2012 in British music

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 BBC Events as part of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Performers include Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, Grace Jones, Alfie Boe, Sir Cliff Richard, Sir Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Stevie Wonder.
• 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.

UK Charts

Main article: 2012 in British music charts

Artists/groups reformed

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

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.

Deaths

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