Els èxits musicals de 1940 van ser nombrosos i han deixat una empremta duradora en la música popular. Algunes de les cançons més famoses d'aquesta dècada van incloure "Moon River" de Henry Mancini, "As Time Goes By" de Herman Hupfeld i "Unforgettable" de Nat King Cole. El jazz també va ser molt popular durant aquesta dècada, amb artistes com Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington i Louis Armstrong que van tenir grans èxits amb les seves músiques. A més, el rock and roll va començar a aparèixer a finals dels anys 1940 i va tenir un gran impacte en la música popular, amb artistes com Chuck Berry i Little Richard que van contribuir a popularitzar aquest gènere. En general, els anys 1940 van ser una dècada molt rica en música i van deixar un llegat durador en la història de la música.
Llista dels èxits de la dècada de 1940 en música.
Singles exitosos de 1940 1940 miniatura|Clarinetist i Artie Shaw el 1940 "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" – Glenn Miller "The Breeze and I" – Jimmy Dorsey "Bengawan Solo" – Gesang Martohartono "Careless" – Glenn Miller "Darn That Dream" – Benny Goodman "Do You Care?" – Bob Crosby amb Johnny Desmond "Ferryboat Serenade" – The Andrews Sisters "Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)" – Glenn Miller "Frenesi" – Artie Shaw "I'll Never Smile Again" – Tommy Dorsey amb Frank Sinatra "I'm Nobody's Baby – Benny Goodman "It's the Same Old Shillelagh" – Billy Murray amb Harry's Tavern Band "Imagination" – Glenn Miller
1941 "The Band Played On" – Guy Lombardo "Blue Skies" – Frank Sinatra w. Tommy Dorsey Orchestra "Blues In The Night" – Benny Goodman Orchestra w. Peggy Lee "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" – Andrews Sisters "Carolina Shout" – Fats Waller "Geechee Joe" – Cab Calloway "How About You?" – Judy Garland "I Hear a Rhapsody" – Dinah Shore "Let Me Off Uptown" – Gene Krupa Orchestra w. Anita O'Day & Roy Eldridge "Little Man With A Candy Cigar" – Jo Stafford "Me and My Chauffeur Blues" – Memphis Minnie "The Muffin Man" – Ella Fitzgerald "New San Antonio Rose" – Bing Crosby "Roll On Columbia" – Woody Guthrie "Take The A Train" – Duke Ellington "You Are My Sunshine" – Gene Autry
1942
1943 miniatura|Clarinista i líder de banda Benny Goodman el 1943 miniatura|Trompeta i líder de banda Harry James, 1943 "As Time Goes By" per Rudy Vallee "Boogie Woogie" per Tommy Dorsey "Brazil" per Xavier Cugat "Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer" per The Song Spinners "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" per The Ink Spots "Goodbye Sue" per Perry Como "I Had The Craziest Dream" per Harry James "I've Heard That Song Before" per Harry James "I'm Old Fashioned" per Fred Astaire "In the Blue of the Evening" per Tommy Dorsey "Juke Box Saturday Night" per Glenn Miller "Let's Get Lost" per Vaughn Monroe "Moonlight Becomes You" per Bing Crosby "Paper Doll" per Mills Brothers "People Will Say We're in Love" per Frank Sinatra "Pistol Packin' Mama" per Al Dexter "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" per Kay Kyser and His Orchestra "Stormy Weather" per Lena Horne "Sunday, Monday or Always" per Bing Crosby "Taking a Chance On Love" per Benny Goodman "That Old Black Magic" per Glenn Miller "There Are Such Things" per Tommy Dorsey "Velvet Moon" per Harry James "When the Lights Go On Again" per Vaughn Monroe "Why Don't You Do Right?" per Benny Goodman amb Peggy Lee "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" per Dinah Shore "You'll Never Know" per Dick Haymes "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" per Judy Garland
1944
1945 "11:60 PM" per Harry James "A Little on the Lonely Side" per Frankie Carle "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" per Johnny Mercer "Apple Honey" per Woody Herman "Bell Bottom Trousers" by Jerry Colonna by The Jesters by Kay Kyser and his orchestra by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians by Tony Pastor and his orchestra by Louis Prima and his orchestra "Bijou" per Woody Herman "Caldonia" per Louis Jordan Woody Herman "Candy" per Johnny Mercer, Jo Stafford, amb The Pied Pipers "Chickery Chick" per Sammy Kaye
