This is a summary of1984 in music in theUnited Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

1984 was a year of several huge selling releases, including at the time the biggest selling single ever. Six singles this year sold over a million copies, the joint highest number ever along with 1998. Out of the top 10 biggest selling songs of the 1980s, six of them all peaked in 1984 including the entire top 4.

One of the biggest bands of the year wasFrankie Goes to Hollywood, a five-piece fromLiverpool fronted byHolly Johnson. Their debut single "Relax" was banned by theBBC for sexually suggestive content, and was number 1 for five weeks. Their second single "Two Tribes" referenced the ongoingcold war and featured amusic video of lookalikes of American presidentRonald Reagan and Soviet leaderKonstantin Chernenko violently fighting, and was number 1 for nine weeks in the summer, both songs selling over a million. In November they made chart history when their third single, "The Power of Love", also made number 1. They were only the second band in chart history to have their first three releases all go to number 1, followingGerry & The Pacemakers twenty years earlier; however, it would be their last. Their album "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" also reached number 1.

Wham! had their first number 1 single this year after four earlier top 10 hits, the upbeat "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". This would soon be followed by their second, "Freedom" later in the year, and their second albumMake It Big also reached the top. One of the members of the band,George Michael, also released a solo single this year, the ballad "Careless Whisper" co-written by his bandmateAndrew Ridgeley. It was number 1 for three weeks and sold over a million.

A big-selling singer who would go on to have many hits over the next two decades first appeared this year, American singerMadonna. Her debut hit "Holiday" reached number 6, and "Like a Virgin" charted three places higher at number 3. From the same country camePrince, who had his first two top 10 hits with "When Doves Cry" and "Purple Rain". For both artists, 1985 would bring even more hits as would the rest of the decade.

After eighteen years,Stevie Wonder achieved his first solo number 1 single with "I Just Called to Say I Love You", from the soundtrack of the filmThe Woman in Red, selling over a million. He had first charted at the age of 15 with "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" in 1966, and had previously had a number 1 in 1982 with a duet withPaul McCartney, "Ebony and Ivory". In 1984 hisharmonica playing featured inChaka Khan's number one hit "I Feel for You" and in 1985Eurythmics' number 1 hit "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)".

TheChristmas number one single featured more than 40 artists. "Do They Know It's Christmas?", written byBob Geldof andMidge Ure, was made in response to ongoingfamine in Ethiopia, so thesupergroupBand Aid was formed to sing acharity record about it, all proceeds from the song going to the charity to raise money for help. Popular acts of the day such as Wham!,U2,Spandau Ballet,Duran Duran andBoy George sung on the record.

Not only did the song become the Christmas number one, it sold over three million copies and became the biggest selling single of all time, a record that held for the nextthirteen years. The song at number 2, Wham!'sLast Christmas, sold over a million and proceeds from that also went to the charity. Further Band Aid singles would be released in 1989 (Band Aid II) and 2004 (Band Aid 20), both also Christmas number one.

The classical year was kicked off by the first complete performances ofOliver Knussen's one act fantasy operaWhere the Wild Things Are, based onMaurice Sendak's 1963 children's book of the same title. Knussen composed the music from 1979 to 1983 and an earlier version was first heard in Brussels in 1980. The other major classical music event of the year was the first performances (in the US, then in the UK) ofThe Mask of Time, the longest and most ambitious ofMichael Tippett's late works, written in 1982 by the then 77 year-old composer.Wilfrid Mellers called it "a mind-boggling cosmic history of the universe", while Paul Driver wrote that theMask revealed "the authentic early Tippett", with a return to the lyricism ofThe Midsummer Marriage and multiple acknowledgements of his early compositions.

