In the music
- The Sugar Hill Gang released Rapper's Delight which borrowed the break from Chic's Good Times. It became a worldwide hit, eventually selling over eight million copies, marking the first ever commercial rap record.
- Michael Jackson released his phenomenal album Off The Wall. This was Jackson's breakthrough LP that established him as a solo artist in his own right.
- Kurtis Blow becomes the first rapper to sign to major label Mercury.
- Janet Kay releases the hit Silly Games which reached No 2 in the UK charts. She becomes the first British female to have a reggae song in the charts.
- In March, James Brown performed at the Grand Ole Opry.
- Donna Summer's Bad Girls hits No 1 on the US charts, and stays there for five weeks.
- Frustrated by sluggish reggae sales, Lee Scratch Perry goes AWOL and is spotted wandering aimlessly around Kingston wielding a hammer. Two days later, his Black Ark studio is burnt to the ground. Perry was suspected of arson, but was released without charge, due to lack of evidence.
- On July 12 1979, Chicago radio DJ Steve Dahl and baseball promoter Mike Veeck organized an event dubbed Disco Demolition Night. People were invited to bring disco records to a baseball game and have them blown up. This caused a near-riot forcing the cancellation of the game.
