref>
*[[27 March]] – [[Ozzy Osbourne]] bites the head off a dove at a [[Columbia Records|CBS]] record label gathering in Los Angeles.<ref name="Melody Maker 4/11/81">{{cite journal |author=[[David Fricke|Fricke, David]] |title=One Ahead For Ozzy |journal=[[Melody Maker]] |publisher=IPC Magazines Ltd. |date=April 11, 1981 |page=4}}</ref>
*[[4 April]] – British pop group [[Bucks Fizz (band)|Bucks Fizz]] wins the 26th [[Eurovision Song Contest 1981|Eurovision Song Contest]], held at the [[Royal Dublin Society|RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion]], Dublin, with the song "[[Making Your Mind Up]]".
*[[11 April]] – [[Van Halen]]'s lead guitarist [[Eddie Van Halen]] marries actress [[Valerie Bertinelli]].
*[[12 April]] – Soviet orchestral conductor [[Maxim Shostakovich]] (son of Dmitri) defects while on tour in [[West Germany]] with his son.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/28/arts/russians-call-defection-of-shostakovich-personal.html|title=Russians Call Defection Of Shostakovich 'Personal'|newspaper=The New York Times|date=28 April 1981}}</ref>
*[[18 April]] – [[Yes (band)|Yes]] announce that they are breaking up. (They reunited frequently in years to come).
*[[20 April]] – [[The Mamas & the Papas]]' [[John Phillips (musician)|John Phillips]] is sentenced to five years in jail after pleading guilty to drug possession charges. Phillips' sentence was then suspended after thirty days in exchange for 250 hours of community service.
*[[22 April]] – [[Eric Clapton]] is taken to the hospital suffering from bruised ribs and a lacerated shin, following a car accident in [[Seattle|Seattle, Washington]].
*[[26 April]]/[[27 April]]/[[28 April]] – [[Gary Numan]] performs three sold out 'farewell concerts' at [[Wembley Arena]], following his announcement to retire from live work at the height of his popularity. (He returned to live performance less than two years later.)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dangerousminds.net/comments/gary_numans_1981_farewell_concerts |title=GARY NUMAN'S 1981 'FAREWELL' CONCERTS |date=July 17, 2014 |publisher=Dangerous Minds }}</ref>
*[[27 April]] – [[Ringo Starr]] and [[Barbara Bach]] marry, in London, England.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw69533/The-wedding-of-Ringo-Starr-and-Barbara-Bach |title=The wedding of Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach |first=Terry |last=O'Neill |date=27 April 1981 |publisher=National Portrait Gallery |access-date=21 March 2018|language=en}}</ref>

===May–August===
*[[2 May]] – British vocalist [[Sheena Easton]] hits No. 1 in the US with "[[Morning Train (9 to 5)]]" following a swift rise to fame as the result of a reality TV show.
*[[9 May]] – [[Adam and the Ants]] single "[[Stand and Deliver (Adam and the Ants song)|Stand and Deliver]]" enters the UK Singles Chart at number 1.<ref name="aata">{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/18646/adam-and-the-ants/ |title=Adam and the Ants |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref> It remains at number 1 for five consecutive weeks and will sell over one million copies,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/nov/04/uk-million-selling-singles-full-list |title=UK's million-selling singles: the full list |work=The Guardian |date=November 4, 2012 }}</ref> becoming the years third best selling single in the UK.<ref name="best selling"/>
*[[14 May]] – [[Diana Ross]] signs with [[RCA Records]] ([[EMI]] internationally), leaving [[Motown Records]], her label of two decades. The $20,000,000 deal is the most lucrative recording contract in history at that time.
*[[15 May]] – A riot breaks out at [[Ritz (rock club)|The Ritz]] rock club in New York when [[Public Image Ltd]] plays behind a videoscreen while completely different music plays over the club's speakers.
*[[16 May]] – [[Adam and the Ants]] tops the UK Albums Chart for the tenth consecutive week with ''[[Kings of the Wild Frontier]]''.<ref name="aata" />
*[[30 May]] – A reformed [[The Human League]] have their first commercial success as "[[The Sound of the Crowd]]" climbs to number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/the%20sound%20of%20the%20crowd/ |title=The Sound of the Crowd |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref>
*[[4 June]] – [[U2]] appears on ''[[The Tomorrow Show]]'' with [[Tom Snyder]], their first U.S. television appearance.
*[[5 June]] – The TV series ''[[Night Flight (TV series)|Night Flight]]'', a variety show featuring music documentaries and videos, is premiered on the [[USA Network]].
*[[6 June]] – ''[[Kerrang!]]'' magazine publishes its first issue. [[Angus Young]] of [[AC/DC]] is on the cover.
*[[30 June]] – [[Jerry Lee Lewis]] is rushed to hospital in Memphis for emergency surgery for a tear in his stomach. Despite being given less than a 50% chance of survival, he eventually pulls through.
*[[13 July]] – [[Duran Duran]] release the single "[[Girls on Film]]". Accompanied by a highly controversial music video that is censored for airplay on [[MTV]] and banned by [[BBC]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://louderthanwar.com/40-years-ago-this-month-duran-duran-released-girls-on-film-the-song-and-its-appearance-on-mtv-was-a-pop-culture-game-changer/ |title=40 years ago, this month, Duran Duran released "Girls On Film" the song and its appearance on MTV was a pop culture game changer |date=31 July 2021 |publisher=louderthanwar.com }}</ref> the song becomes the band's first big hit, eventually peaking at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart during an 11-week chart run.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19319/duran-duran/ |title=Duran Duran |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref>
* [[27 July]] – [[Stevie Nicks]] releases debut solo album ''[[Bella Donna (album)|Bella Donna]]'', which sold 4 million copies in the US alone.
*[[1 August]] 
**MTV broadcasts for the first time on cable television in the United States, playing music videos 24 hours a day. First to air is "[[Video Killed the Radio Star]]" by [[The Buggles]].
**The success of ''[[Stars On 45]]'' leads to a short-lived medley [[Fads and trends|craze]]. The most successful imitator of the Stars On 45 format is, rather unexpectedly, the [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]], whose "Hooked On Classics (Parts 1&2)" reaches number two in the charts.
*[[23 August]] – The [[Violent Femmes]] are discovered by members of [[The Pretenders]] busking outside a [[Milwaukee]] venue and are invited to play a 10-minute acoustic set as a second opening act in the Pretenders' show that night.

===September–December===
*[[5 September]] – [[Soft Cell]] tops the UK Singles Chart with "[[Tainted Love]]". The song also tops the chart the following week and becomes the second best selling single in the UK in 1981.<ref name="best selling" /> 
*[[19 September]] 
**[[Simon & Garfunkel]] perform [[The Concert in Central Park|a free reunion concert]] in New York City's [[Central Park]] attended by over 500,000 fans.
**[[Adam and the Ants]] have their second chart-topping single of the year as "[[Prince Charming (Adam & the Ants song)|Prince Charming]]" reach number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. It remains at number one for four consecutive weeks and becomes the years fourth best selling single in the UK.<ref name="best selling" />   
*[[26 September]] – [[Iron Maiden]] hires [[Samson (band)|Samson]] lead singer Bruce Bruce AKA [[Bruce Dickinson]] to replace [[Paul Di'Anno]]. [[Bruce Dickinson|Dickinson]] will finish off the last 7 dates of the [[Killer World Tour]].
*[[16 October]] – [[The Human League]] release ''[[Dare (album)|Dare]]''. A huge commercial and critical success, it spent 69 weeks on the UK Albums Chart including four weeks at number 1<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/18435/human-league/ |title=The Human League |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref> and be certified platinum in the UK,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/ |title=The Human League Dare |publisher=BPI |access-date=June 18, 2022 |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507201753/https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and gold in the US.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/#search_section |title=The Human League Dare |publisher=RIAA }}</ref> 
*[[26 October]] – [[Iron Maiden]] plays its first show with [[Bruce Dickinson]] as the new lead singer in [[Bologna, Italy]].
*[[27 October]] – The [[British Phonographic Industry]] takes out newspaper ads unveiling its new slogan: "[[Home Taping Is Killing Music]]". The ads advocate a levy on blank cassette tapes.<ref name="Rock Yearbook 1983">{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Rock Yearbook 1983 |location=New York |publisher=Virgin Books Ltd. |page=9 |date=1982 |isbn=0-312-68785-0}}</ref> 
*[[31 October]] – Punk band [[Fear (band)|Fear]] makes a memorable appearance on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''. A group of fans storm the stage and damage TV equipment while [[moshing]], resulting in the show cutting to commercial.
*[[18 November]] – While sitting in Tom's Restaurant in New York City, [[Suzanne Vega]] composes the song "[[Tom's Diner]]".
*[[21 November]] – [[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]] hits number 3 on the UK Albums Chart with their third album ''[[Architecture & Morality]]''. Including three UK top-5 singles, "[[Souvenir (song)|Souvenir]]", "[[Joan of Arc (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song)|Joan of Arc]]" and "[[Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)|Maid of Orleans]]", it will remain on the chart for 37 weeks<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/18250/orchestral-manoeuvres-in-the-dark/ |title=OMD |publisher=Official Charts}}</ref> and be certified platinum in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/ |title=OMD Architecture & Morality |publisher=BPI |access-date=June 18, 2022 |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507201753/https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[5 December]] – The [[OTI Festival 1981|10th OTI Festival]], held at the [[Auditorio Nacional (Mexico)|National Auditorium]] in [[Mexico City]], Mexico, is won by the song "{{lang|es|Latino|i=no}}", written by [[Pablo Herrero]] and [[José Luis Armenteros]], and performed by {{ill|Francisco (singer)|es|Francisco (cantante)|lt=Francisco}} representing [[Spain in the OTI Festival|Spain]].
*[[11 December]] – [[The Human League]] reach number one on the UK Singles Chart with [[Don't You Want Me]]. The song remains at number one for five consecutive weeks and become the years  best selling single in the UK.<ref name="best selling">{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-50-best-selling-songs-of-1981__32604/ |title=The Official Top 50 best-selling songs of 1981 |publisher=Official Charts |date=5 March 2021 }}</ref> 
*[[18 December]] – An estimated 35 million people around the world watch a live satellite transmission of a [[Rod Stewart]] concert at the [[Los Angeles Forum]]. It is the first broadcast of its kind since Elvis Presley's "[[Aloha from Hawaii]]" special in 1973.
*[[31 December]] 
** [[Benny Andersson]], recently divorced from [[Anni-Frid Lyngstad]], marries TV presenter Mona Nörklit.<ref name="abba">{{cite book|author=Benoît Clerc|title=Abba: All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Track|publisher=Octopus|year=2024|isbn=9781788404839}}</ref>
**The tenth annual [[Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest|New Year's Rockin' Eve]] special airs on ABC, with appearances by [[Four Tops]], [[Rick Springfield]], [[Barry Manilow]], [[Alabama (American band)|Alabama]] and [[Rick James]].

===Also in 1981===
* The organ at the famous [[Heinävesi Church]] in Finland is renewed, using locks from the original organ.
* [[Alice Cooper]] drastically changes his appearance, leaving behind his trademark make-up and donning a military uniform.
* [[Synthpop]] enjoys mainstream popularity in the UK, with groups such as [[Ultravox]], [[Depeche Mode]], [[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]] and [[The Human League]] releasing hit singles and albums. The Human League's "[[Don't You Want Me]]" and [[Soft Cell]]'s "[[Tainted Love]]" become the years best selling singles in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-50-best-selling-songs-of-1981__32604/ |title=The Official Top 50 best-selling songs of 1981 |publisher=Official Charts |date=5 March 2021 }}</ref>
* [[Menudo (band)|Menudo]]'s golden era (1981–1985) begins in Latin America, parts of Europe and Asia.
* [[Brad Whitford]] leaves [[Aerosmith]] and is replaced by [[Rick Dufay]].
* [[Hal Willner]] "invents" the modern [[tribute album]] with ''Amacord Nino Rota''.

==Bands formed==
*''See [[:Category:Musical groups established in 1981|Musical groups established in 1981]]''

==Bands disbanded==
*''See [[:Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1981|Musical groups disestablished in 1981]]''

==Albums released==

===January===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Day
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" |3
| ''[[Wild-Eyed Southern Boys]]'' || [[38 Special (band)|38 Special]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" |12
| ''[[The Nature of the Beast (album)|The Nature of the Beast]]'' || [[April Wine]] ||<ref name="allmusic1">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r807|pure_url=yes}}|title=''Nature of the Beast'' overview at AllMusic|accessdate=2010-05-27|publisher=AllMusic.com}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|15
| ''[[In Our Lifetime (Marvin Gaye album)|In Our Lifetime]]'' || [[Marvin Gaye]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Stands for Decibels]]'' || [[The dB's]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|16
|''[[Paradise Theatre (album)|Paradise Theatre]]'' || [[Styx (band)|Styx]] ||<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/brit-certified/|title=BPI certifications for Styx}}</ref> 
|-
| ''[[The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent]]'' || [[UFO (band)|UFO]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Radioland (album)|Radioland]]'' || [[Nicolette Larson]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|19
| ''[[Take My Time]]'' || [[Sheena Easton]] ||<ref>{{cite magazine|date=17 January 1981|title=News|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1981/Music-Week-1981-01-17.pdf|magazine=[[Music Week]]|page=2|access-date=12 September 2022}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|23
| ''[[Kiss Me Deadly (album)|Kiss Me Deadly]]'' || [[Generation X (band)|Generation X]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Trust (Elvis Costello album)|Trust]]'' || [[Elvis Costello]] [[The Attractions|and the Attractions]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|28
| ''[[Healing (Todd Rundgren album)|Healing]]'' || [[Todd Rundgren]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Welcome to the Wrecking Ball!]]'' || [[Grace Slick]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|30
| ''[[Captured (Journey album)|Captured]]'' || [[Journey (band)|Journey]] || Live
|-
| rowspan="8" style="text-align:center;" |?
| ''[[Turn Back (Toto album)|Turn Back]]'' || [[Toto (band)|Toto]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Mondo Bongo]]'' || [[The Boomtown Rats]] ||-
|-
| ''[[...And Don't the Kids Just Love It]]'' || [[Television Personalities]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Evangeline (Emmylou Harris album)|Evangeline]]'' || [[Emmylou Harris]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Frost and Fire (album)|Frost and Fire]]'' || [[Cirith Ungol (band)|Cirith Ungol]] ||-
|-
|[[Playing to Win (Rick Nelson album)|Playing to Win]]
|[[Ricky Nelson|Rick Nelson]]
|
|-
| ''[[There Must Be a Better World Somewhere]]'' || [[B. B. King]] ||-
|-
| ''[[To the Bone (Kris Kristofferson album)|To the Bone]]'' || [[Kris Kristofferson]] ||-
|-
|}

===February===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Day
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|4
| ''[[Urban Chipmunk]]'' || [[Alvin and the Chipmunks]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| ''[[The Fool Circle]]'' || [[Nazareth (band)|Nazareth]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|9
| ''[[Difficult to Cure]]'' || [[Rainbow (English band)|Rainbow]] ||<ref>{{cite magazine|date=17 January 1981|title=News|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/80s/81/Record-Mirror-1981-01-17-OCR.pdf|magazine=[[Record Mirror]]|page=2|access-date=23 August 2022}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|12
| ''[[Moving Pictures (Rush album)|Moving Pictures]]'' || [[Rush (band)|Rush]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|13
| ''[[Face Value (album)|Face Value]]'' || [[Phil Collins]] || solo debut
|-
| ''[[St. Valentine's Day Massacre (EP)|St. Valentine's Day Massacre]]'' || [[Motörhead|Motör]] [[Headgirl]] [[Girlschool|School]] || EP
|-
| ''[[Fire Down Under]]'' || [[Riot (band)|Riot]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|16
| ''[[Killers (Iron Maiden album)|Killers]]'' || [[Iron Maiden]] || <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/3625-1438-2|title=Killers certification}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|17
| ''[[Being with You (album)|Being with You]]'' || [[Smokey Robinson]] ||-
|-
| ''[[To Love Again (Diana Ross album)|To Love Again]]'' || [[Diana Ross]] || Compilation
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|20
| ''[[Another Ticket]]'' || [[Eric Clapton]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|27
| ''[[Point of Entry]]'' || [[Judas Priest]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="13" style="text-align:center;"|?
| ''[[Working Class Dog]]'' || [[Rick Springfield]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Another One Rides the Bus (EP)|Another One Rides the Bus]]'' || [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] || EP
|-
| ''[[Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks]]'' || [[Hanoi Rocks]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!]]'' || [[Earthstar (band)|Earthstar]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Coconut Telegraph]]'' || [[Jimmy Buffett]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Feels So Right]]'' || [[Alabama (American band)|Alabama]] ||-
|-
| ''[[From the Tea-rooms of Mars ....]]'' || [[Landscape (band)|Landscape]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Higher Plane (album)|Higher Plane]]'' || [[Al Green]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Juice (Juice Newton album)|Juice]]'' || [[Juice Newton]] ||-
|-
| ''[[My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (album)|My Life in the Bush of Ghosts]]'' || [[Brian Eno]] – [[David Byrne]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Seven Year Ache]]'' || [[Rosanne Cash]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Stray Cats (album)|Stray Cats]]'' || [[Stray Cats]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The League of Gentlemen (album)|The League of Gentlemen]]'' || [[Robert Fripp]] and [[League of Gentlemen (band)|The League of Gentlemen]] ||-
|-
|}

===March===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Day
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2
| ''[[Intensities in 10 Cities]]'' ||  [[Ted Nugent]] || Live<ref name="RS #339">{{cite magazine|last1=Henke |first1=James |date=March 19, 1981 |title=Ted Nugent Gets Intense |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. |issue=339 |pages=50 }}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| ''[[Journeys to Glory]]'' || [[Spandau Ballet]]||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|10
| ''[[There Goes the Neighborhood (album)|There Goes the Neighborhood]]'' || [[Joe Walsh]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|13
| ''[[Never Too Late (Status Quo album)|Never Too Late]]''  || [[Status Quo (band)|Status Quo]] ||-
|-
| ''[[We'll Bring the House Down]]'' || [[Slade]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|16
| ''[[Breaker (Accept album)|Breaker]]'' || [[Accept (band)|Accept]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Face Dances]]'' || [[The Who]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|20
| ''[[Time Tells No Lies]]'' || [[Praying Mantis (band)|Praying Mantis]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|21
| ''[[Grand Slam (Isley Brothers album)|Grand Slam]]'' || [[The Isley Brothers]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|25
| ''[[DEV-O Live]]'' || [[Devo]] || Live Album
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|26
| ''[[Fancy Free (The Oak Ridge Boys album)|Fancy Free]]'' || [[The Oak Ridge Boys]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Dude (Quincy Jones album)|The Dude]]'' || [[Quincy Jones]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|27
| ''[[Carl Wilson (album)|Carl Wilson]]'' || [[Carl Wilson]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|30
| ''[[Extended Play (Pretenders EP)|Extended Play]]'' || [[The Pretenders]] || EP
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|31
| ''[[Music for Stowaways]]'' || [[British Electric Foundation]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="18" style="text-align:center;" |?
| ''[[Chariots of Fire (album)|Chariots of Fire]]'' || [[Vangelis]] || Soundtrack
|-
| ''[[Dad Loves His Work]]'' || [[James Taylor]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Directions (Miles Davis album)|Directions]]'' || [[Miles Davis]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Sucking in the Seventies]]'' || [[The Rolling Stones]] || Compilation
|-
| ''Franke & The Knockouts'' || [[Franke and the Knockouts|Franke & The Knockouts]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Hardware (Krokus album)|Hardware]]'' || [[Krokus (band)|Krokus]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Honi Soit (album)|Honi Soit]]'' || [[John Cale]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Long Play Album]] aka Stars on Long Play''  || [[Stars on 45]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Magnets (album)|Magnets]]'' || [[The Vapors]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Nightwalker (Gino Vannelli album)|Nightwalker]]''  || [[Gino Vannelli]] ||-
|-
| ''No Fun After Midnight''  || [[A II Z]] || EP
|-
| ''[[Party 'Til You're Broke]]'' || [[Rufus (band)|Rufus]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Rock Away]]'' || [[Phoebe Snow]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Short Note (album)|Short Note]]'' || [[Matt Finish]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Solid Gold (album)|Solid Gold]]''  || [[Gang of Four (band)|Gang of Four]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Willie Nelson album)|Somewhere Over the Rainbow]]'' ||  [[Willie Nelson]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Waiata (album)|Waiata]]'' || [[Split Enz]] ||-
|-
| ''[[White Lace & Black Leather]]''  || [[Helix (band)|Helix]] ||-
|}