• 9 January – first complete performance ofOliver Knussen'sWhere the Wild Things Are byGlyndebourne Touring Opera at theNational Theatre, London.
• 11 January – BBC Radio 1 DJMike Read announces on air that he will not play the single "Relax" byFrankie Goes to Hollywood because of its suggestive lyrics. The BBC places a total ban on the record at about the same time.
• 21 January – "Relax" reaches number one in the UK singles chart, despite the BBC ban; it will spend a total of 42 weeks in the Top 40.
• 14 February –Elton John marries studio engineerRenate Blauel.
• 1 March – Sting plays his last concerts withthe Police at the end of the Synchronicity tour; the band takes a "pause" after the tour and only play a few special events together after this until 2007, when they organise a reunion tour.
• 5 April – Michael Tippet's large scale choral workThe Mask of Time for vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra is performed for the first time at the Symphony Hall, Boston. The work was commissioned to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of theBoston Symphony Orchestra.
• 1 May –Mick Fleetwood files for bankruptcy in the United States.
• 19 July – The first performance ofPeter Racine Fricker's String Quartet No 3, op 73, written between 1974 and 1976, takes place at theCheltenham Festival, performed by theChilingirian Quartet.
• 23 July – The Piano Concerto byPeter Dickinson (dedicated to the soloistHoward Shelley) has its first performance at the Cheltenham Festival with thePhilharmonia Orchestra conducted byEdward Downes.
• 23 July – The first UK performance of Michael Tippett'sThe Mask of Time takes place at theProms.
• 5 August –Now 3 becomes the 300th album to reach number one on theUK Albums Chart.
• 24 August – Oliver Knussen's Second Symphony receives its premiere at the Proms, with theLondon Sinfonietta conducted by the composer.
• 23 October – A report on the Ethiopian famine by BBC journalistMichael Buerk is broadcast in the UK and receives an unprecedented public response. Among those watching isBob Geldof, who is inspired to release a charity record to raise money to help with famine relief.
• 25 November – TheBand Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is recorded at SARM Studios in Notting Hill, London, by a gathering of performers that includesPaul Young,Simon Le Bon,Bono,Phil Collins,Paul Weller,Sting,Boy George andTony Hadley.
• 28 November – TheBring Me Sunshine charity concert at the London Palladium, in memory ofEric Morecambe, includes musical performances byKenny Ball and His Jazzmen,Des O'Connor, andErnie Wise.
• 2 December –Frankie Goes to Hollywood become the first act to take their first three singles to the UK number-one position sinceGerry & The Pacemakers in 1963, when "The Power of Love" tops the chart.
• 3 December –Bob Geldof andBand Aid release the single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which becomes the fastest-selling single of all time in the UK.
• 11 December – While on tour,Bucks Fizz's tour bus crashes. All members of the group are injured and memberMike Nolan suffers brain damage after falling into a coma.
• 13 December –George Harrison makes a rare public appearance, joiningDeep Purple on stage in Sydney, Australia for their encore rendition of "Lucille".

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Notes:

• David Bedford –Crotchet=120 for bass clarinet and tape
• Richard Rodney Bennett
  • After Syrinx II, for marimba
  • Five Sonnets of Louise Labé, for soprano and eleven players
  • Lullay Mine Liking, for unaccompanied chorus
  • Nonsense, for chorus and piano duet
• Michael Berkeley
  • Funerals and Fandangoes, for solo violin
  • Horn Concerto
  • Music for Chaucer, for brass quintet
• Peter Maxwell Davies
  • Agnes Dei, for two sopranos, viola and cello
  • Guitar Sonata
  • The Number 11 Bus, music theatre
  • One Star, At Last, carol for chorus
  • Sonatina for violin and cimbalom
  • Symphony No. 3
  • Unbroken Circle, for ensemble
• Peter Dickinson – Piano Concerto
• Michael Finnissy
  • Catana, for ensemble
  • Delal, for trumpet and piano
  • Lyrics and Limericks, for voice and piano (1982-1984)
  • Ngano, for soli, flute, chorus and percussion (1983-4)
• Jonathan Harvey –Come, Holy Ghost
• Alun Hoddinott – String Quartet No. 2, Op. 113
• Robin Holloway
  • Moments of Vision, cycle for speaker and four players
  • On Hope, cantata for soprano, mezzo and string quartet
  • Romanza for oboe and strings
  • Viola Concerto, Op. 56 (1983-4)
• Elizabeth Maconchy – String Quartet No. 13,Quartetto Corto
• Dominic Muldowney – Saxophone Concerto
• John Tavener
  • Chant, for solo guitar
  • Ikon of Light, for chorus and string trio
  • Little Missenden Calm, for oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn
  • Mini Song Cycle for Gina, for voice and piano
  • Sixteen Haiku of Seferis, for soprano, tenor and ensemble
  • Vigil Service, for a capella choir, four violins and organ
• Hugh Wood – Piano Trio

• Oliver Knussen –Higglety Pigglety Pop!

