2011 in British music
This is a summary of 2011 in music in the United Kingdom.
Events
- 1 January – Musicians honoured in the Queen's New Year Honours list include mezzo-soprano Felicity Palmer and composer Howard Goodall, Richard Thompson and Annie Lennox.
- 14 April – On his sixtieth birthday, Julian Lloyd Webber gives the première of American composer Eric Whitacre's "The River Cam", written specially for the occasion.
- 29 April – The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton includes original music by Paul Mealor and John Rutter as well as traditional works by British composers such as Hubert Parry's setting of the anthem "I was glad" and William Walton's "Crown Imperial".
- 11 June – Musicians honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours list include Bryan Ferry, broadcaster Bob Harris and jazz singer Claire Martin.
- 10 September – Edward Gardner conducted the Last Night of the Proms for the first time. The programme included works by Béla Bartók and Franz Liszt as well as the traditional Elgar, and the soloist for "Rule Britannia" was Susan Bullock. A highlight was the première of Peter Maxwell Davies's Musica benevolens.
- 9 October – Sir Paul McCartney marries Nancy Shevell.
- 18 October – Ian Brown, John Squire, Mani & Reni announce the reformation of The Stone Roses at London's Soho Hotel.
- 11 December – Little Mix emerge winners of the 2011 X Factor series. They are the first group entry to win in the programme's eight-year history.
Publications
- Ian Bostridge – A Singer's Notebook
Classical music
New works
- Karl Jenkins – The Bards of Wales
- Paul Mealor – Ubi Caritas et Amor
- Graham Waterhouse – Rhapsodie Macabre
- Eric Whitacre – The River Cam
Opera
- Peter Maxwell Davies – Kommilitonen!
- Jonathan Dove – Mansfield Park
- Mark-Anthony Turnage – Anna Nicole
Albums
- Nicola Benedetti – Italia
- Alfie Boe – Alfie
- Bond – Play
- Katherine Jenkins – Daydream
- Paul Lewis – Schubert: Piano Sonatas
- Julian Lloyd Webber – The Art of Julian Lloyd Webber
Field recordings
- Chris Watson – El Tren Fantasma
Film and incidental music
- Lorne Balfe – Ironclad
- Neil Brand – Underground
- Jonny Greenwood – We Need to Talk About Kevin
British music awards
BRIT Awards
The 2011 BRIT Awards were hosted by James Corden on 15 February 2011. The most notable winners were Tinie Tempah and Arcade Fire, both winning two awards.- British Male Solo Artist: Plan B
- British Female Solo Artist: Laura Marling
- British Breakthrough Act: Tinie Tempah
- British Group: Take That
- MasterCard British Album: Sigh No More – Mumford & Sons
- British Single: "Pass Out" – Tinie Tempah
- International Male Solo Artist: Cee Lo Green
- International Female Solo Artist: Rihanna
- International Breakthrough Act: Justin Bieber
- International Group: Arcade Fire
- International Album: The Suburbs – Arcade Fire
- British Producer: Markus Dravs
- Critics' Choice: Jessie J
Classical BRIT Awards
- Male Artist of the Year: Antonio Pappano
- Female Artist of the Year: Alison Balsom
- Newcomer Award: Vilde Frang
- Composer of the Year: Arvo Pärt
- Critics' Award: Tasmin Little
- Artist of the Decade: Il Divo
- Album of the Year: Moonlight Serenade – André Rieu and His Johann Strauss Orchestra
- Outstanding Contribution to Music: John Barry
Ivor Novello Awards
- Best Song Musically and Lyrically: "Becoming a Jackal" – Villagers
- Best Contemporary Song: "Pass Out" – Tinie Tempah
- Album Award: The Defamation of Strickland Banks – Plan B
- Best Original Film Score: How to Train Your Dragon
- Best Original Video Game Score:
- Best Television Soundtrack: Any Human Heart