===April===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Day
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|1
| ''[[Reckoning (Grateful Dead album)|Reckoning]]'' || [[Grateful Dead]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Rock Steady with Flo & Eddie]]'' || [[Flo & Eddie]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2
| ''[[Modern Times (Jefferson Starship album)|Modern Times]]'' || [[Jefferson Starship]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;"|6
| ''[[Come an' Get It]]'' || [[Whitesnake]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The DeBarges]]'' || [[DeBarge]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Fun in Space]]'' || [[Roger Taylor (Queen drummer)|Roger Taylor]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Prayers on Fire]]'' || [[The Birthday Party (band)|The Birthday Party]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Completion Backward Principle]]'' || [[The Tubes]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|7
| ''[[Street Songs (album)|Street Songs]]'' || [[Rick James]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|10
| ''[[Faith (The Cure album)|Faith]]'' || [[The Cure]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Flowers of Romance (album)|The Flowers of Romance]]'' || [[Public Image Ltd.]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Spellbound (Tygers of Pan Tang album)|Spellbound]]'' || [[Tygers of Pan Tang]] ||<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Tygers+Of+Pan+Tang&titel=Spellbound&cat=a|title=Tygers of Pan Tang albums}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|11
| ''[[A Woman Needs Love]]'' || [[Raydio]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|13
| ''[[Don't Say No (Billy Squier album)|Don't Say No]]'' || [[Billy Squier]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Of Skins and Heart]]'' || [[The Church (band)|The Church]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|14
| ''[[The Electric Spanking of War Babies]]'' || [[Funkadelic]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| ''[[What Cha' Gonna Do for Me]]'' || [[Chaka Khan]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|17
| ''[[Future Shock (Gillan album)|Future Shock]]'' || [[Gillan (band)|Gillan]] || <ref>{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin | author-link1 = Martin Popoff | title = The Deep Purple Family, vol 2 | edition = 2nd | publisher = Wymer Publishing | year = 2018 | pages = 49 | isbn = 978-1-908724-87-8}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Go for It (Stiff Little Fingers album)|Go for It]]'' || [[Stiff Little Fingers]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|20
| ''[[Hit and Run (Girlschool album)|Hit and Run]]'' || [[Girlschool]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Twangin...]]'' || [[Dave Edmunds]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|23
| ''[[Where Do You Go When You Dream]]'' || [[Anne Murray]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|27
| ''[[As Falls Wichita, so Falls Wichita Falls]]'' || [[Pat Metheny]] and [[Lyle Mays]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Slates (EP)|Slates]]'' || [[The Fall (band)|The Fall]] || EP
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|29
| ''[[Fair Warning (Van Halen album)|Fair Warning]]'' || [[Van Halen]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Zebop!]]'' || [[Santana (band)|Santana]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="9" style="text-align:center;"|?
| ''[[¡Alarma! (album)|¡Alarma!]]'' || [[Daniel Amos]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Bad for Good]]'' || [[Jim Steinman]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Dedication (Gary U.S. Bonds album)|Dedication]]'' || [[Gary U.S. Bonds]] ||-
|-
| ''[[El Rayo-X]]'' || [[David Lindley (musician)|David Lindley]] ||-
|-
| ''Goddo Live: Best Seat in the House'' || [[Goddo]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Mistaken Identity (Kim Carnes album)|Mistaken Identity]]'' || [[Kim Carnes]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Nightcomers (Holocaust album)|The Nightcomers]]'' || [[Holocaust (band)|Holocaust]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Punks Not Dead]]'' || [[The Exploited]] ||-
|}

===May===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Day
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1
| ''[[Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports]]'' || [[Nick Mason|Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports]] ||<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pinkfloyd.com/history/timeline_1981.php|title=Pink Floyd official site}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|5
| ''[[Hard Promises]]'' || [[Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|8
| ''[[Shock Tactics]]'' || [[Samson (band)|Samson]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The One That You Love (album)|The One That You Love]]'' || [[Air Supply]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|11
|''[[Computer World]]'' || [[Kraftwerk]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Balin (album)|Balin]]'' || [[Marty Balin]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Nightclubbing (Grace Jones album)|Nightclubbing]]'' || [[Grace Jones]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar]]'' || [[Frank Zappa]] || Live
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|14
| ''[[Breaking All the Rules (Peter Frampton album)|Breaking All the Rules]]'' || [[Peter Frampton]] ||-
|-
| ''[[It Must Be Magic]]'' || [[Teena Marie]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|15
| ''[[East Side Story (Squeeze album)|East Side Story]]'' || [[Squeeze (band)|Squeeze]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Long Distance Voyager]]'' || [[The Moody Blues]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Talk Talk Talk]]'' || [[The Psychedelic Furs]] ||<ref>{{cite magazine|date=16 May 1981|title=New Albums|url=|magazine=[[Music Week]]}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|17
| ''[[Tinsel Town Rebellion]]'' || [[Frank Zappa]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|18
| ''[[Knights of the Sound Table]]'' || [[Cameo (band)|Cameo]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|20
| ''[[Magnetic Fields (album)|Magnetic Fields]]'' || [[Jean-Michel Jarre]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Fox (Elton John album)|The Fox]]'' || [[Elton John]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|22
| ''[[Anthem (Toyah album)|Anthem]]'' || [[Toyah (band)|Toyah]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|25
| ''[[Hard 'n' Heavy]]'' || [[Anvil (band)|Anvil]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|29
| ''[[Heaven Up Here]]'' || [[Echo & the Bunnymen]] ||-
|-
| ''[[In Concert (Amy Grant album)|In Concert]]'' || [[Amy Grant]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Present Arms (album)|Present Arms]]'' || [[UB40]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="10" style="text-align:center;" |?
| ''[[Beyond the Valley of 1984]]'' || [[The Plasmatics]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Dedicated to Peter Kürten]]'' || [[Whitehouse (band)|Whitehouse]] ||-
|-
| ''Look Out!'' || [[20/20 (band)|20/20]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Mecca for Moderns]]'' || [[The Manhattan Transfer]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Positive Touch]]'' || [[The Undertones]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Quasimodo's Dream]]'' || [[The Reels]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam]]'' || [[Bill Nelson (musician)|Bill Nelson]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Red (Black Uhuru album)|Red]]'' || [[Black Uhuru]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Sondra (album)|Sondra]]'' || [[The Sports]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Wild Gift]]'' || [[X (American band)|X]] ||-
|}

===June===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Day
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1
| ''[[The Baron (album)|The Baron]]'' || [[Johnny Cash]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|5
| ''[[Somewhere in England]]'' || [[George Harrison]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|8
| ''[[Season of Glass (album)|Season of Glass]]'' || [[Yoko Ono]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|12
| ''[[Black & White (Pointer Sisters album)|Black & White]]'' || [[The Pointer Sisters]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|15
| ''[[Duran Duran (1981 album)|Duran Duran]]'' || [[Duran Duran]] ||Debut
|-
| ''[[Love Songs (Cliff Richard album)|Love Songs]]'' || [[Cliff Richard]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|16
| ''[[Made in America (The Carpenters album)|Made in America]]'' || [[The Carpenters]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|19
| ''[[Jumpin' Jive (Joe Jackson album)|Jumpin' Jive]]'' || [[Joe Jackson (musician)|Joe Jackson]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Juju (Siouxsie and the Banshees album)|Juju]]'' || [[Siouxsie & the Banshees]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Only a Lad]]'' || [[Oingo Boingo]] || Debut
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|29
| ''[[Kim Wilde (album)|Kim Wilde]]'' || [[Kim Wilde]] ||Debut
|-
| ''[[The Visitor (Mick Fleetwood album)|The Visitor]]'' || [[Mick Fleetwood]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|30
| ''[[As Far as Siam]]'' || [[Red Rider]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Breakin' Away (album)|Breakin' Away]]'' || [[Al Jarreau]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Earthshaker (album)|Earthshaker]]'' || [[Y&T]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="22" style="text-align:center;"|?
| ''[[No Sleep 'til Hammersmith]]'' || [[Motörhead]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Children of Paradise – The Greatest Hits of Boney M. – Vol. 2]]'' || [[Boney M.]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[Magic, Murder and the Weather]]'' || [[Magazine (band)|Magazine]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Cut Lunch]]'' || [[Models (band)|Models]] || EP
|-
| ''[[Deuce (Kurtis Blow album)|Deuce]]'' || [[Kurtis Blow]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Fire of Unknown Origin]]'' || [[Blue Öyster Cult]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places]]'' || [[Kid Creole and the Coconuts]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Here Comes the Night (David Johansen album)|Here Comes the Night]]'' || [[David Johansen]] ||-
|-
| ''[[In the Pocket (Commodores album)|In the Pocket]]'' || [[Commodores]] ||-
|-
| ''[[I've Got the Rock'n'Rolls Again]]'' || [[The Joe Perry Project]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Party (Iggy Pop album)|Party]]'' || [[Iggy Pop]] ||-
|-
| ''[[A Product Of... (Participation)]]'' || [[Thompson Twins]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Reflector (Pablo Cruise album)|Reflector]]'' || [[Pablo Cruise]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Renaissance (Village People album)|Renaissance]]'' || [[Village People]] ||-
|-
| ''[[RocKihnRoll]]''  || [[The Greg Kihn Band]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Share Your Love]]'' || [[Kenny Rogers]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Six Pack (EP)|Six Pack]]'' || [[Black Flag (band)|Black Flag]] || EP
|-
| ''[[Some Days Are Diamonds (album)|Some Days Are Diamonds]]'' || [[John Denver]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Wanted Dread And Alive]]'' || [[Peter Tosh]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Wha'ppen?]]'' || [[The Beat (British band)|The Beat]] ||-
|-
| ''[[What's THIS For...!]]'' || [[Killing Joke]] ||-
|}

===July===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Day
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|3
| ''[[4 (Foreigner album)|4]]'' || [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Friends of Mr Cairo]]'' || [[Jon and Vangelis]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|6
| ''[[High 'n' Dry]]'' || [[Def Leppard]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Precious Time (album)|Precious Time]]'' || [[Pat Benatar]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|8
| ''[[Beauty and the Beat (The Go-Go's album)|Beauty and the Beat]]'' || [[The Go-Go's]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|20
| ''[[Escape (Journey album)|Escape]]'' || [[Journey (band)|Journey]] ||-
|-
| ''[[El Loco]]'' || [[ZZ Top]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Pleasant Dreams]]'' || [[The Ramones]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|27
| ''[[Bella Donna (album)|Bella Donna]]'' || [[Stevie Nicks]] ||Solo Debut
|-
| ''[[KooKoo]]'' || [[Debbie Harry]] ||Solo Debut
|-
| ''[[Bucks Fizz (album)|Bucks Fizz]]'' || [[Bucks Fizz (band)|Bucks Fizz]] ||Debut
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|28
| ''[[You Want It You Got It]]'' || [[Bryan Adams]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|29
| ''[[The Time (The Time album)|The Time]]'' || [[The Time (band)|The Time]] ||Debut
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|31
| ''[[Time (Electric Light Orchestra album)|Time]]'' || [[Electric Light Orchestra]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Step by Step (Eddie Rabbitt album)|Step by Step]]'' || [[Eddie Rabbitt]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="23" style="text-align:center;"|?
| ''[[Blue and Gray (album)|Blue and Gray]]'' || [[Poco (band)|Poco]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Document and Eyewitness]]'' || [[Wire (band)|Wire]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Dexterity (Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons album)|Dexterity]]'' || [[Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons]] ||-
|- 
| ''[[Dreamtime (Tom Verlaine album)|Dreamtime]]'' || [[Tom Verlaine]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Endless Love (soundtrack)|Endless Love]]'' || Various Artists || Soundtrack
|-
| ''[[Freetime (album)|Freetime]]'' || [[Spyro Gyra]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Girls to Chat and Boys to Bounce]]'' || [[Foghat]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Heavy Metal (film)#Soundtrack|Heavy Metal Soundtrack]]'' || Various Artists || Soundtrack
|-
| ''[[Hoy-Hoy!]]'' || [[Little Feat]] ||Compilation
|-
| ''[[It's a Condition]]'' || [[Romeo Void]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Man with the Horn]]'' || [[Miles Davis]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Marauder (Blackfoot album)|Marauder]]'' || [[Blackfoot (band)|Blackfoot]] ||-
|-
| ''Night of the Demon'' || [[Demon (band)|Demon]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Party Mix!]]'' || [[The B-52's]] || Remix
|-
| ''[[Pirates (Rickie Lee Jones album)|Pirates]]'' || [[Rickie Lee Jones]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Pirates of Penzance#Recordings|The Pirates of Penzance Broadway Cast Album]]'' || Various Artists || Broadway cast recording
|-
| ''[[Sirocco (album)|Sirocco]]'' || [[Australian Crawl]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Three Quartets]]'' || [[Chick Corea]] ||-
|-
| ''Walking Wild'' || [[New England (band)|New England]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Was (Not Was) (album)|Was (Not Was)]]'' || [[Was (Not Was)]] ||Debut
|-
| ''[[Whomp That Sucker]]'' || [[Sparks (band)|Sparks]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Word of Mouth (Jaco Pastorius album)|Word of Mouth]]'' || [[Jaco Pastorius]] ||-
|}

===August===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Day
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|7
| ''[[Pretenders II]]'' || [[The Pretenders]] ||<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/5205-1896-2|title=BPI}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|10
| ''[[Friday Night in San Francisco]]'' || [[Al Di Meola]], [[John McLaughlin (musician)|John McLaughlin]] and [[Paco de Lucía]] || Live
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|12
| ''[[Shot of Love]]'' || [[Bob Dylan]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Never Too Much (album)|Never Too Much]]'' || [[Luther Vandross]] || Debut
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|18
| ''[[Dark Continent (album)|Dark Continent]]'' || [[Wall of Voodoo]] || -
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|20
| ''[[Love All the Hurt Away]]'' || [[Aretha Franklin]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|21
| ''[[Sleep No More (The Comsat Angels album)|Sleep No More]]'' || [[The Comsat Angels]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|24
| ''[[Tattoo You]]'' || [[The Rolling Stones]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|25
| ''[[Scissors Cut]]'' || [[Art Garfunkel]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash]]'' || [[The Replacements (band)|The Replacements]] || Debut
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|26
| ''[[Dead Set (album)|Dead Set]]'' || [[Grateful Dead]] || Live
|-
| ''[[New Traditionalists]]'' || [[Devo]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |28
| ''[[Alive Alone]]'' || [[Mickey Thomas (singer)|Mickey Thomas]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Spirit's in It]]'' || [[Patti LaBelle]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|31
| ''[[Fire of Love (album)|Fire of Love]]'' || [[The Gun Club]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="16" style="text-align:center;"|?
| ''[[Brothers of the Road (album)|Brothers of the Road]]'' || [[The Allman Brothers Band]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Signals, Calls, and Marches]]'' || [[Mission of Burma]] || EP
|-
| ''[[Torch (Carly Simon album)|Torch]]'' || [[Carly Simon]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Give the People What They Want (The Kinks album)|Give the People What They Want]]'' || [[The Kinks]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Heartbreak Radio]]'' || [[Rita Coolidge]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Innocent Age]]'' || [[Dan Fogelberg]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Joy (EP)|Joy]]'' || [[The Minutemen (band)|The Minutemen]] || EP
|-
| ''[[King Cool]]'' || [[Donnie Iris]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Level 42 (album)|Level 42]]'' || [[Level 42]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Pressure Is On]]'' || [[Hank Williams, Jr.]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Short Back 'n' Sides]]'' || [[Ian Hunter (singer)|Ian Hunter]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Simplicity (Tim Curry album)|Simplicity]]'' || [[Tim Curry]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call]]'' || [[Simple Minds]] ||-
|-
| ''[[There's No Gettin' Over Me (album)|There's No Gettin' Over Me]]'' || [[Ronnie Milsap]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Thirsty Ears]]'' || [[Powder Blues Band]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Whitford/St. Holmes]]'' || [[Brad Whitford]] and [[Derek St. Holmes]] ||-
|}

===September===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Day
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1
| ''[[Special Forces (Alice Cooper album)|Special Forces]]'' || [[Alice Cooper]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2
| ''[[1234 (Ronnie Wood album)|1234]]'' || [[Ronnie Wood]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|4
| ''[[Dead Ringer (album)|Dead Ringer]]'' || [[Meat Loaf]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Dance (Gary Numan album)|Dance]]'' || [[Gary Numan]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Strait Country]]'' || [[George Strait]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Why Do Fools Fall in Love (album)|Why Do Fools Fall in Love]]'' || [[Diana Ross]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|7
| ''[[Burning Blue Soul]]'' || [[Matt Johnson (singer)|Matt Johnson]] || Solo Debut
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|11
| ''[[Rage in Eden]]'' || [[Ultravox]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|12
| ''[[Hanx!]]'' || [[Stiff Little Fingers]] || Live
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|14
| ''[[Maiden Japan]]'' || [[Iron Maiden]] || Live EP
|-
| ''[[Songs in the Attic]]'' || [[Billy Joel]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Wired for Sound]]'' || [[Cliff Richard]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|18
| ''[[Abacab]]'' || [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] ||<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/269-1206-2|title=BPI}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|21
| ''[[You Could Have Been with Me]]'' || [[Sheena Easton]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|23
| ''[[You Are What You Is]]'' || [[Frank Zappa]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|24
| ''[[Something Special (Kool & the Gang album)|Something Special]]'' || [[Kool & the Gang]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|25
| ''[[Denim and Leather]]'' || [[Saxon (band)|Saxon]] ||<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/1763-665-2|title=Denim and Leather certification}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Wild Things (EP)|Wild Things]]'' || [[The Creatures]] || EP
|-
| rowspan="31" style="text-align:center;"|?
| ''[[Allied Forces (album)|Allied Forces]]'' || [[Triumph (band)|Triumph]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Boonoonoonoos]]'' || [[Boney M.]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Buchenwald (album)|Buchenwald]]'' || [[Whitehouse (band)|Whitehouse]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Camouflage (Rufus album)|Camouflage]]'' || [[Rufus (band)|Rufus]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Cats & Dogs (Mental As Anything album)|Cats & Dogs]]'' || [[Mental As Anything]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Dangerous Acquaintances]]'' || [[Marianne Faithfull]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Deaf (album)|Deaf]]'' || [[Foetus (band)|You've Got Foetus on Your Breath]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Gosh It's... Bad Manners|Gosh It's...]]'' || [[Bad Manners]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Grand Funk Lives]]'' || [[Grand Funk Railroad]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Happy Birthday (Altered Images album)|Happy Birthday]]'' || [[Altered Images]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Hooligans (album)|Hooligans]]'' || [[The Who]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[If I Should Love Again]]'' || [[Barry Manilow]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Kix (album)|Kix]]'' || [[Kix (band)|Kix]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Lord Upminster]]'' || [[Ian Dury]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Love Byrd]]'' || [[Donald Byrd|Donald Byrd and 125th St, NYC]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Magic Windows (album)|Magic Windows]]'' || [[Herbie Hancock]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Mark of the Mole]]'' || [[The Residents]] ||-
|-
| ''[[MSG (Michael Schenker Group album)|MSG]]'' || [[Michael Schenker Group]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Nine Tonight]]'' || [[Bob Seger|Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Penthouse and Pavement]]'' || [[Heaven 17]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Private Eyes (Hall & Oates album)|Private Eyes]]'' || [[Hall & Oates]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Red Mecca]]'' || [[Cabaret Voltaire (band)|Cabaret Voltaire]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Rock Until You Drop]]'' || [[Raven (band)|Raven]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Snaz]]'' || [[Nazareth (band)|Nazareth]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Sunnyboys (album)|Sunnyboys]]'' || [[Sunnyboys]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Time Exposure (Little River Band album)|Time Exposure]]'' || [[Little River Band]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Too Late the Hero (album)|Too Late the Hero]]'' || [[John Entwistle]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Walk Under Ladders]]'' || [[Joan Armatrading]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Wanna Be a Star]]'' || [[Chilliwack (band)|Chilliwack]] ||-
|}

