2025 in British music

See also: Timeline of musical events

List of years in British music
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This is a summary of the year 2025 in British music.

Events

January

• 1 January – BBC One sees in the New Year with Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who performs and hosts a "New Year Disco".[1]
• 2 January – Neil Young announces he will not play the 2025 Glastonbury Festival because it is partnered with the BBC and he believes it to be "under corporate control".[2]
• 3 January – Neil Young announces he will headline Glastonbury a day after saying he had turned down a slot because of the BBC's involvement in the event.[3]
• 4 January – A statue of musician Rory Gallagher is unveiled at Belfast's Ulster Hall.[4]
• 8 January –
  • UK music fans spent £2.4bn on streaming and vinyl during 2024, data shows, exceeding the previous record of £2.2bn in 2001.[5]
  • A UK inquest into the death of singer Liam Payne opens, and hears that he died as a result of "polytrauma".[6]
• 10 January –
  • Chappell Roan wins BBC Radio 1's Sound of 2025.[7]
  • The Elton John compilation album Diamonds reaches number one in the UK Albums chart after 374 weeks.[8]
  • Le Pub, a music venue in Newport which was threatened with closure, has been bought by a community enterprise, Music Venue Properties (MVP), which aims to protect live music locations.[9]

March

• 1 March – The 2025 Brit Awards are scheduled to take place at The O2 in London.[10]

Bands formed

Bands disbanded

• Porridge Radio[11]
• The Priests[12]

Bands reformed

Classical works

New operas

British music awards

Charts and sales

Number-one singles

The singles chart includes a proportion for streaming.

Chart date (week ending)	Song	Artist(s)	Chart sales	References
2 January	"Last Christmas"	Wham!	114,290	[13]
9 January	"That's So True"	Gracie Abrams	46,869	[14]
16 January			49,122	[15]
23 January			50,584	[16]
30 January	"Messy"	Lola Young	50,697	[17]
6 February			56,524	[18]

Number-one albums

The albums chart includes a proportion for streaming.

Chart date (week ending)	Album	Artist(s)	Chart sales	References
2 January	Christmas	Michael Bublé	27,016	[19]
9 January	+–=÷× (Tour Collection)	Ed Sheeran	15,606	[20]
16 January	Diamonds	Elton John	14,759	[21]
23 January	The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess	Chappell Roan	10,191	[22]
30 January	Better Man	Robbie Williams	43,238	[23]
6 February	Can't Rush Greatness	Central Cee	42,372	[24]

Number-one compilation albums

The albums chart includes a proportion for streaming.

Chart date (week ending)	Album	Chart sales	References
2 January	Wicked: The Soundtrack	12,338	[25]
9 January		8,919	[26]
16 January		8,886	[27]
23 January		8,578	[28]
30 January		7,037	[29]
6 February		6,014	[30]

Deaths

• 2 January – Russ North, 59, English heavy metal singer (Cloven Hoof).[31]
• 9 January – Laurie Holloway, 86, English pianist, musical director and composer.[32]
• 10 January – Colin Carter, 76, British musician (Flash).[33]
• 13 January – Elgar Howarth, 89, English conductor, composer and trumpeter.[34]
• 15 January – Linda Nolan, 65, Irish-English singer, actress and television personality.[35]
• 18 January – Claire van Kampen, 71, English composer (Royal Shakespeare Company), playwright and theatre director, cancer.[36]
• 20 January – John Sykes, 65, English guitarist (Tygers of Pan Tang, Whitesnake) and songwriter ("Is This Love"), cancer.[37] (death announced on this date)
• 30 January - Marianne Faithfull, 78, English singer, actress

See also

• 2025 in British radio
• 2025 in British television
• 2025 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 2025

Notes

References

1. Savage, Mark (21 November 2024). "Sophie Ellis-Bextor to play the BBC's New Year Eve concert". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
2. Glynn, Paul (2 January 2025). "Neil Young shuns Glastonbury over BBC 'corporate control'". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
3. Savage, Mark (3 January 2025). "Neil Young reverses Glastonbury Festival 'boycott'". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
4. McKee, Ross; Allen, Bernie (4 January 2025). "Belfast: Rory Gallagher statue unveiled outside Ulster Hall". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
5. Savage, Mark (8 January 2025). "Music sales hit a 20-year high, thanks to streaming and vinyl". BBC News. BBCB. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
6. Rufo, Yasmin (8 January 2025). "Liam Payne's medical cause of death confirmed as polytrauma". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
7. "Pop star Chappell Roan wins the BBC Sound Of 2025". BBC News. 10 January 2025. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
8. Savage, Mark (10 January 2025). "Elton John's hits album finally goes to number one". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
9. Cheung, Iolo (10 January 2025). "Le Pub: Newport music venue saved but others on 'knife edge'". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
10. Dunworth, Liberty (18 September 2024). "Date revealed for The BRIT Awards 2025". NME. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
11. Green, Welden. "Porridge Radio Announce Breakup, Share Song From Final EP". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
12. Lawrence, Jessica (12 January 2025). "The Priests say 'a bittersweet farewell' to professional singing". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
13. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
14. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
15. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
16. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
17. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
18. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
20. "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
21. "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
22. "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
23. "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
24. "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
25. "Official Compilations Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
26. "Official Compilations Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
27. "Official Compilations Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
28. "Official Compilations Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
29. "Official Compilations Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
30. "Official Compilations Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
31. "CLOVEN HOOF – È morto Russ North" (in Italian). Loud and Proud Italy. 2 January 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
32. "Former Strictly and Parkinson musical director Laurence Holloway dies aged 86". Jersey Evening Post. 10 January 2025. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
33. "Colin Carter Passed Away". DMME.net. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
34. "Death of Elgar Howarth". 4barsrest. 13 January 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
35. "Singer Linda Nolan dies aged 65". bbc.co.uk/news. 15 January 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
36. Coveney, Michael (21 January 2025). "Claire van Kampen obituary". The Guardian.
37. "Legendary THIN LIZZY And WHITESNAKE Guitarist JOHN SYKES Dead At 65". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. 20 January 2025. Retrieved 22 January 2025.