- Songwriter of the Year: Benjamin Drew
- Most Performed Work: "She Said" – Plan B
- Classical Music Award: Michael Nyman
- Inspiration Award: Dizzee Rascal
- Outstanding Song Collection: Steve Winwood
- Outstanding Contribution to British Music: Paul Rodgers
- International Achievement: Matthew Bellamy, Dominic Howard & Christopher Wolstenholme
- Special International Award: Stephen Sondheim
Mercury Prize
Popjustice £20 Music Prize
The 2011 Popjustice £20 Music Prize was awarded on 6 September 2011 to The Saturdays for their song "Higher".British Composer Awards
The 2011 British Composer Awards were held on 30 November 2011 at Stationers' Hall, London and hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenters Sara Mohr-Pietsch and Andrew McGregor, with the awards presented by Michael Berkeley. There was no award in the Sonic Art category in 2011.- Instrumental Solo or Duo: Sonata for Cello & Piano – William Sweeney
- Chamber: String Quartet No. 2 – Anthony Payne
- Vocal: Five Larkin Songs – Huw Watkins
- Choral: Allele – Michael Zev Gordon
- Wind Band or Brass Band: In Pitch Black – Lucy Pankhurst
- Orchestral: Fantasias – Julian Anderson
- Stage Works: A Ring A Lamp A Thing – Orlando Gough
- Liturgical: Bell Mass – Julian Anderson
- Contemporary Jazz Composition: The Green Seagull – Tommy Evans
- Community or Educational Project: Consider the Lilies – John Barber
- Making Music Award: I can't find brumm... – Richard Bullen
- International Award: La Mattina – Bent Sørensen
- Outreach: PK – Graham Fitkin
The Record of the Year
Charts and sales
Number-one singles
Number-one albums
Number-one compilation albums
Best-selling singles of 2011
| Title | Artist | Peak position | Sales | |
| 1 | "Someone Like You" | Adele | 1 | 1,242,917 |
| 2 | "Moves Like Jagger" | Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera | 2 | 1,040,000 |
| 3 | "Party Rock Anthem" | LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock | 1 | 900,000 |
| 4 | "Price Tag" | Jessie J featuring B.o.B | 1 | 900,000 |
| 5 | "We Found Love" | Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris | 1 | 900,000 |
| 6 | "Give Me Everything" | Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer | 1 | |
| 7 | "Grenade" | 1 | ||
| 8 | "The A Team" | 3 | 800,000 | |
| 9 | "Rolling in the Deep" | Adele | 2 | |
| 10 | "On the Floor" | featuring Pitbull | 1 | |
| 11 | "Jar of Hearts" | 4 | ||
| 12 | "S&M" | Rihanna | 3 | |
| 13 | "Wherever You Are" | Military Wives & Gareth Malone | 1 | |
| 14 | "Born This Way" | Lady Gaga | 3 | |
| 15 | "The Lazy Song" | 1 | ||
| 16 | "Beautiful People" | featuring Benny Benassi | 4 | |
| 17 | "Changed the Way You Kiss Me" | Example | 1 | |
| 18 | "I Need a Dollar" | 2 | ||
| 19 | "Sweat" | Snoop Dogg vs. David Guetta | 4 | |
| 20 | "What Makes You Beautiful" | One Direction | 1 | |
| 21 | "Heart Skips a Beat" | featuring Rizzle Kicks | 1 | |
| 22 | "Mr Saxobeat" | 3 | ||
| 23 | "Earthquake" | Labrinth featuring Tinie Tempah | 2 | |
| 24 | "Glad You Came" | 1 | ||
| 25 | "Louder" | DJ Fresh featuring Sian Evans | 1 | |
| 26 | "Do It Like a Dude" | Jessie J | 2 | |
| 27 | "The Edge of Glory" | Lady Gaga | 6 | |
| 28 | "Yeah 3x" | 6 | ||
| 29 | "Set Fire to the Rain" | Adele | 11 | |
| 30 | "Super Bass" | 8 | ||
| 31 | "Sexy and I Know It" | LMFAO | 5 | |
| 32 | "Where Them Girls At" | featuring Flo Rida & Nicki Minaj | 3 | |
| 33 | "Don't Hold Your Breath" | 1 | ||
| 34 | "Best Thing I Never Had" | Beyoncé | 3 | |
| 35 | "Bounce" | featuring Kelis | 2 | |
| 36 | "E.T." | featuring Kanye West | 3 | |
| 37 | "Read All About It" | Professor Green featuring Emeli Sandé | 1 | |