===October===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Day
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|2
| ''[[Discipline (King Crimson album)|Discipline]]'' || [[King Crimson]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Ghost in the Machine (The Police album)|Ghost in the Machine]]'' || [[The Police]]||-
|-
| ''[[In the Garden (Eurythmics album)|In the Garden]]'' || [[Eurythmics]]||Debut
|-
| ''[[7 (Madness album)|7]]'' || [[Madness (band)|Madness]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|5
| ''[[Kollaps]]'' || [[Einstürzende Neubauten]]||-
|-
| ''[[Speak & Spell (album)|Speak & Spell]]'' || [[Depeche Mode]]||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|7
| ''[[Get Lucky (Loverboy album)|Get Lucky]]'' || [[Loverboy]]||-
|-
| rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|8
| ''[[Looking Back with Love]]'' || [[Mike Love]]|| solo debut
|-
| rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|9
| ''[[Still (Joy Division album)|Still]]'' || [[Joy Division]]|| Compilation
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|12
| ''[[October (U2 album)|October]]'' || [[U2]]||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|14
| ''[[Controversy (Prince album)|Controversy]]'' || [[Prince (musician)|Prince]]||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|16
| ''[[Mask (Bauhaus album)|Mask]]'' || [[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Dare (album)|Dare]]'' || [[The Human League]]||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|19
| ''[[Underneath the Colours]]'' || [[INXS]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|21
| ''[[Bobby and the Midnites (album)|Bobby and the Midnites]]'' || [[Bobby and the Midnites]]||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|23
| ''[[Almost Blue]]'' || [[Elvis Costello]] [[The Attractions|and the Attractions]]||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|26
| ''[[Freeze Frame (The J. Geils Band album)|Freeze Frame]]'' || [[The J. Geils Band]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Greatest Hits (Queen album)|Greatest Hits]]'' || [[Queen (band)|Queen]] || Compilation
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|29
| ''[[Exit...Stage Left]]'' || [[Rush (band)|Rush]] || Live
|-
| rowspan="29" style="text-align:center;" |?
| ''[[The Best of Blondie]]'' || [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[Diary of a Madman (album)|Diary of a Madman]]'' || [[Ozzy Osbourne]]||<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr00stro/page/610/mode/2up|title=The Great Rock Discography|year=1995|page=610 |isbn=9780862415419 |last1=Strong |first1=Martin Charles }}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Law and Order (album)|Law and Order]]'' || [[Lindsey Buckingham]]||-
|-
| ''[[Sonic Attack]]'' || [[Hawkwind]]||-
|-
| ''[[Don't Stop (Billy Idol EP)|Don't Stop]]'' || [[Billy Idol]] || EP
|-
| ''[[Camera Camera (Renaissance album)|Camera Camera]]'' || [[Renaissance (band)|Renaissance]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Premonition (Survivor album)|Premonition]]'' || [[Survivor (band)|Survivor]] ||-
|-
| ''[[This Is the Way (album)|This Is the Way]]'' || [[Rossington Collins Band]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Present Arms in Dub]]'' || [[UB40]]|| Remix
|-
| ''[[Big City (Merle Haggard album)|Big City]]'' || [[Merle Haggard]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Chances Are (album)|Chances Are]]'' || [[Bob Marley & the Wailers]] || Compilation of previously unreleased material
|-
| ''[[Christmas Album (Boney M. album)|Christmas Album]]'' || [[Boney M.]] || Christmas
|-
| ''[[Circle of Love (Steve Miller Band album)|Circle of Love]]'' || [[Steve Miller Band]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Coup de Grâce (Mink DeVille album)|Coup de Grâce]]'' || [[Mink DeVille]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Face to Face (GQ album)|Face to Face]]'' || [[GQ (band)|GQ]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Fourth Drawer Down]]'' || [[Associates (band)|Associates]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Gonna Ball]]'' || [[Stray Cats]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Inside You]]'' || [[The Isley Brothers]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Living Eyes (Bee Gees album)|Living Eyes]]'' || [[Bee Gees]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Local and/or General]]'' || [[Models (band)|Models]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Love Is Only Feeling]]'' || [[Donovan]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Physical (Olivia Newton-John album)|Physical]]'' || [[Olivia Newton-John]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Quarterflash (album)|Quarterflash]]'' || [[Quarterflash]]||-
|-
| ''[[Round Trip (The Knack album)|Round Trip]]'' || [[The Knack]] ||-
|-
| ''[[See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang, Yeah. City All Over! Go Ape Crazy]]'' || [[Bow Wow Wow]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Sound of the Sand and Other Songs of the Pedestrian]]'' || [[David Thomas (musician)|David Thomas<br /> & the Pedestrians]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Strictly Personal (The Romantics album)|Strictly Personal]]'' || [[The Romantics]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Tom Tom Club (album)|Tom Tom Club]]'' || [[Tom Tom Club]] ||-
|-
| ''Wrap It!'' || [[Doug and the Slugs]] ||-
|}

===November===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Day
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|2
| ''[[Prince Charming (album)|Prince Charming]]'' || [[Adam and the Ants]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Re·ac·tor]]'' || [[Neil Young]] and [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|4
| ''[[Mob Rules (album)|Mob Rules]]'' || [[Black Sabbath]] ||US
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|6
| ''[[Architecture & Morality]]'' || [[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Shake It Up (The Cars album)|Shake It Up]]'' || [[The Cars]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Tonight I'm Yours]]'' || [[Rod Stewart]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Great Gonzos! The Best of Ted Nugent]]'' || [[Ted Nugent]] || Compilation
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|9
| ''[[Business as Usual (Men at Work album)|Business as Usual]]'' || [[Men at Work]] || Australia, debut
|-
| ''[[La Folie (album)|La Folie]]'' || [[The Stranglers]] ||-
|-
| ''[[On the Way to the Sky]]'' || [[Neil Diamond]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|10
| ''[[Too Fast for Love]]'' || [[Mötley Crüe]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Music from "The Elder"]]'' || [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Memories (Barbra Streisand album)|Memories]]'' || [[Barbra Streisand]] || Compilation +3 new tracks 
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|11
| ''[[The Jacksons Live!]]'' || [[The Jackson 5|The Jacksons]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Youth of America]]'' || [[Wipers (band)|Wipers]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|13
| ''[[Movement (New Order album)|Movement]]'' || [[New Order (band)|New Order]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Till Deaf Do Us Part]]'' || [[Slade]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Tin Drum (album)|Tin Drum]]'' || [[Japan (band)|Japan]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|14
| ''[[Raise!]]'' || [[Earth, Wind & Fire]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| ''[[Renegade (Thin Lizzy album)|Renegade]]'' || [[Thin Lizzy]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|16
| ''[[Changestwobowie]]'' || [[David Bowie]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[Take It Off (album)|Take It Off]]'' || [[Chic (band)|Chic]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|20
| ''[[Stop and Smell the Roses (Ringo Starr album)|Stop and Smell the Roses]]'' || [[Ringo Starr]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|23
| ''[[I Love Rock 'n' Roll (album)|I Love Rock 'n' Roll]]'' || [[Joan Jett|Joan Jett & the Blackhearts]] ||-
|-
| ''[[A Collection of Great Dance Songs]]'' || [[Pink Floyd]] || Compilation with alternate mixes
|-
| ''[[The Catherine Wheel (album)|The Catherine Wheel]]'' || [[David Byrne]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Christmas Album (Boney M. album)|Christmas Album]]'' || [[Boney M.]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|27
| ''[[For Those About to Rock We Salute You]]'' || [[AC/DC]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret]]'' || [[Soft Cell]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Ten Out of 10]]'' || [[10cc]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|30
| ''[[Bad Religion (EP)|Bad Religion]]'' || [[Bad Religion]] || EP
|-
| ''[[Best of the Blues Brothers]]'' || [[The Blues Brothers]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[The Visitors (ABBA album)|The Visitors]]'' || [[ABBA]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="12" style="text-align:center;"|?
| ''[[Crazy Nights (Tygers of Pan Tang album)|Crazy Nights]]'' || [[Tygers Of Pan Tang]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Adventures in Modern Recording]]'' || [[The Buggles]] ||- 
|-
| ''[[In Concert Volume Two (Amy Grant album)|In Concert Volume Two]]'' || [[Amy Grant]] || Live
|-
| ''[[The Ascension (Glenn Branca album)|The Ascension]]'' || [[Glenn Branca]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Christmas Wishes (album)|Christmas Wishes]]'' || [[Anne Murray]] || Christmas
|-
| ''[[From the Lions Mouth]]'' || [[The Sound (band)|The Sound]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Pearls (Elkie Brooks album)|Pearls]]'' || [[Elkie Brooks]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Place without a Postcard]]'' || [[Midnight Oil]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Poet (album)|The Poet]]'' || [[Bobby Womack]] ||-
|-
| ''[[She Shot Me Down]]'' || [[Frank Sinatra]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Still the Same Ole Me]]'' || [[George Jones]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Take No Prisoners (Molly Hatchet album)|Take No Prisoners]]'' || [[Molly Hatchet]] ||-
|-
|}

===December===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Day
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|7
| ''[[Ten Years of Harmony]]'' || [[The Beach Boys]] || Compilation
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| ''[[LC (album)|LC]]'' || [[The Durutti Column]] ||-
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|30
| ''[[For Those Who Think Young (album)|For Those Who Think Young]]'' || [[Rough Trade (band)|Rough Trade]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="9" style="text-align:center;" |?
| ''[[Damaged (Black Flag album)|Damaged]]'' || [[Black Flag (band)|Black Flag]] ||-
|-
|[[Drop Down and Get Me]]
|[[Del Shannon]]
| -
|-
| ''The Best of Top of the Pops '81'' || [[Top of the Pops (record series)|Top of the Poppers]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Blasters (album)|The Blasters]]'' || [[The Blasters]] ||-
|-
| ''[[In God We Trust, Inc.]]'' || [[Dead Kennedys]] || EP
|-
| ''[[Peter Cetera (album)|Peter Cetera]]'' || [[Peter Cetera]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Small Change (Prism album)|Small Change]]'' || [[Prism (band)|Prism]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Welcome to Hell]]'' || [[Venom (band)|Venom]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Wilder (album)|Wilder]]'' || [[The Teardrop Explodes]] ||-
|}

===Release date unknown===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
* ''[[Adventures in Clubland]]'' – [[Modern Romance (band)|Modern Romance]]
* ''[[Alles ist gut]]'' – [[Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft]]
* ''[[Begin the Beguine (album)|Begin the Beguine]]'' – [[Julio Iglesias]]
* ''[[Block to Block]]'' – [[De Press]]
* ''[[B.L.T. (album)|B.L.T.]]'' – [[Jack Bruce]], [[Bill Lordan]] & [[Robin Trower]] 
* ''[[Breakin' the Chains]]'' – [[Don Dokken]]
* ''[[Catalogue (John Hartford album)|Catalogue]]'' - [[John Hartford]]
* ''[[Celebration – The Anniversary Album|Celebration]]'' – [[Johnny Mathis]]
* ''[[Changing Hearts]]'' – [[Polyrock]]
* ''[[Chasanova]]'' – [[Chaz Jankel]]
* ''[[Claro Que Si]]'' – [[Yello]]
* ''Classic Rock: Rock Classics'' – [[London Symphony Orchestra]]
* ''[[Condition Red (Red Rockers album)|Condition Red]]'' - [[Red Rockers]]
* ''[[Cool Night]]'' – [[Paul Davis (singer)|Paul Davis]]
* ''[[Corazón de poeta]]'' – [[Jeanette (Spanish singer)|Jeanette]]
* ''[[Cowboy Jubilee]]'' – [[Riders in the Sky (band)|Riders in the Sky]]
* ''[[Curiosum]]'' – [[Cluster (band)|Cluster]]
* ''[[Deceit (album)|Deceit]]'' – [[This Heat]]
* ''[[Directions (Miles Davis album)|Directions]]'' – [[Miles Davis]]
* ''[[Drama of Exile]]'' – [[Nico]]
* ''[[Escape Artist (Garland Jeffreys album)|Escape Artist]]'' – [[Garland Jeffreys]]
* ''[[The Evil One]]'' – [[Roky Erickson|Roky Erickson and the Aliens]]
* ''[[Fire Wind]]'' – [[Electric Sun]] 
* ''[[Free Lancing]]'' – [[James Ulmer|James Blood Ulmer]]
* ''Give the People What They Want'' – [[Jimmy Cliff]]
* ''Hands in the Till'' – Fortress
* ''[[Hits Right Up Your Street]]'' – [[The Shadows]]
* ''[[Individuellos]]'' – [[La Düsseldorf]]
* ''[[Inner City Front]]'' – [[Bruce Cockburn]]
* ''[[Insect and Individual Silenced]]'' – [[Nurse with Wound]]
* ''Introducing The Winans'' - [[The Winans]]
* ''Is This a Cool World or What?'' – [[Karla DeVito]]
* ''[[Jane Siberry (album)|Jane Siberry]]'' – [[Jane Siberry]]
* ''[[Jealousy (Dirt Band album)|Jealousy]]'' - [[Nitty Gritty Dirt Band]]
* ''The Judgement of Paris'' – [[Kevin Dunn]] and the Regiment of Women
* ''[[La voce del Padrone]]'' – [[Franco Battiato]]
* ''[[Let Them Eat Jellybeans!]]'' – Various Artists
{{col-2}}
* ''[[Living in a Fog]]'' – [[Wonderful Grand Band]]
* ''Los niños que escriben en el cielo'' – [[Spinetta Jade]]
* ''The Lounge Lizards'' – [[The Lounge Lizards]]
* ''Love Potion'' - [[Dr. John]]
* ''[[Lustwandel]]'' – [[Hans-Joachim Roedelius]]
* ''Macadam 3, 2, 1, 0'' – [[Riff (Argentine band)|Riff]]
* ''Magic Man'' – [[Herb Alpert]]
* ''[[Minor Threat (album)|Minor Threat]]'' – [[Minor Threat]] – EP
* ''[[Material (Moebius & Plank album)|Material]]'' – [[Moebius & Plank]]
* ''[[Mommy Don't Love Daddy Anymore]]'' – [[Resurrection Band]]
* ''[[Mondo Mando]]'' - [[David Grisman]]
* ''[[Never Say Die (Petra album)|Never Say Die]]'' – [[Petra (band)|Petra]]
* ''[[Odyshape]]'' – [[The Raincoats]]
* ''[[Penis Envy (album)|Penis Envy]]'' – [[Crass]]
* ''[[Peperina (álbum)|Peperina]]'' – [[Serú Girán]]
* ''Performance'' – [[Ashford & Simpson]]
* ''[[Play Me Out (Helen Reddy album)|Play Me Out]]'' – [[Helen Reddy]]
* ''[[Pleasure (Girls at Our Best! album)|Pleasure]]'' – [[Girls at Our Best!]]
* ''The Plimsouls'' – [[The Plimsouls]]
* ''[[Public Service (EP)|Public Service]]'' (EP) – Various Artists
* ''[[The Punch Line]]'' – [[Minutemen (band)|Minutemen]]
* ''[[Quiero Ser]]'' – [[Menudo (band)|Menudo]]
* ''[[Reflections (Gil Scott-Heron)|Reflections]]'' – [[Gil Scott-Heron]]
* ''Rock 'n' Roll Warriors'' – [[Savoy Brown]]
* ''[[Ruedas de metal]]'' – [[Riff (Argentine band)|Riff]]
* ''[[Secret Combination (Randy Crawford album)|Secret Combination]]'' – [[Randy Crawford]]
* ''[[Selbstportrait]]'' – [[Hans-Joachim Roedelius]]
* ''[[Sky 3 (album)|Sky 3]]'' – [[Sky (English/Australian band)|Sky]]
* ''[[Standing Together (Midnight Star album)|Standing Together]]'' – [[Midnight Star (band)|Midnight Star]]
* ''[[Stick Figure Neighbourhood]]'' – [[Spoons (band)|Spoons]]
* ''Sub Pop 5'' – Various Artists
* ''[[Sunrise in Different Dimensions]]'' – [[Sun Ra]]
* ''[[Trio (Trio album)|Trio]]'' – [[Trio (band)|Trio]]
* ''[[Wanna Be a Star]]'' – [[Chilliwack (band)|Chilliwack]]
* ''[[Wünsche fliegen übers Meer]]'' – [[Die Flippers]]
* ''[[Years Ago (album)|Years Ago]]'' – [[The Statler Brothers]]
* ''[[You Must Believe in Spring (Bill Evans album)|You Must Believe in Spring]]'' – [[Bill Evans]]
* ''[[You're the Guy I Want to Share My Money With]]'' – [[Laurie Anderson]], [[William S. Burroughs]] and [[John Giorno]]
* ''[[Youth of America]]'' – [[Wipers (band)|Wipers]]
{{col-end}}

