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Music of the United Kingdom |
| Part of a series of articles on British music |
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Charts |
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Awards |
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Periods |
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Origins and influences |
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Genres |
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Major music publications |
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Timeline |
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Music from the United Kingdom has always enjoyed great popularity. In the 1960s, a wave of musicians helped to popularise rock and roll. Since then, the United Kingdom has produced numerous popular in far-ranging fields from heavy metal to folk rock and drum and bass, as well as undergoing a renaissance in the ancient forms of folk music indigenous to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom has had an influence on modern music worldwide which is disproportionate to its population. Indeed, the United Kingdom has produced many of the world's most influential artists and bands, such as The Beatles, The Clash, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols, The Who,Deep Purple, Queen, Genesis, Rod Stewart, The Prodigy, Elton John, Oasis, Blur, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Muse, Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones and The Smiths.
The UK has also been credited with the creation of many different musical genres, these include drum and bass, garage, punk, industrial, oi, grime, heavy metal, britpop, power electronics, new-wave, grindcore and goregrind among others.
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There are four primary components of the United Kingdom, each with their own diverse and distinctive folk music forms - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In addition, there are numerous distinct and semi-distinct folk traditions from the Isle of Man, Cornwall and the Channel Islands, as well as immigrants from Jamaica, India, the Commonwealth and other parts of the world.
England's Martin Carthy was perhaps the most influential traditional English performer of the 20th century, alongside the Copper Family and the Waterson Family, as well as bands such as Steeleye Span.
Of all the regions of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland (and its neighbour, the Republic of Ireland) has the most vibrant folk traditions. The popularity of traditional instruments such as fiddles has remained throughout the centuries even as analogues on Great Britain died out. Among Irish musicians influenced by the folk tradition is Van Morrison.
Scottish folk music includes many kinds of songs, including ballads and laments, sung by a single singer with accompaniment by bagpipes, fiddles or harps. Traditional dances include waltzes, reels, strathspeys and jigs. Alongside the other areas of the United Kingdom, Scotland underwent a roots revival in the 1960s. Cathy-Ann McPhee and Jeannie Robertson were the heroes of this revival, which inspired some revolutions in band formats by groups like The Clutha, The Whistlebinkies, The Boys of the Lough, Incredible String Band and The Chieftains.
Wales is a Celtic country that features folk music played at twmpathau (communal dances) and gwyl werin (music festivals). Having long been subordinate to English culture, Welsh musicians in the late 20th century had to reconstruct traditional music when a roots revival began. This revival began in the late 1970s and achieved some mainstream success in the UK in the 80s with performers like Robin Huw Bowen, Moniars and Gwerinos.
Classical music has been written an performed in what is now the United Kingdom for centuries. Key composers include Thomas Tallis, Henry Purcell, Edward Elgar and Benjamin Britten.
Beginning in the 16th century, printed broadside ballads were the first genre of British popular music. These were lyrics transcribed and eventually printed (after the invention of the printing press) and meant to be sung to some well-known tune. They were popular until the early 20th century, when a combination of newspapers and recording technology made them obsolete.
After the industrial revolution, bars that provided musical entertainment arose, fuelling demand for popular songs and professional songwriters. These bars were called music halls.
| Music of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| History | Nationalities | |
| Early popular music | England | |
| 1950s and 60s | Scotland | |
| 1970s | Wales | |
| 1980s | Ireland | |
| 1990s to present | Caribbean and Indian | |
| Genres: (Samples) Classical - Folk - Hip hop - Opera - Popular - Rock - Jazz | ||
| By year: 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 |
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| Awards | Mercury, BRIT Awards, Gramophone Awards | |
| Charts | UK Singles Chart, UK classical chart, UK Albums Chart | |
| Festivals | Cambridge Folk Festival, Creamfields, Download Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Eisteddfodd, Glastonbury Festival, Homelands, Isle of Wight Festival, Royal National Mod, The Proms, Reading and Leeds Festivals , T in the Park, V Festival | |
| Media | NME - Melody Maker - Mojo - Q - The Wire - The Gramophone | |
| National anthem | "God Save the Queen" | |
| Regions and territories | ||
| Birmingham - Cornwall - Manchester - Northumbria - Somerset - Anguilla - Bermuda - Cayman Islands - Gibraltar - Montserrat - Turks and Caicos - Virgin Islands | ||
Download recording - a 30 second sample of Queen's 1974 hit single "Killer Queen". Download recording - a 20 second sample of Yes' four-part song "Close to the Edge" recorded in 1972. Download recording - "On the Old Kissimmee Prairie" British tune from the Library of Congress' Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections; performed by Bob Hall, Walter van Bass, Ned Hugh Bass and J. C. King with banjos, guitars and violin in Juli, 1940 in Kenansville, Florida |
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