• Mike Batt –The Hunting of the Snark given its first performance in theBarbican with the composer conducting theLondon Symphony Orchestra.
• Howard Goodall –The Hired Man^[7]

• Give My Regards to Broad Street, withPaul McCartney

• 17 January –Calvin Harris, singer-songwriter, record producer, DJ
• 25 February –Lovefoxxx, singer (CSS)
• 7 March – Kevin McDaid, singer (V)
• 27 March –Laura Critchley singer-songwriter
• 7 April – Yonah Higgins, singer (Cleopatra)
• 22 April –Amelle Berrabah, singer (Sugababes)
• 4 May – Victoria Hesketh (Little Boots), singer-songwriter, musician, DJ
• 10 May –Kristyna Myles, singer-songwriter and pianist
• 14 May –Olly Murs, singer-songwriter
• 23 June –Duffy, singer
• 12 July –Gareth Gates, singer
• 23 July –Matthew Murphy, singer and guitarist (The Wombats)
• 16 September –Katie Melua, singer and musician
• 22 September –Ross Jarman, musician (The Cribs)
• 26 September –Keisha Buchanan, singer, (Sugababes)
• 16 October –Shayne Ward, singer
• 27 October –Kelly Osbourne, singer and TV personality
• 25 December –Jessica Origliasso andLisa Origliasso, singers (The Veronicas)

• 1 January –Alexis Korner, blues musician, 55 (lung cancer)
• 10 January –Binnie Hale, actress and singer, 84
• 26 January –Grahame Clifford, singer and actor, 78
• 18 February –Paul Gardiner, bass guitarist, 25 (overdose)
• 3 March –Kathleen Richards, musicologist, pianist and composer, 88
• 9 March –Imogen Holst, conductor and composer, 76
• 6 April –Jimmy Kennedy, Irish-born British songwriter, 81
• 26 April –Barry Gray, composer, 75
• 30 April –Marcus Dods, composer, 66
• 1 May –Muriel Herbert, composer, 87
• 28 May –Eric Morecambe, entertainer, 58
• 8 June –Gordon Jacob, composer, 89
• 21 June –Webster Booth, tenor, 82
• 22 June –Dill Jones, jazz pianist, 60
• 8 July –Reginald Stewart, conductor, 84
• July –Gervase Hughes, composer, 78
• 14 August –Peter Wishart, composer, 63
• 17 August –Mostyn Thomas, operatic baritone, 88
• 3 September –Dora Labbette, operatic soprano, 86
• 16 October –Constance Warren, composer, 79
• 25 October –Stanford Robinson, conductor and composer, 80
• 5 November –Jessie Furze, pianist and composer, 81
• 22 November –Denis Rose, jazz pianist and trumpeter, 62
• 8 December –Razzle, rock drummer (Hanoi Rocks), 24 (road accident)
• 9 December –Ivor Moreton, singer, pianist and composer, 76
• date unknown –Arthur Fear, operatic bass-baritone

The 1984BRIT Awards winners were:

• Best British producer:Steve Levine
• Best classical recording:Kiri Te Kanawa –"Songs of the Auvergne"
• Best international artist:Michael Jackson
• British breakthrough act:Paul Young
• British female solo artist:Annie Lennox
• British group:Culture Club
• British male solo artist:David Bowie
• Best Selling Single:Culture Club – "Karma Chameleon"
• Outstanding contribution:George Martin
• The Sony award for technical excellence:Spandau Ballet

• 1984 in British radio
• 1984 in British television
• 1984 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1984

• BBC Radio 1's Chart Show
• The Official Charts Company

• 1984 in British music
• 1984 in music
• British music by year

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from November 2020
• Articles with hCards