2012 in British music

Events

• 1 January – Musicians honoured in the Queen's New Year Honours list include conductor Antonio Pappano, record producer Steve Lillywhite, composer and conductor Rev Ronald Corp and Ralph Allwood, 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, violinist Tasmin Little and Gareth Malone.
• 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
• Karl Jenkins – The Peacemakers
• Philip Ledger – This Holy Child
• 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

• 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

• Best Contemporary Song: "Video Games" – Lana Del Rey
• PRS for Music Most Performed Work: "Rolling in the Deep" – Adele
• Best Television Soundtrack: The Shadow Line
• The Ivors Jazz Award: Stan Tracey
• Album Award: Let England Shake – PJ Harvey
• Outstanding Song Collection: Gary Kemp
• The Ivors Inspiration Award: Siouxsie Sioux
• Best Original Film Score: The First Grader
• PRS for Music Outstanding Contribution to British Music: Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams
• Best Song Musically and Lyrically: "The A Team" – 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

• Female Artist: Nicola Benedetti
• MasterCard Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award: Miloš Karadaglić
• Composer: John Williams
• International Artist of the Year in association with Raymond Weil: Andrea Bocelli
• Critics' Award: Benjamin Grosvenor
• Male Artist: Vasily Petrenko
• 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

Popjustice £20 Music Prize

British Composer Awards

• 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

Charts and sales

Number-one compilation albums

Best-selling singles of 2012

Best-selling albums of 2012

Deaths

• 3 January – Bob Weston, guitarist with Fleetwood Mac, 64
• 4 January – Kerry McGregor, contestant on the third series of The X Factor, 37
• 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
• 21 February – John Charles Winter, organist, 88
• 29 February – Davy Jones, singer and percussionist with the Monkees, 66
• 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
• 3 June – Andy Hamilton, Jamaican-born jazz saxophonist and composer, 94
• 17 June – Brian Hibbard, singer with the Flying Pickets and actor, 65
• 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
• 23 July – Graham Jackson, conductor, 45
• 17 August – Lou Martin, keyboard player, 63
• 31 August – Max Bygraves, singer and variety performer, 89
• 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
• 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
• 6 November – Clive Dunn, actor and singer, 92
• 18 November
• *Stan Greig, pianist, drummer, and bandleader, 82
• *Sir Philip Ledger, English organist, composer, and academic, 74
• 20 November – Michael Dunford guitarist and songwriter with Renaissance
• 24 November – Ian Campbell, folk musician, 79
• 4 December – Jonathan Harvey, composer, 73