1997 in British music

none June 2021 1997 1997 British music This is a summary of 1997 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year. Summary Oasis released their highly anticipated third album, Be Here Now, on 21 August (in the UK). It sold 695,761 copies in its first three days and 813,000 copies in its first week. As of 2023, it is the fastest-selling album in UK history.Rosney Daniel Sorry Adele, Oasis are still the album chart record breakers https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-34919975 1 October 2023 BBC News 27 November 2015 Radiohead's third album, OK Computer, was released in June and topped the UK Albums Chart for two weeks. Met with widespread critical acclaim, it was voted the greatest album of all time by Q Magazine readers barely months after its release.https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000002UJQ OK Computer 1 May 1997 Amazon Compared to just five years earlier, singles sales were very high this year. From 22 June right through to the end of the year, every single #1 sold at least 100,000 copies a week. Like the previous year, 24 singles topped the chart, double as many as 1992. The Spice Girls continued their success from 1996, once again getting three number ones. The first was the double A-side songs "Mama" and "Who Do You Think You Are"; the latter of which was the Comic Relief single for 1997. This ensured the group became the first act to have their first four singles all reach number 1. This was followed by "Spice Up Your Life" in October, and "Too Much" in December, which once again gave them the Christmas number one single. They had now become the first act to have their first six singles reach number 1, but this run would be broken in 1998, with "Stop" only reaching #2. Spice Girls also had great success on the album charts as Spice and Spiceworld were two of the top five best sellers of 1997. The Backstreet Boys released their second international album Backstreet's Back. The album was a massive success reaching number two and selling over 800,000 copies in the U.K. The three singles released from the album were massive hits with "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" reaching number 3 and "As Long as You Love Me" also reaching number three and staying in the charts for 19 weeks. Six singles released this year went on to sell over a million. The first to do so was Puff Daddy & Faith Evans' "I'll Be Missing You", a tribute to the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G. In November and December, three consecutive number ones all sold over a million, for only the third time in UK chart history (it had previously happened in 1984 and 1995/6). These were Aqua's "Barbie Girl", the Children in Need charity single "Perfect Day", and "Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!", the theme tune to the popular children's television series Teletubbies. In addition, All Saints' "Never Ever" was released in November and also sold over a million, though it wouldn't reach number one until January 1998. In November, The Prodigy released "Smack My Bitch Up", which received huge international media attention, due to the fact that many people believed it to be misogynistic and / or that it promotes violence against women. Some stores refused to stock the single and / or album from which it came, and some radio stations refused to play it. A graphic video showing bad behaviour on the part of the protagonist in the music video led to its showing on television being greatly restricted. By far the biggest-selling single of the year, though, came from Elton John. In August, Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car crash. At her funeral, John played a rewritten version of "Candle in the Wind" known as "Candle in the Wind 1997", a song originally written about Marilyn Monroe (made #11 in 1974, with a live version reaching #5 in 1988). When released this year, it quickly overtook 1984's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" to become the biggest