- Source: 2015 in British music
This is a summary of the year 2015 in British music.
Events
5 January – An official statement from Glyndebourne confirms that Danielle De Niese and her husband, Gus Christie, chairman of Glyndebourne Opera, are expecting their first child.
15 January – The nominations for the 2015 Brit Awards are announced, with Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and George Ezra dominating many of the categories.
22 January – It is announced that BBC Radio 1's annual Big Weekend event this year will be held at Earlham Park, Norwich.
8 February – Sam Smith is the big winner at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, winning Best New Artist, and Record and Song of the Year for "Stay with Me from the album In the Lonely Hour, which subsequently won Best Vocal Album.
25 February – Ed Sheeran and Paloma Faith win Best British Male and Female Solo Artist at this year's Brit Awards, with x winning Best Album and "Uptown Funk" winning Best Single. Notable moments of the night include Kanye West's controversial performance of "All Day" and Madonna falling off stage during her performance of "Living for Love".
27 February – Disgraced former glam rocker Gary Glitter is sentenced to 16 years in prison after being found guilty of sexual offences with minors dating back between 1975–1980
1 March – Audio streaming became incorporated into the UK Albums Chart.
3 March – The London Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Sir Simon Rattle as its next music director, effective September 2017, with an initial contract of 5 years.
7 March – The BBC confirms that Electro Velvet's 1920s inspired song "Still in Love with You" has been chosen to represent the UK at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.
9 March
Sam Smith releases a special remake of their song "Lay Me Down", featuring John Legend, as this year's official Comic Relief single.
English National Opera announces the appointment of Cressida Pollock as interim Chief Executive Officer.
10 March – Sarah Brightman confirms she has been working on a song with Andrew Lloyd Webber that she can perform in space aboard the International Space Station in September. Brightman subsequently withdraws from the planned flight, citing family commitments.
11 March
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Thomas Dausgaard as its 11th chief conductor, effective with the 2016–2017 season.
Simon Halsey is announced as the recipient of the Queen's Medal for Music 2014.
18 March – Julian Lloyd Webber is confirmed as the Principal of Birmingham Conservatoire.
20 May – Ye Yanchen's new work, Septet, to be premiered at St Illtud's Church, Llantwit Major, by soloists from China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra.
23 May – The United Kingdom is represented at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, by Electro Velvet, with the song "Still in Love with You". They finish 24th out of 27 entries, scoring five points.
12 June – Musicians recognised in the 2015 Birthday Honours include conductor Sir Neville Marriner (Companion of Honour) composers Karl Jenkins and James MacMillan who receive knighthoods, and singers Michael Ball (OBE) and Van Morrison (knighthood)
12–14 June – Download Festival 2015 takes place at Donington Park in Leicestershire. The main stage is headlined by Slipknot, Muse and Kiss, the Zippo encore stage by Black Stone Cherry, Marilyn Manson and Enter Shikari, the Maverick stage by Fightstar, Andrew W.K. and Yellowcard, Jake's Stage by A, Hey! Hello! and Suicidal Tendencies, and the Dog's Bed stage by Tim Vantol and Like a Storm.
21 June – Nadine Koutcher wins the 2015 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.
September – A-level student Jessy McCabe persuades examination board Edexcel to ensure that female composers are in future included in its Music syllabus.
21 September – English National Opera announces the appointments of Harry Brünjes as chairman and confirms Cressida Pollock as CEO for an additional three years.
23 September – Welsh National Opera announces the appointment of Tomáš Hanus as music director for the 2016–2017 season, and of Carlo Rizzi as conductor laureate with immediate effect.
2 October – "Writing's on the Wall" by Sam Smith, the theme for the new James Bond movie Spectre, becomes the first ever Bond theme to reach number 1 in the UK.
23 October – "Hello", the lead single from Adele's third studio album 25, is released to intense global media attention. The album (released 20 November) becomes the fastest selling in UK chart history, ending the year on 2.5 million.
