2012 in British music

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This is a summary of 2012 in music in the United Kingdom. In 2012, dance music continued to dominate the charts.

Events

• 1 January – Musicians honoured in the Queen's New Year Honours list include conductor Antonio Pappano (knighthood), record producer Steve Lillywhite (CBE), composer and conductor Rev Ronald Corp (OBE) and Ralph Allwood (MBE), former director of music at Eton College.
• 4 June – A Diamond Jubilee Concert is held outside Buckingham Palace on The Mall, London, organised by Gary Barlow as part of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Performers include Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, Grace Jones, Alfie Boe, Sir Cliff Richard, Sir Tom Jones, Dame Shirley Bassey and Stevie Wonder.
• 8-10 June – Download Festival 2012 takes place at Donington Park in Leicestershire. The Jim Marshall main stage is headlined by The Prodigy, Metallica and Black Sabbath, the Zippo encore stage by Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, You Me at Six and Rise Against, the Pepsi Max Stage by Devin Townsend Project, The Mission and Periphery, the Red Bull Bedroom Jam Stage by Cancer Bats, Cockney Rejects and William Control, and the Jägermeister Acoustic stage by Yashin, Tyla and Saint Jude.
• 16 June – Musicians honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours list include Gary Barlow (OBE), violinist Tasmin Little (OBE) and Gareth Malone (OBE).
• 27 July – On the opening day of the 2012 Summer Olympics, at 8.15, Martin Creed's controversial work "All The Bells", is performed by the bells of London.
• 12 August – The 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, also known by the title "A Symphony of British music", takes place at London's Olympic Stadium. Performers include Take That, One Direction, The Spice Girls, Madness, George Michael, Julian Lloyd Webber, Pet Shop Boys, Ray Davies, Annie Lennox, Kaiser Chiefs and Emeli Sandé.
• 9 December – James Arthur wins the ninth series of The X Factor. Jahméne Douglas is named runner-up, while Christopher Maloney and Union J finish in third and fourth place respectively.

Artists/groups reformed

• Spice Girls
• 911
• Atomic Kitten
• B*Witched
• Five
• Honeyz
• Kitchens Of Distinction
• Liberty X
• Six By Seven
• The Supernaturals

Groups disbanded

• Westlife
• Jet
• Viva Brother
• The King Blues
• SoundGirl
• Pendulum
• Chumbawamba
• Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Classical music

New works

• Peter Maxwell Davies – Symphony No. 9
• Howard Goodall – Every Purpose Under the Heaven (The King James Bible Oratorio)
• Karl Jenkins – The Peacemakers
• Philip Ledger – This Holy Child (cantata)
• Philip Moore – "I will lift up mine eyes"

Opera

• George Benjamin – Written on Skin
• Stephen Crowe – The Francis Bacon Opera
• Neil Hannon – Sevastopol

British music awards

BRIT Awards

The 2012 BRIT Awards were held on 21 February 2012 at The O2 Arena, London and hosted by James Corden. The most notable winners were Adele and Ed Sheeran, both winning two awards.

• British Male Solo Artist: Ed Sheeran
• British Female Solo Artist: Adele
• British Breakthrough Act: Ed Sheeran
• British Group: Coldplay
• British Single: "What Makes You Beautiful" – One Direction
• MasterCard British Album: 21 – Adele
• International Male Solo Artist: Bruno Mars
• International Female Solo Artist: Rihanna
• International Group: Foo Fighters
• International Breakthrough Act: Lana Del Rey
• British Producer: Ethan Johns
• Critics' Choice: Emeli Sandé
• Outstanding Contribution to Music: Blur

Ivor Novello Awards

The 57th Ivor Novello Awards were held on 17 May 2012 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

• Best Contemporary Song: "Video Games" – Lana Del Rey (written by Lana Del Rey and Justin Parker)
• PRS for Music Most Performed Work: "Rolling in the Deep" – Adele (written by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth)
• Best Television Soundtrack: The Shadow Line (composed by Martin Phipps)
• The Ivors Jazz Award: Stan Tracey
• Album Award: Let England Shake – PJ Harvey (written by PJ Harvey)
• Outstanding Song Collection: Gary Kemp
• The Ivors Inspiration Award: Siouxsie Sioux
• Best Original Film Score: The First Grader (composed by Alex Heffes)
• PRS for Music Outstanding Contribution to British Music: Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams (Take That)
• Best Song Musically and Lyrically: "The A Team" – Ed Sheeran (written by Ed Sheeran)
• Lifetime Achievement: Mark Knopfler
• Songwriter of the Year: Adele Adkins
• PRS for Music Special International Award: Jimmy Webb
• BASCA Fellowship: Andrew Lloyd Webber

Classical BRIT Awards

The 2012 Classic BRIT Awards were held on 2 October 2012 at the Royal Albert Hall, London and were hosted by Myleene Klass.

