1980 in British music

• unknown date – John Rutter is made an honorary Fellow of Westminster Choir College, Princeton.
• 1 January – Cliff Richard is appointed an MBE by Elizabeth II.
• 16 January – Paul McCartney is arrested in Tokyo for possession of one-half pound (230 g) of marijuana. The remaining part of McCartney's tour has to be cancelled.
• 25 January – Paul McCartney is released from a Japanese jail and ejected from the country by Japanese authorities.
• 8 February – David Bowie and his wife of nearly 10 years, Angie, file for divorce. Bowie gets custody of their nine-year-old son Zowie.
• 30 April – The first performance of the Quartetto Intimo (composed 1930-32) by John Foulds takes place at Hartlebury Castle, performed by the Endellion String Quartet as part of the 1980 Bromsgrove Festival.
• 18 May – Ian Curtis, vocalist of pioneering post-punk group Joy Division, hangs himself in his Macclesfield home. His death comes just days before Joy Division are scheduled to begin their first U.S. tour.
• 14 July – Malcolm Owen of punk rock band the Ruts is found dead in the bathroom of his parents' house in Hayes, from a heroin overdose.
• 22 August – The world premiere of Michael Tippett’s Triple Concerto takes place at the BBC Proms, with the London Symphony Orchestra and soloists György Pauk, Nobuko Imai and Ralph Kirshbaum, conducted by Sir Colin Davis.
• 16 September – Kate Bush becomes the first British female artist to reach number one in the UK album charts.
• 20 September – Ozzy Osbourne's debut album Blizzard of Ozz is released in the UK.
• 25 November – ABBA score the last of their nine number-one singles in the UK singles chart with "Super Trouper".
• December - Duran Duran sign with EMI after finalising their lineup and touring as a support act for Hazel O'Connor.
• 4 December – Led Zeppelin disband following the death of drummer John Bonham in September.
• 8 December – John Lennon is shot dead outside his apartment building in New York City. His latest single, "(Just Like) Starting Over", subsequently becomes a number-one hit.

The 1980s got off to an odd start with a very varied list of artists reaching No. 1 in the singles chart. Kenny Rogers, The Jam and Odyssey were among those vying for the top position. The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums stated that the year had a very dated appearance, because of a number of songs reaching No. 1 which had been recorded years previously, such as the "Theme from M*A*S*H*" and Don McLean's cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying". The Ska and Mod revivals reached their peak this year, with strong chart showings by The Jam, The Specials and Madness. 1970s favourites ABBA and Blondie both had their last years as chart heavyweights, clocking up 5 No.1 singles between them. David Bowie scored his second No.1 this year, while the death of John Lennon at the end of the year gave him his first chart topper (and would dominate the early months of 1981). Kate Bush became the first British female artist to have a No.1 album, and The Police finished the year as the top selling act. "Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders became the first number 1 single of the 80s (not counting "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd" which was a holdover from 1979).

The tables below include sales between 31 December 1979 and 31 December 1980: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue of Music Week dated 27 December 1980 and played on Radio 1 on 4 January 1981 only include sales figures up until 6 December 1980.^[1]

^[2]

^[3]

• William Alwyn
  • Leave Taking, song cycle
  • Rhapsody for piano, violin, viola and cello
  • String Quartet No. 3
• George Benjamin – Ringed by the Flat Horizon
• Lennox Berkeley – Magnificat and Nunc dimittis, Op.99
• Harrison Birtwistle
  • Clarinet Quintet
  • On the Sheer Threshold of the Night for chorus
• Peter Maxwell Davies
  • Farewell to Stromness, piano interlude (from The Yellow Cake Review)
  • Little Quartet, string quartet
  • Symphony No. 2
  • A Welcome to Orkney for chamber ensemble
  • The Yellow Cake Review for voice and piano
  • Yesnaby Ground, piano interlude (from The Yellow Cake Review)
• Alexander Goehr – Sinfornia for orchestra
• Iain Hamilton
  • Mass in A for a capella chorus
  • Vespers, for mixed chorus, two pianos, harp and percussion
• Jonathan Harvey – Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco
• Alun Hoddinott – The Heaventree of Stars
• Wilfred Josephs
  • Consort Music for brass
  • Double-bass Concerto
  • Double-bass Sonata
  • Equus, ballet
  • Tombeaux for organ
• Kenneth Leighton
  • Animal Heaven for soprano, recorder, cello and harpsichord
  • Fantasy on a Chorale for violin and organ
  • Missa Cornelia for treble voices and organ
  • Missa de Gloria, organ solo
• George Lloyd – The Vigil of Venus for voices and orchestra
• Nicholas Maw – The Ruin, for chorus and solo horn
• Thea Musgrave
  • From One to Another, for viola and fifteen strings
  • The Last Twilight for chorus, brass and percussion
• Edmund Rubbra
  • Canzona for Brass
  • Duo of cor anglais and piano
  • How Shall My Tongue Express? for unaccompanied chorus
  • Mass in Honour of St. Teresa of Avila for unaccompanied chorus
• Robert Simpson – String Quartet No. 8
• Michael Tippett – Wolf Trap Fanfare for brass ensemble
• Malcolm Williamson
  • Choric Hymn for mixed chorus
  • Konstanz Fanfare for brass, percussion and organ
  • Lament in memory of Lord Mountbatten for violin and string orchestra
  • Little Mass of St Bernadette for voices and organ
  • Ode for Queen Elizabeth for string orchestra
  • Richmond Fanfare for brass, percussion and organ
  • Symphony No. 5

