1972 in British music
This is a summary of 1972 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Events
- 20 January – The premiere of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon at the Dome, Brighton, is halted by technical difficulties. The Dark Side of the Moon would be played in its entirety the following night, but it would be a full year before the album was released.
- 21 January – Keith Richards jumps on stage to jam with Chuck Berry at the Hollywood Palladium but is ordered off for playing too loud. Berry later claims that he did not recognise Richards and would not have booted him off the stage if he had known who he was.
- 9 February – Paul McCartney's new band, Wings, make their live debut at the University of Nottingham. It is McCartney's first public concert since the Beatles' 1966 US tour.
- 13 February – Led Zeppelin's concert in Singapore is cancelled when government officials will not let them off the aeroplane because of their long hair.
- 19 February – Paul McCartney's single "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" is banned by the BBC.
- 25 March – The 17th Eurovision Song Contest is held in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland. The only time Scotland has hosted the contest.
- 16 April – Electric Light Orchestra make their live debut at the Fox and Greyhound pub in Park Lane, Croydon, England.
- 2 May – Stone the Crows lead guitarist Les Harvey is electrocuted on stage during a show in Swansea, Wales, by touching a poorly connected microphone. Harvey died in a hospital a few hours later. The band's lead singer, Maggie Bell, Harvey's longtime girlfriend, was also hospitalised, having collapsed on stage after the incident.
- 1 June – premiere of Harrison Birtwistle's The Triumph of Time in London.
- 12 July – first performance of Peter Maxwell Davies's opera Taverner at the Royal Opera House.
- 7 September – The UK premiere of Carré for four orchestras and four choirs by Karlheinz Stockhausen takes place at the Proms.
- 8 October – David Hughes is taken ill while singing the role of Pinkerton in Madam Butterfly in London. He completes the performance but dies shortly afterwards of heart failure.
Year-end charts
Best-selling singles
| Title | Artist | Peak position | |
| 1 | "Amazing Grace" | 1 | |
| 2 | "Mouldy Old Dough" | Lieutenant Pigeon | 1 |
| 3 | "Puppy Love" | 1 | |
| 4 | "Without You" | Nilsson | 1 |
| 5 | "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" | 1 | |
| 6 | "Son of My Father" | Chicory Tip | 1 |
| 7 | "Rock and Roll (Parts 1 & 2)" | 2 | |
| 8 | "Metal Guru" | T. Rex | 1 |
| 9 | "Mother of Mine" | 2 | |
| 10 | "Telegram Sam" | T. Rex | 1 |
| 11 | "American Pie" | 2 | |
| 12 | "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" | Slade | 1 |
| 13 | "School's Out" | Alice Cooper | 1 |
| 14 | "You Wear It Well" | 1 | |
| 15 | "Beg, Steal or Borrow" | 2 | |
| 16 | "Vincent" | 1 | |
| 17 | "Clair" | 1 | |
| 18 | "My Ding-a-Ling" | 1 | |
| 19 | "How Can I Be Sure" | 1 | |
| 20 | "Sylvia's Mother" | Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show | 2 |
Best-selling albums
A list of the top twenty best-selling albums of 1972 was published in the issue of Record Mirror dated 13 January 1973, and a top fifty was later reproduced in the first edition of the BPI Year Book in 1976. However, in 2007, the Official Charts Company published album chart histories for each year from 1956 to 1977, researched by historian Sharon Mawer, and included an updated list of the top ten best-selling albums for each year based on the new research. The updated top ten for 1972 is shown in the table below.| Title | Artist | Peak position | |
| 1 | 20 Dynamic Hits | Various Artists | 1 |
| 2 | 20 All Time Hits of the 50s | Various Artists | 1 |
| 3 | Greatest Hits | Simon & Garfunkel | 2 |
| 4 | Never a Dull Moment | 1 | |
| 5 | 20 Fantastic Hits | Various Artists | 1 |
| 6 | Bridge over Troubled Water | Simon & Garfunkel | 2 |
| 7 | Slade Alive! | Slade | 2 |
| 8 | Fog on the Tyne | Lindisfarne | 1 |
| 9 | 25 Rockin' and Rollin' Greats | Various Artists | 1 |
| 10 | American Pie | 2 |
Notes:
Classical works
- Hugh Wood – Violin concerto no 1
Film and incidental music
Film
- John Addison – Sleuth directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine.
- Ron Goodwin – Frenzy directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
- David Munrow – Henry VIII and His Six Wives.
- Eric Rogers – Carry On Matron.
Television
Musical Films
Births
- 17 January – Aqualung, singer-songwriter
- 27 January – Mark Owen, singer
- 20 February – Neil Primrose, drummer
- 29 February – Steve Hart, singer
- 4 March – Alison Wheeler, singer
- 16 March – Andy Dunlop, lead guitarist, banjoist
- 20 March
- *Alex Kapranos, singer and guitarist
- *Shelly Poole, singer
- 29 March – Monty Adkins, composer, performer and lecturer in electroacoustic music.
- March – Natasha Barrett, composer of electroacoustic music
- 27 April – Rob Coombes, keyboardist
- 15 May – Conrad Keely, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 26 May – Alan White, drummer
- 14 June – Dominic Brown, English guitarist and songwriter
- 17 June – Rikrok, British-Jamaican singer
- 6 July – Mark Gasser, English pianist and educator
- 11 July – Cormac Battle, English-Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 6 August – Geri Halliwell, singer
- 8 August – Bitty McLean, reggae singer
- 15 August – Mikey Graham, Irish singer
- 6 September – Tony Dowding, singer
- 13 September – Matt Everitt, drummer
- 20 September – Aaron Poole, singer
- 21 September – Liam Gallagher, singer
- 14 November – Dougie Payne, bassist
- 23 November – Rick Witter, singer
- 3 December – Dan Bowyer, singer
- 10 December – Brian Molko, singer
- 11 December – Easther Bennett, singer
- 13 December – Niki Evans, actress and singer
Deaths
- 20 February – Herbert Menges, conductor and composer, 69
- 21 March – David McCallum Sr., violinist and the father of David McCallum, 74
- 28 September – Rory Storm, singer, 33.
- 19 October – David Hughes, opera singer, 47
- 28 November – Havergal Brian, composer, 96
- date unknown
- *Jimmy MacBeath, folk singer, 77/78
- *Ivor McMahon, violinist, 47/48