18 November – The Three Choirs Festival announces that Alexis Paterson will take over as chief executive in January 2016.
13 December – Louisa Johnson wins the twelfth series of The X Factor. Reggie 'n' Bollie are named runner-ups, while Ché Chesterman and Lauren Murray finish in third and fourth place respectively.
December – As a result of a campaign led by student Jessy McCabe, exam board Edexcel announces that it has changed its A-level music syllabus to include female composers.
Television series
10 January
Launch of the fourth series of The Voice UK.
Return of Stars in Their Eyes after nearly ten years off air.
14 February – Peter Sarsfield wins the first revival series of Harry Hill's Stars in Their Eyes, impersonating Frankie Valli.
16 January – Sound of Song, presented by Neil Brand
26 January – Launch of new music based entertainment show, South Side Story.
2 February – Global Radio, the owners of pop music channel Heart TV, are reprimanded by Ofcom after the channel played 72 seconds more than the permitted amount of advertising during one particular hour in October 2014. Global says the incident occurred when a commercial break was pushed to the end of an hour, creating too much advertising time for the following hour.
14 February – Stars in Their Eyes is cancelled again after critical reviews of its revamped format.
7 March – Reginald D. Hunter's Songs of the South begins on BBC Two.
26 May – The BBC announces that its music panel quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks is to end after 18 years and 28 series.
28 June – Pappano's Classical Voices begins on BBC Four.
29 August – Launch of the twelfth series of The X Factor.
19 December – Jay McGuinness of The Wanted and his dance partner Aliona Vilani win the thirteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing.
20 December – The Sound of Music Live is broadcast on ITV, starring Kara Tointon and Julian Ovenden.
Publications
Karl Jenkins – Still with the Music
Artists and groups reformed
Bay City Rollers
Black Grape
The Bluetones
Busted
Faithless
The King Blues
Lush
Simply Red
Supertramp
We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It
Groups on hiatus
Blur
The Saturdays
Groups disbanded
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Heart In Hand
Flesh for Lulu
Kingsland Road
Klaxons
Motörhead
Neon Jungle
Noah and the Whale
Ph.D
Rise to Remain
Stereo Kicks
Classical works
Eleanor Alberga – Arise, Athena!
Julian Anderson
In lieblicher Bläue (Violin Concerto)
Van Gogh Blue
Richard Ayres – No 48 (In the Night Studio)
Guy Barker – The Lanterne of Light
Gerald Barry – The One-Armed Pianist
Sally Beamish – "Be still" (Introit)
Luke Bedford
Instability
Saxophone Quartet
Fiona Bennett – The New Lady Radnor's Suite
Judith Bingham
Ghostly Grace
Zodiack
Harrison Birtwistle
The Cure
The Silk House Sequences
Victoria Borisova-Ollas – ... and time is running past midnight ...
Mark Bowden and Owen Sheers – A Violence of Gifts
Gary Carpenter – Dadaville
Pete Churchill – Echoes: A Song of Poland
James Clapperton – Northern Sky
Anna Clyne – The Seamstress
Edward Cowie – Three Spitfire Motets
Paul Crabtree – O Icarus
Laurence Crane: Chamber Symphony No 2 ('The Australian')
Tansy Davies – Re-greening
Benjamin Ellin – Miyabi – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
David Fennessy – Hirta Rounds
Michael Finnissy – Janne
Peter Fribbins – Violin Concerto
Alexander Goehr
Variations (Homage to Haydn), for solo piano
Seven Impromptus, op 96, for two pianos
Helen Grime – Concerto for clarinet and trumpet
Barry Guy – Mr Babbage is Coming to Dinner
Robin Holloway
Soldered Schumann
Silvered Schubert
Europa and the Bull (tuba concerto)
Mica Levi – Greezy
James MacMillan
A Little Mass
Symphony No 4
Colin Matthews and Michael Morpurgo – The Pied Piper of Hamelin
David Matthews – Symphony No 8
Melinda Maxwell – FRACTURES: Monk Unpacked
Christopher Mayo – Supermarine
Anna Meredith – Smatter Hauler
Thea Musgrave – Power Play
Mark Simpson
Israfel
The Immortal (text by Melanie Challenger)
Howard Skempton – The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Errollyn Wallen – Rebuttal Blues No 1