1946 miniatura|Frank Sinatra el 1946 miniatura|Nat King Cole in 1946 "A Fine Romance" per Martha Tilton i Johnny Mercer "Aren't You Glad You're You?" per Les Brown & His Orchestra featuring Doris Day "Candy" by Johnny Mercer, Jo Stafford & the Pied Pipers "Choo Choo Ch' Boogie" per Louis Jordan & his Tympany Five "The Christmas Song" per the King Cole Trio "The Coffee Song" per Frank Sinatra "Coming Home" per Dorothy Squires "Day By Day" per Frank Sinatra "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly" per Dinah Shore amb Spade Cooley & his Orchestra "Five Minutes More", enregistrat per Frank Sinatra Tex Beneke-Glenn Miller Orchestra amb la veu de Tex Beneke "Fools Rush In" per Jo Stafford "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" per the King Cole Trio "The Gypsy", enregistrat per The Ink Spots Dinah Shore "Hawaiian War Chant" per Spike Jones & his City Slickers "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop", enregistrat per Lionel Hampton & his Orchestra Tex Beneke-Glenn Miller Orchestra amb la veu de Tex Beneke "Huggin' And Chalkin' " per Hoagy Carmichael "I Don't Know Enough About You" per Peggy Lee "I Dream Of You" per Archie Lewis i The Geraldo Strings "I Get A Kick Out Of You" per Margaret Whiting "I Got The Sun In The Morning per Les Brown & His Orchestra featuring Doris Day "I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time" per Jo Stafford "I'm a Big Girl Now" per Sammy Kaye & his Orchestra amb la veu de Betty Barclay "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" per Perry Como "Laughing On The Outside", enregistrat per Dinah Shore Andy Russell Sammy Kaye & his Orchestra with vocal per Billy Williams "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow", enregistrat per Vaughn Monroe & his Orchestra amb la veu de Vaughn Monroe (first charted December 1945) Woody Herman i la seva Orchestra amb la veu de Woody Herman "Oh What It Seemed To Be", enregistrat per Frankie Carle & his Orchestra amb la veu de Marjorie Hughes Frank Sinatra Charlie Spivak & his Orchestra amb la veu de Jimmy Saunders Dick Haymes & Helen Forrest "The Old Lamplighter", enregistrat per Kay Kyser & his Orchestra amb la veu de Mike Douglas Hal Derwin & his Orchestra Sammy Kaye & his Orchestra amb la veu de Williams "Ole Buttermilk Sky", enregistrat per Hoagy Carmichael Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers Paul Weston & his Orchestra amb la veu de Matt Dennis Kay Kyser & his Orchestra amb la veu Michael Douglas & the Campus Kids "One-Zy Two-Zy", enregistrat per Freddy Martin & his Orchestra amb la veu de The Martin Men Phil Harris "Personality" by Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers "Petit Papa Noël" by Tino Rossi "Pretending" by Andy Russell "Prisoner of Love", enregistrat per The Ink Spots Perry Como "Rumors Are Flying", enregistrat per Frankie Carle & his Orchestra amb la veu Marjorie Hughes Andrews Sisters with Les Paul Betty Rhodes Tony Martin "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy", recorded by Stan Kenton & his Orchestra with vocal by June Christy Dinah Shore "Sioux City Sue" per Bing Crosby and The Jesters "South America, Take It Away", recorded by Xavier Cugat & his Orchestra amb la veu de Buddy Clark Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters "Stone Cold Dead In The Market" per Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan "Surrender" by Perry Como "Symphony", recorded by Freddy Martin & his Orchestra amb la veu de Clyde Rogers (first charted December 1945) Benny Goodman & his Orchestra amb la veu de Liza Morrow Bing Crosby Jo Stafford "Take the A Train" per Duke Ellington "The Things We Did Last Summer", enregistrat per Jo Stafford Frank Sinatra Oscar Peterson Vaughn Monroe "They Say It's Wonderful", enregistrat per Perry Como Frank Sinatra "To Each His Own", enregistrat per Eddy Howard Tony Martin The Modernaires amb Paula Kelly The Ink Spots Freddy Martin & his Orchestra amb la veu de Stuart Wade "We'll Gather Lilacs" per Geraldo and his Orchestra "Winter Wonderland" per Perry Como "You Won't Be Satisfied" per Les Brown & his Orchestra amb la veu de Doris Day "You're The Top" per Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