selling UK single ever, selling 4.86 million copies, and the biggest selling in the world, selling 37 million. It continues to hold the record to this day. Andrew Glover's string quartet The Fickle Virgin of Seventeen Summers was one of several new classical works by British composers. Others included Geoffrey Burgon's City Adventures, a percussion concerto written for Scottish virtuoso Evelyn Glennie and premièred by her during the 1997 Proms season. One of the UK's most prolific classical composers, Wilfred Josephs, died on 17 November. In April, Nigel Kennedy, now calling himself simply Kennedy, returned to the stage at the Royal Festival Hall after a five-year absence from the concert stage resulting from neck surgery. Towards the end of the year, veteran composer Sir Michael Tippett developed pneumonia while visiting Sweden, which would lead to his death early in 1998. Events 9 January – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert (the day after his birthday) at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, the Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of the Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, with the opening act Placebo. Proceeds from the concert went to the Save the Children fund.https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D02E3D81738F932A25752C0A961958260 Once More the Outsider, David Bowie Turns 50 Pareles John 11 January 1997 The New York Times 18 April 2008 30 January – Noel Gallagher courts controversy in an interview in which he claimed that taking drugs was "like having a cup of tea in the morning". 12 February – David Bowie receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, USA. 18 February – Brian Harvey is sacked from East 17 after his controversial comments on a radio interview in which he appeared to be condoning the use of the drug ecstasy. 11 March – Paul McCartney receives his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. 30 March – The Spice Girls launch Britain's new television channel, Channel 5. 10 April – Nigel Kennedy, now calling himself simply Kennedy, returns to the stage at the Royal Festival Hall after a five-year absence from the concert stage resulting from neck surgery. 3 May Five's musical career begins after auditions are held in London, UK to find potential band members, with over 3,000 hopefuls showing up to audition. The Spice Girls attend the Cannes Film Festival to announce their plans to hit the big screen with Spiceworld: The Movie. A photo call on top of the Hotel Martinez entrance brings the area to a standstill. At the 42nd Eurovision Song Contest, held in Dublin's Point Theatre, the UK win with "Love Shine a Light", sung by Katrina and the Waves. 11 May – The Spice Girls perform their first British live gig for the Prince's Trust 21st anniversary concert at the Manchester Opera House They break royal protocol by kissing The Prince of Wales (now Charles III) on the cheeks and even pinching his bottom. 15 May The Spice Girls' album Spice reaches number one on the US charts, making them the first British act to top the charts with a debut album. While his single "Return of the Mack" climbs up the US Charts, Mark Morrison is sentenced to three months in prison, for threatening a police officer with a stun gun. The Heroes Symphony by Philip Glass is performed for the first time at the Royal Festival Hall. 28 June – The Haçienda club in Manchester closes. It is later demolished and turned into flats, whilst still retaining the "Hacienda" name. September – Ten-year-old Nicola Benedetti begins her studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School for young musicians under Lord Menuhin and Natasha Boyarskaya. 6 September – Elton John performs "Candle in the Wind" at the Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales; John Tavener's Song for Athene is performed at the same ceremony, with soprano Lynne Dawson as soloist. 