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This is a summary of 1981 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
- 9 February – Phil Collins releases his first solo album, although he would not leave the band Genesis until 1995.
- 14 February – Billy Idol leaves Generation X to begin a solo career.
- 26 February – The Symphony No. 2 by Peter Maxwell Davies commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in celebration of its centenary, receives its world premiere at Symphony Hall, Boston, with Seiji Ozawa conducting.
- 4 April – Bucks Fizz win the Eurovision Song Contest with "Making Your Mind Up".
- 7 April – Former Who manager Kit Lambert dies after falling down a flight of stairs in his mother's home in London.
- 17 April – Eric Clapton is released from St. Paul's Hospital in Minnesota following a month-long treatment for bleeding ulcers.
- 18 April – Yes announce that they are breaking up. They would, however, reunite frequently in the future.
- 25 April – Paul McCartney's band, Wings, officially breaks up.
- 2 May – Working as a local wedding singer 12 months previously, Scottish vocalist Sheena Easton hits number one in the US with "Morning Train (9 to 5)"
- 11 May – The musical Cats begins its 8,949-performance run on London's West End.
- August – The success of Stars on 45 leads to a short-lived medley craze. The most successful imitator of the Stars on 45 format is, rather unexpectedly, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, whose "Hooked on Classics (Parts 1 & 2)" reaches number two in the charts.
- 17 June – Pink Floyd perform their last full concert with Roger Waters, as part of The Wall Tour, at Earls Court in London. Waters would not perform with the band again until a one-off performance for Live 8 in 2005.
- 14 September – Emma Kirkby and Gothic Voices record the album A Feather on the Breath of God in St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London.
Number-one singles
| Issue Date | Song | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 January | "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" | St Winifred's School Choir |
| 10 January | "Imagine" | John Lennon |
| 17 January | ||
| 24 January | ||
| 31 January | ||
| 7 February | "Woman" | |
| 14 February | ||
| 21 February | "Shaddap You Face" | Joe Dolce Music Theatre |
| 28 February | ||
| 7 March | ||
| 14 March | "Jealous Guy" | Roxy Music |
| 21 March | ||
| 28 March | "This Ole House" | Shakin' Stevens |
| 4 April | ||
| 11 April | ||
| 18 April | "Making Your Mind Up" | Bucks Fizz |
| 25 April | ||
| 2 May | ||
| 9 May | "Stand and Deliver" | Adam and the Ants |
| 16 May | ||
| 23 May | ||
| 30 May | ||
| 6 June | ||
| 13 June | "Being with You" | Smokey Robinson |
| 20 June | ||
| 27 June | "One Day in Your Life" | Michael Jackson |
| 4 July | ||
| 11 July | "Ghost Town" | The Specials |
| 18 July | ||
| 25 July | ||
| 1 August | "Green Door" | Shakin' Stevens |
| 8 August | ||
| 15 August | ||
| 22 August | ||
| 29 August | "Japanese Boy" | Aneka |
| 5 September | "Tainted Love" | Soft Cell |
| 12 September | ||
| 19 September | "Prince Charming" | Adam and the Ants |
| 26 September | ||
| 3 October | ||
| 10 October | ||
| 17 October | "It's My Party" | Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin |
| 24 October | ||
| 31 October | ||
| 7 November | ||
| 14 November | "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" | The Police |
| 21 November | "Under Pressure" | Queen and David Bowie |
| 28 November | ||
| 5 December | "Begin the Beguine" | Julio Iglesias |
| 12 December | "Don't You Want Me" | The Human League |
| 19 December | ||
| 26 December |
Number-one albums
| Issue Date | Title | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 January | Super Trouper | ABBA |
| 10 January | ||
| 17 January | ||
| 24 January | Kings of the Wild Frontier | Adam and the Ants |
| 31 January | ||
| 7 February | Double Fantasy | John Lennon and Yoko Ono |
| 14 February | ||
| 21 February | Face Value | Phil Collins |
| 28 February | ||
| 7 March | ||
| 14 March | Kings of the Wild Frontier | Adam and the Ants |
| 21 March | ||
| 28 March | ||
| 4 April | ||
| 11 April | ||
| 18 April | ||
| 25 April | ||
| 2 May | ||
| 9 May | ||
| 16 May | ||
| 23 May | Stars on 45 | Starsound |
| 30 May | ||
| 6 June | ||
| 13 June | ||
| 20 June | ||
| 27 June | No Sleep 'til Hammersmith | Motörhead |
| 4 July | Disco Daze and Disco Nites | Various Artists |
| 11 July | Love Songs | Cliff Richard |
| 18 July | ||
| 25 July | ||
| 1 August | ||
| 8 August | ||
| 15 August | The Official BBC Album of the Royal Wedding | Various Artists |
| 22 August | ||
| 29 August | Time | Electric Light Orchestra |
| 5 September | ||
| 12 September | Dead Ringer | Meat Loaf |
| 19 September | ||
| 26 September | Abacab | Genesis |
| 3 October | ||
| 10 October | Ghost in the Machine | The Police |
| 17 October | ||
| 24 October | ||
| 31 October | Dare | The Human League |
| 7 November | Shaky | Shakin' Stevens |
| 14 November | Greatest Hits | Queen |
| 21 November | ||
| 28 November | ||
| 5 December | ||
| 12 December | Chart Hits '81 | Various Artists |
| 19 December | The Visitors | ABBA |
| 26 December |
The tables below include sales between 1 January and 31 December 1981: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue of Music Week dated 26 December 1981 and played on Radio 1 on 3 January 1982 only include sales figures up until 12 December 1981.
