2002 in British music

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2000s in music in the UK
Number-one singles
Number-one albums
Best-selling singles
Best-selling albums
Events
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
Charts
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
←1999 2010→
Top 10 singles
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
←1999 2010→

This is a summary of 2002 in music in the United Kingdom.

Summary

British and Irish bands that did well in the charts included Stereophonics, the Chemical Brothers, and Westlife; the latter topped the charts for a record 10th time, matching Madonna. They also were the act to obtain 10 chart toppers the most quickly, with only 35 months between this and their first.

The fastest-selling debut single in UK chart history was released by the Winner of the TV talent show, Pop Idol; Will Young had been voted as the winner by over 4 million people in the final, after winning six out of the nine weeks, with Gareth Gates, the eventual runner-up, winning three times. "Anything is Possible/Evergreen", topped the charts for 3 weeks and sold over 1.1 million copies in its first week of sale; altogether it sold over 1.7 million copies, becoming the 11th biggest-selling single in the UK and also the second fastest-selling single in the UK, with only Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" ahead of it. Young reached the top again with his second single "Light My Fire".

Runner-up Gareth Gates scored a No. 1 with his debut single, "Unchained Melody", spending one week more at the top than Will Young, thought the single itself sold less than Will Young's; nonetheless it became the 77th million-selling single in the UK and the last one until 2004. Overall, it is the 37th biggest selling single in the UK. Gates also had a second No.1 single, "Anyone Of Us (Stupid Mistake)", which topped the charts for 3 weeks, bettering Will Young by one week once again. Darius Danesh, third in Pop Idol, also made No 1 with "Colourblind". After both having two chart toppers, Young and Gates joined forces and revived an old Beatles classic, "The Long and Winding Road".

UK girl group Sugababes (who were now under their second line-up of original members Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and former Atomic Kitten member Heidi Range, who replaced Siobhán Donaghy after her departure the previous year) scored their first UK number one with "Freak like Me". Ronan Keating also returned to the top of the singles chart with a cover of "If Tomorrow Never Comes". Liberty X, consisting of the five losers who just failed to make Hear'Say in the talent show Popstars, reached No. 1 with Just a Little, eventually becoming more successful than Hear'Say, who disbanded in October. S Club Juniors, an 8-piece pre-teen spin off from S Club 7 (who saw the departure of band member Paul Cattermole earlier that year) reached No 2 with their debut single One Step Closer.

The Sugababes hit the top for a second time with their sixth single, "Round Round". Like their first No. 1 single, it only spent a week at the summit. The song was taken from the soundtrack to the hit film, "The Guru". Specialising in Pop/R'N'B with garage influences, all-male act, Blazin' Squad entered at the top of the charts with their massively hyped debut single, "Crossroads". Their success slowly decline throughout their career.

Coldplay released their second album, a follow-up to Parachutes; A Rush of Blood to the Head included several hit singles and they became one of the few early 2000s era British acts to achieve fame and popularity in the US. Having topped the singles charts three times, Atomic Kitten also scored a No. 1 album with their 3rd release, Feels So Good. The album spawned two top 3 hits as well as their 3rd chart topper.

Twelve months after he hit the top with his debut single, Daniel Bedingfield returned to the top with a slow ballad, "If You're Not The One". It became his 2nd UK No. 1, and his debut album, Gotta Get Thru This, produced five Top 10 singles and six Top 40 hits. Boy band Blue reached the top of the UK charts for the third time, collaborating with Elton John to revive an old hit of his, "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word".

Popstars: The Rivals became the new phenomenon in the world of talent shows, producing two new acts, boy band One True Voice and girl group Girls Aloud. They both released their singles in Christmas week and the girls beat the boys to the top spot, claiming the Christmas number one with "Sound of the Underground". Robbie Williams took the Christmas number one album spot yet again with his fifth No. 1 album, Escapology.

Events

Performers included Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Ravi Shankar, and Billy Preston. The event benefitted the Material World Charitable Foundation.

Television

Howard Goodall follows up his earlier successful TV series Howard Goodall's Big Bangs with Howard Goodall's Great Dates, in which he focused on significant dates in the history of music.

Classical works

Film scores and incidental music

Deaths

Music awards

BRIT Awards

The 2002 BRIT Awards winners were:

Classical BRITS

Mercury Music Prize

The 2002 Mercury Music Prize was awarded to Ms. Dynamite – A Little Deeper

Record of the Year

The Record of the Year was awarded to "Unchained Melody" by Gareth Gates.

Footnotes

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  7. ↑ Guardian
  8. ↑ Tim McDonald Obituary: Stanley Black, The Guardian, 3 December 2002
  9. ↑ Robb Johnson, "Thackray, John Philip [Jake] (1938–2002)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, Oxford University Press, January 2006; online edn, January 2009, accessed 19 April 2009
  10. ↑ Simmonds, Jeremy (2006). Number One in Heaven. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-102287-6

References

External links

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