Bertram Wee – Dithyrambs
Judith Weir – Good Morning, Midnight
Michael Wolters – Requiem to Let
Hugh Wood – Epithalamion
Raymond Yiu – Symphony
Opera
21 May – UK premiere of Gaetano Donizetti's Poliuto at Glyndebourne.
Charlotte Bray and Amy Rosenthal – Entanglement
Tansy Davies and Nick Drake – Between Worlds
Matt Rogers and Sally O'Reilly – The Virtues of Things
Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer – Everest
Musical theatre
Bend It Like Beckham the Musical, with music by Howard Goodall, lyrics by Charles Hart, and book by Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges
School of Rock, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and book by Julian Fellowes
The Mirror Never Lies, music by Juan Iglesias, book and lyrics by Joe Giuffre, based on a novel by Barbara Pym
Musical films
Kill Your Friends, starring Nicholas Hoult and Georgia King.
London Road, starring Olivia Colman and Anita Dobson
Film scores and incidental music
= Film
=Craig Armstrong – Far from the Madding Crowd
Patrick Doyle – Cinderella
George Fenton – Absolutely Anything
Henry Jackman – Kingsman: The Secret Service
= Television
=Anne Dudley – Poldark
Debbie Wiseman – Wolf Hall
British music awards
= Brit Awards
=See 2015 Brit Awards
= British Composer Awards
=Amateur or Young Performers: Kate Whitley – Alive
Choral: James Dillon – Stabat Mater dolorosa
Community or Educational Project: Stuart Hancock – Snapshot Songs
Contemporary Jazz Composition: Trish Clowes – The Fox, The Parakeet & The Chestnut
Large Chamber: Sinan Savaskan – Many stares (through semi-nocturnal Zeiss-Blink) – Module 30
Liturgical: Michael Finnissy – John the Baptist
Orchestral: Harrison Birtwistle – Responses: Sweet disorder and the carefully careless
Small Chamber: Julian Anderson – String Quartet No. 2
Solo or Duo: Michael Finnissy – Beat Generation Ballads
Sonic Art: Yann Seznec – Currents
Stage Works: Julian Anderson – Thebans
Wind Band or Brass Band: Rory Boyle – Muckle Flugga
Charts and sales
= Notable events and records
=On 10 July 2015, the chart week changed from Sunday–Saturday to Friday–Thursday, with the first chart covering Sunday 5 July to Thursday 9 July. This chart move is to align the chart week with the new Global Release Day (Friday) for music.
Pharrell Williams set an all-time record when "Happy" notched 64 consecutive weeks in the top 75 of the singles chart.
Adele's 25 became the fastest-selling UK album of all time, beating the record previously held by Oasis' Be Here Now in 1997.
Jess Glynne scored three UK number-one singles and two from the previous year, tying here with Cheryl Fernandez-Versini as the British women with the most UK number-one singles.
In December, Justin Bieber's songs "Sorry" and "Love Yourself" claimed the top 2 spots on the singles chart during the same week, marking the first time this was accomplished since Madonna in 1985. "Love Yourself" went on to replace "Sorry" in the top position, making Bieber the first artist since Elvis Presley in 2005 to knock themselves off the top spot.
"Love Yourself" became the first song in the history of the UK Singles Chart to reach number one without an official single release.
= Number-one singles
=The singles chart includes a proportion for streaming.
= Number-one albums
=The 'sales' figures since the chart week ending 7 March include a proportion for audio streams.
= Number-one compilation albums
== Top singles of the year
=This chart was published by the Official Charts Company in January 2016 showing sales and streams for the whole of 2015.
