For some reason, the 1980s don’t seem that long ago, but it’s been over 40 years since the decade of disco, big hair, and glam began.
1983, in particular, was crucial to the founding of thrash metal, as Metallica rounded out their official line-up and released their debut album. Kill them all. Slayer also released its first record show no mercy Later that year, after being fired from Metallica, Dave Mustaine formed Megadeth.
But there were also some key moments in the world of rock and roll. Nearly a decade after performing their first show, the members of KISS showed their faces without makeup for the first time. A rather famous rocker killed his mother during an episode of schizophrenia. Metal was his first album to reach number one on his charts.
We’ve rounded up some of the most important rock and metal moments from 1983 so you can go back in time and see what was happening in music 40 years ago. To keep the list simple, band formations and album releases are not included, except for one.
Scroll down to see what happened in the rock and metal world in 1983.
The Biggest Rock + Metal Moments of 1983
These were rock and metal’s biggest events of 1983.
Top 80 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the 1980s