• Peter Maxwell Davies
  • Cinderella (children's opera)
  • The Lighthouse
• Kenneth Leighton – Columba
• William Mathias – The Servants

• Suburban Strains, book and lyrics by Alan Ayckbourn with music by Paul Todd^[5]

• 1 January – Richie Faulkner, rock guitarist (Judas Priest)
• 5 January – Lisa Gordon, drummer (Hepburn)
• 9 March – Anna Clyne, composer of electroacoustic music
• 29 March – Andy Scott-Lee, singer (3SL)
• 4 April – Johnny Borrell, singer and musician (Razorlight)
• 12 April – Brian McFadden, Irish singer (Westlife)
• 26 April – James Hurst, singer and guitarist (North and South)
• 29 April – Kian Egan, Irish singer (Westlife)
• 8 May – Michelle McManus, singer and TV presenter
• 28 May – Mark Feehily, Irish singer (Westlife)
• 15 June – Lynsey Shaw, singer (Girls@Play)
• 23 June
  • Jessica Taylor, singer (Liberty X)
  • Andy Orr, Irish singer (Six)
• 29 June – Katherine Jenkins, soprano
• 7 July – Fyfe Dangerfield, singer-songwriter and guitarist (Guillemots and Senseless Prayer)
• 28 July – Noel Sullivan, singer (Hear'Say)
• 16 August – Bob Hardy, bassist (Franz Ferdinand)
• 19 August – Darius Danesh, singer-songwriter and actor
• 5 September
  • Kevin Simm, singer (Liberty X)
  • Zainam Higgins, singer (Cleopatra)
• 6 September
  • Kerry Katona, TV presenter and singer (Atomic Kitten)
  • Jayde Delpratt, singer (Ultimate Kaos)
• 10 September – Matthew Keaney, Irish singer (Reel)
• 3 October – Danny O'Donoghue, Irish singer-songwriter (Mytown, The Script)
• 9 November – Philip Gargan, Irish singer (Reel)
• 15 December – Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist with Kasabian
• date unknown
  • Iain Bell, composer of opera and vocal music
  • Catrin Finch, harpist
  • Cheryl Frances-Hoad, composer
  • Larry Goves, Welsh composer
  • Dobrinka Tabakova, Bulgarian-British composer

• 15 January – David Whitfield, singer, 54 (brain haemorrhage)
• 25 January – Queenie Watts, actress and singer, 53 (cancer)
• 29 January – Edward Lewis, record producer and executive (Decca), 79
• 9 February – John Kennedy, cellist, 57
• 18 February – Muriel Brunskill, operatic contralto, 80
• 19 February – Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC, 33 (alcohol poisoning)
• 3 April – Isla Cameron, singer, 53 (asphyxiation)
• 5 April – Hector MacAndrew, Scottish composer and fiddler, 77
• 4 May – Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson, pianist, 60
• 18 May – Ian Curtis, musician and singer (Joy Division), 23 (suicide)
• 22 May – Reginald Foort, theatre organist, 87
• 5 July – A. J. Potter, composer, 61
• 6 July – Frank Cordell, composer, arranger and conductor, 62
• 24 July – Peter Sellers, comic actor and singer ("Goodness Gracious Me"), 54 (heart attack)
• 5 August – Norman Fulton, composer and conductor, 71 (lung cancer)
• 9 August – Audrey Jeans, singer, 51 (car accident)
• 12 August – Leopold Spinner, Austrian-born composer, 74
• 8 September – Eddie Butcher, singer, songwriter and folk song collector, 80
• 18 September – Walter Midgley, operatic tenor, 68
• 25 September – John Bonham, drummer (Led Zeppelin), 32 (asphyxiation)
• 30 September – Horace Finch, pianist and organist, 74
• 11 October – Cassie Walmer, music hall singer, 92
• 27 October – Steve Peregrin Took, bongo player for Tyrannosaurus Rex, frontman for Shagrat and Steve Took's Horns, solo artist, 31 (asphyxiation)
• 29 October – Ouida MacDermott, singer, 91
• 8 December – John Lennon, singer, songwriter, and guitarist (The Beatles), 40 (murdered)
• 16 December – Keith Christie, jazz trombonist, 49
• 29 December – Lennie Felix, jazz pianist, 60 (car accident)

• 1980 in British radio
• 1980 in British television
• 1980 in the United Kingdom