Editing 1977 in British music

{{YYYY music|1977}}

{{Year nav topic5|1977|British music}}

*[[1 January]] – [[The Clash]] headline the gala opening of the London music club, [[The Roxy (Covent Garden)|the Roxy]].

*[[6 January]] – Record company [[EMI]] drops the controversial [[punk rock]] group the [[Sex Pistols]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/jan/07/sex-pistols-emi-end-contract-1977|title=From the archive, 7 January 1977 : EMI guns down Sex Pistols|work=The Guardian|date=January 7, 2011}}</ref>

*[[26 January]] – [[Fleetwood Mac]]'s original lead guitarist, [[Peter Green (musician)|Peter Green]], is committed to a mental hospital in England after firing a pistol at a delivery boy bringing him a royalties check.

*[[4 February]] – [[Fleetwood Mac]]'s ''[[Rumours (album)|Rumours]]'' is released; it goes on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time.

*[[10 March]] – [[A&M Records]] signs the Sex Pistols in a ceremony in front of [[Buckingham Palace]]. The contract is terminated on 16 March as a result of the band vandalising property and verbally abusing employees during a visit to the record company's office.

*[[12 May]] – [[Virgin Records]] announces that they have signed the Sex Pistols.

*[[12 June]] – Guitarist [[Michael Schenker]] vanishes after a [[UFO (band)|UFO]] concert at [[the Roundhouse]] in London. He is replaced for several months by [[Paul Chapman (musician)|Paul Chapman]] until he appears again to rejoin the group in October.

*[[6 July]] – During a [[Pink Floyd]] concert before a crowd of 80,000 at the [[Olympic Stadium (Montreal)|Olympic Stadium]] in [[Montreal]], bassist [[Roger Waters]] becomes increasingly irritated by a fan and exerts his frustration by spitting on him. The incident becomes the catalyst for the group's next album, ''[[The Wall]]''.

*[[22 July]] – The first night of [[the Proms]] is broadcast by [[BBC Radio 3]] for the first time in [[quadraphonic sound]].

*[[26 July]] – [[Led Zeppelin]] cancel the last seven dates of their American tour after lead singer [[Robert Plant]] learns that his six-year-old son Karac has died of a respiratory virus. The show two days before in Oakland proves to be the band's last ever in the United States.

*[[17 August]] – The final appearance of conductor Sir [[Adrian Boult]], aged 88, at the [[BBC Proms|Proms]], conducting ''[[Job: A Masque for Dancing|Job]]'' by Vaughan Williams, a work dedicated to Boult.

*[[16 September]] – [[T. Rex (band)|T. Rex]] frontman [[Marc Bolan]] is killed in an automobile accident.

*[[27 October]] – The [[Sex Pistols]] release ''[[Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols]]'', which would be their only studio album.

| style="text-align:left" | 8 January|| "[[When a Child Is Born]]"||[[Johnny Mathis]]

| style="text-align:left" | 20 August||"[[Angelo (Brotherhood of Man song)|Angelo]]"|| [[Brotherhood of Man]]

| style="text-align:left" | 27 August||"[[Float On (The Floaters song)|Float On]]"||[[The Floaters]]

| "[[Angelo (Brotherhood of Man song)|Angelo]]"

| "[[Dancin' Party]]"

| "[[Oxygène (Part IV)]]"

The list of the top fifty best-selling albums of 1977 were published in the third edition of the ''BPI Year Book'' in 1978. However, in 2007 the [[Official Charts Company]] published album chart histories for each year from 1956 to 1977, researched by historian Sharon Mawer, and included an updated list of the top ten best-selling albums for each year based on the new research. The updated top ten for 1977 is shown in the table below.<ref>{{cite web |first=Sharon |last=Mawer |title=Album Chart History: 1977 |url=http://www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1977.php |publisher=[[Official Charts Company|Official UK Charts Company]] |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217020432/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1977.php |archivedate=17 December 2007}}</ref>

| ''[[A Star Is Born (1976 soundtrack)|A Star Is Born]]''