==Biggest hit singles==
The following songs achieved the highest chart positions
in the charts of 1981.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://tsort.info/music/yr1981.htm | title=Songs from the Year 1981 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! #
! Artist
! Title
! Year
! Country
! Chart Entries
|-
| 1  || [[Kim Carnes]] || [[Bette Davis Eyes]] || 1981 || {{flagicon|US}} || US Billboard 1 - Mar 1981 (26 weeks), US BB 1 of 1981, Record World 1 - 1981, US Radio 1 of 1981 (peak 1 16 weeks), Canada 1 - Apr 1981 (14 weeks), France (SNEP) 1 - Jun 1981 (5 months), France 1 - Jun 1981 (5 weeks), Brazil 1 of 1981, Switzerland 1 - Jun 1981 (12 weeks), Norway 1 - Jun 1981 (15 weeks), Italy 1 for 3 weeks - Nov 1981, Germany 1 - Jun 1981 (5 months), ODK Germany 1 - Jun 1981 (27 weeks) (7 weeks at number 1) (15 weeks in top 10), Australia 1 for 5 weeks - Jun 1981, Springbok 1 - Jun 1981 (16 weeks), France 1 for 15 weeks - Jul 1981, Germany 1 for 7 weeks - Jul 1981, Spain 1 for 1 week - Sep 1981, Grammy in 1981, Top Song of 1981 of the Billboard 50th list, US CashBox 2 of 1981, WABC NY 2 of 1981, ARC 2 of 1981 (peak 1 21 weeks), France (InfoDisc) 2 of the 1980s (peak 1, 43 weeks, 1,190k sales estimated, 1981), Austria 2 - Jul 1981 (4 months), Switzerland 2 of 1981, Canada 2 of 1981, South Africa 2 of 1981, Sweden (alt) 4 - May 1981 (22 weeks), US Gold (certified by RIAA in Jun 1981), Italy 5 of 1981, Belgium 6 - May 1981 (10 weeks), Australia 6 of 1981, UK 10 - May 1981 (9 weeks), Billboard 50th song 12, 55th Billboard 100 14 (1981), Billboard100 15, Holland 16 - May 1981 (8 weeks), nuTsie 16 of 1980s, Germany 18 of the 1980s (peak 1 20 weeks), OzNet 45, Holland free40 56 of 1981, Scrobulate 66 of 80s, RIAA 268, Acclaimed 738 (1981), RYM 16 of 1981
|-
| 2  || [[Stars On 45]] || [[Stars on 45 (song)|Stars On 45 Medley]] || 1981 || {{flagicon|Netherlands}} || US Billboard 1 - Apr 1981 (19 weeks), Record World 1 - 1981, Canada 1 - May 1981 (14 weeks), Holland 1 - Jan 1981 (13 weeks), Austria 1 - May 1981 (6 months), Switzerland 1 - May 1981 (14 weeks), Switzerland 1 of 1981, Belgium 1 - Feb 1981 (12 weeks), Germany 1 - Mar 1981 (7 months), ODK Germany 1 - Mar 1981 (30 weeks) (7 weeks at number 1) (22 weeks in top 10), Eire 1 for 3 weeks - May 1981, Canada RPM 1 for 12 weeks - May 1981, Canada 1 of 1981, New Zealand 1 for 7 weeks - Jun 1981, Australia 1 for 4 weeks - Jul 1981, Germany 1 for 7 weeks - May 1981, Spain 1 for 3 weeks - Jul 1981, UK 2 - Apr 1981 (14 weeks), Australia 2 of 1981, US Gold (certified by RIAA in Jul 1981), Germany Gold (certified by BMieV in 1981), Norway 5 - Jun 1981 (10 weeks), Germany 5 of the 1980s (peak 1 24 weeks), Sweden (alt) 7 - Jun 1981 (18 weeks), Springbok 10 - Jun 1981 (7 weeks), US CashBox 13 of 1981, WABC NY 21 of 1981, US BB 24 of 1981, ARC 32 of 1981 (peak 1 13 weeks), Italy 54 of 1981, Brazil 91 of 1981
|-
| 3  || [[Olivia Newton-John]] || [[Physical (Olivia Newton-John song)|Physical]] || 1981 || {{flagicon|UK}}/{{flagicon|Australia}} || US Billboard 1 - Oct 1981 (26 weeks), US BB 1 of 1982, Record World 1 - 1981, Switzerland 1 - Nov 1981 (12 weeks), Belgium 1 - Oct 1981 (12 weeks), Canada RPM 1 for 6 weeks - Dec 1981, New Zealand 1 for 3 weeks - Dec 1981, Australia 1 for 5 weeks - Nov 1981, Top Song of 1982 of the Billboard 50th list, WABC NY 2 of 1982, France 2 - Nov 1981 (1 week), Brazil 2 of 1982, US Platinum (certified by RIAA in Jan 1982), ARC 3 of 1981 (peak 1 23 weeks), US Radio 3 of 1981 (peak 1 16 weeks), Holland 4 - Oct 1981 (10 weeks), Germany 4 - Jan 1982 (5 months), ODK Germany 4 - Nov 1981 (21 weeks) (10 weeks in top 10), US CashBox 6 of 1981, Billboard 50th song 6, UK 7 - Oct 1981 (16 weeks), France (SNEP) 7 - Nov 1981 (2 months), Austria 7 - Dec 1981 (2 months), Billboard100 8, 55th Billboard 100 8 (1981), Springbok 11 - Aug 1982 (6 weeks), Switzerland 14 of 1981, Sweden (alt) 15 - Nov 1981 (10 weeks), Canada 15 of 1982, POP 41 of 1981, nuTsie 51 of 1980s, Italy 62 of 1982, Germany 201 of the 1980s (peak 4 15 weeks), OzNet 319, RYM 124 of 1981
|-
| 4  || [[Diana Ross]] & [[Lionel Richie]] || [[Endless Love (song)|Endless Love]] || 1981 || {{flagicon|US}} || US Billboard 1 - Jul 1981 (26 weeks), US CashBox 1 of 1981, Record World 1 - 1981, WABC NY 1 of 1981, ARC 1 of 1981 (peak 1 20 weeks), Canada RPM 1 for 6 weeks - Sep 1981, Australia 1 for 4 weeks - Oct 1981, Springbok 1 - Oct 1981 (19 weeks), US BB 2 of 1981, US Radio 2 of 1981 (peak 1 15 weeks), Oscar in 1981 (film 'Endless Love') (Nominated), Grammy in 1981 (Nominated), Golden Globe in 1981 (film 'Endless Love') (Nominated), US Platinum (certified by RIAA in Oct 1981), Canada 3 of 1981, Holland 4 - Sep 1981 (10 weeks), Sweden (alt) 5 - Sep 1981 (10 weeks), Brazil 5 of 1981, Switzerland 6 - Sep 1981 (7 weeks), South Africa 6 of 1981, UK 7 - Sep 1981 (12 weeks), Norway 8 - Sep 1981 (3 weeks), Australia 8 of 1981, Belgium 9 - Sep 1981 (8 weeks), Billboard 50th song 13, POP 14 of 1981, 55th Billboard 100 15 (1981), Billboard100 16, nuTsie 18 of 1980s, Italy 84 of 1981
|-
| 5  || [[Soft Cell]] || [[Tainted Love]] || 1981 || {{flagicon|UK}} || UK 1 - Aug 1981 (30 weeks), Canada 1 - Nov 1981 (18 weeks), France 1 - Aug 1981 (4 weeks), Belgium 1 - Oct 1981 (9 weeks), ODK Germany 1 - Oct 1981 (26 weeks) (2 weeks at number 1) (16 weeks in top 10), Canada RPM 1 for 3 weeks - Feb 1982, Australia 1 for 3 weeks - Feb 1982, Springbok 1 - Dec 1981 (19 weeks), Germany 1 for 2 weeks - Nov 1981, Brit best song 1982, Austria 2 - Dec 1981 (3 months), Switzerland 2 - Nov 1981 (15 weeks), Germany 2 - Jan 1982 (5 months), Scrobulate 2 of 80s, Australia 3 of 1982, Sweden (alt) 4 - Oct 1981 (24 weeks), France (SNEP) 4 - Dec 1981 (3 months), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Sep 1981), Holland 5 - Oct 1981 (9 weeks), South Africa 5 of 1982, Canada 7 of 1982, US Billboard 8 - Jan 1982 (43 weeks), Holland free40 9 of 1981, US BB 11 of 1982, POP 18 of 1982, nuTsie 19 of 1980s, ARC 29 of 1982 (peak 5 20 weeks), Germany 37 of the 1980s (peak 1 18 weeks), KROQ 38 of 1982, Virgin 41, US CashBox 50 of 1982, US Radio 59 of 1982 (peak 8 9 weeks), UKMIX 95, Acclaimed 163 (1981), Belgium 242 of all time, France (InfoDisc) 255 of the 1980s (peak 4, 27 weeks, 431k sales estimated, 1981), OzNet 451, WXPN 745, RYM 4 of 1981, Guardian Pop 57, Party 142 of 2007
|}

==Chronological table of US and UK and Japan Number One hit singles==
'''US Number One singles and artist''' <br> (Weeks at Number One)
{{div col}}
*"[[(Just Like) Starting Over]]" – [[John Lennon]] (4 weeks)
*"[[The Tide Is High]]" – [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]] (1)
*"[[Celebration (Kool & the Gang song)|Celebration]]" – [[Kool & the Gang]] (2)
*"[[9 to 5 (Dolly Parton song)|9 to 5]]" – [[Dolly Parton]] (2)
*"[[I Love a Rainy Night]]" – [[Eddie Rabbitt]] (2)
*"[[Keep on Loving You (song)|Keep on Loving You]]" – [[REO Speedwagon]] (1)
*"[[Rapture (Blondie song)|Rapture]]" – [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]] (2)
*"[[Kiss On My List]]" – [[Hall & Oates|Daryl Hall & John Oates]] (3)
*"[[9 to 5 (Sheena Easton song)|Morning Train (9 to 5)]]" – [[Sheena Easton]] (2)
*"[[Bette Davis Eyes]]" – [[Kim Carnes]] (9)
*"[[Stars on 45 Medley]]" – [[Stars On 45]] (1)
*"[[The One That You Love]]" – [[Air Supply]] (1)
*"[[Jessie's Girl]]" – [[Rick Springfield]] (2)
*"[[Endless Love (song)|Endless Love]]" – [[Diana Ross]] & [[Lionel Richie]] (9)
*"[[Arthur (1981 film)|Arthur's]] Theme (Best That You Can Do)" – [[Christopher Cross]] (3)
*"[[Private Eyes (song)|Private Eyes]]" – [[Hall & Oates|Daryl Hall & John Oates]] (2)
*"[[Physical (Olivia Newton-John song)|Physical]]" – [[Olivia Newton-John]] (6)
{{div col end}}
'''UK Number One singles and artist''' <br> (Weeks at Number One)
{{div col}}
*"[[There's No-one Quite Like Grandma]]" – [[St Winifred's School Choir]] (1)
*"[[Imagine (John Lennon song)|Imagine]]" – [[John Lennon]] (4)
*"[[Woman (John Lennon song)|Woman]]" – [[John Lennon]] (2)
*"[[Shaddup You Face]]" – [[Joe Dolce|Joe Dolce Music Theatre]] (3)
*"[[Jealous Guy]]" – [[Roxy Music]] (2)
*"[[This Ole House]]" – [[Shakin' Stevens]] (3)
*"[[Making Your Mind Up]]" – [[Bucks Fizz (band)|Bucks Fizz]] (3)
*"[[Stand and Deliver (Adam and the Ants song)|Stand and Deliver]]" – [[Adam and the Ants]] (5)
*"[[Being With You (song)|Being With You]]" – [[Smokey Robinson]] (2)
*"[[One Day in Your Life (Michael Jackson song)|One Day in Your Life]]" – [[Michael Jackson]] (2)
*"[[Ghost Town (The Specials song)|Ghost Town]]" – [[The Specials]] (3)
*"[[Green Door]]"- [[Shakin' Stevens]] (4)
*"[[Japanese Boy]]" – [[Aneka]] (1)
*"[[Tainted Love]]" – [[Soft Cell]] (2)
*"[[Prince Charming (Adam & the Ants song)|Prince Charming]]" – [[Adam and the Ants]] (4)
*"[[It's My Party (Lesley Gore song)|It's My Party]]" – [[Dave Stewart (musician, born 1950)|Dave Stewart]] (the keyboardist) & [[Barbara Gaskin]] (4)
*"[[Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic]]" – [[The Police]] (1)
*"[[Under Pressure]]" – [[Queen (band)|Queen]] & [[David Bowie]] (2)
*"[[Begin the Beguine]]" – [[Julio Iglesias]] (1)
*"[[Don't You Want Me]]" – [[The Human League]] (3)
{{div col end}}
'''Japanese Oricon Number One singles and artist''' <br> (Weeks at Number One)
{{main|List of Oricon number-one singles of 1981}}
{{div col}}
*"{{ill|Sneaker Blues|ja|スニーカーぶる〜す}}" – [[Masahiko Kondō]] (2 weeks in 1980 + 3 weeks in 1981)
*"{{ill|Koi wa Do!|ja|恋＝Do!}}" – [[Toshihiko Tahara]] (2)
*"{{interlanguage link|Cherry Blossom (song)|lt=Cherry Blossom|ja|チェリーブラッサム}}" – [[Seiko Matsuda]] (4)
*"{{ill|Machikado Twilight|ja|街角トワイライト}}" – [[Rats & Star|Chanels]] (3)
*"{{ill|Ruby no Yubiwa|ja|ルビーの指環}}" – [[Akira Terao]] (10)
*"{{ill|Natsu no Tobira|ja|夏の扉}}" – Seiko Matsuda (2)
*"{{ill|Blue Jeans Memory|ja|ブルージーンズメモリー}}" – Masahiko Kondō (3)
*"{{ill|Nagai Yoru|ja|長い夜 (松山千春の曲)}}" – [[Chiharu Matsuyama]] (3)
*"{{ill|Shiroi Parasol|ja|白いパラソル}}" – Seiko Matsuda (3)
*"{{ill|High School Lullaby|ja|ハイスクールララバイ}}" – {{ill|Imo-kin Trio|ja|イモ欽トリオ}} (7)
*"{{ill|Gingiragin ni Sarigenaku|ja|ギンギラギンにさりげなく}}" – Masahiko Kondō (6)
*"{{interlanguage link|Kaze Tachinu (song)|lt=Kaze Tachinu|ja|風立ちぬ (松田聖子の曲)}}" – Seiko Matsuda (1)
*"{{ill|Akujo|ja|悪女 (中島みゆきの曲)}}" – [[Miyuki Nakajima]] (3)
*"{{interlanguage link|Sailor Fuku to Kikanjū (song)|lt=Sailor Fuku to Kikanjū|ja|セーラー服と機関銃 (曲)}}" – [[Hiroko Yakushimaru]] (2 weeks in 1981 + 3 weeks in 1982)
{{div col end}}

==Chronological table of US and UK Number One hit albums==
'''US Number One album and artist''' <br> (Weeks at Number One)
{{div col}}
* ''[[Double Fantasy]]'' – [[John Lennon]] and [[Yoko Ono]] (7)
* ''[[Hi Infidelity]]''  – [[REO Speedwagon]] (15)
*  ''[[Paradise Theatre (album)|Paradise Theatre]]'' – [[Styx (band)|Styx]]  (3)
* ''[[Mistaken Identity (Kim Carnes album)|Mistaken Identity]]'' – [[Kim Carnes]] (4)
* ''[[Long Distance Voyager]]'' – [[The Moody Blues]] (3)
* ''[[Precious Time (album)|Precious Time]]'' – [[Pat Benatar]] (1)
* ''[[4 (Foreigner album)|4]]'' – [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]] (7)
* ''[[Bella Donna (album)|Bella Donna]]'' – [[Stevie Nicks]] (1)
* ''[[Escape (Journey album)|Escape]]'' – [[Journey (band)|Journey]] (1)
* ''[[Tattoo You]]'' – [[The Rolling Stones]] (9)
* ''[[For Those About to Rock We Salute You]]'' – [[AC/DC]] (1)
{{div col end}}
'''UK Number One album and artist'''<br> (Weeks at Number One)
{{div col}}
*''[[Super Trouper (album)|Super Trouper]]'' – [[ABBA]] (3)
*''[[Kings of the Wild Frontier]]'' – [[Adam and the Ants]] (12)
*''[[Double Fantasy]]''  – [[John Lennon]] & [[Yoko Ono]] (2)
* ''[[Face Value (album)|Face Value]]'' – [[Phil Collins]] (3)
* ''[[Stars on 45]]''- [[Stars on 45 / Starsound]] (5)
* ''[[No Sleep 'til Hammersmith]]'' – [[Motörhead]] (1)
* ''Disco Daze and Disco Nites''  – Various Artists (1)
* ''[[Love Songs (Cliff Richard album)|Love Songs]]'' – [[Cliff Richard]] (5)
* ''The Official BBC Album of the Royal Wedding'' – Various Artists (2)
* ''[[Time (Electric Light Orchestra album)|Time]]'' – [[Electric Light Orchestra]] (2)
* ''[[Dead Ringer (album)|Dead Ringer]]'' – [[Meat Loaf]] (2)
* ''[[Abacab]]'' – [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] (2)
* ''[[Ghost in the Machine (The Police album)|Ghost in the Machine]]'' – [[The Police]] (3)
* ''[[Dare (album)|Dare]]'' – [[The Human League]] (1)
* ''[[Shaky (album)|Shaky]]'' – [[Shakin' Stevens]] (1)
* ''[[Greatest Hits (Queen album)|Greatest Hits]]'' – [[Queen (band)|Queen]] (4)
*''Chart Hits '81'' – Various Artists (1)
*''[[The Visitors (ABBA album)|The Visitors]]'' – [[ABBA]] (3)
{{div col end}}