• Female Artist: Nicola Benedetti (Italia)
• MasterCard Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award: Miloš Karadaglić (Latino)
• Composer: John Williams (War Horse, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn)
• International Artist of the Year in association with Raymond Weil: Andrea Bocelli
• Critics' Award: Benjamin Grosvenor (Chopin/Liszt/Ravel)
• Male Artist: Vasily Petrenko (Shostakovich/Symphony No. 1 & 3, Shostakovich/Symphony No. 6 & 12, Shostakovich/Symphony No. 2 & 15, Rachmaninov/Piano Concertos 1 & 4, Rachmaninov/Symphony No. 3)
• Classic BRITs Single of the Year in association with iTunes: "Wherever You Are" – Military Wives with Gareth Malone
• Lifetime Achievement Award: John Williams
• Classic FM Album of the Year in association with MasterCard: And The Waltz Goes On – André Rieu

Mercury Prize

The 2012 Barclaycard Mercury Prize was awarded on 1 November 2012 to Alt-J for their album An Awesome Wave.

Popjustice £20 Music Prize

The 2012 Popjustice £20 Music Prize was awarded on 1 November 2012 to Will Young for his single "Jealousy".

British Composer Awards

The 10th British Composer Awards were held on 3 December 2012 at Goldsmiths' Hall, London and hosted by Sara Mohr-Pietsch and Andrew McGregor.

• Instrumental Solo or Duo: Learning Self-Modulation – Christian Mason
• Chamber: The Four Quarters – Thomas Adès
• Vocal: No Man's Land – Colin Matthews
• Choral: Airplane Cantata – Gabriel Jackson
• Wind Band or Brass Band: A Symphony of Colours – Simon Dobson
• Orchestral: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra – Harrison Birtwistle
• Stage Works: DESH – Jocelyn Pook
• Liturgical: Missa Brevis – Francis Grier
• Sonic Art: The Ethometric Museum – Ray Lee
• Contemporary Jazz Composition: Sailing to Byzantium – Christine Tobin
• Community or Educational Project: The Chimpanzees of Happytown – Paul Rissmann
• Making Music Award: Mesmerism for Piano and Chamber Orchestra – Emily Howard
• International Award: Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra – Thomas Larcher

The Record of the Year

The 2012 Record of the Year was awarded to "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra. This was the final year that The Record of the Year was awarded.

Charts and sales

Number-one singles

Chart date (week ending)	Song	Artist(s)	Sales	References
7 January	"Paradise"	Coldplay	108,390
14 January	"Good Feeling"	Flo Rida	50,907
21 January	"Domino"	Jessie J	57,369
28 January			64,255
4 February	"Twilight"	Cover Drive	76,109
11 February	"Titanium"	David Guetta featuring Sia	85,985
18 February	"Somebody That I Used to Know"	Gotye featuring Kimbra	83,265
25 February	"Hot Right Now"	DJ Fresh featuring Rita Ora	127,998
3 March	"Somebody That I Used to Know"	Gotye featuring Kimbra	95,338
10 March			87,057
17 March			81,437
24 March			71,521
31 March	"Part of Me"	Katy Perry	79,079
7 April	"Turn Up the Music"	Chris Brown	83,777
14 April	"Call Me Maybe"	Carly Rae Jepsen	106,657
21 April			110,024
28 April			114,993
5 May			99,569
12 May	"Young"	Tulisa	121,694
19 May	"R.I.P."	Rita Ora featuring Tinie Tempah	104,592
26 May			57,434
2 June	"We Are Young"	Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe	72,977
9 June	"Feel the Love"	Rudimental featuring John Newman	93,841
16 June	"Sing"	Gary Barlow & The Commonwealth Band featuring Military Wives	141,670
23 June	"Call My Name"	Cheryl	152,001
30 June	"Payphone"	Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa	141,410
7 July	"This Is Love"	will.i.am featuring Eva Simons	102,320
14 July	"Payphone"	Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa	73,998
21 July	"Spectrum (Say My Name)"	Florence + The Machine	64,816
28 July			63,960
4 August			65,790
11 August	"Heatwave"	Wiley featuring Ms D	114,121
18 August			69,713
25 August	"How We Do (Party)"	Rita Ora	100,436
1 September	"Bom Bom"	Sam and the Womp	107,461
8 September	"Wings"	Little Mix	106,766
15 September	"Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)"	Ne-Yo	88,784
22 September	"Hall of Fame"	The Script featuring will.i.am	70,150
29 September			63,980
6 October	"Gangnam Style"	Psy	84,421
13 October	"Diamonds"	Rihanna	105,953
20 October	"Don't You Worry Child"	Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin	135,563
27 October	"Sweet Nothing"	Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch	94,154
3 November	"Beneath Your Beautiful"	Labrinth featuring Emeli Sandé	107,775
10 November	"Candy"	Robbie Williams	137,581
17 November			90,812
24 November	"Little Things"	One Direction	85,308
1 December	"Troublemaker"	Olly Murs featuring Flo Rida	121,497
8 December			82,696
15 December	"The Power of Love"	Gabrielle Aplin	57,515
22 December	"Impossible"	James Arthur	489,560
29 December	"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"	The Justice Collective	269,248

