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2008 in British music
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January 2019
2008
2008 British music
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.Anon., "Top Music Award for Morpeth Girl", The Morpeth Herald (31 January 2008).
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.BBC News: "Two GCap digital stations closed", 11 February 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
3 May – Girls Aloud begin their Tangled Up Tour in Belfast, UK.http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/146092-material-girls-aloud Material Girls Aloud unattributed 5 May 2008 metro.co.uk 26 August 2008
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.https://www.nme.com/reviews/give-it-a-name/8536 It may not have a name, but it certainly has a purpose (unattributed) 16 May 2007 NME/IPC Media 23 May 2008
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.http://www.o2wirelessfestival.co.uk/home/index.aspx https://web.archive.org/web/20080605202303/http://www.o2wirelessfestival.co.uk/home/index.aspx 5 June 2008 O2 Wireless Festival unattributed 2008 Live Nation (Music) UK Limited 1 September 2008
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.https://issuu.com/spnm/docs/soundandmusic On Sound and Music ISSUU 28 June 2014
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."News: Stockhausen Tribute in the UK", Computer Music Journal 33, no. 2 (2009): 6.
6 November – Michael Tilson Thomas makes his Philadelphia Orchestra subscription-concert conducting debut.Peter Dobrin After 23 Years, a Return to Phila The Philadelphia Inquirer 8 November 2008 E04
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.Paine, Andre. "Blur Reuniting, Unveils London Show Plans". billboard.com. 9 December 2008.https://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/music/newsid_7771000/7771915.stm Blur confirm massive outdoor show 10 December 2008 BBC 9 December 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081212085616/http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/music/newsid_7771000/7771915.stm 12 December 2008 live
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
2008 in British music 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
http://www.britishcomposerawards.com/ceremony_archive.php?y=2008 British Composer Awards: Ceremony Archive. Accessed 2 February 2013 2 February 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130228013601/http://www.britishcomposerawards.com/ceremony_archive.php?y=2008 28 February 2013 dead
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
MusicRadar: "2008 Ivor Novello Awards winners announced." Accessed 2 February 2013
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, 78https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/mar/14/obituaries.mainsection Alun Hoddinott: Prodigy who became a prolific composer and patriarchal figure in Welsh music The Guardian Lewis, Geraint 14 March 2008 6 February 2011
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, 77https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/sep/12/classicalmusicandopera Vernon Handley 12 September 2008 John Amis John Amis The Guardian 19 August 2019
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, 60Anonymous obituary, The Times (22 November): Features, p. 89.
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
See also
2008 in British radio
2008 in British television
2008 in the United Kingdom
List of British films of 2008
References
British music
Music
Category:British music by year