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 composers Karl Jenkins and James MacMillan who receive knighthoods, and singers Michael Ball and Van Morrison
• 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 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
• * Van Gogh Blue
• Richard Ayres – No 48
• Guy Barker – The Lanterne of Light
• Gerald Barry – The One-Armed Pianist
• Sally Beamish – "Be still"
• 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
• 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, 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
• 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
• 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]

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 – 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

Number-one singles

Number-one albums

Number-one compilation albums

Top singles of the year

Top albums of the year

Deaths

• 1 January – Matthew Cogley, musician and songwriter, 30
• 6 January – Lance Percival, actor and singer, 81
• 22 January – Joan Hinde, trumpet player, 81
• 27 January – Margot Moir, Scottish-born Australian singer, 55
• 29 January – Danny McCulloch, 69, bassist
• 12 February – Steve Strange, singer, 55
• 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, 68
• 16 March – Andy Fraser, composer and bassist, 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, 70
• 28 March
• *Josie Jones, singer
• *Ronald Stevenson, composer and pianist, 87
• 1 April – Dave Ball, musician, 65
• 3 April – Andrew Porter, organist, music critic, and opera director, 86
• 10 April – Ronald Hambleton, English-born Canadian broadcaster and music critic, 97
• 13 April – Ronnie Carroll, Northern Irish singer, 80
• 17 April – Brian Couzens, music industry executive, 86
• 6 May – Errol Brown, Jamaican-born British singer, 71
• 15 May – Ross Dawson, English drummer
• 16 May – Flora MacNeil, Scottish Gaelic singer, 86
• 21 May – Twinkle, British singer-songwriter, 66
• 28 May – Johnny Keating, Scottish musician, songwriter and arranger, 87
• 4 June – Allan Fryer, Scottish-born Australian musician, 60
• 5 June – Nick Marsh, singer and musician, 53
• 12 June – Ernest Tomlinson, composer, 90
• 27 June – Chris Squire, bassist, 67
• 29 June – Bruce Rowland, drummer, 74
• 1 July
• *Val Doonican, Irish-born singer, 88
• *Edward Greenfield, music critic and broadcaster, 86
• 13 July – Eric Wrixon, 68
• 22 July – Eddie Hardin, singer-songwriter and pianist, 66
• 1 August – Cilla Black, singer and presenter, 72
• 12 August – John Scott, organist and choirmaster, 59
• 14 August – Jazz Summers, music manager, 71
• 8 October – Jim Diamond, Scottish singer, songwriter, 64
• 11 October – Carey Lander, keyboardist, singer, 33
• 13 October – Duncan Druce, English composer and musicologist, 76
• 28 October – Diane Charlemagne, singer, 51
• 9 November – Andy White, Scottish musician, drummer, 85
• 11 November – Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, drummer, 61
• 28 November – Wayne Bickerton, songwriter, record producer, and music executive, 74
• 17 December – Mick Lynch, Irish singer, musician, 56
• 28 December
• *John Bradbury, drummer, 62
• *Guru Josh, techno producer, musician, 51
• *Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, singer, songwriter, musician, 70