13 September – Release of Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" remade as a charity tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. It becomes the second best-selling single of all time worldwide, after "White Christmas". 14 August – Il Rozzo Martello for chorus by Peter Maxwell Davies, setting the words of Dante and Michelangelo, is performed for the first time in The Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. 28 September – The world premiere of James MacMillan’s Vigil Symphony, at the Barbican Centre, with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich. 1 October – Asyla for orchestra by Thomas Adès is performed for the first time, at Birmingham Symphony Hall. 6 October – Aphex Twin courts controversy with the video to his single "Come to Daddy'". The video is banned by TV networks for being "too frightening". 14 October – The world premiere of Paul McCartney's Standing Stone at the Royal Albert Hall with the London Symphony Orchestra and a 120 member choir, conducted by Lawrence Foster. 28 October – The Concerto Conciso for piano and ten players by Thomas Adès is performed for the first time in Birmingham. 3 November – The Spice Girls release Spiceworld, their second number-one album, making the group the first British band since the Beatles to have two albums in the US chart at the same time. Spice and Spiceworld have amassed enough sales for one out of every two people in Britain to own a Spice Girls album. 6 November – The Spice Girls make the decision to take over the running of the group and drop Simon Fuller as their manager. 9 November – Sufi Dance for guitar by Jonathan Harvey is performed for the first time, at Nottingham University. 17 November – The Prodigy release their controversial single "Smack My Bitch Up", which is censored by BBC Radio 1, and the X-rated video is banned from daytime television, except for a brief, late-night rotation on MTV before being removed from broadcast two weeks later. 20 November – Gary Glitter is arrested after indecent images were found on his computer that he took to a branch of PC World in Bristol for repair. His planned performance for Children in Need is cancelled, and his appearance in Spiceworld: The Movie is removed from the film as a result. 29 November – The Verve and their manager refuse to allow The Chart Show to show the video for their song "Lucky Man" unless the show is redesigned for them. 4 and 5 December – Black Sabbath perform a pair of reunion shows in their hometown of Birmingham, England. They are the first full-length concerts by the original lineup of the band since 1978. 26 December – The Spice Girls release their big screen debut Spiceworld: The Movie, starring Richard E. Grant, Roger Moore, Elton John and Stephen Fry. The movie makes £6.8m in its first week of release. 31 December – Composers Richard Rodney Bennett and Elton John are among those receiving knighthoods in the New Year's Honours List. Charts Number-one singles Chart date(week ending)SongArtist(s)Sales 4 January"2 Become 1"Spice Girls301,000 11 January113,000 18 January"Professional Widow" Tori Amos80,000 25 January"Your Woman"White Town119,500 1 February"Beetlebum"Blur120,000 8 February"Ain't Nobody"LL Cool J80,000 15 February"Discothèque"U2125,000 22 February"Don't Speak"No Doubt195,000 1 March140,000 8 March85,000 15 March"Mama" / "Who Do You Think You Are"Spice Girls248,000 22 March152,000 29 March85,000 5 April"Block Rockin' Beats"The Chemical Brothers84,700 12 April"I Believe I Can Fly"R. Kelly51,000 19 April76,000 26 April87,000 3 May"Blood on the Dance Floor"Michael Jackson85,000 10 May"Love Won't Wait"Gary Barlow92,000 17 May"You're Not Alone"Olive75,000 24 May74,000 31 May"I Wanna Be the Only One"Eternal featuring Bebe Winans150,000 7 June"MMMBop"Hanson260,000 14 June120,000 21 June86,000 28 June"I'll Be Missing You"Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112109,000 5 July156,000 12 July167,000 19 July"D'You Know What I Mean?"Oasis377,000 26 July"I'll Be Missing You"Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112124,000 2 August127,000 9 August100,000 16 August"Men in