Number-one albums

Chart date (week ending)	Album	Artist	Sales	References
7 January	+	Ed Sheeran	47,376
14 January	21	Adele	38,380
21 January	Doo-Wops & Hooligans	Bruno Mars	24,509
28 January	21	Adele	20,978
4 February	+	Ed Sheeran	20,607
11 February	Born to Die	Lana Del Rey	116,745
18 February			60,003
25 February	Our Version of Events	Emeli Sandé	113,319
3 March	21	Adele	65,091
10 March	Our Version of Events	Emeli Sandé	44,722
17 March	Wrecking Ball	Bruce Springsteen	74,401
24 March	In My Dreams	Military Wives	59,026
31 March	Sonik Kicks	Paul Weller	30,269
7 April	MDNA	Madonna	56,335
14 April	Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded	Nicki Minaj	47,462
21 April	21	Adele	22,235
28 April			17,065
5 May	Blunderbuss	Jack White	40,173
12 May	Electra Heart	Marina & the Diamonds	21,358
19 May	Strangeland	Keane	47,839
26 May			19,982
2 June	Our Version of Events	Emeli Sandé	13,430
9 June	Sing	Gary Barlow & The Commonwealth Band	40,020
16 June			75,538
23 June			28,159
30 June	Believe	Justin Bieber	38,115
7 July	Living Things	Linkin Park	41,526
14 July	Fortune	Chris Brown	29,980
21 July	Write It On Your Skin	Newton Faulkner	16,647
28 July	Good Morning to the Night	Elton John vs Pnau	14,342
4 August	iLL Manors	Plan B	36,855
11 August	Contrast	Conor Maynard	17,474
18 August	Talk That Talk	Rihanna	9,578
25 August	Our Version of Events	Emeli Sandé	30,825
1 September			25,581
8 September	ORA	Rita Ora	41,509
15 September	Come of Age	The Vaccines	44,395
22 September	Coexist	The xx	58,266
29 September	Battle Born	The Killers	93,989
6 October	Babel	Mumford & Sons	158,923
13 October	The 2nd Law	Muse	108,536
20 October	Babel	Mumford & Sons	42,027
27 October	Jake Bugg	Jake Bugg	35,785
3 November	Red	Taylor Swift	61,779
10 November	18 Months	Calvin Harris	52,356
17 November	Take the Crown	Robbie Williams	83,508
24 November	Take Me Home	One Direction	155,316
1 December	Unapologetic	Rihanna	99,357
8 December	Right Place Right Time	Olly Murs	126,949
15 December			103,464
22 December	Unorthodox Jukebox	Bruno Mars	136,391
29 December	Our Version of Events	Emeli Sandé	177,696

Number-one compilation albums

Chart date (week ending)	Album	References
7 January	Now 80
14 January
21 January
28 January
4 February	Be My Baby
11 February
18 February
25 February
3 March	BRIT Awards 2012
10 March	Dreamboats & Petticoats – The Petticoat
17 March	Now Running
24 March	Be My Baby
31 March	Now Running
7 April	Ultimate Clubland
14 April	Now 81
21 April
28 April
5 May
12 May
19 May
26 May
2 June
9 June
16 June
23 June	Dreamboats & Petticoats – Three Steps
30 June	Now 81
7 July	Clubland 21
14 July	Now Reggae
21 July	Now No.1
28 July
4 August	Now 82
11 August
18 August
25 August
1 September
8 September
15 September
22 September
29 September
6 October
13 October
20 October
27 October
3 November	Until Now
10 November	BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge – 2012
17 November
24 November	Pop Party 10
1 December	Now 83
8 December
15 December
22 December
29 December

