1991 in music in the United Kingdom saw 17 songs at number 1. The first number 1 of the year came fromheavy metal band Iron Maiden, scoring their first and only number one "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter" which stayed at the top for two weeks. The next number one was Enigma, with "Sadeness Part 1", which brought commercial success to thenew age,chill out genre. Romanian-German producerMichael Cretu mixed repeated trance-like dance beats withgregorian chants and whispered, erotic vocals provided by his wife,Sandra. Enigma's debutconcept albumMCMXC ad also went straight to the top of the UK Album Chart in January.

In the album chartsSimply Red entered withStars which would prove to be the second best-selling album of the 90s and the best of 1991 and 1992. Although none of its singles reached no.1, title track "Stars" did make the top ten.

February saw cartoon characterBart Simpson reach No. 1 with "Do the Bartman",^[1] from the albumThe Simpsons Sing the Blues which reached #6. The show had premiered on UK screens on the satellite channelSky One in 1990, though it did not premiere on terrestrial TV until 1996, onBBC One. The family became the first cartoon characters to hit No. 1 sinceThe Archies did so in 1969, with "Sugar Sugar", and the follow-up ("Deep, Deep Trouble") also reached the top ten, peaking at No. 7 in April.

In March,The Clash received their first number 1 with "Should I Stay or Should I Go", after the song was used in a commercial forLevi's. A month later,Cher scored her first UK solo No. 1 with "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", taken from the filmMermaids.

Bryan Adams also reached No. 1 for the first time in July with "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", from the filmRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Breaking the record held since 1955, it stayed there for sixteen consecutive weeks, a record that remains to this day. It also became the biggest selling single of the year, selling over a million copies.

TheChristmas number one single this year wasQueen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", re-issued after the death ofFreddie Mercury in November, coupled with "These Are the Days of Our Lives". As "Bohemian Rhapsody" had previously hit the top in 1975 (also becoming the Christmas number one) it became the first song ever to reach number 1 in two separate releases.

The classical music scene saw the death ofJoy Finzi, who had founded theFinzi Trust in 1969 to commemorate her husbandGerald.Harrison Birtwistle's opera,Gawain, with a libretto byDavid Harsent, received its premiere at theRoyal Opera House in May.Symphony Hall, Birmingham, with a big emphasis on acoustic flexibility, opened in April, with the official opening by the Queen in June.

• 14 January –Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine's single "Bloodsport for All" is released on the day theGulf War officially starts, and is banned by the BBC due to its lyrics about racism and bullying in the army.
• 15 January – A new all-star rendition of theJohn Lennon song "Give Peace a Chance" is released, featuringYoko Ono,Lenny Kravitz,Peter Gabriel,Alannah Myles,Tom Petty,Bonnie Raitt and many more, billed as "The Peace Choir". The single is rushed to market in response to the imminentGulf War.
• 11 February –Massive Attack release their single "Unfinished Sympathy" but have to temporarily shorten their name to "Massive" to avoid a radio ban of the word "attack" during the Gulf War.
• 24 February – The Chamber Symphony for 15 players byThomas Adès is performed for the first time, in West Road Concert Hall,Cambridge, directed by the composer.
• 15 May – The 2,262-seat concert venueSymphony Hall, Birmingham, home to theCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is opened for its first concerts, although the official opening by the Queen takes place on 12 June.
• 15 May –Richey Edwards ofManic Street Preachers carves the words "4 Real" into his arm with a razor blade during an interview withNME journalistSteve Lamacq, after Lamacq questions the band's authenticity. The incident results in Edwards requiring 18 stitches.
• 17 May – The first performance ofTimon of Athens, a two act opera byStephen Oliver, takes place at theLondon Coliseum by theEnglish National Opera.
• 25 May –The Stone Roses are released from their contract with Silvertone Records by the High Court, winning up to £500,000 in damages from the label after the band's contract was dismissed by Judge Humphries as "unfair and unjustified". The band would then sign up to Geffen Records, though it would be another 3 years before new material would be released.
• 30 May – The opening night ofHarrison Birtwistle's operaGawain takes place in London at theRoyal Opera House, Covent Garden, withElgar Howarth conducting.
• 25 June – The first performance ofJames MacMillan'sTuireadh (Lament) for clarinet and string quartet, is given by James Campbell and the Allegri Quartet atSt Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall (Orkney Islands).
• 28 June –Paul McCartney's classical composition, theLiverpool Oratorio, receives its premiere at theLiverpool Anglican Cathedral.
• 7 July – The world premiere ofJohn Casken's Cello Concerto takes place at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, with soloistHeinrich Schiff and the Northern Sinfonia.
• 14 August –Oasis play their first ever gig at the Boardwalk Club in Manchester.Noel Gallagher, who was at the time roadie forInspiral Carpets, went with them to watch his brother's band play.
• 19 September –Summer Music: Concertino No.5 op.74 for oboe, clarinet, and string quartet byRobin Holloway is performed for the first time, at thePurcell Room.
• 27 October – Fruitbat of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine rugby tackles presenterPhillip Schofield at theSmash Hits Poll Winners Party after the group performs their single "After the Watershed".
• 9 November – The first performance of the Symphony No 3 byWilliam Mathias takes place atSt David's Hall, Cardiff, performed by theBBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, conductorGrant Llewellyn.
• November –The Rolling Stones sign a new contract withVirgin Records.^[2]
• 1 December –George Harrison playsYokohama,Japan. The brief Japanese tour withEric Clapton marks his first set of formal concert performances since 1974.
• 11 December – TheStrathclyde Concerto No 5 for violin, viola and orchestra byPeter Maxwell Davies, is performed for the first time inGlasgow.

