This article gives details on2004 in music in the United Kingdom.

Michelle McManus, the winner of the secondBritish series ofPop Idol, enjoyed success with her first single release, which topped the charts. Second and third place contestantsMark Rhodes andSam Nixon formed a duo, whose debut single was a cover of "With a Little Help from My Friends", which also reached No.1. On 9 MarchWestlife became a four-piece afterBrian McFadden decided to leave the band.

Numerous acts releasedgreatest hits albums, withRobbie Williams' being most successful, selling over one million copies in eight weeks. Popular artists from the 1980s made successful returns, includingDuran Duran,The Cure,Depeche Mode andMorrissey, all of whom released top ten singles. After appearing in thereality television showI'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!,Peter Andre re-released his 1996 hit singleMysterious Girl, this time getting to the top spot. Twenty years after the original, theBand Aid singleDo They Know It's Christmas? was re-recorded and was the best-selling single of the year, holding the Christmas number 1 spot. The song sold over a million copies in a month.

The most successful British pop acts of 2004 wereMcFly whose first two debut singles entered at number one, andNatasha Bedingfield, who topped the singles, album and download charts. The 2004Children in Need single was "I'll Stand by You". FormerS Club starRachel Stevens continued with her solo career, reaching the top 3 with theSport Relief track "Some Girls".

In the classical world,Karl Jenkins continued success as a composer was rewarded by a 10-year recording deal with EMI. His choral work,In These Stones Horizons Sing, was commissioned for the opening of theWales Millennium Centre in November 2004. Newly appointedMaster of the Queen's Music SirPeter Maxwell Davies continued his series ofNaxos Quartets with nos. 4 and 5. Veteran composerHarrison Birtwistle produced a new opera,The Io Passion, which had its première in June atSnape Maltings as part of theAldeburgh Festival.

• 5 January –Lesley Douglas succeedsJames Moir as Controller ofBBC Radio 2 andBBC 6 Music.
• 13 February –Elton John beginsThe Red Piano concert residency atThe Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Originally scheduled for 75 performances, it will run for 248 shows over five years, including twenty-four tour dates in Europe.
• 17 February –BRIT Awards held in London.The Darkness,Dido,Busted, andDuran Duran are among the winners.
• 1 March –Johnnie Walker returns to hisRadio 2 drivetime show following a nine-month break while he received treatment for cancer.^[1]
• 10 March –George Michael announces thatPatience will be his last commercially released record. Future releases will be available from his web site in return for donations to his favourite charities.
• 13 March – Charles Ngandwe, performing asPaul Robeson, wins the fifteenth series of TV talent showStars in Their Eyes. The edition is also the last to be presented byMatthew Kelly, who had announced the previous day that he would be leaving the series.^[2]
• 23 May – 30 years after his death,Nick Drake enters the top 40 for the first time, with "Magic"; it reaches No.32 on the Official Singles Chart.
• 4 June –Karl Jenkins signs a 10-year recording deal with EMI.
• 23 June – DJTony Blackburn is suspended by radio stationClassic Gold Digital for playing songs byCliff Richard, against station policy.
• 25 June –Eric Clapton sells his famous guitar "Blackie" at aChristie's auction, raising $959,000 to benefit theCrossroads drug rehabilitation centre that he founded in 1998.^[3]
• 30 June –The Libertines perform withoutPete Doherty and refuse to let him rejoin the band due to his continuing drug problems.
• 3 July – BBC newsreaderNatasha Kaplinsky and her dance partnerBrendan Cole win thefirst series ofStrictly Come Dancing.^[4]
• 10 July – Ex-S Club starRachel Stevens sets a world record for completing the fastest promotional circuit in just 24 hours- including a run for the charitySport Relief.
• 12 November – Over a thousand people attend the funeral ofJohn Peel (who died suddenly on 25 October aged 65 from a heart attack on a working holiday inCusco,Peru) atSt Edmundsbury Cathedral inBury St Edmunds,Suffolk, including many of the artists he championed. Eulogies are read by his brother, Alan Ravenscroft, and DJPaul Gambaccini. The service ends with clips of him talking about his life and his coffin is carried out to the accompaniment of his favourite song,the Undertones' "Teenage Kicks".^[5] At Peel's request, his gravestone atGreat Finborough contains the words, "Teenage dreams, so hard to beat", from the lyrics of "Teenage Kicks".^[6]
• 29 November – The BBC announces thatTop of the Pops will move from its Friday evening BBC One slot to BBC Two, where it will be shown on Sunday evenings.^[7]
• 11 December –Steve Brookstein is named winner of thefirst series ofThe X Factor.G4 are named the runner-ups, whileTabby Callaghan andRowetta Satchell finish in third and fourth place respectively.
• 17 December –The Libertines perform what would be their final concert for over 5 years in Paris, withoutPete Doherty.Carl Barat then announces the split ofThe Libertines. They would reform in 2010.@SOUTHAMPTON guildhall. The Music performed live on the 25/9/2004