*[[Malcolm Arnold]] – Variations on a Theme of Ruth Gipps for Orchestra, Op. 122<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/malcolm-arnold-mn0000054500/compositions|title=Malcolm Arnold|website=AllMusic|access-date=17 June 2018}}</ref>

*[[Peter Maxwell Davies]] – ''A Mirror of Whitening Light'', for chamber orchestra

*[[Alun Hoddinott]] – ''Sinfonia Fidei''

*[[Michael Tippett]] – [[Symphony No. 4 (Tippett)|Symphony No. 4]]

*[[William Alwyn]] – ''Miss Julie''

==Film and incidental music==

*[[John Addison]] – ''[[A Bridge Too Far (film)|A Bridge Too Far]]'' directed by [[Richard Attenborough]]

*[[Richard Rodney Bennett]] – ''[[Equus (film)|Equus]]'', starring [[Richard Burton]]

*[[4 January]] – [[Tim Wheeler]] ([[Ash (band)|Ash]])

*[[25 January]] – [[Christian Ingebrigtsen]], Norwegian-born singer ([[A1 (group)|A1]])

*[[23 February]] – Chris Gentry, guitarist ([[Menswear (band)|Menswear]])

*[[2 March]] – [[Chris Martin]], singer and songwriter ([[Coldplay]])

*[[3 March]] – [[Ronan Keating]], Irish singer ([[Boyzone]])

*[[10 March]]

**[[Colin Murray]], DJ

**[[Rita Simons]], singer ([[Girls@Play]]) and actress

*[[18 March]] – Nick Grant, singer ([[Ultimate Kaos]])

*[[21 March]] – Lee Missen, singer ([[Code Red (British group)|Code Red]])

*[[26 April]] – [[Celena Cherry]], singer ([[Honeyz]])

*[[4 May]] – Carrie Askew, singer ([[Shampoo (duo)|Shampoo]])

*[[31 May]] – [[Joel Ross (DJ)|Joel Ross]], DJ

*[[17 August]] – [[Claire Richards]], singer ([[Steps (group)|Steps]])

*[[4 September]] – [[Lucie Silvas]], singer

*[[11 September]] – [[Jon Buckland]] ([[Coldplay]])

*[[27 October]] – [[Mariama Goodman]], singer ([[Solid HarmoniE]], [[Honeyz]])

*[[1 November]] – [[Alistair Griffin]], singer/songwriter

*[[4 November]] – [[Kavana (singer)|Kavana]], singer

*[[10 February]] – [[Grace Williams]], composer, 70

*[[26 March]] – [[Madeleine Dring]], composer and actress, 53 (cerebral haemorrhage)

*[[21 April]] – [[Issy Bonn]], English actor, comedian, and singer, 74

*[[22 April]] – [[Ryan Davies]], comedian, singer and songwriter, 40 (asthma)

*[[16 September]] – [[Marc Bolan]], 29, singer-songwriter (car crash)

*[[11 October]] – [[Joseph Wheeler (musicologist)|Joseph Wheeler]], musicologist, 49/50

*[[14 November]] – [[Richard Addinsell]], ''Warsaw Concerto'' composer, 73

*[[24 December]] – [[Raymond Sunderland]], organist and composer, 56

*[[25 December]] – [[Charlie Chaplin]], actor and composer, 88

*Best British non-musical record: [[Richard Burton]] and cast – ''[[Under Milk Wood]]''

*Best classical soloist album: [[Jacqueline du Pré]] – ''[[Cello Concerto (Elgar)|Elgar, Cello Concerto]]''

*Best international album: [[Simon & Garfunkel]] – ''[[Bridge over Troubled Water]]''

*Best orchestral album: [[Benjamin Britten]] – ''[[War Requiem]]''

*British single: [[Queen (band)|Queen]] – "[[Bohemian Rhapsody]]" and [[Procol Harum]] – "[[A Whiter Shade of Pale]]" (joint winners)

*Outstanding Contribution: L.G. Wood and [[the Beatles]] (joint winners)

[[Category:1977 in British music| ]]

[[Category:British music by year]]