Best-selling singles
At the end of 1981, the official year-end charts provided by the UK's chart provider, the British Market Research Bureau, stated that the best-selling single of the year was "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell.[1][2] However, in March 2021, the Official Charts Company announced that new research had shown that "Don't You Want Me" by the Human League, previously thought to be the year's 21st-biggest seller, was in fact the biggest-selling single of 1981 with over one million sales, and the year-end charts were adjusted accordingly.[3]
Best-selling albums
Notes:
- Peter Maxwell Davies – Piano Sonata
- George Lloyd – Symphony No 10, November Journeys (for brass)
- Adrian Williams – String Quartet No. 2
- 11 May – Cats, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, opens in London's West End.
- 16 December – Alan Ayckbourn's Making Tracks, with music by Paul Todd, opens at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
- 11 January
- Jamelia, singer
- Tom Meighan, lead singer of Kasabian
- 22 January – Sarah Davies, bassist (Hepburn)
- 19 January – Thaila Zucchi, singer (allSTARS*) and actress
- 24 February – Gwilym Simcock, pianist and composer
- 11 March – Russell Lissack, guitarist with Bloc Party
- 13 March – Ivo Neame, jazz pianist and saxophonist
- 20 March – Declan Bennett, singer (Point Break)
- 26 March – Jay Sean, singer
- 1 April – Hannah Spearritt, actress and singer (S Club 7)
- 2 April – Linzi Martin, singer (Girl Thing)
- 10 April – Liz McClarnon, singer (Atomic Kitten)
- 21 April – Mike Christie, baritone (G4)
- 26 April – Ms Dynamite, singer
- 4 May – Ryan Elliott, singer (Ultimate Kaos)
- 5 May – Craig David, singer
- 20 May – Sean Conlon, musician (5ive)
- 22 May – Su-Elise Nash, singer (Mis-Teeq)
- 23 May – Gwenno Saunders, singer
- 5 June – Anika Bostelaar, Dutch-born singer (Girl Thing)
- 22 June – Chris Urbanowicz, guitarist (Editors)
- 23 June – Antony Costa, singer (Blue)
- 27 June – Colin and Joe O'Halloran, Irish singers (Reel)
- 6 July – Vicky Palmer, singer (Boom!)
- 12 July – Rebecca Hunter, singer (allSTARS*)
- 19 July – Didz Hammond, singer and bass player (Dirty Pretty Things and The Cooper Temple Clause)
- 24 July – Lisa Lister, guitarist (Hepburn)
- 8 August – Bradley McIntosh, singer (S Club 7)
- 11 August – Sandi Thom, singer-songwriter
- 21 August – Jenilca Giusti, Puerto Rican-born singer (Solid HarmoniE)
- 29 September – Suzanne Shaw, singer (Hear'Say) and actress
- 6 October – Sarah Keating, Irish singer (Six)
- 10 October – Una Healy, Irish singer (The Saturdays)
- 13 October – Kele Okereke, singer (Bloc Party)
- 31 October – Liam McKenna, Northern Irish singer (Six)
- 17 November – Sarah Harding, singer (Girls Aloud)
- 20 November – Kimberley Walsh, singer (Girls Aloud)
- 22 November – Ben Adams, singer (A1)
- 26 November – Natasha Bedingfield, singer[7]
- 19 December – Sam Bloom, singer (allSTARS*)
- 19 February
- Olive Gilbert, actress and singer, 82[8]
- Frank Merrick, pianist, 95[9]
- 21 February – Ron Grainer, Australian-born electronic music pioneer and composer involved with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, 58 (spinal cancer)[10]
- 10 March – Bill Hopkins, pianist, composer and critic, 37 (heart attack)
- 24 March – George Charles Gray, cathedral organist, 83
- 7 April – Kit Lambert, manager and producer, 45 (fall)
- 8 April – Eric Rogers, composer, 59
- 14 April – Christian Darnton, composer, 75
- 21 April – Ivor Newton, pianist and accompanist, 88
- 28 April – Steve Currie, bassist of T.Rex, 33 (car crash)[11]
- 12 May – Frank Weir, orchestra leader and jazz musician, 70
- 17 May – Alan Gowen, keyboardist (Gilgamesh), 33 (leukaemia)
- 29 May – Sir John Dykes Bower, cathedral organist, 75
- 18 July – Janet Craxton, oboist, 52
- 5 August – Reginald Kell, clarinettist, 75
- 29 August – Guy Stevens, band manager, record producer and DJ, 38 (overdose)
- 23 September – Sam Costa, dance band singer and DJ, 71
- 29 September – Tommy Moore, former drummer of the Beatles, 50 (brain haemorrhage)
- 30 September – Boyd Neel, orchestral conductor, 76
- 15 October – Elsie Randolph, actress, dancer and singer, 77
- 9 November – Willis Grant, cathedral organist, 74
- 13 December – Cornelius Cardew, experimental music composer, 45 (hit-and-run car accident)[12]
- 17 December – Sybil Gordon, operatic mezzo-soprano, 79
- date unknown – Albert Ernest Sims, composer, conductor and music director of The Central Band of H.M. Royal Air Force, 85[13]
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