February 14 - Frank Zappa appears on an episode of the popular television series Miami Vice. Zappa portrays a crime boss named "Mr. Frankie".
February 22 - In honor of the 20th anniversary of The Monkees premiering on television, MTV broadcasts "Pleasant Valley Sunday," a 22-hour marathon of Monkees episodes.
May 19 - Peter Gabriel releases So, his first album in over 4 years. The album reached number 2 on the charts and sold more than 3 million copies in the U.S. So contains the chart-topping songs Sledgehammer (#1), Big Time (top 10), and In Your Eyes (top 40). The music video for Sledgehammer won 9 MTV music awards, more than any video in history, and was ranked the #1 video of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. This album also marks Peter Gabriel's introduction into the mainstream of world music artists such as Youssou N'dour (who lent his vocals on In Your Eyes). It is interesting to note that Genesis released their hit album Invisible Touch in 1986, with Phil Collins on vocals.
