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2002 in British music

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This is a summary of 2002 in music in the United Kingdom.

Summary

British and Irish bands that did well in the charts included Stereophonics, the Chemical Brothers, and Westlife; the latter topped the charts for a record 10th time, matching Madonna. They also were the quickest act to obtain 10 chart toppers, with only 35 months between this and their first.

The fastest-selling debut single in UK chart history was released by the Winner of the TV talent show, Pop Idol; Will Young had been voted as the winner by over 4 million people in the final, after winning six out of the nine weeks, with Gareth Gates, the eventual runner-up, winning three times. "Anything is Possible/Evergreen", topped the charts for 3 weeks and sold over 1.1 million copies in its first week of sale; altogether it sold over 1.7 million copies, becoming the 11th biggest-selling single in the UK and also the second fastest-selling single in the UK, with only Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" ahead of it. Young reached the top again with his second single "Light My Fire".

Runner-up Gareth Gates scored a No. 1 with his debut single, "Unchained Melody", spending one week more at the top than Will Young, thought the single itself sold less than Will Young's; nonetheless it became the 77th million-selling single in the UK and the last one until 2004. Overall, it is the 37th biggest selling single in the UK. Gates also had a second No.1 single, "Anyone Of Us (Stupid Mistake)", which topped the charts for 3 weeks, bettering Will Young by one week once again. Darius Danesh, third in Pop Idol, also made No 1 with "Colourblind". After both having two chart toppers, Young and Gates joined forces and revived an old Beatles classic, "The Long and Winding Road".

UK girl group Sugababes (who were now under their second line-up of original members Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and former Atomic Kitten member Heidi Range, who replaced Siobhán Donaghy after her departure the previous year) scored their first UK number one with "Freak like Me". Ronan Keating also returned to the top of the singles chart with a cover of "If Tomorrow Never Comes". Liberty X, consisting of the five losers who just failed to make Hear'Say in the talent show Popstars, reached No. 1 with Just a Little, eventually becoming more successful than Hear'Say, who disbanded in October. S Club Juniors, an 8-piece pre-teen spin off from S Club 7 (who saw the departure of band member Paul Cattermole earlier that year) reached No 2 with their debut single One Step Closer.

The Sugababes hit the top for a second time with their sixth single, "Round Round". Like their first No. 1 single, it only spent a week at the summit. The song was taken from the soundtrack to the hit film, "The Guru". Specialising in pop and R&B with garage influences, all-male act Blazin' Squad entered atop the charts with their massively hyped debut single, "Crossroads". They would go on to have five more top 10 singles, though their two albums charted near the low end of the top 40 on the albums chart.

Coldplay released their second album, a follow-up to Parachutes; A Rush of Blood to the Head included several hit singles and they became one of the few early 2000s era British acts to achieve fame and popularity in the US. Having

previously topped the singles charts twice, Atomic Kitten also scored a No. 1 album with their third release, Feels So Good, which spawned two top 3 hits as well as their 3rd chart topper.

Twelve months after topping the charts with his debut single, Daniel Bedingfield returned with a slow ballad, "If You're Not The One". It became his 2nd UK No. 1, and his debut album, Gotta Get Thru This, produced five Top 10 singles and six Top 40 hits. Boy band Blue reached the top of the UK charts for the third time, collaborating with Elton John to revive an old hit of his, "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word".

A notable charity single that reached the top 20 was "Nothing Sacred – A Song for Kirsty" by Russell Watson. The campaign raised money for the Francis House Children's Hospital, and was inspired by Kirsty Howard, an eight-year old with a rare heart condition. The song peaked at number 17 and sales contributed to the £5million target for the Kirsty Appeal achieved in 2006.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-34620913|title=Manchester fundraiser Kirsty Howard dies aged 20|date=24 October 2015|work=BBC News|publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation|accessdate=2 May 2017}}

Popstars: The Rivals became the new phenomenon in the world of talent shows, producing two new acts, boy band One True Voice and girl group Girls Aloud. They both released their singles in Christmas week and the girls beat the boys to the top spot, claiming the Christmas number one with "Sound of the Underground". Robbie Williams took the Christmas number one album spot yet again with his fifth No. 1 album, Escapology.

Events

Performers included Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Ravi Shankar, and Billy Preston. The event benefitted the Material World Charitable Foundation.

Television

Howard Goodall follows up his earlier successful TV series Howard Goodall's Big Bangs with Howard Goodall's Great Dates, in which he focused on significant dates in the history of music.