==Top 40 Chart hit singles==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Song title 
! Artist(s) 
! Release date(s) 
! [[Billboard Hot 100|US]]
! [[UK Singles Chart|UK]]
! Highest chart position
! Other Chart Performance(s)
|-
|| "[['65 Love Affair]]"  || [[Paul Davis (singer)|Paul Davis]] || {{Date table sorting|121981}}|December 1981 || 6 || n/a || 6 (United States) || [['65 Love Affair#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[9 to 5 (Sheena Easton song)|9 to 5 (Morning Train)]]" || [[Sheena Easton]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 1 || 3 || 1 [[9 to 5 (Sheena Easton song)#Chart performance|(4 countries)]] || [[9 to 5 (Sheena Easton song)#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]]
|-  
|| "[[Abacab (song)|Abacab]]" || [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || 26 || 9 || 3 (South Africa) || [[Abacab (song)|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Absolute Beginners (The Jam song)|Absolute Beginners]]" || [[The Jam]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || n/a || 4 || 4 (United Kingdom) || 35 (New Zealand)
|-
|| "[[America (Neil Diamond song)|America]]" || [[Neil Diamond]] || {{Date table sorting|041981}}|April 1981 || 8 || n/a || 8 (United Kingdom) || 1 (U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary) - 10 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100) - 15 (Canada RPM Adult Contemporary) - 45 (Canada RPM Top Singles)
|-
|| "[[Angel of the Morning]]" || [[Juice Newton]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 4 || 43 || 1 (Canada) || [[Angel of the Morning#Juice Newton version|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Antmusic]]" || [[Adam & the Ants]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || n/a || 2 || 1 (Australia) || [[Antmusic#Charts and certifications|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Arc of a Diver]]" || [[Steve Winwood]] || {{Date table sorting|041981}}|April 1981 || 48 || n/a || 19 (Canada) || 11 (US Billboard Rock Albums & Top Tracks)
|-
|| "[[Atlanta Lady (Something About Your Love)]]" || [[Marty Balin]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || 27 || n/a || n/a || 11 (US Billboard Adult Contemporary)
|-
|| "[[Backfired]]" || [[Debbie Harry]] || {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || 43 || 32 || 16 (Sweden) || [[Backfired#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Being with You (song)|Being With You]]" || [[Smokey Robinson]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 2 || 1 || 1 (New Zealand, United Kingdom) || [[Being with You (song)#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Bette Davis Eyes]]" || [[Kim Carnes]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || 1 || 10 || 1 [[Bette Davis Eyes#Charts|(9 countries)]] || [[Bette Davis Eyes#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Blessed Are the Believers]]" || [[Anne Murray]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || 34 ||  n/a ||  13 (Canada) || 1 (Canadian RPM Country Tracks, Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks, U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs) - 10 (U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary)
|-
|| "[[The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)]]" || [[The Greg Kihn Band]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || 15 || n/a || 14 (Australia) || 5 (U.S. Billboard Rock Albums & Top Tracks)
|-
|| "[[Burnin' For You]]" || [[Blue Öyster Cult]] ||  {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || 40 || 76 || 40 (United States) || 1 (U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart) - 47 (Canada)
|-
|| "[[Cambodia (song)|Cambodia]]" || [[Kim Wilde]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 || n/a || 12 || 1 (France, Sweden, Switzerland) || [[Cambodia (song)#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Can You Feel It (The Jacksons song)|Can You Feel It]]" || [[The Jacksons]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 77 || 6 || 1 (Belgium, South Africa) || [[Can You Feel It (The Jacksons song)#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Centerfold (song)|Centerfold]]" || [[The J. Geils Band]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || 1 || 3 || 1 (Australia, Canada, United States) || [[Centerfold (song)#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)]]" || [[Spandau Ballet]] ||  {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || n/a || 3 || 3 (United Kingdom) || [[Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Chariots of Fire (instrumental)|Chariots of Fire]]" || [[Vangelis]] ||  {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || 1 || 12 || 1 (United States) || [[Chariots of Fire (instrumental)#Chart history|See chart performances entry]]
|-
|| "[[Chequered Love]]" || [[Kim Wilde]] || {{Date table sorting|041981}}|April 1981 || n/a || 4 || 1 (South Africa) || [[Chequered Love#Charts|See chart performances entry]]
|-
|| "[[Controversy (song)|Controversy]]" || [[Prince (musician)|Prince]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || 70 || n/a || 1 (U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs) - 3 (U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles) - 15 (Australia) || 28 (Netherlands [Dutch Singles Chart])
|-
|| "[[Cool Night (song)|Cool Night]]" || [[Paul Davis (singer)|Paul Davis]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || 11 || n/a || 11 (United States) || 2 (U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary)
|- 
|| "[[Counting The Beat]]" || [[The Swingers]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || n/a || n/a || 1 (Australia, New Zealand) || n/a
|-
|| "[[Crying (Roy Orbison song)|Crying]]" || [[Don McLean]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 5 || 1 || 1 (Belgium, Netherlands [Dutch Top  40], United Kingdom || [[Crying (Roy Orbison song)#Don McLean version|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Der Kommissar (song)|Der Kommissar]]" || [[Falco (musician)|Falco]] || {{Date table sorting|121981}}|December 1981 ||n/a || n/a || 1 [[Der Kommissar (song)#Charts|(4 countries)]] || [[Der Kommissar (song)#Charts*|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Don't Let Him Go]]" || [[REO Speedwagon]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || 24 || n/a || 2 (Canada) || [[Don't Let Him Go#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Don't Stop Believin']]" || [[Journey (band)|Journey]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || 9 || 62 || 9 (United States) || 8 (U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock) - 9 (U.S. Billboard Adult contemporary) - 9 (Canada) - 50 (Netherlands [Single Top 100]) - 62 (United Kingdom) - 100 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[Don't You Want Me]]" || [[The Human League]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 || 1 || 1 || 1 [[Don't You Want Me#Charts 2|(8 countries)]] || [[Don't You Want Me#Charts 2|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Elvira (song)|Elvira]]" || [[The Oak Ridge Boys]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || 5 || n/a || 5 (United States) || [[Elvira (song)#The Oak Ridge Boys recording|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic]]" || [[The Police]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 || 3 || 1 || 1 [[Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic#Chart performance|(4 countries)]] || [[Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]] 
|-
|| "[[Every Woman in the World]]" || [[Air Supply]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 5 || n/a || 3 (Canada) || 2 (U.S. Billboard Adult contemporary) - 3 (U.S. Record World) - 7 (New Zealand) - 8 (Australia) - 9 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100)

|-
|| "[[Fade to Grey (Visage song)|Fade to Grey]]" || [[Visage (band)|Visage]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || n/a || 8 || 1 (Switzerland, West Germany) || [[Fade to Grey (Visage song)#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)]]" || [[Haircut One Hundred]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || n/a || 4 || 4 (United Kingdom) || 97 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[Fire (U2 song)|Fire]]" || [[U2]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || n/a || 35 || 4 (Ireland) || n/a
|-
|| "[[Fire and Ice (Pat Benatar song)|Fire and Ice]]" || [[Pat Benatar]] || {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || 17 || n/a || 3 (New Zealand) || 2 (U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock)  - 4 (Canada) - 30 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[For Your Eyes Only (song)|For Your Eyes Only]]" || [[Sheena Easton]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || 4 || 8 || 1 (Netherlands [Dutch Top 40]/[Single Top 100], Norway, Switzerland) || [[For Your Eyes Only (song)#Chart history|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Games People Play (Alan Parsons Project song)|Games People Play]]" || [[Alan Parsons Project]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 16 || n/a || 9 (Canada) || 95 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[Gemini Dream]]" || [[The Moody Blues]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || 12 || n/a || 1 (Canada) || 12 (U.S. Mainstream Rock) - 13 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100) - 36 (Australia) - 36 (U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs)
|-
|| "[[Genius of Love]]" || [[Tom Tom Club]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || 31 || 65 || 26 (Belgium) || 1 (U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs) - 2 (U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles) - 28 (New Zealand)
|-
|| "[[Girls on Film]]" || [[Duran Duran]] || {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || n/a || 5 || 1 (Portugal) || 4 (New Zealand) - 11 (Australia) - 15 (Sweden) - 16 (Ireland) 
|-
|| "[[Give It to Me Baby]]" || [[Rick James]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 40 || 47 || 40 (United States) || 1 (U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles) - 1 (U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs) - 34 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100)
|-
|| "[[Gloria (U2 song)|Gloria]]" || [[U2]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || n/a || 55 || 10 (Ireland) || 15 (New Zealand) - 32 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[Good Year for the Roses]]" || [[Elvis Costello and the Attractions]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || n/a || 6 || 6 (United Kingdom) || 11 (Netherlands [Dutch top 40]) - 25 (Belgium) - 34 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[Happy Birthday (Altered Images song)|Happy Birthday]]" || [[Altered Images]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || n/a || 2 || 2 (United Kingdom, South Africa) || 3 (Ireland) - 16 (Sweden) - 23 (Australia) - 56 (West Germany)
|-
|| "[[Harden My Heart]]" || [[Quarterflash]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || 3 || 49 || 3 (United States) || 5 (Switzerland) - 6 (Australia) - 12 (New Zealand) - 15 (Austria) - 41 (U.S. Billboard Adult contemporary) - 51 (West Germany)
|-
|| "[[Hearts (song)|Hearts]]" || [[Marty Balin]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || 8 || n/a || 4 (Canada) || 9 (U.S. Billboard Adult contemporary) - 9 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100) - 11 (Canada RPM Top Singles) - 19 (France) - 20 (U.S. Billboard Top Rock Tracks)
|-
|| "Hearts on Fire" || [[Randy Meisner]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 19 || n/a || 19 (United States) || 34 (Canada)
|-
|| "[[Hells Bells (song)|Hell's Bells]]" || [[AC/DC]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || n/a || n/a || 7 (Australia) || 16 (France) - 25 (Germany) - 50 (U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock) 
|-
|| "[[Here I Am (Air Supply song)|Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)]]" || [[Air Supply]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || 5 || n/a || 5 (United States) || 1 (U.S. Billboard Adult contemporary) - 5 (Canada RPM Adult Contemporary) - 5 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100) - 43 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[Hill Street Blues (theme)|Hill Street Blues]]" || [[Mike Post]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || 10 || n/a || 10 (United States) || 4 (U.S. Billboard Adult contemporary)
|-
|| "[[History Never Repeats]]" || [[Split Enz]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || n/a || 63 || 4 (Australia) || 5 (New Zealand) - 33 (U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock) 
|-
|| "[[Hold On Tight (Electric Light Orchestra song)|Hold On Tight]]" || [[Electric Light Orchestra]] || {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || 10 || 4 || 1 (Spain, Switzerland) || [[Hold On Tight (Electric Light Orchestra song)#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[How 'Bout Us (song)|How 'Bout Us]]" || [[Champaign (band)|Champaign]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 12 || 5 || 1 (Belgium, Netherlands [Dutch Top 40]/[Singles Top 100]|| [[How 'Bout Us (song)|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[I Ain't Gonna Stand for It]]" || [[Stevie Wonder]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 11 || 10 || 2 (New Zealand) || [[I Ain't Gonna Stand for It|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)]]" || [[Hall & Oates]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 || 1 || 8 || 1 (United States) || [[I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)]]" || [[Lulu (singer)|Lulu]] || {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || 18  || 62 || 3 (New Zealand) || 10 (Canada) - 71 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[I Don't Need You]]" || [[Kenny Rogers]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || 3 || n/a || 2 (Canada) || [[I Don't Need You#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[I Go to Sleep]]" || [[The Pretenders]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 || n/a || 7 || 4 (Netherlands [Dutch Top 40]) || 6 (Belgium) - 9 (Netherlands [Single Top 100] - 28 (New Zealand)
|-
|| "[[I Love You (Climax Blues Band song)|I Love You]]" || [[Climax Blues Band]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 12 || n/a || 14 (Canada) || 9 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100) - 20 (U.S. Billboard Adult contemporary) - 30 (Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary) - 59 (Australian)
|-
|| "[[I Made It Through the Rain]]" || [[Barry Manilow]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 10 || 37 || 20 (Ireland) || 4 (U.S. Billboard Adult contemporary) - 18 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100)
|-
|| "[[I Missed Again]]" || [[Phil Collins]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 19 || 14 || 6 (Canada) || [[I Missed Again#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]]
|-
| "[[I Will Follow]]" || [[U2]] || {{Date table sorting|081980}}|August 1981* || n/a || n/a || 34 (New Zealand) || 20 (U.S. Billboard Top Tracks) - 71 (Australia) *song released in October 1980
|-
|| "[[Difficult to Cure|I Surrender]]" || [[Rainbow (English band)|Rainbow]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 50 || 3 || 1 (Finland) || [[Difficult to Cure#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[I Want to Be Free (Toyah song)|I Want to Be Free]]" || [[Toyah Willcox|Toyah]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || n/a || 8
 || 8 (United Kingdom) || 1 (UK Independent Singles Chart) - 10 (Ireland) - 10 (South Africa) - 30 (New Zealand) - 35 (Australia) - 61 (West Germany)
|-
|| "[[I Wouldn't Have Missed It for the World]]" || [[Ronnie Milsap]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || 20 || n/a || 20 || 1 (U.S. Hot Country Songs, Canadian RPM Country Tracks, Canada RPM Adult Contemporary) - 3 (U.S. Billboard Adult contemporary) - 57 (Australia) 
|-
|| "[[If Leaving Me Is Easy]]" || [[Phil Collins]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || n/a || 17 || 17 (United Kingdom) || 61 (Germany)
|-
|| "[[If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?]]" || [[Mental As Anything]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || n/a || n/a || 4 (Australia) || 16 (New Zealand)
|-
|| "I'm in Love" || [[Evelyn King (singer)|Evelyn King]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || 40 || 27 || 27 (United Kingdom) || 1 (U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles, U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs) - 33 (U.S. Record World) - 44 (U.S. Cash Box)
|-
|| "[[In the Air Tonight]]" || [[Phil Collins]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || 19 || 2 || [[In the Air Tonight#Charts and certifications|(6 countries)]] || [[In the Air Tonight#Charts and certifications|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[In the Dark (Billy Squier song)|In the Dark]]" || [[Billy Squier]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || 35 || n/a || 22 (Canada) || 7 (U.S. Billboard Top Rock Tracks)
|-
|| "[[Intuition (Linx song)|Intuition]]" || [[Linx (band)|Linx]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || n/a || 7 || 7 (United Kingdom)|| 10 (Ireland) - 38 (Netherlands [Single Top 100]) - 69 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[Invisible Sun]]" || [[The Police]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || n/a || 2 || 2 (United Kingdom) || 5 (Netherlands [Single Top 100]) - 89 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[Is That Love]]" || [[Squeeze (band)|Squeeze]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || n/a || 35 || 1 (Israel) || 25 (Ireland)
|-
|| "[[It Must Be Love (Labi Siffre song)|It Must Be Love]]" || [[Madness (band)|Madness]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 || 33 || 4 || 4 (United Kingdom) || 5 (Ireland) - 6 (Australia) - 43 (Netherlands [Single Top 100]) 
|-
|| "[[It Must Be Magic]]" || [[Teena Marie]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || 23 || n/a || 23 (United Kingdom) || 2 (U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles)
|-
|| "[[I've Done Everything for You]]" || [[Rick Springfield]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 8 || n/a || 8 (United States) || 19 (Canada RPM Charts) - 31 (Australia) - 40 (Canada) 
|-
|| "[[Jessie's Girl]]" || [[Rick Springfield]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 1 || n/a || 1 (Australia, United States) || 1 (U.S. Cash Box, U.S. Record World) - 6 (Canada) - 10 (U.S. Mainstream Rock) 21 (New Zealand)
|-
|| "[[Jukebox Hero]]" || [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || 26 || 48 || 7 (South Africa) || 24 (Germany) - 34 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100) - 39 (Canada) - 53 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[Just Between You and Me (April Wine song)|Just Between You and Me]]" || [[April Wine]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 21  || 52 || 21 (United States) || 22 (Canada)
|-
|| "[[Just Can't Get Enough (Depeche Mode song)|Just Can't Get Enough]]" || [[Depeche Mode]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || n/a || 8 || 4 (Australia) || 1 (UK Independent Singles Chart) - 14 (Sweden) - 16 (Ireland) - 18 (Spain) - 26 (U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs) - 29 (New Zealand) - 30 (Belgium)
|-
|| "[[Just the Two of Us (Grover Washington, Jr. song)|Just the Two of Us]]" || [[Grover Washington, Jr.]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 2 || 34 || 2 (United States) || [[Just the Two of Us (Grover Washington Jr. song)#Certifications|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Kids in America]]" || [[Kim Wilde]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 25 || 2 || 1 (Finland, South African) || [[Kids in America#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Kiss on My List]]" || [[Hall & Oates]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 1 || 33 || 1 (United States) || 7 (Canada) - 13 (Australia) - 16 (U.S. Billboard Adult contemporary) - 33 (New Zealand) - 54 (U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock) 
|-
|| "[[Labelled with Love]]" || [[Squeeze (band)|Squeeze]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || n/a || 4 || 2 (Ireland) || 46 (Netherlands [Single Top 100])
|-
|| "[[Leader of the Band]]" || [[Dan Fogelberg]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 || 9 || n/a || 9 (United States) || 1 (U.S. Billboard Adult contemporary) - 35 (U.S. Billboard Top Pop Singles)
|-
|| "[[Leather and Lace (song)|Leather and Lace]]" || [[Stevie Nicks]] and [[Don Henley]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || 6 || n/a || 6 (United States) || [[Leather and Lace (song)|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Let's Get It Up]]" || [[AC/DC]] || {{Date table sorting|121981}}|December 1981 || n/a || n/a || 18 (Sweden) || 33 (West Germany) - 73 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[Let's Groove]]" || [[Earth, Wind & Fire]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || 3 || 3 || 2 (France, New Zealand) || [[Let's Groove#Certifications|See chart performance entry]] 
|-
|| "[[Limelight (Rush song)|Limelight]]" || [[Rush (band)|Rush]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 55 || n/a || 18 (Canada) || 4 (U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock)  
|-
|| "[[A Little in Love (Cliff Richard song)|A Little in Love]]" || [[Cliff Richard]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 17 || 15 || 4 (Canada) || [[A Little in Love (Cliff Richard song)#Chart performan|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Living Inside Myself]]" || [[Gino Vannelli]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || 6 || n/a || 6 (United States) || [[Das Model#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Lock Up Your Daughters (song)|Lock Up Your Daughters]]" || [[Slade]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || n/a || 29 || 19 (Netherlands [Dutch Singles Chart]) || n/a
|-
|| "[[Love Action (I Believe in Love)]]" || [[The Human League]] || {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || n/a || 3 || 3 (United Kingdom) || 11 (Ireland) - 12 (Australia) - 21 (New Zealand)
|-
|| "[[Love is Alright Tonite]]" || [[Rick Springfield]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || 20 || n/a || 20 (United Kingdom) || 26 (Canada RPM Top Singles) - 40 (U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock)
|-
|| "[[Love on a Two-Way Street]]" || [[Stacy Lattisaw]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || 26 || n/a || 26 (United States) || 2 (U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles) - 19 (U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary) - 23 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100) - 26 (U.S. Billboard Hot 100) - 39 (Canada)
|-
|| "[[Message of Love]]" || [[The Pretenders]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || n/a || 11 || 9 (Ireland) || 5 (U.S. Billboard Top Rock Tracks) - 15 (Australia) - 33 (Netherlands) - 44 (U.S. Billboard Dance/Disco)
|-
| "[[Das Model|The Model]]" || [[Kraftwerk]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 || n/a || 1 || 1 (United Kingdom) || 4 (Ireland) - 7 (West Germany) - 20 (Finland) - 33 (Australia) 
|-
|*"[[Modern Girl (Sheena Easton song)|Modern Girl]]" || [[Sheena Easton]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || 18 || 8 || 8 (United Kingdom) || [[Modern Girl (Sheena Easton song)#Charts|]]
|-
| "[[More Than I Can Say]]" || [[Leo Sayer]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 2 || 2 || 1 (Australia) || 1 (U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary) - 2 (Ireland, South Africa) - 3 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100) - 5 (New Zealand) - 7 (Canada) ''[1980 overlap]''
|-
| "[[Musclebound]]" b/w "[[Glow (Spandau Ballet song)|Glow]]" || [[Spandau Ballet]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || n/a || 10 || 10 (United Kingdom) || 18 (Ireland) - 32 (Netherlands [Single Top 100)] - 97 (Australia)
|-
| "[[Never Too Much (song)|Never Too Much]]" || [[Luther Vandross]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || 33 || 13 || 13 (United Kingdom) || 1 (U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles) - 4 (U.S. Billboard Dance Club Songs) - 18 (Ireland) - 47 (New Zealand)
|-
| "[[New Life (song)|New Life]]" || [[Depeche Mode]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || n/a || 11 || 11 (United Kingdom) || 1 (UK Independent Singles chart) - 22 (Ireland) - 29 (U.S. Billboard Dance Clubs Songs)
|-
| "[[O Superman]]" || [[Laurie Anderson]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || n/a || 2 || 2 (United Kingdom) || [[O Superman#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
| "[[Oh No (Commodores song)|Oh No]]" || [[The Commodores]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || 4 || 44 || 3 (Canada) || 5 (U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles) - 5 (U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary) - 51 (Australia)
|-
|| "[[Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads song)|Once in a Lifetime]]" || [[Talking Heads]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || n/a || 14 || 14 (United Kingdom) || 16 (Ireland) - 23 (Australia) - 24 (Netherlands [Dutch Singles Chart]) - 28 (Canada) - 103 (U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100)
|-
| "[[One in Ten]]" || [[UB40]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || n/a || 7 || 7 United Kingdom) || 87 Australia)
|-
| "[[One of Us (ABBA song)|One of Us]]" || [[ABBA]] || {{Date table sorting|121981}}|December 1981 || n/a || 3 || 1 [[One of Us (ABBA song)#Charts|(6 countries)]] || [[One of Us (ABBA song)#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
| "[[Open Your Heart (Human League song)|Open Your Heart]]" || [[The Human League]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || n/a || 6 || 6 (United Kingdom) || 8 (Ireland) - 12 (Belgium) - 20 (Netherlands [Single Top 100)] - 43 (New Zealand)
|-
|| "[[Our Lips Are Sealed]]" || [[The Go-Go's]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || 20 || 47 || 2 (Australia) ||[[Our Lips Are Sealed#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
| "[[Ooa hela natten]]" || [[Attack (band)|Attack]] || 1981 || n/a || n/a || 1 (Sweden) || 2 (Norway)
|-
| "[[Pac-Man Fever (song)|Pac-Man Fever]]" || [[Buckner & Garcia]] || {{Date table sorting|121981}}|December 1981 || 9 || n/a || 9 (Canada, United States) || 7 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100)
|-
|| "[[Physical (Olivia Newton-John song)|Physical]]" || [[Olivia Newton-John]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || 1 || 7 || 1 (Australia, Belgium, Canada, New Zealand) || [[Physical (Olivia Newton-John song)#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Planet Earth (Duran Duran song)|Planet Earth]]" || [[Duran Duran]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || n/a || 12 || 8 (Australia) || 1 (French Airplay Chart) - 14 (Ireland) - 70 (France)
|-
|| "[[Queen of Hearts (Hank DeVito song)|Queen of Hearts]]" || [[Juice Newton]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || 2 || n/a || 2 (South Africa, United States) || [[Queen of Hearts (Hank DeVito song)#Chart performance (Juice Newton version)|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Rapture (Blondie song)|Rapture]]" || [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 1 ||5 || 1 (United States) || [[Rapture (Blondie song)#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[The River (Bruce Springsteen song)|The River]]" || [[Bruce Springsteen]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || n/a ||n/a || 5 (Norway) || 5 (Norway) – 10 (Sweden) - 24 (Ireland) – 25 (Netherlands) – 35 (UK Singles Chart)
|-
|| "[[Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution]]" || [[AC/DC]] || {{Date table sorting|111980}}|November  1980 <br><small>''(Charted in 1981)''</small> || n/a ||15 || 7 (Australia) || 15 (Ireland)
|-
||"[[Rock This Town]]" || [[Stray Cats]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 9 || 9 || 3 (Belgium) || [[While You See a Chance#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Sat in Your Lap]]" || [[Kate Bush]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || n/a || 11 || 11 (United Kingdom) || 18 (Ireland) - 25 (Italy) - 30 (Spain) - 32 (Netherlands) - 93 (Australia)
|-
||"[[Shake It Up (The Cars song)|Shake It Up]]" || [[The Cars]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 || 4 || n/a || 3 (Netherlands) || [[Shake It Up (The Cars song)|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)]]" || [[Carl Carlton]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || 22 || 34 || 22 (United States) || 2 (US Billboard Soul Singles) - 23 (US Cash Box Top 100) - 27 (New Zealand)
|-
||"[[Should I Do It (song)|Should I Do It]]" || [[The Pointer Sisters]] || {{Date table sorting|121981}}|December 1981 || 12 || 50 || 6 (Belgium) || [[Should I Do It (song)|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[(Si Si) Je Suis un Rock Star]]" || [[Bill Wyman]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || n/a || 14 || 5 (Australia) || 6 (New Zealand) - 14 (Netherlands) - 20 (Belgium)
|-
||"[[Slow Hand]]" || [[The Pointer Sisters]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || 2 || 10 || 2 [[Slow Hand#Charts|(3 countries)]] || [[Slow Hand#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Souvenir (song)|Souvenir]]" || [[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || n/a ||  3 || 1 (Portugal, Spain) || [[Souvenir (song)#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Spirits in the Material World]]" || [[The Police]] || {{Date table sorting|121981}}|December 1981 || 11 ||  12 || 4 (France) || [[Spirits in the Material World#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Start Me Up]]" || [[The Rolling Stones]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || 2 ||  7 || 1 (Australia) || [[Start Me Up#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Stop Draggin' My Heart Around]]" || [[Stevie Nicks]] with [[Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers]] || {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || 3 ||  50 || 3 (United States) || 2 (U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock) - 4 (South Africa) - 5 (Canada) - 10 (Australia) - 11 (New Zealand) - 43 (Netherlands [Single Top 100)
|-
||"[[Stray Cat Strut]]" || [[Stray Cats]] || {{Date table sorting|041981}}|April 1981 || 3 <br><small>''(Charted in 1982)''</small> ||  11 || 3 (Canada, United States) || 3 (US Cash Box Top 100) - 8 (Ireland) - 30 (South Africa) - 41 (US Billboard Mainstream Rock) - 78 (US Billboard Disco/Dance)
|-
||"[[The Stroke]]" || [[Billy Squier]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || 17 ||  52 || 3 (Austria, United States) || [[The Stroke#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Sukiyaki (song)|Sukiyaki]]" || [[A Taste of Honey (band)|A Taste of Honey]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || 3 ||  n/a || 3 (New Zealand, United States) || [[Sukiyaki (song)#A Taste of Honey version|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Super Freak]]" || [[Rick James]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || 16 ||  n/a || 2 (Belgium, Netherlands [Dutch Top 40]) || [[Super Freak#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Sweetheart (Franke and the Knockouts song)|Sweetheart]]" || [[Franke and the Knockouts]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || 10 ||  n/a || 10 (United States) || [[Sweetheart (Franke and the Knockouts song)#Chart history|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Take It on the Run]]" || [[REO Speedwagon]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || 5 ||  19 || 2 (Canada) || [[Take It on the Run#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Tempted (Squeeze song)|Tempted]]" || [[Squeeze (band)|Squeeze]] || {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || 49 ||  41 || 41 (United Kingdom) || 8 (US Billboard Mainstream Rock) - 45 (Canada) - 95 (Australia)
|-
||"[[Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)]]" || [[Joey Scarbury]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || 2 ||  n/a || 1 (New Zealand) || [[Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[(There's) No Gettin' Over Me]]" || [[Ronnie Milsap]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || 5 ||  n/a || 5 (United States) || [[(There's) No Gettin' Over Me|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[The Thin Wall]]" || [[Ultravox]] || {{Date table sorting|041981}}|April 1981 || 11 ||  43 || 7 (Canada) || 5 (US Billboard Mainstream Rock) - 7 (US Cash Box Top 100) - 11 (New Zealand)
|-
||"[[This Little Girl]]" || [[Gary U.S. Bonds]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || n/a ||  14 || 14 (United Kingdom) || 16 (Ireland) - 95 (Australia)
|-
||"[[Tom Sawyer (song)|Tom Sawyer]]" || [[Rush (band)|Rush]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || 44 ||  25 || 24 (Canada) || 8 (US Billboard Mainstream Rock)
|-
||"[[Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me)]]" || [[Rod Stewart]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || 20 ||  8 || 2 (Canada) || [[Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me)#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Too Much Time on My Hands]]" || [[Styx (band)|Styx]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 9 ||  n/a || 4 (Canada) || 67 (Australia) 
|-
||"[[Turn Me Loose (Loverboy song)|Turn Me Loose]]" || [[Loverboy]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 35 || n/a || 3 (Australia) || 4 (South Africa) - 5 (New Zealand) - 6 (US Billboard Top Rock Tracks) - 7 (Canada) 
|-
||"[[Turn Your Love Around]]" || [[George Benson]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || 5 || 29 || 5 (United States) || [[Turn Your Love Around#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Two Hearts (Stephanie Mills song)|Two Hearts]]" || [[Stephanie Mills]] & [[Teddy Pendergrass]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 40 || 49 || 40 (United States) || 3 (US Billboard Hot Soul Singles) - 46 (New Zealand) - 82 (US Billboard Disco Top 100)
|-
||"[[Urgent (song)|Urgent]]" || [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || 4 || 54 || 1 (Canada, South Africa) || [[Urgent (song)#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Vienna (Ultravox song)|Vienna]]" || [[Ultravox]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || n/a || 2 || 1 [[Vienna (Ultravox song)#Charts|(3 countries)]] || [[Vienna (Ultravox song)#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[The Voice (The Moody Blues song)|The Voice]]" || [[The Moody Blues]] || {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || 15 || n/a || 9 (Canada) || 1 (US Billboard Mainstream Rock) - 15 (US Cash Box Top 100) - 16 (US Billboard Adult Contemporary) - 46 (Netherlands) - 91 (Australia)
|-
||"[[The Waiting (song)|The Waiting]]" || [[Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers]] || {{Date table sorting|041981}}|April 1981 || 19 || n/a || 6 (Canada) || 1 (US Billboard Top Tracks) - 14 (US Cash Box Top 100) - 27 (New Zealand)
|-
||"[[Waiting for a Girl Like You]]" || [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || 2 || 8 || 2 (Canada, United States) || [[Waiting for a Girl Like You#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Waiting on a Friend]]" || [[The Rolling Stones]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 13 || 50 || 10 (Canada) || [[Waiting on a Friend#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Walking on Thin Ice]]" || [[Yoko Ono]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 || 58 || 35 || 6 (Sweden) || [[Walking on Thin Ice#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Watching the Wheels]]" || [[John Lennon]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || 10 || 30 || 3 (Canada) || [[Watching the Wheels#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[We Got the Beat]]" || [[The Go-Go's]] || {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || 2 || n/a || 2 (United States) || [[We Got the Beat#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Wedding Bells (Godley & Creme song)|Wedding Bells]]" || [[Godley & Creme]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 || n/a || 7 || 7 (United Kingdom) || [[Wedding Bells (Godley & Creme song)|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[While You See a Chance]]" || [[Steve Winwood]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 7 || 45 || 3 (Canada) || [[While You See a Chance#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Who Can It Be Now?]]" || [[Men at Work]] || {{Date table sorting|051981}}|May 1981 || 1 <br><small>''(Charted in 1982)''</small> || 45 || 1 (Israel, United States) || [[Who Can It Be Now?#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Who's Crying Now]]" || [[Journey (band)|Journey]] || {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || 4 || 46 || 4 (United States) || [[Who's Crying Now#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Why Do Fools Fall in Love (song)|Why Do Fools Fall in Love]]" || [[Diana Ross]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || 7 || 4 || 1 (Belgium, Netherlands) || [[Why Do Fools Fall in Love (song)#Diana Ross version|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Wired for Sound (song)|Wired for Sound]]" || [[Cliff Richard]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || 71 || 4 || 2 (Australia, South Africa) || [[Wired for Sound (song)|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Working for the Weekend]]" || [[Loverboy]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || 29 || n/a || 10 (Canada) || 2 (US Billboard Rock Top Tracks) - 19 (Australia) - 19 (New Zealand)
|-
||"[[Working in the Coal Mine#Devo version|Working in the Coal Mine]]" || [[Devo]] || {{Date table sorting|081981}}|August 1981 || 43 || n/a || 10 (New Zealand) || 17 (Canada) - 20 (Australia) - 30 (US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play) - 36 (US Cash Box Top 100) - 53 (US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks)
|-
||"[[You Better You Bet]]" || [[The Who]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || 18 || 9 || 4 (Canada) || [[You Better You Bet#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[You Make My Dreams]]" || [[Hall & Oates]] || {{Date table sorting|041981}}|April 1981 || 5 || n/a || 5 (United States) || 4 (US Radio & Records Chart) - 7 (US Cash Box Top 100) - 17 (Canada) - 35 (US Billboard Mainstream Rock) - 40 (Australia)
|-
||"[[Young Turks (song)|Young Turks]]" || [[Rod Stewart]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || 5 || 11 || 1 (Canada, Israel) ||  [[Young Turks (song)#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]]
|}

