1976 in heavy metal music

This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1976.

Bands formed

• Accept
• Angel Witch (as Lucifer)
• Black Flag
• Bronz
• Chrome
• Citron
• Crys
• Diamond Head ^[1]
• Ethel the Frog
• Foreigner
• Heavy Load
• Kick Axe
• Līvi
• Marseille
• McCoy
• Mentors
• The Obsessed
• Paice Ashton Lord
• Pat Travers
• Ratt
• Rose Tattoo
• Running Wild (as Granite Hearts)
• Sorcery
• Spider
• Sister
• The Clash
• The Godz
• Thor
• Zoetrope

Bands disbanded

• Deep Purple (reformed in 1984)
• New York Dolls
• Steppenwolf

Events

• "Fast" Eddie Clarke became the second guitarist for Motörhead. Shortly after his arrival, the original guitarist Larry Wallis departed, returning the band to a trio, which is now recognized as the "classic line-up".
• Uriah Heep parted ways with their original vocalist, David Byron, due to his struggles with heavy drinking.
• Guitarist Dave Murray joined Iron Maiden.

Deaths

• December 4 – Thomas Richard "Tommy" Bolin, former guitarist of Zephyr, James Gang, and Deep Purple, died from an overdose of heroin and other substances, including alcohol, cocaine and barbiturates at the age of 25.

Albums

• Krokus – Krokus
• Lucifer's Friend – Mind Exploding
• Moxy – Moxy II
• Y&T – Yesterday & Today

January

Day	Artist	Album
30	Bad Company	Run with the Pack
	Black Sabbath	We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll [2]
	Golden Earring	To the Hilt
	Grand Funk Railroad	Born to Die

February

Day	Artist	Album
2	Lynyrd Skynyrd	Gimme Back My Bullets
7	James Gang	Jesse Come Home
16	Sweet	Give Us a Wink

March

Day	Artist	Album
15	Kiss	Destroyer [3]
26	Judas Priest	Sad Wings of Destiny [4]
	Thin Lizzy	Jailbreak [5]
31	Led Zeppelin	Presence [6]
	Buffalo	Mother's Choice
	Nazareth	Close Enough for Rock 'n' Roll
	Rush	2112 [7]
	Wishbone Ash	Locked In

April

Day	Artist	Album
15	Van der Graaf Generator	Still Life
23	Jethro Tull	Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!
	Ramones	Ramones
	Budgie	If I Were Brittania I'd Waive the Rules

May

Day	Artist	Album
3	Aerosmith	Rocks [8]
14	AC/DC	High Voltage (international version) [9]
17	Rainbow	Rising [10]
21	Blue Öyster Cult	Agents of Fortune [11]
	UFO	No Heavy Petting [12]
	Uriah Heep	High and Mighty

June

Day	Artist	Album
25	Alice Cooper	Alice Cooper Goes to Hell [13]

August

Day	Artist	Album
9	Grand Funk Railroad	Good Singin', Good Playin'
25	Boston	Boston [14]
27	Hawkwind	Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music
	Taste	Tickle Your Fancy

September

Day	Artist	Album
20	AC/DC	Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap [15]
29	Rush	All the World's a Stage
	Montrose	Jump on It
	Ted Nugent	Free-for-All [16]

October

Day	Artist	Album
22	Led Zeppelin	The Song Remains the Same [17]
	Black Sabbath	Technical Ecstasy
	Thin Lizzy	Johnny the Fox [18]
	Styx	Crystal Ball
	Van der Graaf Generator	World Record
	Wishbone Ash	New England

November

Day	Artist	Album
11	Kiss	Rock and Roll Over [19]
22	Scorpions	Virgin Killer [20]
	Deep Purple	Made in Europe (live album)
	Nazareth	Play 'n' the Game

December

Day	Artist	Album
10	Queen	A Day at the Races [21]
	Bow Wow	吼えろ! バウワウ (Hoero! Bow Wow)

References

1. "Diamond Head Bio". Allmusic . Retrieved 2009-05-08.
2. "January LP Guide" (PDF). Music Week . 10 January 1976. p. 20. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
3. "Destroyer". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
4. "Sad Wings of Destiny". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
5. "Jailbreak". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
6. "Presence". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
7. "Mercury Releases Two," Record World, March 20, 1976, p. 61.
8. "Rocks". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
9. "High Voltage". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
10. Popoff, Martin (2020). Sensitive to Light (second ed.). Wymer Publishing. p. 305. ISBN   978-1-912782-40-6.
11. "Agents of Fortune". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
12. "No Heavy Petting". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
13. "Alice Cooper Goes to Hell". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
14. All time top HM albums
15. "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
16. "Free-for-All". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
17. "BPI certifications".
18. "Johnny the Fox". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
19. "Rock and Roll Over". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
20. "Virgin Killer". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
21. "A Day at the Races". Allmusic . Retrieved 2008-04-25.

Preceded by 1975

Heavy Metal Timeline 1976

Succeeded by 1977