Black"Will Smith182,000 23 August133,000 30 August122,000 6 September105,000 13 September"The Drugs Don't Work"The Verve105,000 20 September"Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight"Elton John658,000 27 September1,546,688 4 October1,067,000 11 October572,000 18 October274,000 25 October"Spice Up Your Life"Spice Girls321,000 1 November"Barbie Girl" Aqua190,000 8 November239,000 15 November190,000 22 November165,000 29 November"Perfect Day" Various Artists 385,082 6 December274,706 13 December"Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!"" Teletubbies 317,000 20 December230,000 27 December"Too Much" Spice Girls252,000 Number-one albums Chart date(week ending)AlbumArtistSales 4 JanuarySpiceSpice Girls 375,000 11 January119,000 18 January65,000 25 January54,000 1 February Evita Madonna 49,000 8 February GlowReef55,000 15 FebruaryWhite on BlondeTexas47,000 22 FebruaryBlurBlur92,000 1 MarchAttack of the Grey Lantern Mansun48,000 8 MarchSpiceSpice Girls72,000 15 MarchPopU2152,000 22 MarchSpiceSpice Girls62,000 29 March65,000 5 April85,000 12 April59,000 19 AprilDig Your Own HoleThe Chemical Brothers62,793 26 AprilUltraDepeche Mode43,000 3 MayTellin' StoriesThe Charlatans68,000 10 May 33,000 17 MaySpiceSpice Girls23,700 24 May Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the MixMichael Jackson37,000 31 May30,000 7 JuneOpen RoadGary Barlow58,000 14 JuneWu-Tang ForeverWu-Tang Clan26,000 21 JuneMiddle of NowhereHanson24,000 28 JuneOK ComputerRadiohead136,500 5 July48,200 12 JulyThe Fat of the LandThe Prodigy316,951 19 July98,000 26 July66,000 2 August 49,000 9 August 36,000 16 August30,500 23 AugustWhite on BlondeTexas30,000 30 AugustBe Here NowOasis696,000 6 September235,000 13 September95,000 20 September64,000 27 SeptemberMarchin' AlreadyOcean Colour Scene64,000 4 OctoberBe Here NowOasis48,000 11 OctoberUrban HymnsThe Verve250,054 18 October97,000 25 October63,500 1 November56,000 8 November61,000 15 NovemberSpiceworld Spice Girls192,000 22 November91,228 29 NovemberLet's Talk About Love Céline Dion91,000 6 December91,000 13 December Spiceworld Spice Girls 121,000 20 DecemberLet's Talk About Love Céline Dion 142,000 27 December219,918 Number-one compilation albums Chart date(week ending)Album 4 JanuaryNow 35 11 January 18 January The Annual II Mixed by Judge Jules & Boy George 25 January 1 February 8 February 15 February In the Mix 97 22 February The Annual II Mixed by Judge Jules & Boy George 1 March Club Mix 97 2 8 March 15 March The Soul Album 22 March The Best Album in the World...Ever! 5 29 March Dance Nation 3 – Pete Tong & Judge Jules 5 April Now 36 12 April 19 April 26 April New Hits 1997 3 May 10 May 17 May 24 May Big Mix 97 31 May 7 June Smash Hits Summer 97 14 June The Best Club Anthems...Ever! 21 June 28 June 5 July 12 July The Best Disco Album in the World...Ever! 19 July 26 July Now 37 2 August 9 August 16 August 23 August Fresh Hits 1997 30 August 6 September 13 September Ibiza Uncovered 20 September 27 September 4 October Kiss in Ibiza 97 11 October Ibiza Uncovered 18 October Big Mix 97 – Volume 2 25 October The Best Anthems...Ever! 1 November Now Dance 97 8 November Huge Hits 1997 15 NovemberThe Annual III Mixed by Pete Tong & Boy George 22 November 29 November Now 38 6 December 13 December Diana Princess of Wales – Tribute 20 December 27 December Year-end charts Best-selling singles Based on sales from 30 December 1996 to 28 December 1997.Top 100 Singles 1997 Music Week 27 17 January 1998 No. Number Title Artist Peakposition SalesAlan Jones Independent labels fight back in the year of the platinum single Music Week 26 17 January 1998 1 "Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" Elton John 1 4,770,000 2 "Barbie Girl" Aqua 1 1,500,000 3 "I'll Be Missing You" Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112 1 4 "Perfect Day" Various Artists 1 1,000,000+ 5 "Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh!" Teletubbies 1 6 "Men in Black" Will Smith 1 7 "Don't Speak" No Doubt 1 8 "Torn" Natalie Imbruglia 2 813,000 