1947
1948
1949
Èxits al cinema de 1940 1940 The Boys From Syracuse, based on the 1938 Broadway play, protagonitzat per Allan Jones, Irene Hervey, Martha Raye and Rosemary Lane Broadway Melody of 1940, protagonitzat per Fred Astaire i Eleanor Powell Canto de amor, musical argentí dirigit per Julio Irigoyen El Cantor de Buenos Aires, musical argentí Gül Baba, musical hongarès protagonitzat per Sándor Kömíves i Zita Szeleczky If I Had My Way, protagonitzat per Bing Crosby and Gloria Jean Irene, protagonitzat per Anna Neagle, Ray Milland i Billie Burke It All Came True protagonitzat per Ann Sheridan i Humphrey Bogart La canción del milagro, musical de drama mexicà protagonitzat per José Mojica Lillian Russell (film), protagonitzat per Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Henry Fonda i Eddie Foy Jr. Little Nellie Kelly, protagonitzat per Judy Garland, George Murphy i Charles Winninger. dirigit per Norman Taurog. New Moon, protagonitzat per Jeanette MacDonald i Nelson Eddy. Dirigit per Robert Z. Leonard. A Night at Earl Carroll's, fet el 6 de desembre No, No, Nanette, protagonitzat per Anna Neagle, Richard Carlson, Victor Mature, Roland Young, Helen Broderick, Zasu Pitts i Eve Arden One Night in the Tropics, protagonitzat per Allan Jones, Nancy Kelly, Bud Abbott i Lou Costello. Dirigit per A. Edward Sutherland. Pinocchio pel·lícula animada de Distney Sailors Three, musical britànic de comèdia dirigit per Tommy Trinder. Spring Parade, protagonitzat per Deanna Durbin remake Too Many Girls, basat en el musical de 1939, protagonitzat per Lucille Ball, Richard Carlson, Frances Langford, Ann Miller, Eddie Bracken i Desi Arnaz. Two Girls on Broadway, remake de 1929 Broadway Melody, protagonitzat per Lana Turner, Joan Blondell i George Murphy. Young People, protagonitzat per Shirley Temple. Dirigit per l'Allan Dwan.
1942 Academia El Tango Argentino, protagonitzat per Warly Ceriani. Almost Married, protagonitzat per Jane Frazee, Robert Paige, Eugene Pallette i Elizabeth Patterson. Dirigit per Charles Lamont. Bala Nagamma, protagonitzat per Kanchanamala. The Balloon Goes Up, protagonitzat per Ethel Revnell, Gracie West, Donald Peers i Ronald Shiner. Dirigit per Redd Davis. Bambi Behind the Eight Ball, protagonitzat per The Ritz Brothers, Carol Bruce, Dick Foran, Grace McDonald, Johnny Downs i William Demarest. Dirigit per Edward F. Cline. Bhakta Potana, protagonitzat per Chittor V. Nagaiah. Born To Sing, protagonitzat per Virginia Weidler, Ray McDonald, Leo Gorcey i Rags Ragland. Dirigit per Edward Ludwig. Broadway, protagonitzat per George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Janet Blair, Broderick Crawford and Marjorie Rambeau. Dirigit per William A. Seiter. Cairo, protagonitzat per Jeanette MacDonald, Robert Young i Ethel Waters. The Fleet's In, protagonitzat per Dorothy Lamour, William Holden, Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, i en participació de Jimmy Dorsey & la seva orquestra amb la veu de Bob Eberly i Helen O'Connell. Footlight Serenade, protagonitzat per Betty Grable i John Payne. For Me and My Gal, protagonitzat per Judy Garland i Gene Kelly. Get Hep to Love, protagonitzat per Gloria Jean, Donald O'Connor, Jane Frazee, Robert Paige, Peggy Ryan i Cora Sue Collins Give Out, Sisters, protagonitzat per Laverne Andrews, Patty Andrews, Maxene Andrews, Dan Dailey i Donald O'Connor I Married An Angel, protagonitzat per Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy i Edward Everett Horton. Joan of Ozark, protagonitzat per Judy Canova, Joe E. Brown i Eddie Foy Jr. King Arthur Was a Gentleman, starring Arthur Askey, Evelyn Dall i Anne Shelton Melodías de América, dirigit per Eduardo Morera Moonlight in Havana, protagonitzat per Allan Jones i Jane Frazee My Favorite Spy, protagonitzat per Kay Kyser & la seva banda, Ellen Drew i Jane Wyman. Dirigit per Tay Garnett.