Best-selling singles of 2012

No.	Title	Artist	Peak position	Sales
1	"Somebody That I Used to Know"	Gotye featuring Kimbra	1	1,318,005
2	"Call Me Maybe"	Carly Rae Jepsen	1	1,142,995
3	"We Are Young"	Fun featuring Janelle Monáe	1	986,000
4	"Titanium"	David Guetta featuring Sia	1	922,000
5	"Impossible"	James Arthur	1	897,000
6	"Gangnam Style"	Psy	1	878,000
7	"Starships"	Nicki Minaj	2	864,000
8	"Domino"	Jessie J	1	749,000
9	"Payphone"	Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa	1	725,000
10	"Wild Ones"	Flo Rida featuring Sia	4	695,000
11	"Diamonds"	Rihanna	1	672,000
12	"Beneath Your Beautiful"	Labrinth featuring Emeli Sandé	1	663,000
13	"Don't You Worry Child"	Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin	1	632,000
14	"Next to Me"	Emeli Sandé	2	621,000
15	"Whistle"	Flo Rida	2	620,000
16	"Feel the Love"	Rudimental featuring John Newman	1	619,000
17	"Mama Do the Hump"	Rizzle Kicks	2	559,000
18	"Too Close"	Alex Clare	4	557,000
19	"Spectrum"	Florence and the Machine	1	554,000
20	"Skyfall"	Adele	2	547,000
21	"Hall of Fame"	The Script featuring will.i.am	1	529,000
22	"Candy"	Robbie Williams	1	503,000
23	"Drive By"	Train	6	502,700
24	"Hot Right Now"	DJ Fresh featuring Rita Ora	1	482,000
25	"Princess of China"	Coldplay & Rihanna	4	475,000
26	"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"	Taylor Swift	4	465,000
27	"Black Heart"	Stooshe	3	456,000
28	"R.I.P"	Rita Ora featuring Tinie Tempah	1	453,000
29	"Troublemaker"	Olly Murs featuring Flo Rida	1	441,000
30	"Sexy and I Know It"	LMFAO	9	434,000
31	"Niggas in Paris"	Jay-Z & Kanye West	10	432,000
32	"Where Have You Been"	Rihanna	6	422,200
33	"Locked Out of Heaven"	Bruno Mars	2	421,000
34	"Call My Name"	Cheryl Cole	1	420,700
35	"Turn Me On"	David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj	8	417,000
36	"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)"	Kelly Clarkson	8	416,685
37	"Don't Wake Me Up"	Chris Brown	2	416,684
38	"Heatwave"	Wiley featuring Ms D	1	416,000
39	"This Is Love"	will.i.am featuring Eva Simons	1	403,000
40	"Wings"	Little Mix	1	397,000
41	"She Doesn't Mind"	Sean Paul	2
42	"Bom Bom"	Sam and the Womp	1
43	"Young"	Tulisa	1
44	"212"	Azealia Banks featuring Lazy Jay	12
45	"Paradise"	Coldplay	1
46	"I Won't Give Up"	Jason Mraz	11
47	"Good Feeling"	Flo Rida	1
48	"Sweet Nothing"	Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch	1
49	"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"	The Justice Collective	1
50	"How We Do (Party)"	Rita Ora	1

