This is a summary of 1991 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Summary
Like 1990, this year saw 17 songs at number 1. The first number 1 of the year surprisingly came from heavy metal band Iron Maiden, scoring their first and only number one "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter" which stayed at the top for 2 weeks. The next number one was a track right at the opposite end of the musical spectrum – Enigma, with the calm and hypnotic "Sadness Part 1". Known as "Sadeness Part 1" almost everywhere else with its strong references to Marquis De Sade, Enigma redefined the new age, chill out genre. Romanian-German producer Michael Cretu mixed repeated trance-like dance beats with gregorian chants and whispered, erotic vocals provided by his wife, Sandra, who was also a popular artist in her own right at the same time throughout most of Europe, but never managed to crack the UK market. Enigma's debut concept albumMCMXC ad also went straight to the top of the UK Album Chart in January.
In the album charts Simply Red entered with Stars 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 The Simpsons (specifically Bart) reach No. 1 with "Do the Bartman",[1] from the album The Simpsons Sing the Blues which reached #6. The show had premiered on UK screens on the satellite channel Sky One in 1990, though it wouldn't premiere on terrestrial TV until 1996, on BBC One. The family became the first cartoon characters to hit No. 1 since The Archies did so in 1969, with "Sugar Sugar", and the follow-up ("Deep, Deep Trouble") also did well, peaking at No. 7 in April.
Bryan Adams also reached No. 1 for the first time in July with "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", from the film Robin 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.
The death of Joy Finzi, who had founded the Finzi Trust in 1969 to commemorate her husband Gerald, was one of the most notable events on the classical music scene. Harrison Birtwistle's opera, Gawain, with a libretto by David Harsent, received its premiere at the Royal 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.
Events
14 January – Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine's single "Bloodsport for All" is released on the day the Gulf War officially starts, and is banned by the BBC due to its lyrics about racism and bullying in the army.
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 by Thomas Adès is performed for the first time, in West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, directed by the composer.
15 May – Richey Edwards of Manic Street Preachers carves the words "4 Real" into his arm with a razor blade during an interview with NME journalist Steve Lamacq, after Lamacq questions the band's authenticity. The incident results in Edwards requiring 18 stitches.
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.
25 June – The first performance of James MacMillan's Tuireadh (Lament) for clarinet and string quartet, is given by James Campbell and the Allegri Quartet at St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall (Orkney Islands).
7 July – The world premiere of John Casken's Cello Concerto takes place at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, with soloist Heinrich 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 for Inspiral 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 by Robin Holloway is performed for the first time, at the Purcell Room.
^Moura Lympany (1991). Moura Lympany. Her Autobiography. Peter Owen. ISBN0-7206-0824-4.
^"1991 Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 11 January 1992. p. 20.
^"1991 Top 100 Albums". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 11 January 1992. p. 21.
^Jones, Nicholas (2013). "Formal archetypes, revered masters and singing nightingales: Tippett's string quartets". In Gloag, Kenneth and Jones, Nicholas. The Cambridge Companion to Michael Tippett. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 206–28. ISBN978-1-107-60613-5