9 "Tubthumping" Chumbawamba 2 10 "Spice Up Your Life" Spice Girls 1 11 "MMMBop" Hanson 1 12 "D'You Know What I Mean?" Oasis 1 13 "Never Ever" All Saints 3Reached number 1 in 1998 14 "I Believe I Can Fly" R. Kelly 1 15 "Mama"/"Who Do You Think You Are" Spice Girls 1 16 "I Wanna Be the Only One" Eternal featuring BeBe Winans 1 600,000+ 17 "Freed from Desire" Gala 2 18 "Where Do You Go" No Mercy 2 19 "Sunchyme" Dario G 2 20 "Free" Ultra Naté 4 21 "Encore une fois" Sash! 2 22 "Too Much" Spice Girls 1 23 "Time to Say Goodbye (Con Te Partirò)" Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli 2 24 "Bellissima" DJ Quicksilver 4 25 "As Long as You Love Me" Backstreet Boys 3 26 "Baby Can I Hold You"/"Shooting Star" Boyzone 2 27 "Ecuador" Sash! featuring Rodriguez 2 28 "Wind Beneath My Wings" Steven Houghton 3 29 "Don't Let Go (Love)" En Vogue 5 30 "Stay" Sash! featuring La Trec 2 31 "Lovefool" The Cardigans 2 32 "The Drugs Don't Work" The Verve 1 33 "Tell Him" Barbra Streisand & Celine Dion 3 34 "Together Again" Janet Jackson 4 35 "2 Become 1" Spice Girls 1 36 "You Might Need Somebody" Shola Ama 4 37 "You're Not Alone" Olive 1 38 "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" Backstreet Boys 3 39 "Angels" Robbie Williams 5Reached number 4 in 1998 40 "C U When U Get There" Coolio featuring 40 Thevz 3 41 "Your Woman" White Town 1 42 "Never Gonna Let You Go" Tina Moore 7 43 "Bitter Sweet Symphony" The Verve 2 44 "Remember Me" Blue Boy 8 45 "Closer than Close" Rosie Gaines 4 46 "Stand by Me" Oasis 2 47 "Professional Widow (It's Got to Be Big)" Tori Amos 1 48 "Picture of You" Boyzone 2 49 "Say What You Want" Texas 3 50 "I'll Be There for You" The Rembrandts 5Reached number 3 in 1995 Notes: Best-selling albums Based on sales from 30 December 1996 to 28 December 1997.Top 100 Albums 1997 Music Week 29 17 January 1998 No. Number Title Artist Peakposition SalesAlan Jones British acts trounce US rivals in race for the albums crown Music Week 28 17 January 1998 1 Be Here Now Oasis 1 1,500,000 2 Urban Hymns The Verve 1 1,315,000Alan Jones Ireland takes the crown but Robbie scores top five double Music Week 8 16 January 1999 3 Spice Spice Girls 1 1,230,000+ 4 Spiceworld Spice Girls 11,060,000+ 5 White on Blonde Texas 1 1,000,000+ 6 The Fat of the Land The Prodigy 1 7 Let's Talk About Love Celine Dion 1 8 OK Computer Radiohead 1 9 Greatest Hits Eternal 2 550,000 10 The Best of Wham!: If You Were There... Wham! 4 11 Ocean Drive Lighthouse Family 3 12 Backstreet's Back Backstreet Boys 2 13 Older George Michael 7Reached number 1 in 1996 14 Postcards from Heaven Lighthouse Family 2 15 Sheryl Crow Sheryl Crow 5 16 Travelling Without Moving Jamiroquai 4Reached number 2 in 1996 17 Fresco M People 2 18 Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon John Lennon 4Reached number 3 in 1998 19 Paint the Sky with Stars Enya 4 20 All Saints All Saints 5Reached number 2 in 1998 21 Blue Is the Colour The Beautiful South 3Reached number 1 in 1996 22 Like You Do... Best of the Lightning Seeds The Lightning Seeds 5 23 Evita Madonna/Various Artists 1 24 Everything Must Go Manic Street Preachers 2 25 Pop U2 1 26 Tragic Kingdom No Doubt 3 27 Falling into You Celine Dion 2Reached number 1 in 1995 28 Secrets Toni Braxton 10 29 Blur Blur 1 30 Their Greatest Hits Hot Chocolate 10Reached number 1 in 1993 31 Marchin' Already Ocean Colour Scene 1 32 Do It Yourself The Seahorses 2 33 Stoosh Skunk Anansie 9 34 Always on My Mind: Ultimate Love Songs Elvis Presley 3 35 (What's the Story) Morning Glory? Oasis 17Reached number 1 in 1995 36 Glow Reef 1 37 The Big Picture Elton John 3 38 Tellin' Stories The Charlatans The Charlatans (English band) 1 39 K Kula Shaker 7Reached number 1 in 1996 40 It's My Life – The Album Sash! 6 41 Left of the Middle Natalie Imbruglia 5 42 Before the Rain Eternal 3 43 Open Road Gary Barlow 1 44 Come Find Yourself Fun Lovin' Criminals 7 45 The Very Best of Sting & The Police Sting & the Police 11Reached number 1 in 2002 46 Jagged Little Pill Alanis Morissette 11Reached number 