Best-selling albums of 2012

No.	Title	Artist	Peak position	Sales
1	Our Version of Events	Emeli Sandé	1	1,393,000
2	21	Adele	1	786,424
3	+	Ed Sheeran	1	784,000
4	Born to Die	Lana Del Rey	1	719,000
5	Take Me Home	One Direction	1	616,000
6	Babel	Mumford & Sons	1	573,000
7	Right Place Right Time	Olly Murs	1	570,000
8	Christmas	Michael Bublé	2	503,000
9	Mylo Xyloto	Coldplay	3	476,000
10	Unapologetic	Rihanna	1	475,000
11	Fall to Grace	Paloma Faith	2	449,000
12	The Truth About Love	Pink	2	446,000
13	Take The Crown	Robbie Williams	1	445,500
14	Merry Christmas, Baby	Rod Stewart	2	421,000
15	Up All Night	One Direction	8	372,000
16	Who You Are	Jessie J	4	370,000
17	18 Months	Calvin Harris	1	354,000
18	The Very Best Of	Neil Diamond	5	334,000
19	Talk That Talk	Rihanna	1	333,000
20	In Case You Didn't Know	Olly Murs	4	332,000
21	Nothing but the Beat	David Guetta	2	315,000
22	#3	The Script	2	312,000
23	Some Nights	Fun.	4	310,000
24	Unorthodox Jukebox	Bruno Mars	1	307,000
25	Magic of the Movies	André Rieu & Johann Strauss Orchestra	2	302,000
26	Doo-Wops and Hooligans	Bruno Mars	1	291,000
27	Battle Born	The Killers	1	271,000
28	Every Kingdom	Ben Howard	7	269,000
29	Overexposed	Maroon 5	2	263,000
30	Ceremonials	Florence + the Machine	8	262,000
31	GRRR!	The Rolling Stones	3	258,000
32	The 2nd Law	Muse	1	255,000
33	Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds	Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds	8	247,000
34	Storyteller	Alfie Boe	9	245,000
35	Ora	Rita Ora	1	242,500
36	Heaven	Rebecca Ferguson	5	242,300
37	Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded	Nicki Minaj	1	242,000
38	El Camino	The Black Keys	6	239,000
39	DNA	Little Mix	3	234,000
40	Stereo Typical	Rizzle Kicks	5	233,900
41	Making Mirrors	Gotye	4
42	Red	Taylor Swift	1
43	19	Adele	7
44	In My Dreams	Military Wives	1
45	Lonely Are the Brave	Maverick Sabre	2
46	Electronic Earth	Labrinth	2
47	Wrecking Ball	Bruce Springsteen	1
48	Teenage Dream	Katy Perry	6
49	Sigh No More	Mumford & Sons	10
50	Number Ones	Bee Gees	4

Notes:

Deaths

• 3 January – Bob Weston, guitarist with Fleetwood Mac, 64 (gastrointestinal haemorrhage and cirrhosis of the liver)
• 4 January – Kerry McGregor, contestant on the third series of The X Factor, 37 (bladder cancer)
• 11 January – David Whitaker, English composer and conductor, 81
• 27 January – Ted Dicks, composer, 83
• 6 February – Jim King, saxophonist with Family, 69
• 9 February – Joe Moretti, Scottish-South African guitarist and songwriter with Nero and the Gladiators, 73
• 15 February – Clive Shakespeare, English-Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer with Sherbet, 64 (cancer)
• 21 February – John Charles Winter, organist, 88
• 29 February – Davy Jones, singer and percussionist with the Monkees, 66 (heart attack)
• 1 March – Peter Graeme, oboist, 90
• 20 April – Bert Weedon, guitarist, 91
• 11 May – Roland Shaw, composer, arranger, and bandleader, 91
• 14 May – Derek Hammond-Stroud, operatic baritone, 86
• 20 May – Robin Gibb, singer and songwriter with the Bee Gees, 62 (liver cancer)
• 3 June – Andy Hamilton, Jamaican-born jazz saxophonist and composer, 94
• 17 June – Brian Hibbard, singer with the Flying Pickets and actor, 65 (prostate cancer)
• 7 July – Alf Pearson, singer and variety performer as one half of the double act Bob and Alf Pearson, 102
• 10 July – Lol Coxhill, saxophonist, 79
• 11 July – Jean Allister, opera singer, 80
• 16 July – Jon Lord, musician with Deep Purple and Whitesnake, and classical composer, 71 (pancreatic cancer)
• 23 July – Graham Jackson, conductor, 45 (cancer)
• 17 August – Lou Martin, keyboard player, 63
• 31 August – Max Bygraves, singer and variety performer, 89 (Alzheimer's disease)
• 2 September – John C. Marshall, jazz musician, 71
• 4 September – Ian Parrott, composer and academic, 96
• 15 September – George Hurst, conductor, 86
• 2 October – Big Jim Sullivan, guitarist, 71 (heart disease and diabetes)
• 12 October – Geraldine Mucha, composer, 95
• 18 November – Sir Philip Ledger, composer and academic, 74
• 26 October – Jo Dunne, guitarist with We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It, 43 (cancer)
• 6 November – Clive Dunn, actor and singer, 92
• 18 November
  • Stan Greig, pianist, drummer, and bandleader, 82 (Parkinson's disease)
  • Sir Philip Ledger, English organist, composer, and academic, 74
• 20 November – Michael Dunford guitarist and songwriter with Renaissance (cerebral haemorrhage)
• 24 November – Ian Campbell, folk musician, 79 (cancer)
• 4 December – Jonathan Harvey, composer, 73 (motor neurone disease)

See also

• 2012 in British radio
• 2012 in British television
• 2012 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 2012