| 38 | "Champion" | Chipmunk featuring Chris Brown | 2 | |
| 39 | "Paradise" | Coldplay | 2 | |
| 40 | "Lego House" | 5 | ||
| 41 | "Cannonball" | Little Mix | 1 | |
| 42 | "Just Can't Get Enough" | 3 | ||
| 43 | "Who's That Chick?" | featuring Rihanna | 6 | |
| 44 | "Marry You" | 11 | ||
| 45 | "Last Friday Night " | 9 | ||
| 46 | "Feel So Close" | 2 | ||
| 47 | "Don't Wanna Go Home" | 1 | ||
| 48 | "Good Feeling" | Flo Rida | 2 | |
| 49 | "What's My Name?" | Rihanna featuring Drake | 1 | |
| 50 | "Without You" | featuring Usher | 6 |
Best-selling albums of 2011
| Title | Artist | Peak position | Sales | |
| 1 | 21 | Adele | 1 | 3,772,346 |
| 2 | Christmas | 1 | 1,292,762 | |
| 3 | Doo-Wops & Hooligans | 1 | 1,214,425 | |
| 4 | 19 | Adele | 2 | 1,210,417 |
| 5 | Mylo Xyloto | Coldplay | 1 | 907,000 |
| 6 | Loud | Rihanna | 1 | 876,000 |
| 7 | Born This Way | Lady Gaga | 1 | 821,000 |
| 8 | Who You Are | Jessie J | 2 | 805,000 |
| 9 | + | 1 | 791,000 | |
| 10 | Talk That Talk | Rihanna | 1 | 655,000 |
| 11 | ' | 1 | 638,000 | |
| 12 | In Case You Didn't Know | 1 | 597,000 | |
| 13 | The Lady Killer | 3 | 560,000 | |
| 14 | Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds | Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds | 1 | 492,000 |
| 15 | Progress | Take That | 1 | 484,000 |
| 16 | Up All Night | One Direction | 2 | 468,000 |
| 17 | No More Idols | Chase and Status | 2 | 461,000 |
| 18 | 4 | Beyoncé | 1 | 451,000 |
| 19 | Greatest Hits | Westlife | 4 | 423,000 |
| 20 | Crazy Love | 3 | 410,000 | |
| 21 | The Defamation of Strickland Banks | Plan B | 2 | |
| 22 | Ceremonials | Florence and the Machine | 1 | |
| 23 | Echoes | 1 | ||
| 24 | Wasting Light | Foo Fighters | 1 | |
| 25 | Teenage Dream | 8 | ||
| 26 | Heaven | 3 | ||
| 27 | Sigh No More | Mumford & Sons | 2 | |
| 28 | Disc-Overy | 4 | ||
| 29 | Jukebox | JLS | 2 | |
| 30 | The Fame | Lady Gaga | 7 | |
| 31 | Build a Rocket Boys! | Elbow | 2 | |
| 32 | Back to Black | 1 | ||
| 33 | Someone to Watch Over Me | 1 | ||
| 34 | Good Ol' Fashioned Love | 4 | ||
| 35 | Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor | 4 | ||
| 36 | The Awakening | 1 | ||
| 37 | Velociraptor! | Kasabian | 1 | |
| 38 | Seasons of My Soul | Rumer | 4 | |
| 39 | Lights | 5 | ||
| 40 | Fallen Empires | Snow Patrol | 3 | |
| 41 | Nothing But the Beat | 2 | ||
| 42 | Last Night on Earth | Noah and the Whale | 8 | |
| 43 | Playing in the Shadows | Example | 1 | |
| 44 | Bring Him Home | 9 | ||
| 45 | Greatest Hits... So Far!!! | Pink | 12 | |
| 46 | Alfie | 6 | ||
| 47 | Olly Murs | 4 | ||
| 48 | Classic | 2 | ||
| 49 | Letters | 2 | ||
| 50 | Suck It and See | Arctic Monkeys | 1 |
Notes:'''
Platinum records
For a record to be certified platinum, it must sell a minimum of 600,000 copies. However, not every song that sells 600,000 copies is given platinum certification and so this is not a complete list of songs that have sold 600,000 copies in 2011. Also note that a song certified platinum could have sold its 600,000th copy long before it is given certification.| Artist | Song | Date released | Date certified platinum |
| Cee Lo Green | "Forget You" | ||
| Rihanna | "Only Girl " | ||
| Rihanna featuring Drake | "What's My Name?" | ||
| Tinie Tempah | "Pass Out" | ||
| Katy Perry | "Firework" | ||
| Adele | "Someone Like You" | ||
| Pitbull/Ne-Yo/Afrojack/Nayer | "Give Me Everything" |
Deaths
- 4 January
- *Mick Karn – English multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter, 52
- *Gerry Rafferty – Scottish singer-songwriter, 63
- 14 January – Trish Keenan, singer, 42.
