2011 in British music

Mercury Prize

The 2011 Barclaycard Mercury Prize was awarded on 6 September 2011 to PJ Harvey for her album Let England Shake. Harvey became the first artist to win the Mercury Prize twice.

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

The 2011 Record of the Year was awarded on 10 December 2011 to Lady Gaga for her song "Born This Way".

Charts and sales

Number-one singles

Number-one albums

Number-one compilation albums

Best-selling singles of 2011

Best-selling albums of 2011

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.

Deaths

• 4 January
• Mick Karn – English multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter, 52
• Gerry Rafferty – Scottish singer-songwriter, 63
• 14 January – Trish Keenan, singer (Broadcast), 42 (swine flu).
• 16 January – Steve Prestwich, British-born Australian drummer and songwriter (Cold Chisel, Little River Band), 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 (Adam and the Ants), 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 (stabbing)
• Keith Fordyce, radio DJ and TV presenter, 82
• 17 March – J. B. Steane, music critic, 83
• 18 March – Jet Harris, guitarist (The Shadows), 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, (X-Ray Spex), 53 (cancer)
• 29 April – David Mason, trumpeter, 85
• 7 May – Big George, arranger, 53 (heart attack)
• 19 May – Kathy Kirby, singer, 72
• 29 May – Simon Brint, musician, composer, actor and comedian (Raw Sex), 60 (suicide)
• 10 June – Kenny Hawkes, DJ and music producer, 42 (liver failure)
• 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 (alcohol poisoning)
• 3 August – Andrew McDermott, singer (Threshold), 45 (kidney failure)
• 15 August – Betty Thatcher, lyricist, 67
• 10 September – Graham Collier, jazz bassist, 74
• 21 September – John Du Cann, guitarist (Atomic Rooster), 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 (Fleetwood Mac), 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

See also

• 2011 in British radio
• 2011 in British television
• 2011 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 2011

References