= Top albums of the year
=This chart published by the Official Charts Company on 5 January 2016 shows combined sales for artist albums from sales and streams for the whole of 2015.
Notes:
Deaths
1 January – Matthew Cogley, musician and songwriter (Failsafe), 30
6 January – Lance Percival, actor and singer, 81
22 January – Joan Hinde, trumpet player, 81
27 January – Margot Moir, Scottish-born Australian singer (The Moir Sisters), 55
29 January – Danny McCulloch, 69, bassist (Eric Burdon & The Animals)
12 February – Steve Strange, singer (Visage), 55 (heart attack)
13 February – John McCabe, British composer and pianist, 75
16 February – Gavin Clark, British songwriter and singer with the bands Sunhouse, Clayhill and U.N.K.L.E, 46
22 February – Chris Rainbow, rock singer and musician (The Alan Parsons Project), 68
16 March – Andy Fraser, composer and bassist (Free), 62
21 March – Jackie Trent, singer-songwriter and actress, 74
23 March
Roy Douglas, composer, 107
Lil Chris, singer-songwriter, musician, 24
26 March – John Renbourn, guitarist and songwriter (Pentangle), 70
28 March
Josie Jones, singer (The Mighty Wah!) (death announced on this date)
Ronald Stevenson, composer and pianist, 87
1 April – Dave Ball, musician (Procol Harum), 65
3 April – Andrew Porter, organist, music critic, and opera director, 86
10 April – Ronald Hambleton, English-born Canadian broadcaster and music critic (Toronto Star), 97
13 April – Ronnie Carroll, Northern Irish singer, 80
17 April – Brian Couzens, music industry executive (Chandos Records), 86
6 May – Errol Brown, Jamaican-born British singer (Hot Chocolate), 71
15 May – Ross Dawson, English drummer (Late of the Pier)
16 May – Flora MacNeil, Scottish Gaelic singer, 86
21 May – Twinkle, British singer-songwriter, 66 (cancer)
28 May – Johnny Keating, Scottish musician, songwriter and arranger, 87
4 June – Allan Fryer, Scottish-born Australian musician (Heaven), 60 (cancer)
5 June – Nick Marsh, singer and musician (Flesh for Lulu), 53 (cancer)
12 June – Ernest Tomlinson, composer, 90
27 June – Chris Squire, bassist (Yes), 67 (acute erythroid leukemia)
29 June – Bruce Rowland, drummer (Fairport Convention), 74
1 July
Val Doonican, Irish-born singer, 88
Edward Greenfield, music critic and broadcaster, 86
13 July – Eric Wrixon (Them, Thin Lizzy), 68
22 July – Eddie Hardin, singer-songwriter and pianist (The Spencer Davis Group and Axis Point), 66
1 August – Cilla Black, singer and presenter, 72
12 August – John Scott, organist and choirmaster, 59
14 August – Jazz Summers, music manager (Scissor Sisters, The Verve, Snow Patrol), 71 (lung cancer)
8 October – Jim Diamond, Scottish singer, songwriter, 64
11 October – Carey Lander, keyboardist, singer (Camera Obscura), 33
13 October – Duncan Druce, English composer and musicologist, 76
28 October – Diane Charlemagne, singer (52nd Street, Urban Cookie Collective), 51 (cancer)
9 November – Andy White, Scottish musician, drummer, 85
11 November – Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, drummer (Motörhead), 61
28 November – Wayne Bickerton, songwriter, record producer, and music executive, 74
17 December – Mick Lynch, Irish singer, musician (Stump), 56 (cancer)
28 December
John Bradbury, drummer (The Specials), 62
Guru Josh, techno producer, musician, 51 (suicide)
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, singer, songwriter, musician (Motörhead, Hawkwind), 70 (cancer)
See also
2015 in British radio
2015 in British television
2015 in the United Kingdom
List of British films of 2015
References
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
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- 2015 in British music
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