2008 in British music

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Last updated November 07, 2023

This is a summary of 2008 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

31 January – Laura Attwood of the King Edward VI School in Morpeth wins the second Eileen Bowler Award.^[1]
20 February – The 2008 BRIT Awards ceremony is hosted by Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly and Jack Osbourne, at Earls Court in London.
26 February – The Return of the Spice Girls tour comes to a close in Toronto.
28 February – The Shockwaves NME Awards 2008 ceremony is held at The O₂ in London. Winners include The Enemy, The Killers, Klaxons, Manic Street Preachers and Radiohead.
1 March – The X Factor finalist Andy Abraham's song "Even If" wins the BBC's Eurovision: Your Decision 2008 show, and is thus chosen to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 final in Belgrade, Serbia.
31 March – theJazz radio station stops broadcasting.^[2]
3 May – Girls Aloud begin their Tangled Up Tour in Belfast, UK.^[3]
8 May – The Classical BRIT Awards ceremony is hosted by Myleene Klass.
10–11 May – The Give It A Name 2008 festival is held at Earls Court, London, UK.^[4]
24 May – Andy Abraham represents the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 final in Belgrade, Serbia. The UK entry receives just fourteen points and comes joint last, raising questions over the United Kingdom's future in the contest.
3 July – Opening of the O2 Wireless Festival in Hyde Park, London, UK.^[5]
11–13 July – The 2008 T in the Park festival takes place at Balado, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Headlining acts included The Verve, Rage Against the Machine, R.E.M., and the Kaiser Chiefs.
25 September – Former Beatle Paul McCartney performs at Tel Aviv park, his first performance in Israel since The Beatles were banned from the country in 1965.
1 October – the Society for the Promotion of New Music merges with the British Music Information Centre (BMIC), the Contemporary Music Network and the Sonic Arts Network to create a new organisation to promote contemporary Music in the UK called Sound and Music.^[6]
1–9 November – The Southbank Centre in London presents "Klang: A Tribute to Stockhausen", a festival curated by Oliver Knussen, with a series of concerts focusing on works from the composer's last decade, including the world premieres of Urantia and Zodiac for Orchestra , as well as late-night performances, lectures, and master classes.^[7]
6 November – Michael Tilson Thomas makes his Philadelphia Orchestra subscription-concert conducting debut.^[8]
23 November - Richey Edwards, original guitarist with Manic Street Preachers is officially declared "presumed dead", having been missing since February 1995.
29 November – The premiere of Judith Bingham's Shakespeare Requiem takes place in Leeds Town Hall.
9 December – Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon say that Blur will reunite for a concert at Hyde Park on 3 July 2009. Tickets for the concert sell out within two minutes of release, and Blur announce another date on 2 July 2009.^[9]^[10]
13 December – Alexandra Burke wins the fifth series of The X Factor. JLS are named runner-ups, while Eoghan Quigg and Diana Vickers finish in third and fourth place respectively.

UK Charts

Classical music

Peter Maxwell Davies – A Hymn to the Spirit of Fire
Karl Jenkins – Stabat Mater
Michael Nyman – Yamamoto Perpetuo for Solo Flute
John Tavener – Requiem
Graham Waterhouse – Bright Angel

Opera

Harrison Birtwistle - The Minotaur
Andy Vores - No Exit

Music awards

Brit Awards

British Male Solo Artist: Mark Ronson
British Female Solo Artist: Kate Nash
British Group: Arctic Monkeys
MasterCard British Album: Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
British Single: Take That - "Shine"
British Breakthrough Act: Mika
British Live Act: Take That
International Male Solo Artist: Kanye West
International Female Solo Artist: Kylie Minogue
International Group: Foo Fighters
International Album: Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Critic's Choice: Adele
Outstanding Contribution to Music: Paul McCartney
Male of the Year — Sir Colin Davis
Female of the Year — Anna Netrebko
Young British Classical Performer — Nicola Benedetti
Album of the Year — Blake —Blake
Soundtrack of the Year — Blood Diamond — James Newton Howard
Critics' Award — Steven Isserlis —Bach: Cello Suites
Outstanding Contribution — Andrew Lloyd Webber

Popjustice £20 Music Prize

The 2008 Popjustice £20 Music Prize was awarded to Girls Aloud - "Call the Shots"

Record of the Year

Nickelback - "Rockstar"

British Composer Awards

Chamber - Joe Cutler
Choral - Michael Zev Gordon
Sonic Art - Janek Schaefer
Instrumental Solo or Duo - Judith Bingham
Orchestral - Luke Bedford
Stage Works - Jonathan Dove
Vocal - Howard Skempton

^[11]