- 16 January – Steve Prestwich, British-born Australian drummer and songwriter, 56
- 26 January – Eddie Mordue, saxophonist, 83
- 28 January
- *Raymond Cohen, violinist, 91
- *Dame Margaret Price, operatic soprano, 69
- 30 January – John Barry, British film composer, 77
- 31 January – Mark Ryan, guitarist, 51
- 3 February – Tony Levin, jazz drummer, 71
- 6 February
- *Gary Moore, guitarist and songwriter, 58
- *James Watson, trumpeter, 59
- 14 February – George Shearing, jazz pianist, 91
- 27 February – Margaret Eliot, music teacher, 97
- 8 March – Richard Campbell, cellist, 55
- 15 March
- *Smiley Culture, reggae singer and DJ, 48
- *Keith Fordyce, radio DJ and TV presenter, 82
- 17 March – J. B. Steane, music critic, 83
- 18 March – Jet Harris, guitarist, 71
- 20 March – Johnny Pearson, pianist, arranger and TV composer, 85
- 29 March – Robert Tear, operatic tenor, 72
- 31 March – Ishbel MacAskill, Scottish Gaelic singer and heritage campaigner, 70
- 25 April – Poly Styrene – singer,, 53
- 29 April – David Mason, trumpeter, 85
- 7 May – Big George, arranger, 53
- 19 May – Kathy Kirby, singer, 72
- 27 May – Gil Scott-Heron, singer, musician, poet, 62
- 29 May – Simon Brint, musician, composer, actor and comedian, 60
- 10 June – Kenny Hawkes, DJ and music producer, 42
- 22 June
- *Cyril Ornadel, conductor and composer, 86
- *Mike Waterson, folk singer, 70
- 24 June – Goff Richards, English composer, 66
- 9 July – Würzel, guitarist, 61
- 14 July – Eric Delaney, percussionist and bandleader, 87
- 15 July – Cuddly Dudley, rock and roll singer, 87
- 23 July – Amy Winehouse, singer, musician, 27
- 3 August – Andrew McDermott, singer, 45
- 15 August – Betty Thatcher, lyricist, 67
- 10 September – Graham Collier, jazz bassist, 74
- 21 September – John Du Cann, guitarist, 66
- 2 October – David Bedford, composer, 74
- 5 October – Bert Jansch, singer, musician, 67
- 15 October – Betty Driver, singer and actress, 91
- 18 October – Bob Brunning, blues musician, 68
- 21 October – Edmundo Ros, Trinidadian band leader, 100
- 28 October – Beryl Davis, singer, 87
- 29 October – Sir Jimmy Savile, DJ, 84
- 6 November – Gordon Beck, jazz pianist and composer, 75
- 24 November – Ross MacManus, trumpeter, 84
- 26 November – Keef Hartley, drummer and bandleader, 67
- 6 December – Tony Fell, music publisher, 79
- 12 December – John Gardner, composer, 94