13 February – Peter Frampton receives the Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award.
17 February – Manic Street Preachers become the first western rock band to play in Cuba. (Fidel Castro is in attendance.)
8 March – Melanie Chisholm announces she does not intend to do any more work with the Spice Girls. Although the group denies it is splitting, it would not be active again until 2007.
28 March - Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 replaces Max Bruch's violin concerto at #1 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame.
4 April – Original Zombies lead singer Colin Blunstone and keyboardist Rod Argent reunite for a two-part performance at London's Jazz Cafe, the first time the two had performed together in over 30 years.
6 October - Pop Idol is broadcast for the first time on ITV.
1 November - The governing body of the UK Singles Chart, Chart Information Network Ltd. (CIN), changes its name to The Official UK Charts Company.
Russell Watson came to the fore in 2001, with the release of his best-selling album The Voice. Another hit album was the score from Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Stephen Warbeck. Karl Jenkins "mass for peace", entitled The Armed Man, went quickly into the Classic FM top 300 annual chart, making him the highest-placed living composer.
Robat Arwyn – Atgof o'r Sêr
Peter Maxwell Davies - Symphony No. 8 (Antarctic Symphony)
Howard Goodall – In Memoriam Anne Frank
Christopher Gunning - Piano Concerto
Stuart Mitchell – Seven Wonders Suite for Choir & Orchestra
Hilary Tann – The Grey Tide and the Green
Julian Wagstaff - John Paul Jones
Karl Jenkins - Adiemus IV: The Eternal Knot
Julian Lloyd Webber - Celebration
Russell Watson - The Voice
Strictly Sinatra, directed by Peter Capaldi, starring Ian Hart
Film scores and incidental music
John Barry - Enigma
Patrick Doyle
Bridget Jones's Diary
Gosford Park
Stephen Warbeck
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Charlotte Gray
The 2001 BRIT Awards winners were:
Best soundtrack: "American Beauty"
British album: Coldplay – "Parachutes"
British breakthrough act: a1
British dance act: Fatboy Slim
British female solo artist: Sonique
British group: Coldplay
British male solo artist: Robbie Williams
British single: Robbie Williams – "Rock DJ"
British video: Robbie Williams – "Rock DJ"
International breakthrough act: Kelis
International female: Madonna
International group: U2
International male: Eminem
Outstanding contribution: U2
Pop act: Westlife
The 2001 Mercury Music Prize was awarded to PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea.
The Record of the Year was awarded to "Don't Stop Movin'" by S Club 7.
4 January - Lawrence Leonard, cellist, conductor and composer, 77
21 February - Ronnie Hilton, singer, 75
9 April - Ken Rattenbury, jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer, 80
11 April - Sir Harry Secombe, entertainer, 79
29 April - Rita Hunter, operatic soprano, 67
6 May - Mike Hazlewood, singer, composer and songwriter, 59 (heart attack)
21 May - Tony Ashton, keyboardist, singer and composer, 55 (cancer)
12 June - Thomas Wilson, composer, 83
3 July - Delia Derbyshire, electronic musician and composer, 64
12 July – James Bernard, film composer, 75
22 July - Emmanuel Fisher, conductor and composer, 79
16 November - Rosemary Brown, composer, pianist and spiritualist, 85
28 November - Norman Lumsden, opera singer and actor, 95
29 November - George Harrison, singer, musician, music and film producer, 58
16 December – Stuart Adamson, guitarist with Big Country, 43 (suicide)