• August –The Unthanks
• Architects
• Bring Me the Horizon

• Blur

• The Beta Band
• The Libertines (until a 2010 reunion)

• Howard Goodall's 20th Century Greats
• The Genius of Mozart, presented byCharles Hazlewood^[8]

• Julian Anderson –Symphony
• Harrison Birtwistle –Today Too, for tenor, flute and guitar
• Richard Causton –Between Two Waves of the Sea (for orchestra and tape/sampler)
• Alun Hoddinott – Trombone Concerto
• Cameron Sinclair –The Secret of the Universe^[9]

• Thomas Adès –The Tempest (libretto byMeredith Oakes)
• Matthew King –On London Fields (libretto byAlasdair Middleton)

• The Phantom of the Opera, directed byJoel Schumacher and starringGerard Butler

• Nick Glennie-Smith –Ella Enchanted
• Nigel Hess –Ladies in Lavender
• Michael Nyman –The Libertine
• Debbie Wiseman –Arsène Lupin

• 3 January –Ronald Smith, 82, pianist
• 12 February –Tushar Makwana, 37, DJ (hit-and-run car accident)^[10]
• 13 February –Peter Gellhorn, 91, pianist and conductor
• 23 February –Neil Ardley, 66, jazz pianist and composer
• 4 March –John McGeoch, 48, guitarist withMagazine,Siouxsie and the Banshees andPiL
• 9 March –Tony Lee, jazz pianist
• 13 March
  • Sydney Carter, 89, hymn writer (Lord of the Dance)
  • Max Harris, 85, film and TV composer and arranger
• 1 April –Paul Atkinson, 58, guitarist and producer
• 9 April –S. Drummond Wolff, 88, organist, choirmaster and composer
• 9 May –Percy M. Young, 91, musicologist, editor, organist, composer, conductor and teacher
• 27 May –Denis ApIvor, 88, modernist composer
• 5 June –Iona Brown, 63, violinist and conductor
• 26 June –Muriel Angelus, 95, singer and actress
• 15 July –Ena Baga, 98, pianist and theatre organist
• 31 August –Carl Wayne, 61, vocalist (The Move)
• 9 September –John Buller, 77, composer^[11]
• 19 September –Kenneth Sandford, 80, operatic baritone
• 25 October –John Peel, 65, British DJ and broadcaster (heart attack)
• 13 November –John Balance, 42, experimental musician and lyricist (Coil)
• 1 December –Norman Newell, 85, record producer and lyricist^[12]
• 2 December –Alicia Markova, 94, ballerina
• 14 December –Sidonie Goossens, 105, harpist
• 21 December –James Clifford Brown, 81, singer, organist and composer
• 23 December
  • John W. Duarte, 85, composer
  • Ifor James, 73, horn player and teacher

The2004 BRIT Awards winners were:

• Best British Male Solo Artist:Daniel Bedingfield
• Best British Female Solo Artist:Dido
• Best British Group:The Darkness
• British Breakthrough:Busted
• Best British Single:Dido – "White Flag"
• Best British Album:The Darkness –"Permission to Land"
• Best British Dance Act:Basement Jaxx
• Best Pop Act:Busted
• Best British Urban Act:Lemar
• Best British Rock Act:The Darkness
• Best International Female Solo Artist:Beyoncé
• Best International Male Solo Artist:Justin Timberlake
• Best International Group:The White Stripes
• International Breakthrough Artist:50 Cent
• Best International Album:Justin Timberlake –"Justified"
• Outstanding Contribution:Duran Duran

The 2004Mercury Music Prize was awarded toFranz Ferdinand –Franz Ferdinand

The 2004Popjustice £20 Music Prize was awarded toRachel Stevens for her songSome Girls from the albumFunky Dory.

The Record of the Year was awarded to "Thunderbirds" byBusted.

• 2004 in British music charts
• 2004 in British radio
• 2004 in British television
• 2004 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 2004

• 2004 in British music
• British music by year

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• Use British English from January 2013
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