===Other Chart hit singles===
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|

*"[[Aie a Mwana]]" – [[Bananarama]]
*"[[And the Bands Played On]]" – [[Saxon (band)|Saxon]] (# 12 UK)
*"[[Another Tricky Day]]" – [[The Who]]
*"[[Ay Ay Ay Ay Moosey]]" – [[Modern Romance (band)|Modern Romance]] (# 10 UK)
*"[[Boys and Girls (Human League song)|Boys and Girls]]" – [[The Human League]] (# 48 UK)
*"[[Boys in Town]]" – [[Divinyls]] (# 8 Australia)
*"[[Bringing on the Heartbreak]]" – [[Def Leppard]] (# 61 US)
*"[[Chcem sa s tebou deliť]]" – [[Marika Gombitová]] (Winner of the Intervision Song Contest)
*"[[Computer Love (Kraftwerk song)|Computer Love]]" – [[Kraftwerk]] (# 36 UK)
*"[[Cool World (song)|Cool World]]" – [[Mondo Rock]] (# 8 Australia)
*"[[Der blaue Planet]]" - [[Karat (band)|Karat]] (# 2 East Germany)
*"[[Don't Stop the Music (Yarbrough and Peoples song)|Don't Stop the Music]]" – [[Yarbrough and Peoples]]
*"[[Double Dutch Bus]]" – [[Frankie Smith]]
*"[[Eisbär]]" – [[Grauzone]]
*"[[Fight the Good Fight]]" – [[Triumph (band)|Triumph]] (# 18 U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock)
*"[[Funeral Pyre]]" – [[The Jam]] (# 4 UK)
*"[[Heading Out to the Highway]]" – [[Judas Priest]] (# 10 U.S. Mainstream Rock)
*"[[I Don't Wanna Dance (Split Enz song)|I Don't Wanna Dance]]" – [[Split Enz]] (# 65 Australia)
*"[[I Heard It Through The Grapevine]]" - [[Roger]] (# 79 United States, # 1 U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles, # 25 U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs)
*"If I Was a Dancer (Dance Pt. 2)" – [[The Rolling Stones]]*"
*"[[It's All I Can Do (Anne Murray song)|It's All I Can Do]]" - [[Anne Murray]] (# 53 United States)
*"[[(Kom så ska vi) Leva livet]]" – [[Gyllene Tider]] (# 13 Sweden)
*"[[La voix du bon Dieu (song)|La voix du bon Dieu]]" – [[Céline Dion]] (# 11 Quebec)*"[[Lonely Is the Night]]" 
*"[[Mean Street]]" – [[Van Halen]] (# 12 U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks)
*"[[Oh No Not You Again]]" – [[Australian Crawl]] (# 58 Australia)
*"[[Pearl Necklace (song)|Pearl Necklace]]" – [[ZZ Top]] (# 28 US)
*"[[A Promise (song)|A Promise]]" – [[Echo & the Bunnymen]] (# 49 UK)
*"[[Red Barchetta]]" – [[Rush (band)|Rush]]
*"[[Résiste]]" – [[France Gall]]
*"[[Rise Above (Black Flag song)|Rise Above]]" – [[Black Flag (band)|Black Flag]]
*"[[Romeo and Juliet (Dire Straits song)|Romeo and Juliet]]" – [[Dire Straits]]
*"[[Runaround Sue]]" – [[Racey]]
*"[[Sailing (Christopher Cross song)|Sailing]]" – [[Christopher Cross]]
*"[[Same Old Lang Syne]]" – [[Dan Fogelberg]]
*"[[Sausalito Summernight]]" – [[Diesel (band)|Diesel]]
*"[[Say Goodbye to Hollywood]]" – [[Billy Joel]]
*"[[Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (song)|Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)]]" – [[David Bowie]]
*"[[She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)]]" – [[Carl Carlton]]
*"[[She's Got a Way]]" (live) – [[Billy Joel]]
*"[[Shout and Deliver]]" – [[The Reels]] (# 43 Australia)
*"[[Shut Up (Madness song)|Shut Up]]" – [[Madness (band)|Madness]]
*"Silly" – [[Deniece Williams]]
*"[[Since You're Gone]]" – [[The Cars]]
*"[[Slave (Rolling Stones song)|Slave]]" – [[The Rolling Stones]]
*"[[So This Is Love? (song)|So This Is Love?]]" – [[Van Halen]]
*"[[The Sound of the Crowd]]" – [[The Human League]]
*"[[Stay Young (INXS song)|Stay Young]]" – [[INXS]] (# 21 Australia)
*"[[Stone in Love]]" – [[Journey (band)|Journey]]
*"[[Stop This Game]]" – [[Cheap Trick]]
*"[[Straight from the Heart (The Allman Brothers Band song)|Straight from the Heart]]" – [[The Allman Brothers Band]]
*"[[Take It to the Limit (Eagles song)|Take It to the Limit (Live)]]" – [[The Eagles]]
*"[[Telstar (song)|Telstar]]" – [[The Shadows]]
*"[[That Old Song]]" – [[Ray Parker Jr.]] & [[Raydio]]
*"[[That's Entertainment (The Jam song)|That's Entertainment]]" – [[The Jam]]
*"[[There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis]]" – [[Kirsty McColl]]
*"[[Through the Years (Kenny Rogers song)|Through the Years]]" – [[Kenny Rogers]]
*"[[Time (The Alan Parsons Project song)|Time]]" – [[The Alan Parsons Project]]
*"[[Together (The Intruders song)#Tierra remake|Together]]" – [[Tierra (group)|Tierra]]
*"[[Too Many Times (Mental As Anything song)|Too Many Times]]" – [[Mental As Anything]]
*"[[Treat Me Right (Pat Benatar song)|Treat Me Right]]" – [[Pat Benatar]]
*"[[Tube Snake Boogie]]" – [[ZZ Top]]
*"[[Tunnel of Love (Dire Straits song)|Tunnel of Love]]" – [[Dire Straits]]
*"[[Turning Japanese]]" – [[The Vapors]] (released in 1980)
*"[[Unchained (song)|Unchained]]" – [[Van Halen]]
*"[[The Unguarded Moment (song)|The Unguarded Moment]]" – [[The Church (band)|The Church]]
*"[[The Voice (Ultravox song)|The Voice]]" – [[Ultravox]]
*"[[Little T&A]]" – [[The Rolling Stones]]
*"[[The Wanderer (Donna Summer song)|The Wanderer]]" – [[Donna Summer]]
*"[[Water on Glass|Water on Glass"/"Boys]]" – [[Kim Wilde]]
*"[[We Don't Have to Hold Out]]" – [[Anne Murray]]
*"[[(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang]]" – [[Heaven 17]]
*"[[Wedding Bells (Godley & Creme song)|Wedding Bells]]" – [[Godley & Creme]]
*"[[We'll Bring the House Down (song)|We'll Bring the House Down]]" – [[Slade]]
*"[[We're in This Love Together]]" – [[Al Jarreau]]
*"[[What Are We Doin' In Love]]" – [[Kenny Rogers]] and [[Dottie West]]
*"[[What Kind of Fool]]" – [[Barbra Streisand]] and [[Barry Gibb]]
*"When He Shines" – [[Sheena Easton]]
*"[[When She Was My Girl]]" – [[The Four Tops]]
*"[[When You Were Sweet Sixteen]]" – [[The Fureys]] with [[Davey Arthur]]
*"[[Whip It (Devo song)|Whip It]]" – [[Devo]]
*"Wild Colonial Boy" – [[Dr. Hook]]
*"[[Wild Is the Wind (song)|Wild is the Wind]]" – [[David Bowie]]
*"Will You?" – [[Hazel O'Connor]]
*"[[Winning (Santana song)|Winning]]" – [[Santana (band)|Santana]]
*"[[You Got Nothing I Want]]" – [[Cold Chisel]]
}}