Ivor Novello Awards

Best Song Musically & Lyrically: Amy Winehouse - Love is a Losing Game
PRS Most Performed Work: Take That - "Shine"
Album: Radiohead - In Rainbows
Songwriter of the Year - Mika
International Achievement - Phil Collins

^[12]

Deaths

30 January – Miles Kington, bassist, 66
28 February - Mike Smith, singer and producer (The Dave Clark Five), 64 (pneumonia)
12 March – Alun Hoddinott, composer, 78
21 March - John Noble, baritone, 77
24 March – Neil Aspinall, music industry executive, 66 (lung cancer)
29 March – Allan Ganley, jazz drummer, 77
15 April - Brian Davison, drummer (The Nice), 65
24 April - Tristram Cary, composer, 82
25 April – Humphrey Lyttelton, jazz musician and radio presenter, 86
29 April – Micky Waller, drummer, 66
17 May – Wilfrid Mellers, musicologist and composer, 94
28 May – Danny Moss, jazz saxophonist, 80
30 May - Campbell Burnap, jazz trombonist and broadcaster, 68 (cancer)
1 July - Mel Galley, guitarist (Whitesnake, Trapeze, Finders Keepers, and Phenomena), 60
7 July – Hugh Mendl, record producer, 88
14 August – Lita Roza, singer, 82
7 September - Peter Glossop, opera singer, 80
10 September – Vernon Handley, conductor, 77
12 September - Marjorie Thomas, contralto, 85
15 September – Richard Wright, keyboardist (Pink Floyd), 65
10 October - Dave Wright (The Troggs), 64
11 October - Russ Hamilton, singer, 78
13 October – Gus Chambers, vocalist, 52
4 November - Alan Hazeldine, conductor and pianist, 60^[13]
12 November – Mitch Mitchell, drummer (The Jimi Hendrix Experience), 62
23 November
- Richard Hickox, conductor, 60 (dissecting thoracic aneurysm)
- Richey Edwards, guitarist (Manic Street Preachers) (legally dead, disappeared in 1995 aged 27)
24 November - Michael Lee, drummer (The Cult), 39 (epileptic seizure)
15 December - Davey Graham, guitarist, 68

References

↑ Anon., "Top Music Award for Morpeth Girl", The Morpeth Herald (31 January 2008).
↑ BBC News: "Two GCap digital stations closed", 11 February 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
↑ unattributed (5 May 2008). "Material Girls Aloud". metro.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
↑ (unattributed) (16 May 2007). "It may not have a name, but it certainly has a purpose". NME/IPC Media. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
↑ unattributed (2008). "O2 Wireless Festival". Live Nation (Music) UK Limited. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
↑ "On Sound and Music". ISSUU. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
↑ "News: Stockhausen Tribute in the UK", Computer Music Journal 33, no. 2 (2009): 6.
↑ Dobrin, Peter (8 November 2008). "After 23 Years, a Return to Phila". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E04.
↑ Paine, Andre. "Blur Reuniting, Unveils London Show Plans". billboard.com. 9 December 2008.
↑ "Blur confirm massive outdoor show". BBC. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
↑ "British Composer Awards: Ceremony Archive. Accessed 2 February 2013". Archived from the original on 28 February 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
↑ MusicRadar: "2008 Ivor Novello Awards winners announced." Accessed 2 February 2013
↑ Anonymous obituary, The Times (22 November): Features, p. 89.

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[1] Anon., "Top Music Award for Morpeth Girl", The Morpeth Herald (31 January 2008).

[2] BBC News: "Two GCap digital stations closed", 11 February 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2012.

[3] unattributed (5 May 2008). "Material Girls Aloud". metro.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2008.

[4] (unattributed) (16 May 2007). "It may not have a name, but it certainly has a purpose". NME/IPC Media. Retrieved 23 May 2008.

[5] unattributed (2008). "O2 Wireless Festival". Live Nation (Music) UK Limited. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2008.

[6] "On Sound and Music". ISSUU. Retrieved 28 June 2014.

[7] "News: Stockhausen Tribute in the UK", Computer Music Journal 33, no. 2 (2009): 6.

[8] Dobrin, Peter (8 November 2008). "After 23 Years, a Return to Phila". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E04.

[reunion-9] Paine, Andre. "Blur Reuniting, Unveils London Show Plans". billboard.com. 9 December 2008.

[10] "Blur confirm massive outdoor show". BBC. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008.

[11] "British Composer Awards: Ceremony Archive. Accessed 2 February 2013". Archived from the original on 28 February 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2013.

[12] MusicRadar: "2008 Ivor Novello Awards winners announced." Accessed 2 February 2013

[13] Anonymous obituary, The Times (22 November): Features, p. 89.

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