• Moura Lympany (with Margot Strickland) – Moura – Her Autobiography^[3]

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• Roy Douglas –Festivities and A Nowell Sequence for strings
• Michael Tippett –String Quartet No. 5^[6]

The 1991BRIT Awards winners were:

• Best British producer:Chris Thomas
• Best classical recording:José Carreras,Plácido Domingo,Luciano Pavarotti –In Concert
• Best soundtrack:Twin Peaks
• British album:George Michael –Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
• British breakthrough act:Betty Boo
• British female solo artist:Lisa Stansfield
• British group:The Cure
• British male solo artist:Elton John
• British single:Depeche Mode – "Enjoy the Silence"
• British video:The Beautiful South – "A Little Time"
• International breakthrough act:MC Hammer
• International female:Sinéad O'Connor
• International group:INXS
• International male:Michael Hutchence
• Outstanding contribution:Status Quo

• 12 January –Pixie Lott, singer
• 17 February –Ed Sheeran, singer-songwriter
• 16 June –Joe McElderry, singer
• 17 June –Shura, singer, songwriter and producer
• 30 July –Diana Vickers, singer
• 11 November –Emma Blackery, singer
• 19 December –Declan Galbraith, singer
• 24 December –Louis Tomlinson, singer-songwriter

• 8 January –Steve Clark, guitarist (Def Leppard), 30 (alcohol poisoning)
• 21 February –Margot Fonteyn, ballerina, 71
• 9 March –Denise Tolkowsky, pianist and composer, 72
• 24 March –Maudie Edwards, actress and singer, 84
• 27 March –Alfredo Campoli, Italian-born violinist, 84
• 10 April –Martin Hannett (aka Martin Zero), record producer, 42 (heart failure)
• 20 April –Steve Marriott, singer, songwriter and guitarist (Small Faces andHumble Pie), 44 (killed in house fire)
• 11 June –John Vallier, pianist and composer, 70
• 14 June –Joy Finzi, founder of the Finzi Trust, 84
• 30 July –Max Jaffa, violinist and bandleader, 79
• 6 August –Max Rostal, Austrian-born violinist and viola player, 86
• 28 August –Vince Taylor, singer (Vince Taylor and the Playboys), 52
• 25 September –Sydney MacEwan, singer of traditional Scottish and Irish songs, 82
• 27 October – SirAndrzej Panufnik, Polish-born composer and conductor, 77
• 8 November –Dave Rowbotham, musician, guitarist, (The Durutti Column,the Mothmen), 33 (murdered by unknown hand)
• 14 November –Bryden Thomson, conductor, 63
• 24 November –Freddie Mercury, singer and songwriter, 45 (pneumonia brought on by AIDS)
• 12 December –Ronnie Ross, jazz saxophonist, 58
• 31 December –Christopher Steel, composer, 53

• 1991 in British radio
• 1991 in British television
• 1991 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1991

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

• 1991 in British music
• 1991 in music
• 1991 in the United Kingdom
• British music by year

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