1987 in heavy metal music

This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1987.

Newly formed bands

• Alice in Chains
• Arcturus
• Asphyx
• Autopsy
• Blue Tiger (as Masquerade)
• Burzum
• Cynic
• Danzig
• Darkthrone
• Deicide
• Disharmonic Orchestra
• Entombed
• Follow for Now
• Meshuggah
• Nitro
• Primordial
• Skid Row
• Therion
• U.D.O.

Albums

• Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation
• Alice Cooper - Raise Your Fist and Yell
• Anthem - Bound to Break
• Anthrax - Among the Living, I'm the Man (EP)
• Anvil - Strength Of Steel
• Armored Saint - Raising Fear
• Black Sabbath - The Eternal Idol
• Cacophony - Speed Metal Symphony
• Carnivore - Retaliation
• Celtic Frost - Into the Pandemonium
• D.R.I. - Crossover
• Death - Scream Bloody Gore
• Death Angel - The Ultra-Violence
• Def Leppard - Hysteria
• Dio - Dream Evil
• Dokken - Back For The Attack
• Excel - Split Image
• Exodus- Pleasures of the Flesh
• Faster Pussycat - Faster Pussycat
• Frehley's Comet - Frehley's Comet
• Great White - Once Bitten...
• Grim Reaper - Rock You To Hell
• Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
• Helix - Wild In The Streets
• Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 1
• Judas Priest - Priest...Live!
• Kane Roberts - Kane Roberts
• Keel - Keel
• King Diamond - Abigail
• Kiss - Crazy Nights
• Kreator - Terrible Certainty
• Lääz Rockit - Know Your Enemy
• Lizzy Borden - Terror Rising (EP), Visual Lies
• Loudness - Hurricane Eyes
• Loverboy - Wildside
• Tony MacAlpine - Maximum Security
• Manowar - Fighting the World
• McAuley Schenker Group - Perfect Timing
• Metallica - The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited
• Mötley Crüe - Girls, Girls, Girls
• Motörhead - Rock 'n' Roll
• Napalm Death - Scum
• Ozzy Osbourne - Tribute
• Overkill - Taking Over
• Running Wild - Under Jolly Roger
• Rush - Hold Your Fire
• Saint Vitus - Born Too Late
• Sanctuary - Refuge Denied
• Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King
• Seikima-II - Big Time Changes
• Suicidal Tendencies - "Join The Army"
• Testament - The Legacy
• The Cult - Electric
• Trouble - Run to the Light
• Twisted Sister - Love Is For Suckers
• U.D.O. - Animal House
• Voivod - Killing Technology
• Vow Wow - V
• Warlock - Triumph And Agony
• W.A.S.P. - Live...In the Raw
• Whiplash - Ticket to Mayhem
• White Lion - Pride
• Whitesnake - Whitesnake
• Y&T - Contagious
• Zodiac Mindwarp - Tattooed Beat Messiah

Disbandments

• Alcatrazz
• Sound Barrier
• Twisted Sister
• Warlock
• Grim Reaper

Events

• Udo Dirkshneider departs Accept citing management issues and later the same year forms U.D.O.
• Bon Jovi headlined 1987's Monsters of Rock festival with Dio, Metallica, Anthrax, W.A.S.P. and Cinderella. Dee Snider, Bruce Dickinson and Paul Stanley joined Bon Jovi to perform "We're an American Band" by Grand Funk.
• Motörhead's drummer Pete Gill leaves the band and Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor returns.
• Mötley Crüe - Girls, Girls, Girls peaked at No. 2 in the Billboard charts.
• The show Headbangers Ball debuts on MTV on April 18, 1987.
• Bon Jovi's album Slippery When Wet topped the Billboard charts for eight weeks.
• In December 1987, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx suffers a near-fatal heroin overdose.
• Bassist Louiche Mayorga leaves Suicidal Tendencies and is replaced by Bob Heathcote. At the same time, the band becomes a five piece as they hire former No Mercy guitarist Mike Clark as their rhythm guitarist.