Classical works

Film scores and incidental music

Deaths

  • 4 January – Peter Hemmings, operatic bass and impresario, 67{{cite web|url=http://www.musicaltimes.co.uk/archive/0201/hemmings.html |title=Peter Hemmings 1934–2002 |publisher=musicaltimes.co.uk The Musical Times |accessdate=2009-02-06 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104215333/http://www.musicaltimes.co.uk/archive/0201/hemmings.html |archivedate=4 November 2005 }}
  • 7 January – Jon Lee, Feeder drummer, 33 (suicide)
  • 22 January – Peter Bardens, keyboard player, 57{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-bardens-9137634.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-bardens-9137634.html |archive-date=1 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Peter Bardens - Obituaries - News - The Independent|author=Salewicz, Chris|date=31 January 2002| work=The Independent| accessdate=2009-05-03}}{{cbignore}}
  • 14 February – Mick Tucker, drummer of Sweet, 54
  • 1 March – Doreen Waddell, singer, 36 (car accident)
  • 4 March – Eric Flynn, actor and singer, 62 (cancer){{cite news|title=Obituary|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1387893/Eric-Flynn.html|accessdate=24 May 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=16 March 2002}}
  • 27 March – Dudley Moore, comedian, composer, pianist and actor, 66 (progressive supranuclear palsy){{Cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/461376.stm |work=BBC News | title=Dudley Moore has rare brain disease | date=30 September 1999 | accessdate=29 March 2010}}
  • 3 April – Fad Gadget, singer, 45
  • 15 April – William Reed, pianist and composer, 91
  • 18 April – Cy Laurie, clarinettist and bandleader, 76
  • 7 May – Monica Sinclair, operatic contralto, 77
  • 16 May – James Dewar (musician), Scottish bassist, 59 (stroke){{cite news|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/11960975.james-dewar/|title=James Dewar|work=The Herald, Glasgow, Scotland|date=2002-05-30|accessdate=2019-04-05}}
  • 27 June – John Entwistle, bassist of The Who, 57 (heart attack)
  • 21 July – Gus Dudgeon, music producer, 59 (car accident){{cite news | title=Record producer dies in crash | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2144817.stm | publisher=BBC | accessdate=17 January 2012 | date=22 July 2002}}
  • 17 August – Tony Zemaitis, guitar maker, 67
  • 27 August – George Mitchell, musician who devised The Black and White Minstrel Show,{{cite web |title=Black And White Minstrels creator dies |date=2002-08-29 |website=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412113524/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/aug/29/broadcasting2 |archive-date=2023-04-12 |url-status=live |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/aug/29/broadcasting2}} 85
  • 9 October – Joan Mary Last, music educator, author and composer, 94
  • 17 October – Derek Bell, harpist (The Chieftains), 66
  • 3 November – Lonnie Donegan, skiffle musician, 71
  • 20 November – George Guest, organist and choirmaster of St John's College, Cambridge, 78
  • 27 November – Stanley Black, pianist, bandleader, composer, conductor and arranger, 89Tim McDonald [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/dec/03/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries Obituary: Stanley Black], The Guardian, 3 December 2002
  • 3 December – Sidney Sager, trombonist, conductor and composer, 85
  • 22 December – Joe Strummer, singer and guitarist of The Clash, 50
  • 24 December – Jake Thackray, singer-songwriter, 64 (heart failure).Robb Johnson, "Thackray, John Philip [Jake] (1938–2002)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, Oxford University Press, January 2006; online edn, January 2009, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/88712 accessed 19 April 2009]
  • 31 December – Kevin MacMichael, Canadian guitarist of British band Cutting Crew, 51 (lung cancer)Simmonds, Jeremy (2006). Number One in Heaven. London: Penguin Books. {{ISBN|0-14-102287-6}}
  • date unknown – John McHugh, tenor, 93

Music awards

=BRIT Awards=

The 2002 BRIT Awards winners were:

=Classical BRITS=

=Mercury Music Prize=

The 2002 Mercury Music Prize was awarded to Ms. Dynamite – A Little Deeper

=Record of the Year=

The Record of the Year was awarded to "Unchained Melody" by Gareth Gates.

See also

Footnotes

{{reflist}}

References

  • [http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/ChartsPlusYE2002.pdf Top 200 singles of 2002]

External links

  • [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/ BBC Radio 1's Chart Show with JK and Joel]
  • [http://www.officialcharts.com/ The Official Charts Company]

{{Music of the United Kingdom}}

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Category:British music by year