Other British artists who did well in the charts included The Chemical Brothers, James Blunt, McFly, Sugababes, Arctic Monkeys, Damon Albarn's Gorillaz, Oasis and Robbie Williams.
Kate Bush returned to the music world after a 12-year absence with the single "King of the Mountain", which became her biggest UK hit in 20 years by reaching No.
It was knocked off by a second Comic Relief single – a reissue of Tony Christie's "Is This the Way to Amarillo" with the associated video that featured comedian Peter Kay alongside various guest stars.
The world of jazz and avant garde music lost one of its pioneers at the end of this year, with the death of free improvising guitarist Derek Bailey on Christmas Day.
For the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, Alun Hoddinott produced a Celebration Fanfare,[2] and another Welsh composer, Karl Jenkins, released his Requiem, which quickly topped the classical charts.