1981 in heavy metal music

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

Newly formed bands

Albums & EPs

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
August Redmoon – Fools Are Never Alone EP
Barón Rojo – Larga vida al Rock and Roll
Pat Benatar – Precious Time
Blackfoot – Marauder
Black Sabbath – Mob Rules
Blue Öyster Cult – Fire of Unknown Origin
Budgie – Nightflight
Bodine – Bodine
Graham Bonnet – Line Up
Alice Cooper – Special Forces
Dark Star – Dark Star
Def Leppard – High 'n' Dry
Demon – Night of the Demon
Doc Holliday – Doc Holliday; Doc Holliday Rides Again
E.F. Band – Last Laugh Is On You
Electric Sun – Fire Wind
Fargo – Frontpage Lover
Fist (Can) – Fleet Street, aka Thunder in Rock United
Gaskin – End of the World
Gillan – Future Shock; Double Trouble
Girlschool – Hit and Run
Sammy Hagar – Standing Hampton
The Handsome Beasts – Beastiality
Hanoi Rocks – Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks
Heavy Metal – OST
Heavy Load – Metal Conquest EP
Helix – White Lace & Black Leather
Holocaust – The Nightcomers
Iron Maiden – Killers and Maiden Japan EP
Joan Jett – Bad Reputation
Judas Priest – Point of Entry
Killer – Ladykiller
Kiss – Music from "The Elder"
Kix – Kix
Krokus – Hardware
Legend – Legend
Lips – Hard 'n Heavy
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
Motörhead & Girlschool – St. Valentine’s Day Massacre EP
No Bros – Heavy Metal Party
Ted Nugent – Intensities in 10 Cities
Obus – Prepárate
Ocean – Ocean
Ozzy Osbourne – Diary of a Madman
Overdrive (Swe) – Reflexions EP
Picture – Picture; Heavy Metal Ears
Plasmatics – Beyond the Valley of 1984; Metal Priestess
Praying Mantis – Time Tells No Lies
Queen – Flash Gordon
Rainbow – Difficult to Cure
Raven – Rock Until You Drop
Reckless – Reckless
Revolver – First Shot
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 – The Second Album
Billy Squier – Don't Say No
Starfighters – Starfighters
Taipan – Taipan EP
Thin Lizzy – Renegade
38 Special – Wild-Eyed Southern Boys
Triumph – Allied Forces
Trust – Marche Ou Crève
Tygers Of Pan Tang – Spellbound; Crazy Nights
UFO – The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent
Van Halen – Fair Warning
Vardis – The World's Gone Insane
Venom – Welcome to Hell
Vic Vergat – Down to the Bone
Warning – Warning
Wild Horses – Stand Your Ground
Whitesnake – Come an' Get It
Y&T – Earthshaker

Events

April: AC/DC's album "For Those About to Rock We Salute You" 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".

Preceded by 1980	Heavy Metal Timeline 1981	Succeeded by 1982

Timeline of heavy metal and hard rock music

Events	1960s 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 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015