1 in 1996 47 Mother Nature Calls Cast 3 48 Shelter The Brand New Heavies 5 49 Dig Your Own Hole The Chemical Brothers 1 50 The Very Best of the Bee Gees Bee Gees 11Reached number 6 in 1990 Notes: 30em Best-selling compilation albums Based on sales from 30 December 1996 to 28 December 1997.Top 50 Compilations of 1997 Music Week 30 17 January 1998 No. Number Title Peakposition SalesAlan Jones Now! series just misses clean sweep Music Week 30 17 January 1998 1 Now 38 1 920,000 2 Diana, Princess of Wales: Tribute 1 700,000 3 Now 37 1 600,000 4 Now 36 1 600,000 5 The Annual III 1 400,000+ 6 The Full Monty Original Soundtrack 3 350,000 7 The Greatest Hits of 1997 2 8 The Best '60s Album in the World... Ever! III 5 9 The Annual II 1 10 Ibiza Uncovered 1 Classical music Thomas Adès – Asyla Geoffrey Burgon – City Adventures Peter Maxwell Davies – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Alun Hoddinott – Spectrum 2: Lizard Graham Waterhouse – Celtic Voices and Hale Bopp Opera Mark-Anthony Turnage – Twice Through the Heart Musical films Cabaret Neiges Noires Births 23 January – Shaheen Jafargholi, actor and singer 18 February – Ramz, rapper and singer 16 February – Charlie Green, singer 7 April – Laura van der Heijden, cellist 7 July – James Marriott, musician and YouTuber 7 October – Lauren Platt, singer and 2014 X Factor semi-finalist 24 October – Raye, R&B singer-songwriter Deaths 22 January Ivor Kirchin, bandleader, 92 Billy Mackenzie, singer-songwriter (Associates), 39 (suicide)http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article1599059.ece https://web.archive.org/web/20110617010515/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article1599059.ece dead 17 June 2011 Billy Mackenzie Tribute Dalton Stephen The Times 2 April 2007 3 June 2009 London Wally Whyton, singer-songwriter and broadcaster (The Vipers Skiffle Group), 67 10 February – Brian Connolly, vocalist (The Sweet), 51 (liver failure) 18 February – Eric Fenby, music teacher, composer, and amanuensis of Frederick Delius, 90 7 March – Alfred Nieman, pianist and composer, 82 4 June – Ronnie Lane, bassist (The Small Faces), 51 (multiple sclerosis, pneumonia) 7 June – Paul Reade, composer, 54 19 July – Frank Farrell, bassist, vocalist and songwriter, 50 4 August – Alexander Young, singer-songwriter, 58 (lung cancer) 10 August – Conlon Nancarrow, composer, 84 4 September – Belle Stewart, Scottish singer, 91 8 September – Derek Taylor, press agent for the Beatles, 65 10 October – George Malcolm, pianist, organist, conductor and composer, 80https://archive.today/20140912115247/http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/24th-october-1997/3/obituary-george-malcolm Obituary; accessed 22 September 2014. 6 November – Epic Soundtracks, singer-songwriter and drummer (Swell Maps), 38 (cause unknown) 17 November – Wilfred Josephs, composer, 70 21 November – Robert Simpson, composer, 76 6 December – George Chisholm, Scottish jazz trombonist, 82 11 December – Simon Jeffes, classical guitarist, 48 (brain tumour) Music awards Brit Awards The 1997 Brit Awards winners were: Best British producer: John Leckie Best soundtrack: Trainspotting British album: Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go British breakthrough act: Kula Shaker British dance act: The Prodigy British female solo artist: Gabrielle British group: Manic Street Preachers British male solo artist: George Michael British single: Spice Girls – "Wannabe" British video: Spice Girls – "Say You'll Be There" International breakthrough act: Robert Miles International female: Sheryl Crow International group: The Fugees International male: Beck Outstanding contribution: Bee Gees Mercury Music Prize The 1997 Mercury Music Prize was awarded to Roni Size/Reprazent – New Forms. See also 1997 in British radio 1997 in British television 1997 in the United Kingdom List of British films of 1997 References External links BBC Radio 1's Chart Show Official Charts Company British music Category:British music by year Category:20th century in music