1981 in heavy metal music

This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1981.

Newly formed bands

• Anthrax
• Beowülf (known as Black Sheep until 1983)
• Dark Angel
• Faith No More
• Kerber
• Loudness
• Metallica
• Mötley Crüe
• Pantera
• Queensrÿche
• Slayer
• Steeler

Albums

• AC/DC - For Those About to Rock We Salute You
• Accept - Breaker
• The Angels aka Angel City - Night Attack
• Anvil - Hard 'N' Heavy
• April Wine – The Nature of the Beast
• Pat Benatar – Precious Time
• Blackfoot - Marauder
• Black Sabbath - Mob Rules
• Blue Öyster Cult - Fire of Unknown Origin
• Budgie - Nightflight
• Graham Bonnet – Line Up
• Alice Cooper - Special Forces
• Def Leppard - High 'n' Dry
• Electric Sun - Fire Wind
• Gaskin -End of the World
• Gillan - Future Shock
• Gillan - Double Trouble
• Girlschool - Hit and Run
• Sammy Hagar - Standing Hampton
• Hanoi Rocks - Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks
• Heavy Metal (Soundtrack)
• Helix - White Lace & Black Leather
• Holocaust - The Nightcomers
• Billy Idol - Don't Stop
• Iron Maiden - Killers
• Joan Jett – Bad Reputation
• Judas Priest - Point of Entry
• Kiss - Music from "The Elder"
• Kix - Kix
• Krokus - Hardware
• Loudness - The Birthday Eve
• Frank Marino - The Power of Rock'n'Roll
• Molly Hatchet – Take No Prisoners
• More - Warhead
• Mother's Finest – Iron Age
• Mötley Crüe - Too Fast for Love
• Motörhead - No Sleep 'til Hammersmith (live)
• Motorhead & Girlschool – St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (EP)
• Ted Nugent – Intensities in 10 Cities
• Ocean - Ocean
• Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman
• Plasmatics – Metal Priestess
• Praying Mantis - Time Tells No Lies
• Queen - Flash Gordon
• Rainbow – Difficult to Cure
• Raven - Rock Until You Drop
• Reckless - Reckless
• Riot - Fire Down Under
• The Rods - The Rods
• Rose Tattoo - Assault & Battery
• Rush - Moving Pictures
• Samson - Shock Tactics
• Santers - Shot Down In Flames
• Saxon - Denim and Leather
• Michael Schenker Group - MSG
• 707 - Second Album
• Billy Squier - Don't Say No
• Starfighters - Starfighters
• Thin Lizzy - Renegade
• 38 Special - Wild-Eyed Southern Boys
• Triumph – Allied Forces
• Trust - Marche Ou Crève
• Tygers Of Pan Tang - Spellbound
• Tygers Of Pan Tang - Crazy Nights
• UFO – The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent
• Van Halen - Fair Warning
• Vardis - The World's Gone Insane
• Venom - Welcome to Hell
• Wild Horses - Stand Your Ground
• Whitesnake - Come an' Get It
• Y&T - Earthshaker

Events

• April: AC/DC's album "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" is finally released in the United States.
• September: Iron Maiden's lead singer Paul Di'Anno leaves band due to heavy drinking, and is replaced by Bruce Dickinson.
• Eric Carr joins Kiss on drums and makes his songwriting debut with "Under the Rose".