==Notable singles==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Song title 
! Artist(s) 
! Release date(s) 
! Other Chart Performance(s)
|-
|"[[Ceremony (New Order song)|Ceremony]]" || [[New Order (band)|New Order]] || {{Date table sorting|011981}}|January 1981 || 7 (New Zealand) - 1 (UK Independent Singles Chart) - 62 (US Billboard Hot Dance Club Party)
|-
|"[[Christmas Wrapping]]" || [[The Waitresses]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 ||
[[Christmas Wrapping#Charts|See chart entry performance]]
|- 
| "[[Closer to the Heart]]" (live) || [[Rush (band)|Rush]] || {{Date table sorting|111981}}|November 1981 || 21 (U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock) - 69 (U.S. Billboard Hot 100)
|-
|"[[God morgon (Chips song)|God morgon]]" || [[Chips (band)|Chips]] || 1981 || 2nd at the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1981
|-
|"[[I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)]]" || [[Grace Jones]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|May 1981 || [[I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Johnny Blue (song)|Johnny Blue]]" || [[Lena Valaitis]] || 1981 || Winner of the German national final of the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1981]]
|-
|"[[Kick in the Eye]]" || [[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]] || {{Date table sorting|031981}}|March 1981 || 29 (US Billboard Dance Club Songs) - 59 (UK Singles Chart)
|-
| "[[O Superman]]" || [[Laurie Anderson]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || [[O Superman#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
| "[[Procession (New Order song)|Procession]]/Everything's Gone Green" || [[New Order (band)|New Order]] || {{Date table sorting|091981}}|September 1981 || 1 (UK Independent Charts) - 38 (UK Singles Chart)
|-
|"[[Pull Up to the Bumper]]" || [[Grace Jones]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || [[Pull Up to the Bumper#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Release the Bats]]" || [[The Birthday Party (band)|The Birthday Party]] || {{Date table sorting|071981}}|July 1981 || 3 (UK Indie Charts) 
|-
|"[[Walking in the Rain (Flash and the Pan song)|Walking in the Rain]]" || [[Grace Jones]] || {{Date table sorting|101981}}|October 1981 || 34 (New Zealand) - 67 (West Germany) - 94 (Australia)
|-
|"[[Walking on Thin Ice]]" || [[Yoko Ono]] || {{Date table sorting|021981}}|February 1981 || [[Walking on Thin Ice#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Wordy Rappinghood]]" || [[Tom Tom Club]] || {{Date table sorting|061981}}|June 1981 || [[Wordy Rappinghood#Chart performance|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|}

===Other Notable singles===
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
*"A.D. 1928/[[Rockin' the Paradise]]" – [[Styx (band)|Styx]] 
* "[[Alone with You (Sunnyboys song)|Alone with You]]" – [[Sunnyboys]]
* "[[Black Limousine]]" – [[The Rolling Stones]]
* "[[Happy Man (Sunnyboys song)|Happy Man]]" – [[Sunnyboys]] 
*"Henry Hudson" – [[Nico]]
*"[[Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby]]" – [[Joe Jackson (musician)|Joe Jackson]]
*"It's a Tough Life" – [[Pat Benatar]]
*"[[Maljčiki]]" – [[Idoli]]
*"Nick The Stripper" - [[The Birthday Party (band)|The Birthday Party]]
*"No Word From China" – [[Pel Mel]]
*"No.3" – [[The Reels]]
*"[[October (song)|October]]" – [[U2]]
*"Photographic"- [[Depeche Mode]]
*"[[Quasimodo's Dream (song)|Quasimodo's Dream]]" – [[The Reels]]
*"[[Radio Free Europe (song)|Radio Free Europe]]" (original [[Hib-Tone]] version) – [[R.E.M.]]
*"[[Rawhide (song)|Rawhide]]" – [[Dead Kennedys]]
*"Thirsty and Miserable" b/w "Life of Pain" - [[Black Flag (band)|Black Flag]]
*"We're Going to Live For a Very Long Time" – [[Heaven 17]]
*"We've Got a Bigger Problem Now" – [[Dead Kennedys]]
}}

==Published popular music==
* "[[9 to 5 (Dolly Parton song)|9 To 5]]" w.m. [[Dolly Parton]] from the film ''[[9 to 5 (film)|Nine to Five]]''
* "[[All Those Years Ago]]" w.m. [[George Harrison]]
* "[[Allentown (song)|Allentown]]" w.m. [[Billy Joel]]
* "Allergies" w.m. [[Paul Simon]]
* "[[America (Neil Diamond song)|America]]" w.m. [[Neil Diamond]] from the film ''[[The Jazz Singer (1980 film)|The Jazz Singer]]''
* "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" w. [[Tom Eyen]] m. [[Henry Krieger]] from the musical ''[[Dreamgirls (musical)|Dreamgirls]]''
* "Arthur's Theme" w.m. [[Carole Bayer Sager]], [[Burt Bacharach]], [[Christopher Cross]] & [[Peter Allen (musician)|Peter Allen]] from the film ''[[Arthur (1981 film)|Arthur]]''
* "At This Moment" w.m. [[Billy Vera]]
* "Baby, Come To Me" w.m. [[Rod Temperton]]
* "[[Being with You (song)|Being With You]]" w.m. [[Smokey Robinson|William "Smokey" Robinson]]
* "Believe it or Not (Theme From ''[[The Greatest American Hero]]'')" w. Stephen Geyer m. [[Mike Post]]
* "The Best of Times" w.m. [[Dennis DeYoung]]
* "[[Bette Davis Eyes]]" w. Donna Weiss m. [[Jackie DeShannon]]
* "Black Limousine" w.m. [[Mick Jagger]], [[Keith Richards]] and [[Ronnie Wood]]
* "Bruce" w.m. [[Rick Springfield]]
* "Chariots of Fire" w. [[Jon Anderson]] m. [[Vangelis]]
* "[[Dynasty (1981 TV series)|Dynasty]] theme song" m. [[Bill Conti]]
* "The First Time it Happens" w.m. [[Joe Raposo]], from the film ''[[The Great Muppet Caper]]''
* "Good Thing Going (Going Gone)"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;w.m. [[Stephen Sondheim]]
* "[[Hill Street Blues]] theme song" m. [[Mike Post]]
* "[[Key Largo (song)|Key Largo]]"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;w.m. [[Bertie Higgins]] & [[Sonny Limbo]]
* "[[Memory (Cats song)|Memory]] w. [[Trevor Nunn]] & [[T. S. Eliot]] m. [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]].  Introduced by [[Elaine Paige]] in the musical [[Cats (1981 musical)|Cats]].
* "One of the Girls" w. Fred Ebb m. John Kander introduced by [[Lauren Bacall]] in the musical ''[[Woman of the Year (musical)|Woman of the Year]]''

==Classical music==
* [[Milton Babbitt]] 
**''Don'', for piano four-hands
**''Ars Combinatoria'', for small orchestra
* [[Leonard Bernstein]] 
**''[[Olympic Hymn (Bernstein)|Olympic Hymn]]'', chorus and orchestra
* [[Rob du Bois]]
**String Quartet no. 3
**Sonata for solo viola
* [[George Crumb]] – ''Gnomic Variations'' for piano
* [[Peter Maxwell Davies]] – Piano Sonata
* [[Joël-François Durand]] – String Trio
* [[Morton Feldman]]
** ''Bass Clarinet and Percussion'', for bass clarinet, cymbals and gongs
** ''Triadic Memories'', for piano
** ''For Aaron Copland'', for violin
* [[Lorenzo Ferrero]]
** ''Balletto''
** ''Arioso II''
** ''Variazioni sulla notte'', for guitar
* [[Cristóbal Halffter]]
** ''Fantasia sobre una sonoridad de G. F. Haendel'', for string orchestra
** ''Ricercare'', for organ
* [[Bengt Hambraeus]] – ''Voluntary on a Swedish Hymn Tune from Dalecarlia''
* [[Wojciech Kilar]] – ''Exodus'', a vocal-symphonic poem for mixed choir and orchestra
* [[George Lloyd (composer)|George Lloyd]] – Tenth Symphony (for brass)
* Tome Mančev
** Symphonic Poem, for large orchestra, Op. 16
** ''Dance'', for piano and percussion, Op. 19
** ''The Year 1014'', for mixed chorus, Op. 20
** ''March of the Bicyclists'', for children's chorus
* [[Miroslav Miletić]]
** Sonatina for violin and guitar
** Sonata for viola and piano
** ''Three Popular Songs from Dalmatia'' for voice and guitar
* [[Steve Reich]] – ''[[Tehillim (Reich)|Tehillim]]''
* [[Roger Sessions]] – Concerto for Orchestra (recorded by [[Seiji Ozawa]] and the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]], and for which the composer receives the [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]])
* [[Robert Simpson (composer)|Robert Simpson]]
** Quintet for clarinet and strings
** Symphony No. 8
* [[Stanislaw Skrowaczewski]] – Clarinet Concerto
* [[Alfred Schnittke]]
** [[Symphony No. 3 (Schnittke)|Symphony No. 3]]
** ''Minnesang'', for 52 voices
** String Quartet No. 2
* [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]]
**''[[Klavierstücke (Stockhausen)#Klavierstück XIII|Klavierstück XIII]]''
**''[[Licht#Auxiliary works|Traum-Formel]]'', for basset horn

==Opera==
* [[Lorenzo Ferrero]] – ''[[La figlia del mago]]''
* [[Conrad Susa]] and [[Richard Street]] – ''Black River''
* [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] – ''[[Donnerstag aus Licht]]'' (March 15, La Scala, Milan, but without act 3, due to a choir strike; first full performance on April 3)

==[[Jazz]]==
{{Main|1981 in jazz}}

==[[Musical theater]]==
* ''[[Barnum (musical)|Barnum]]'' – [[West End theatre|London]] production opened at the [[London Palladium]] on June 11 and ran for 655 performances
* ''[[Bring Back Birdie]]'' –  Broadway production
* ''[[Cats (musical)|Cats]]'' ([[Andrew Lloyd Webber]]) – London production opened at the [[New London Theatre]] on May 11 and ran for 8949 performances
* ''[[Dreamgirls (musical)|Dreamgirls]]'' – Broadway production opened on December 20 at the [[Imperial Theatre (Broadway)|Imperial Theatre]] and ran for 1522 performances
* ''March of the Falsettoes'' – off-Broadway production
* ''[[Merrily We Roll Along (musical)|Merrily We Roll Along]]'' – Broadway production opened at the [[Alvin Theatre]] on November 16 and ran for 16 performances
* ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' – Broadway revival
* ''[[Song and Dance]]'' – London production
* ''[[Woman of the Year (musical)|Woman of the Year]]'' – Broadway production opened at the [[Palace Theatre (New York City)|Palace Theatre]] on March 29 and ran for 770 performances

==[[Musical film]]s==
* ''[[Aakkramanam]]''
* ''[[American Pop]]''
* ''[[The Great Muppet Caper]]''
* ''[[Heavy Metal (film)|Heavy Metal]]''
* ''[[Lili Marleen (film)|Lili Marleen]]''
* ''[[Nandu (film)|Nandu]]''
* ''[[Pennies from Heaven (1981 film)|Pennies from Heaven]]''
* ''[[Shock Treatment]]''

