Events in 1988
- Tom Parker, singer with The Wanted, was born in Bolton, England.
- Guns N' Roses reached No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with their debut album “Appetite for Destruction” after 57 weeks on the chart. At the time it reached the top, more than 5 million copies had been sold, and the singles “Sweet Child O' Mine,” “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Paradise City” all reached the U.S. Top 10. Worldwide sales of the album later exceeded 28 million copies.
- Thanks to its inclusion on the soundtrack of “Dirty Dancing,” The Contours' 1962 hit “Do You Love Me” returned to the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 11. When originally released, the song reached No. 3 on the pop chart and No. 1 on the R&B chart.
- Yazz and the Plastic Population began a five-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “The Only Way Is Up.” The song also reached No. 1 in Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden, and was originally released as the title track of an album by soul singer Otis Clay in 1982.
- Edie Brickell & New Bohemians released their debut album “Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars.”
- The album Hysteria returned to No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and began its second period at the top of the chart.
- Def Leppard played the first of two concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado as part of the promotion for the album Hysteria.
- The guitarist died at the age of 48 in Fairfax, Virginia, after hanging himself with his own T-shirt in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, where he had been detained for intoxication. His death was ruled a suicide, although friends and family disputed this conclusion. He released more than 15 solo albums, and in 1975 Jeff Beck dedicated the song “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” to him on the album Blow by Blow.
- KISS performed at the Marquee Club in London during their 129-date Crazy Nights tour.
- Rapper Joyner Lucas, whose real name is Gary Maurice Lucas Jr., was born in Worcester, Massachusetts.
- To mark the 100th anniversary of the jukebox, the Amusement and Music Operators Association announced that Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” and Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” had been named the most-played songs on jukeboxes during their first 100 years of existence. The jukebox had been in operation since 1906, while its earliest predecessors appeared as early as 1889.
- Elton John reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with “I Don't Wanna' Go On With You Like That”. Steve Winwood spent his fourth week at No. 1 with “Roll With It”. George Michael moved from No. 8 to No. 2 with “Monkey”, Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine were at No. 3, and Elton John also had “I Don't Wanna' Go On With You Like That” at No. 4. Chicago were at No. 5, Breathe at No. 6, Terence Trent D'Arby at No. 8, and “Sweet Child O' Mine” by Guns N' Roses and “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman entered the Top 10.
- Two fans died during Guns N' Roses' performance at the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England. Singer Axl Rose had previously urged the crowd not to kill one another. Because of the wet surface and a record attendance of 107,000 people, a crowd surge occurred during the performance and two fans were trampled or crushed to death.
- Iron Maiden, KISS, David Lee Roth, Megadeth, Guns N' Roses and Helloween performed at the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England. Despite bad weather before the festival, more than 107,000 people attended. Two rock fans died during Guns N' Roses' performance while slam dancing.
- Soundgarden performed at Capitol Lake Park in Olympia, Washington, as part of the Capitol Lake Jam festival. Nirvana were also on the bill.
- Steve Winwood reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 with his fifth solo studio album, “Roll with It”, which became his first and only album to top the chart. The title track also reached No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart. The album became one of his most commercially successful releases and sold more than three million copies.
- American country singer and multi-instrumentalist Kacey Musgraves was born in Golden, Texas. At the age of eight, she wrote her first song, “Notice Me”, for her elementary school graduation ceremony. She is the recipient of several Grammy Awards.
- The television documentary Aretha Franklin: Queen of Soul was broadcast on PBS.
- The band Good Question released their self-titled debut album.
- English singer, songwriter and actress Alexandra Burke was born. In 2008 she won the British talent competition The X Factor. Her winning single “Hallelujah” became the fastest-selling single in Europe within 24 hours and was the UK's best-selling single of 2008 as well as the Christmas number one.
- Guns N' Roses shortened the extensive Use Your Illusion project and split it into two albums.
- Metallica released their fourth studio album “...And Justice for All”, which included “One” and “To Live Is To Die” and represented their final project before a significant change in their early musical style.
- Billboard introduced the New Age Albums chart. The first album to reach No. 1 was pianist David Lanz's “Cristofori's Dream”.
- George Michael reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Monkey”. It was his fourth consecutive single from the album “Faith” to reach the top of the US chart, and his fourth US No. 1 in 1988. It was his eighth US No. 1 single of the 1980s, surpassed only by Michael Jackson.
- Kylie Minogue began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK album chart with her debut studio album “Kylie”. At the age of 20, she became the youngest female artist to reach the top of the UK album chart. The record stood until 2003, when eighteen-year-old Avril Lavigne reached the top with “Let Go”.
- Tracy Chapman's debut album reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 for one week. The song “Fast Car” from the album reached No. 6 on the US chart. At the following Grammy Awards, Chapman won awards for Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best New Artist, while “Fast Car” won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
- Kylie Minogue set a new British record when her debut album “Kylie” became the best-selling album by a female artist in Britain, with sales of almost two million copies. The album was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, who also wrote nine of its ten tracks. Six singles were released from the album, including “I Should Be So Lucky”, which reached No. 1 in both Australia and the UK.
- Metallica released the single “Harvester of Sorrow”.
- Michael Jackson performed at Roundhay Park in Leeds, England.
- Bruce Springsteen’s wife Julianne filed for divorce after newspapers published photographs of Springsteen together with backing singer Patti Scialfa.
- Danzig, fronted by former Misfits singer Glenn Danzig, released their self-titled debut album, produced by Rick Rubin. The song “Mother” became a minor hit when it was reissued five years later.
- Michael Jackson performed at Roundhay Park in Leeds, England.
- The cookbook “Rock N' Roll Cuisine” was published and contained 95 recipes from various musicians, including “Dream Soup” by Yoko Ono, “Boyfriend Approved Macaroni Salad” by Cher, Mick Jagger's shrimp curry and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich by “Weird Al” Yankovic.