This is a summary of 2003 in music in the United Kingdom.
Events
6 January – The annual Park Lane Group Young Artists festival of contemporary music opens with two concerts in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre, London. The first concert, given by the Gallimaufry Ensemble, included the premiere of a new wind quintet by 23-year-old Benjamin Wallfisch; the second concert featured solo bass clarinettist Sarah Watts, who premiered Marc Yeats' Vox for solo bass clarinet and Michael Smetanin's Ladder of Escape for bass clarinet with prerecorded ensemble of six bass and two contrabass clarinets.[1]
13 January – The Who guitarist Pete Townshend is arrested on suspicion of possessing and making indecent images of children and of incitement to distribute them. Townshend claims in a statement that he did not download any such images and accessed Web sites advertising child pornography because he was researching material for his autobiography, which will include passages about his abusive childhood.[3]
21 April – S Club announce live on stage at London's Docklands Arena that they are to split after five years together. Their final single, "Say Goodbye", enters the chart at #2 a month after the announcement. Rachel Stevens from the group launched her successful solo career shortly afterwards with the song "Sweet Dreams My LA Ex".
2 May – Mansun confirm that they have split up, after months of speculation and after the departure of Stove King. The remaining members had until that point worked on an unfinished 4th studio album, which was eventually released a year later as "Kleptomania" due to fan demand.
7 May – Pete Townshend is cleared of the charges stemming from his arrest in January on suspicion of possessing child pornography, but is formally cautioned and placed on the sex offenders register for five years.[5]
The Eurovision Song Contest is held in Riga, Latvia. "Cry Baby", performed by Jemini, receives no points in the voting, the worst-ever result for the UK until after 2021. Some blame the United Kingdom's involvement in the Iraq War, whilst others attribute the result to a bad performance.[6]
After a 40-year gap, former Beatle Paul McCartney performs in Russia, on the Red Square in Moscow.
7 September – Pete Doherty receives a 6-month prison sentence for stealing items from bandmate Carl Barat's flat. The sentence is reduced, and Doherty is released a month later.
8 December – Ozzy Osbourne is rushed into emergency surgery after having a serious accident riding an all-terrain vehicle on the grounds of his English estate. Osbourne broke his collarbone, eight ribs and a vertebra in his neck.[7]
18 December – John Rutter tells US television programme 60 Minutes that he is not a particularly religious man yet still deeply spiritual and inspired by the spirituality of sacred verses and prayers.[9]
^Ivan Hewett, "Momentum: The Music of Mark-Anthony Turnage: Barbican, London EC2, 18-19 Jan", The Times (18 January 2003): 10; Richard Morrison, "Blood on the Floor", The Times (20 January 2003): 17.