==Births==
*[[January 2]] - [[JT Daly]],  American indie rock musician, producer, songwriter, and visual artist (K Flay, [[Demi Lovato]]) 
*[[January 3]] – [[Sun Park]], South Korean-Australian actress and singer ([[Hi-5 (Australian group)|Hi-5]])
*[[January 4]] – [[Silvy De Bie]], Belgian singer 
*[[January 5]] – [[Carmen Monarcha]], Brazilian operatic soprano
*[[January 7]] – [[Ania (singer)|Ania]], Polish singer-songwriter and composer
*[[January 9]] – [[Dean Saunders (singer) |Dean Saunders]], Dutch singer
* [[January 10]] – [[Brian Joo]], American-South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, and television host ([[Fly To The Sky]])
* [[January 11]] – [[Jamelia]], English-Jamaican R&B singer and actress
* [[January 14]] – [[Rosa López]], Spanish singer
*[[January 15]] 
**[[Howie Day]], American singer-songwriter 
**[[Pitbull (rapper)|Pitbull]], Cuban-American rapper
*[[January 16]]
**[[Marta Roure]], Andorran singer and actress
**[[Mỹ Tâm]], Vietnamese singer and songwriter
*[[January 17]] – [[Ray J]], American rapper
*[[January 19]] – [[Thaila Zucchi]], British singer and actress ([[allSTARS*]])
*[[January 21]] 
** [[Andy Lee (South Korean singer)|Andy Lee]], South Korean singer and actor ([[Shinhwa]])
** [[Floor Jansen]], Dutch singer, songwriter, and vocal coach. 
** [[Jung Ryeo-won]], Australian-South Korean singer ([[Chakra (group)|Chakra]])
*[[January 22]] 
**[[Willa Ford]], American pop singer-songwriter, model, musician and actress
**[[Ben Moody]], American guitarist ([[Evanescence]])
*[[January 25]] 
**[[Alicia Keys]], American singer-songwriter, record producer, pianist, actress and activist
**[[Toše Proeski]], Macedonian singer and songwriter (d. [[2007 in music|2007]])
*[[January 26]] – [[Gustavo Dudamel]], Venezuelan conductor
*[[January 28]] – [[Gen Hoshino]], Japanese singer
*[[January 29]] – [[Jonny Lang]], American blues artist
*[[January 31]] – [[Justin Timberlake]], American singer ([[NSYNC]]), collaborator with [[Britney Spears]] (Married to [[Jessica Biel]], Worked with [[JC Chasez]]) 
*[[February 1]] – [[Jay R Sillona]], Filipino singer
*[[February 3]] - [[Micah P. Hinson]]  an American Americana singer and guitarist and recording artist 
*[[February 5]] – [[Zameer Rizvi]], Canadian singer/songwriter, composer and record producer
*[[February 6]] – [[Shim Eun-jin]], South Korean singer and actress ([[Baby Vox]])
*[[February 9]] 
**[[Tom Hiddleston]], English actor, film producer and musician (Taylor Swift)
**[[The Rev]], American musician ([[Avenged Sevenfold]]) (d. [[2009 in music|2009]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-jim-the-rev-sullivan30-2009dec30-story.html|title=James 'The Rev' Sullivan dies at 28; drummer for heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold|last=Lewis|first=Randy|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=December 30, 2009|access-date=January 6, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527160631/http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-jim-the-rev-sullivan30-2009dec30-story.html|archive-date=May 27, 2016}}</ref>
*[[February 10]] – [[Natasha St-Pier]], Canadian singer
*[[February 11]] – [[Kelly Rowland]] American singer-songwriter, member of [[Destiny's Child]]
*[[February 12]] – [[Lisa Hannigan]], Irish singer-songwriter, musician and voice actress.
*[[February 15]]  
**[[Matt Hoopes]], musician, guitarist and singer-songwriter, ([[Relient K]])
**[[Olivia (singer)|Olivia]], American singer-songwriter and actress
*[[February 17]] – [[Paris Hilton]], American singer-songwriter, DJ, YouTuber and writer (Friend of [[Britney Spears]]) 
*[[February 18]] – [[Kamasi Washington]], American crossover jazz saxophonist
*[[February 19]] – [[Beth Ditto]], American singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur  (Gossip) 
*[[February 24]] – [[Park Jung-ah]], South Korean actress, singer, entertainer and radio DJ ([[Jewelry (group)|Jewelry]])
*[[February 26]] – [[Sharon Van Etten]], American singer-songwriter and actress
*[[February 27]] – [[Josh Groban]], American crossover singer-songwriter
*[[March 1]] – [[Adam LaVorgna]], American actor
*[[March 3]]
**[[Tobias Forge]], Swedish musician
**[[Shatha Hassoun]], Iraqi singer
**[[Cristina Scarlat]], Moldovan singer  
*[[March 7]] – [[Anna Leese]], New Zealand operatic soprano
*[[March 9]] – [[Chad Gilbert]], American musician, singer-songwriter ([[New Found Glory]])
*[[March 11]]
**[[Russell Lissack]] ([[Bloc Party]])
**[[LeToya Luckett]] ([[Destiny's Child]])
**[[Paul Wall]], American rapper and DJ
* [[March 14]] - [[Katarína Knechtová]],  Slovak singer-songwriter and guitarist
* [[March 15]] – [[Young Buck]], American rapper ([[G-Unit]])
* [[March 16]] - [[Danny Brown]], American rapper, singer and songwriter
* [[March 18]] - [[LP (singer)]], American singer and songwriter
* [[March 18]] – [[Jang Na-ra]], South Korean actress and singer
* [[March 19]] – [[Kim Rae-won]], South Korean actor
*[[March 20]] – [[Declan Bennett]], English singer-songwriter
*[[March 26]]
**[[Anaïs Mitchell]], American singer-songwriter, producer and musician (Rachel Ries, Jefferson Hamer,  Ani DiFranco, Justin Vernon, Greg Brown and Ben Knox Miller)
**[[Jay Sean]], British singer-songwriter 
*[[March 27]] – [[JJ Lin]], Singaporean singer
*[[March 28]] - [[Michael Sarver]], American singer
*[[March 29]]
**[[Megan Hilty]], American singer
**[[PJ Morton]], American musician ([[Maroon 5]])
**[[Willie Taylor]], American R&B singer ([[Day26]])
*[[April 1]]
**[[Theresa Sokyrka]], ''[[Canadian Idol]] 2'' runner-up
**[[Hannah Spearritt]], English singer and actress ([[S Club 7]])
*[[April 2]] – [[Raghav]], Canadian singer  
*[[April 5]] – [[Mariqueen Maandig]], Filipino-American musician and singer-songwriter ([[How to Destroy Angels (band)|How To Destroy Angels]], [[West Indian Girl]], [[Trent Reznor]]) 
*[[April 6]] – [[Aidonia]], Jamaican dancehall artist
*[[April 7]] – [[Vanessa Olivarez]], American singer
*[[April 8]] – [[Gummy (singer)|Gummy]], Korean singer
* [[April 8]] – [[Melanie Münch]], German singer ([[Groove Coverage]])
*[[April 9]] - [[Geneviève Castrée]], a Canadian cartoonist, illustrator, and musician from Quebec. (D. 2016) (Married to [[Phil Elverum]])
*[[April 10]] 
**[[Laura Bell Bundy]], American actress and singer
**[[Liz McClarnon]], English singer ([[Atomic Kitten]])
*[[April 12]] – [[Fahad Al Kubaisi]], Qatari singer and activist
*[[April 16]] – [[Loulou Lamotte]], Swedish singer-songwriter ([[The Mamas]])
*[[April 17]] – [[Hanna Pakarinen]], Finnish singer
* [[April 21]] – [[Mike Christie (singer)|Mike Christie]], English singer-songwriter, composer and baritone ([[G4 (group)|G4]])
*[[April 26]] – [[Ms. Dynamite]], English rapper and singer
*[[April 27]] 
**[[Sandy Mölling]], German pop singer
**[[Fabrizio Faniello]], Maltese pop singer
*[[April 28]] – [[Jessica Alba]], American actress and businesswoman
*[[April 29]] – [[Tom Smith (Editors musician)|Tom Smith]] (Editors)
*[[April 30]] – [[Justin Vernon]], American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and producer ([[Bon Iver]], [[Taylor Swift]]'s [[Folklore (Taylor Swift album)|Folklore]] and [[Evermore (Taylor Swift album)|Evermore]]) 
*[[May 3]] 
**[[Farrah Franklin]], American singer-songwriter, actress ([[Destiny's Child]])
**[[Father John Misty]], American singer-songwriter, guitarist, drummer and record producer
*[[May 4]] – [[Dallon Weekes]], American singer, songwriter, musician and producer (Of Bands: [[Panic! At The Disco]], & [[I Dont Know How but They Found Me]])
*[[May 5]] 
**[[Jesse Colburn]], Canadian guitarist and songwriter 
**[[Craig David]], British singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer
*[[May 12]] 
**[[Hannah Ild]], Estonian singer-songwriter and pianist
**[[Kim Tae-woo (singer)|Kim Tae-woo]], South Korean singer ([[g.o.d]])
*[[May 13]] - [[Mozella]], American songwriter and singer
*[[May 15]] – [[Jamie-Lynn Sigler]], American actress and singer
*[[May 16]] - [[Brooke McClymont]], Australian singer-songwriter, musician and guitarist (sister of [[Samantha McClymont]]) 
*[[May 17]] 
**[[R. J. Helton]], American singer
**[[Shiri Maimon]], Israeli singer, television personality and actress
*[[May 19]] - [[Yo Gotti]], American rapper
*[[May 20]] 
**[[Sean Conlon]], English pop singer ([[Five (group)|5ive]])
**[[Rachel Platten]], American singer-songwriter
*[[May 21]] – [[Stig van Eijk]], singer, composer and lyricist
*[[May 22]] – [[Su-Elise Nash]], English singer ([[Mis-Teeq]])
*[[May 23]] 
**[[Dessa]], American rapper, singer, spoken word artist, writer and record executive
**[[Pierre Lapointe]], Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player 
**[[Gwenno Saunders]], Welsh singer and dancer ([[The Pipettes]])
*[[May 25]] - [[Autumn Rowe]], American singer-songwriter, TV personality, DJ and activist 
*[[May 26]] 
**[[Eda-Ines Etti]], Estonian singer and songwriter
**[[Zakes Bantwini]], South African singer, record producer and businessman
**[[Issac Slade]], American singer ([[The Fray]])
*[[May 28]] - [[Victoria Legrand]], French-American musician ([[Beach House]])
*[[May 30]] – [[Devendra Banhart]], Venezuelan American singer-songwriter and visual artist
*[[May 31]] – [[Yoon Mi-rae]], American-South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter and producer ([[Uptown (band)|Uptown]])
*[[June 1]] – [[Brandi Carlile]], American folk rock and Americana singer-songwriter
*[[June 2]] 
**[[Brandon Jenner]], indie pop musician (Brandon & Leah)
**[[Catherine Manoukian]], Canadian violinist
**[[Seo Ji-young]], South Korean singer ([[Sharp (South Korean band)|Sharp]])
*[[June 7]] – [[Dave Catching]], American guitarist, songwriter and producer ([[Earthlings?]] and [[Mondo Generator]])
*[[June 8]] – [[Alex Band]], American rock singer-songwriter ([[The Calling (band)|The Calling]])
*[[June 9]]  
** [[Vic Chou]], Taiwanese actor, singer and model
**[[Anoushka Shankar]], British Indian sitar player
*[[June 10]] – [[Hoku Ho]], Hawaiian singer and musician  
*[[June 15]] – [[Billy Martin (guitarist)]], American guitarist
*[[June 17]] – [[Ken the 390]], Japanese rapper
*[[June 20]] – [[Alisan Porter]],  American singer, winner of season 10 of ''[[The Voice (U.S. TV series)|The Voice]]'' (US)
*[[June 21]]
** [[Christina Cewe]], American singer
** [[Brandon Flowers]], American singer-songwriter, musician, Multi-instrumentalist, advocate, member of ([[The Killers]])
*[[June 23]]
**[[Mikey Bustos]], Filipino-Canadian singer and entertainer
**[[Antony Costa]] ([[Blue (boy band)|Blue]])
**[[Shi Xin Hui]], Malaysian singer
*[[June 28]] 
**[[Michael Crafter]], Australian singer-songwriter ([[Confession (band)|Confession]], [[I Killed the Prom Queen]], [[Carpathian (band)|Carpathian]] and [[Bury Your Dead]])
**[[Savage (rapper)|Savage]] (AKA Demetrius Savelio) New Zealand born Samoan rapper
*[[June 30]] – [[Andy Knowles]], English director and artist
*[[July 1]] – [[Clemency Burton-Hill]], English classical music broadcast presenter
*[[July 3]] – [[Hayley Holt]], New Zealand snowboarder, host and ballroom dancer 
*[[July 6]] – [[Emily West]], American singer-songwriter and guitarist
*[[July 7]] 
**[[Synyster Gates]], American musician ([[Avenged Sevenfold]])
**[[Omar Naber]], Slovenian singer, songwriter and musician
*[[July 8]] 
** [[Oka Antara]], Indonesian rapper and actor 
** [[Dagmar Oja]], Estonian singer 
*[[July 12]]
** [[Rebecca Hunter]], English pop singer ([[allSTARS*]]) and actress
** [[Maya Sar]], Bosnian singer
*[[July 14]] – [[Milow]], Belgian singer-songwriter 
*[[July 15]] – [[OC Ukeje]], Nigerian actor, model and musician 
*[[July 19]] – [[Zolani Mahola]], South African singer-songwriter and actress ([[Freshlyground]])
*[[July 20]]
** [[Lowkey (American rapper)|Lowkey]], American rapper and producer
** [[Dayang Nurfaizah]], Malaysian singer  
*[[July 21]] 
**[[Paloma Faith]], English singer-songwriter
**[[Blake Lewis]], ''[[American Idol]] 6'' runner-up
**[[Claudette Ortiz]], American singer and model ([[City High]])
*[[July 22]] – [[Anthony Santos]], American singer-songwriter and composer
*[[July 25]] – [[Kizito Mihigo]], Rwandan gospel singer, organist and peace activist (d. [[2020 in music|2020]])<ref name=edge20200217>{{cite news|url=https://edge.ug/2020/02/17/rwanda-musician-kizito-mihigo-dies-in-prison/|title=Rwanda musician Kizito Mihigo dies in prison|date=17 February 2020|newspaper=edge.ug|access-date=May 23, 2021|archive-date=February 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218181649/http://edge.ug/2020/02/17/rwanda-musician-kizito-mihigo-dies-in-prison/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[July 31]] 
** [[Mesut Kurtis]], British Turkish Islamic singer
** [[Ira Losco]], Maltese singer
** [[M. Shadows]], American singer-songwriter and musician ([[Avenged Sevenfold]])
*[[August 1]] – [[Vaiko Eplik]], Estonian singer-songwriter
*[[August 3]] - [[Scroobius Pip]],  English actor and podcaster as well as a spoken word poet and hip hop recording artist from Stanford-le-Hope, Essex. ([[Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip]]) 
*[[August 4]] – [[Florian Silbereisen]], German singer and television presenter
*[[August 5]] – [[Ko Shibasaki]], Japanese singer and actress  
*[[August 6]] – [[Leslie Odom Jr.]], American singer and actor 
*[[August 8]]
**[[Vanessa Amorosi]], Australian singer-songwriter, musician, guitarist and rock star (Dave Stewart) 
**[[Bradley McIntosh]], English pop singer ([[S Club 7]])
**[[Kaori Iida]], Japanese singer and actress  
*[[August 10]] – [[Natsumi Abe]], Japanese singer ([[Morning Musume]])
*[[August 11]]
**[[Sandi Thom]], Scottish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
**[[Fiona Sit]], Hong Kong singer and actress
* [[August 21]] – [[Jenilca Giusti]], Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actress
*[[August 24]] – [[Jiro Wang]], Taiwanese actor and singer ([[Fahrenheit (Taiwanese band)|Fahrenheit]])
*[[August 28]] – [[Iracema Trevisan]] ([[CSS (band)|Cansei de Ser Sexy]])
*[[September 4]] 
**[[Beyoncé]], American singer-songwriter, dancer and actress   
**[[Lacey Sturm]], American singer-songwriter ([[Flyleaf (band)|Flyleaf]])
*[[September 6]] – [[Yumiko Cheng]], Hong Kong singer 
*[[September 7]] – [[Do (singer)|Do]], Dutch singer
* [[September 11]] – [[Mark Rhodes]], English singer and television presenter ([[Sam & Mark]])
*[[September 12]] – [[Jennifer Hudson]], American singer
*[[September 13]] – [[EJay Day]], American singer
*[[September 14]] – [[Ashley Roberts]] American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress, model, presenter and television personality ([[The Pussycat Dolls]])
*[[September 16]] – [[Nazril Irham]], Indonesian singer  
*[[September 18]] – [[Jesse Frasure]], American music publisher, record producer, songwriter and DJ
*[[September 20]] – [[Keith Semple]], English boy band ([[One True Voice]])
*[[September 23]] – [[Natalie Horler]], German singer, songwriter and television presenter ([[Cascada]])
*[[September 25]] 
** [[Perfume Genius]], American indie EDM musician, singer-songwriter and artist
** [[Shane Tutmarc]], American producer, songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist. ([[Jessica Lea Mayfield]], [[Tristen Gaspadarek]])
*[[September 26]] 
** [[Christina Milian]], American singer-songwriter, dancer and actress
** [[Aras Baskauskas]], Yogi, musician and reality TV personality, worked musically under name: Odd Us
*[[September 29]] – [[Suzanne Shaw]], English singer ([[Hear'Say]]) and actress
*[[October 1]] – [[Tom Donnelly (rugby union)|Tom Donnelly]], New Zealand rugby union 
*[[October 4]] – [[Friðrik Ómar]], Icelandic singer ([[Eurobandið]])
*[[October 5]] – [[Breakbot]], producer and DJ
*[[October 8]] – [[Ruby (Egyptian singer)|Ruby]], Egyptian singer
*[[October 10]] – [[Una Healy]], Irish singer ([[The Saturdays]])
*[[October 13]] 
** [[Doveman]], American singer, pianist and producer
** [[Kele Okereke]], Kele, English musician ([[Bloc Party]])
*[[October 14]] – [[Ruslan Alekhno]], Russian-Belarusian singer
*[[October 15]] 
**[[Nick White (musician)|Nick White]] ([[Tilly and the Wall]])
**[[Keyshia Cole]], American singer, songwriter, television personality and actress
*[[October 19]] – [[Christian Bautista]], Filipino singer, actor, host and model
*[[October 23]] – [[Shoo (singer)|Yoo Soo-young]], South Korean singer ([[S.E.S. (group)|S.E.S.]])
*[[October 25]] – [[Josh Henderson]], American actor, singer and model
*[[October 26]] – [[Guy Sebastian]], Australian singer-songwriter
*[[October 29]] – [[Angelika Dela Cruz]], Filipina actress and singer<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pinoystop.com/bio/celebrity-profile/517/angelika-dela-cruz-biography|title=Angelika Dela Cruz Biography – PINOYSTOP|website=PinoyStop|access-date=4 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208170830/http://www.pinoystop.com/bio/celebrity-profile/517/angelika-dela-cruz-biography|archive-date=8 December 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[October 31]] – [[Frank Iero]], American rock guitarist ([[My Chemical Romance]])
*[[November 1]] 
**[[Tommy Karevik]],  Swedish metal vocalist ([[Kamelot]], [[Seventh Wonder]], [[Ayreon]])
**[[LaTavia Roberson]], American R&B singer-songwriter ([[Destiny's Child]])
*[[November 2]] - [[Ai (singer)|Ai]],  a Japanese-American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, spokeswoman, and actress.
*[[November 7]] – [[Krystal Harris]], American singer-songwriter 
*[[November 11]] – [[Natalie Glebova]], Canadian author
*[[November 13]] – [[Shawn Yue]], Hong Kong actor and singer
*[[November 16]] – [[Kate Miller-Heidke]], Australian crossover singer-songwriter and actress
*[[November 17]] – [[Sarah Harding]], English pop singer-songwriter, dancer, model and actress ([[Girls Aloud]]) (d. [[2021 in music|2021]])
*[[November 18]] – [[Shin Ji]], South Korean singer ([[Koyote]])
*[[November 20]] 
**[[Scott Hutchison]], Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist and artist (d. [[2018 in music|2018]])
**[[Kimberley Walsh]], English pop singer-songwriter ([[Girls Aloud]])
*[[November 22]] 
**[[Ben Adams]], English pop singer-songwriter ([[A1 (band)|A1]])
**[[Jenny Owen Youngs]], American singer-songwriter  
*[[November 26]] – [[Natasha Bedingfield]], English singer-songwriter
*[[November 30]] – [[Mavado (singer)|Mavado]], Jamaican deejay and singer-songwriter
*[[December 2]] – [[Britney Spears]], American singer-songwriter, dancer, performer, musician, author, activist, advocate, businesswoman, and clothes designer
*[[December 9]] – [[Camoflauge]], American rapper (d. [[2003 in music|2003]])
* [[December 10]] – [[Paula Vesala]], Finnish singer-songwriter
*[[December 11]] – [[Zacky Vengeance]], heavy metal rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist ([[Avenged Sevenfold]])
*[[December 13]]
**[[Gary Innes]], Scottish accordionist, shinty player and broadcaster
**[[Amy Lee]], American singer-songwriter, harpist, pianist, musician, multi instrumentalist and activist ([[Evanescence]])
*[[December 16]] 
**[[Gaby Moreno]], Guatemalan singer
**[[Krysten Ritter]], American musician and actress
*[[December 17]]
** [[Wacław Kiełtyka]], Polish musician and composer
** [[Houari Manar]], Algerian [[raï]] singer (d. [[2019 in music|2019]])
** [[S3RL]], Australian Hardcore DJ
* [[December 18]] – [[Aline Wirley]], Brazilian actress and singer-songwriter
* [[December 19]] – [[Sam Bloom]], English singer and actor
*[[December 21]] – [[Lynda Thomas]], Mexican musician, singer-songwriter, [[Eurodance]] and [[alternative rock]] musician
*[[December 23]] – [[Beth (singer)|Beth]], Spanish singer and actress
*[[December 26]] – [[Seorak]], South Korean singer and VJ
*[[December 27]] – [[Lise Darly]], French singer
*[[December 28]] – [[Frank Turner]], English punk and folk singer-songwriter
*[[December 30]] – [[K.Will]], South Korean singer

==Deaths==
*[[January 1]] – [[Hephzibah Menuhin]], pianist and human rights campaigner, 60
*[[January 4]] – [[Ruth Lowe]], pianist and songwriter, 66
*[[January 23]] – [[Samuel Barber]], composer, 70
*[[January 25]] – [[Adele Astaire]], US dancer, actress and singer, 84
*[[February 1]]
**[[Frank Merrick]], pianist
**[[Geirr Tveitt]], Norwegian composer, 72
**[[Ernst Pepping]], composer, 79
*[[February 9]] – [[Bill Haley (musician)|Bill Haley]], [[rock and roll]] pioneer, 55 (heart attack)
*[[February 15]] 
**[[Mike Bloomfield]], [[blues]] guitarist, 37 (accidental drug overdose)
**[[Karl Richter (conductor)|Karl Richter]], German organist and conductor, 54
*[[February 19]] – [[Olive Gilbert]], actress and singer, 82
*[[February 21]] – [[Ron Grainer]], electronic music pioneer and composer, 58
*[[February 26]] – [[Howard Hanson]], composer, 84
*[[April 5]]
**[[Bob Hite]], vocalist ([[Canned Heat]]), 38 (heart attack)
**[[Maurice Zbriger]], violinist, composer and conductor, 84
*[[April 7]] – [[Kit Lambert]], former manager and producer of [[The Who]], 45 (fell downstairs)
*[[April 8]] – [[Burt Shevelove]], [[librettist]], 66
*[[April 14]] – [[Ivan Galamian]], violin teacher, 78
*[[April 28]] – [[Steve Currie]], bassist of [[T. Rex (band)|T.Rex]], 33 (car crash)
*[[May 11]] – [[Bob Marley]], reggae musician, 36 (cancer)
*[[May 25]] – [[Roy Brown (blues musician)|Roy Brown]], blues singer, 55
*[[May 28]] – [[Mary Lou Williams]], jazz pianist, 71
*[[July 1]] – [[Rushton Moreve]], US bass player and songwriter ([[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]]), 32
*[[July 16]] – [[Harry Chapin]], US singer-songwriter, 38 (car crash)
*[[July 29]] – [[Sydney Kyte]], British bandleader and violinist, 85
*[[August 18]] – [[Robert Russell Bennett]], composer and arranger, 87
*[[August 26]] – [[Lee Hays]], folk singer, 67
*[[September 2]] – [[Tadeusz Baird]], composer, 53
*[[September 8]] – [[Master Venu]], film composer, 65
*[[September 14]] – [[Furry Lewis]], country blues guitarist and songwriter, 88
*[[September 15]] – [[Chick Bullock]], US singer, 72
*[[September 22]] – Henry Warren, film songwriter, 87
*[[October 2]] – [[Hazel Scott]], classical pianist and singer, 61
*[[October 5]] – [[Sven Gyldmark]], film composer, 77
*[[October 13]] – [[Marius Casadesus]], violinist and composer, 88
*[[October 15]] – [[Elsie Randolph]], English actress, dancer and singer, 77
*[[October 29]] – [[Georges Brassens]], singer-songwriter, 60
*[[November 27]] – [[Lotte Lenya]], actress and singer, wife of [[Kurt Weill]], 83
*[[December 13]] – [[Cornelius Cardew]], [[avant-garde]] composer, 45 (road accident)
*[[December 27]] – [[Hoagy Carmichael]], pianist, singer and songwriter, 82

==Awards==

===[[Grammy]] Awards===
* [[Grammy Awards of 1981]]

===[[Country Music Association]] Awards===
* [[1981 Country Music Association Awards]]

===[[Eurovision Song Contest]]===
* [[Eurovision Song Contest 1981]]

===[[Japan Record Awards]]===
*[[22nd Japan Record Awards]]

==Charts==

===[[List of Number 1 Hits (United States)|List of No. 1 Hits]]===
* [[List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1981|List of ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one singles of 1981]]

==See also==
{{Commons category}}
* [[Timeline of musical events]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1981 In Music}}
[[Category:1981 in music| ]]
[[Category:20th century in music]]
[[Category:Music by year]]