1979 in heavy metal music

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This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1979.

Bands formed

In the May issue of Sounds magazine, music journalist Geoff Barton wrote about the emerging scene at the Bandwagon Rock Club in Kingsbury, North London. It was in this article that the term "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" was first introduced, coined by Sounds editor Alan Lewis.
Black Sabbath parted ways with lead singer Ozzy Osbourne due to his persistent drug abuse issues. He was replaced by Ronnie James Dio.
Tensions within Aerosmith reached a boiling point when lead singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry engaged in a heated confrontation after a show in Cleveland, leading Perry to depart from the band.
Dennis Stratton joined Iron Maiden as the second guitarist, while Clive Burr took over drumming duties, replacing Doug Sampson.
Guitarist Michael Schenker departed from Scorpions, and Matthias Jabs was brought in as his permanent replacement.

February 2 – John Simon Ritchie, better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, former bassist of Sex Pistols, died from a drug overdose at the age of 21.
March 22 – Clayborn Pinkins, founding member and bassist of Black Death, was murdered by gunshot at the age of 25.
June 21 – Angus William MacLise, original drummer of The Velvet Underground, died from hypoglycemia and pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 41.

Day	Artist	Album
16	Accept	Accept
	Black Flag	Nervous Breakdown
	Def Leppard	The Def Leppard E.P.
	Nazareth	No Mean City
	UFO	Strangers in the Night (live album)

Day	Artist	Album
28	Judas Priest	Hell Bent For Leather
	Scorpions	Lovedrive

Day	Artist	Album
21	Saxon	Saxon
	Trust	Trust

Day	Artist	Album
3	Rainbow	Down to Earth
22	Led Zeppelin	In Through the Out Door

Day	Artist	Album
11	Foreigner	Head Games
14	Jethro Tull	Stormwatch
17	Judas Priest	Unleashed in the East (live album)
	Molly Hatchet	Flirtin' with Disaster
	Sammy Hagar	Street Machine

Day	Artist	Album
14	The Clash	London Calling

Preceded by 1978	Heavy Metal Timeline 1979	Succeeded by 1980

v t e Timeline of heavy metal and hard rock music
Heavy metal music before 1970
20th century	... 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025