1982 in British music
This is a summary of 1982 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Events
- 20 January – Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off a bat thrown at him during a performance, mistaking it for a toy.
- 26 April – Rod Stewart is mugged in Los Angeles, California. Stewart loses his $50,000 Porsche to the mugger, but was not hurt.
- 15 May – "A Little Peace" becomes the 500th UK No. 1 single.
- 26 May – The Rolling Stones open their European tour in Aberdeen, Scotland.
- 28 August – Eric Burdon is arrested after a show at the Rockpalast in Cologne.
- 22 September – The Who begin their only formally announced "farewell" tour in Washington, D.C.
- 5 November – First broadcast of The Tube on Channel 4.
Charts
Number-one singles
"The Model"/"Computer Love" was the first single by a German artist to top the chart since its establishment 29 years earlier. By the end of 1982, there had been two further number ones by German artists, "Seven Tears" and "A Little Peace".Number-one albums
Year-end charts
The tables below include sales between 1 January and 31 December 1982: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue of Music Week dated 26 December 1982 and played on Radio 1 on 2 January 1983 only include sales figures up until 11 December 1982.Best-selling singles
| Title | Artist | Peak position | |
| 1 | "Come On Eileen" | Dexys Midnight Runners & the Emerald Express | 1 |
| 2 | "Fame" | 1 | |
| 3 | "Eye of the Tiger" | Survivor | 1 |
| 4 | "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" | Tight Fit | 1 |
| 5 | "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" | Culture Club | 1 |
| 6 | "Pass the Dutchie" | Musical Youth | 1 |
| 7 | "I Don't Wanna Dance" | 1 | |
| 8 | "Seven Tears" | Goombay Dance Band | 1 |
| 9 | "Ebony and Ivory" | and Stevie Wonder | 1 |
| 10 | "Town Called Malice"/"Precious" | 1 | |
| 11 | "Golden Brown" | 2 | |
| 12 | "Mad World" | Tears for Fears | 3 |
| 13 | "Mickey" | 2 | |
| 14 | "Love Plus One" | Haircut One Hundred | 3 |
| 15 | "The Model"/"Computer Love" | Kraftwerk | 1 |
| 16 | "Oh Julie" | 1 | |
| 17 | "Goody Two Shoes" | 1 | |
| 18 | "Heartbreaker" | 2 | |
| 19 | "Only You" | Yazoo | 2 |
| 20 | "Don't Go" | Yazoo | 3 |
| 21 | "Walking on Sunshine" | Rockers Revenge featuring Donnie Calvin | 4 |
| 22 | "Zoom" | Fat Larry's Band | 2 |
| 23 | "Save Your Love" | Renée and Renato | 1 |
| 24 | "I Won't Let You Down" | PhD | 3 |
| 25 | "Just an Illusion" | Imagination | 2 |
| 26 | "Starmaker" | 3 | |
| 27 | "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" | Chicago | 4 |
| 28 | "Abracadabra" | Steve Miller Band | 2 |
| 29 | "The Look of Love" | ABC | 4 |
| 30 | "Centerfold" | 3 | |
| 31 | "House of Fun" | Madness | 1 |
| 32 | "The Land of Make Believe" | Bucks Fizz | 1 |
| 33 | "Maid of Orleans " | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | 4 |
| 34 | "Young Guns " | Wham! | 3 |
| 35 | "Ain't No Pleasing You" | Chas & Dave | 2 |
| 36 | "Save a Prayer" | Duran Duran | 2 |
| 37 | "T'ain't What You Do " | Fun Boy Three with Bananarama | 4 |
| 38 | "A Little Peace" | Nicole | 1 |
| 39 | "Hungry Like the Wolf" | Duran Duran | 5 |
| 40 | "My Camera Never Lies" | Bucks Fizz | 1 |
| 41 | "It Started with a Kiss" | Hot Chocolate | 5 |
| 42 | "Fantasy Island" | Tight Fit | 5 |
| 43 | "Dead Ringer for Love" | Meat Loaf | 5 |
| 44 | "Inside Out" | Odyssey | 3 |
| 45 | "Torch" | Soft Cell | 2 |
| 46 | "This Time "/"We'll Fly the Flag" | England World Cup Squad | 2 |
| 47 | "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" | Soft Cell | 3 |
| 48 | "I've Never Been to Me" | Charlene | 1 |
| 49 | "Mirror Man" | 2 | |
| 50 | "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" | Pigbag | 3 |
Best-selling albums
| Title | Artist | Peak position | |
| 1 | Love Songs | 1 | |
| 2 | The Kids from "Fame" | 1 | |
| 3 | Complete Madness | Madness | 1 |
| 4 | The Lexicon of Love | ABC | 1 |
| 5 | Rio | Duran Duran | 2 |
| 6 | Love Over Gold | Dire Straits | 1 |
| 7 | Pelican West | Haircut One Hundred | 2 |
| 8 | Dare | 1 | |
| 9 | Avalon | Roxy Music | 1 |
| 10 | The John Lennon Collection | 1 | |
| 11 | Too Rye Ay | Dexys Midnight Runners | 2 |
| 12 | Pearls | 2 | |
| 13 | All for a Song | 3 | |
| 14 | Upstairs at Eric's | Yazoo | 2 |
| 15 | Tropical Gangsters | Kid Creole and the Coconuts | 3 |
| 16 | The Gift | 1 | |
| 17 | Bat Out of Hell | Meat Loaf | 12 |
| 18 | Tug of War | 1 | |
| 19 | The Number of the Beast | Iron Maiden | 1 |
| 20 | Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret | Soft Cell | 5 |
| 21 | Friends | Shalamar | 11 |
| 22 | Chariots of Fire | Vangelis | 6 |
| 23 | Architecture & Morality | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | 3 |
| 24 | Love and Dancing | League Unlimited Orchestra | 3 |
| 25 | ' | ABBA | 1 |
| 26 | Barry Live in Britain | 1 | |
| 27 | Greatest Hits | Queen | 2 |
| 28 | Fame | Original Soundtrack | 1 |
| 29 | 4 | Foreigner | 5 |
| 30 | The Kids from "Fame" Again | 2 | |
| 31 | Night Birds | Shakatak | 4 |
| 32 | Love Songs | 5 | |
| 33 | Tin Drum | Japan | 13 |
| 34 | Action Trax | Various Artists | 2 |
| 35 | Asia | Asia | 11 |
| 36 | Heartbreaker | 3 | |
| 37 | Still Life | 4 | |
| 38 | Reflections | Various Artists | 4 |
| 39 | Give Me Your Heart Tonight | 3 | |
| 40 | Dead Ringer | Meat Loaf | 7 |
| 41 | Kissing to Be Clever | Culture Club | 5 |
| 42 | Three Sides Live | Genesis | 2 |
| 43 | The Concert in Central Park | Simon & Garfunkel | 6 |
| 44 | Mirage | Fleetwood Mac | 5 |
| 45 | Begin the Beguine | 5 | |
| 46 | 1+9+8+2 | Status Quo | 1 |
| 47 | From the Makers of... | Status Quo | 4 |
| 48 | Chart Beat/Chart Heat | Various Artists | 2 |
| 49 | Pearls II | 5 | |
| 50 | In the Heat of the Night | Imagination | 7 |
Notes:'''
Classical music
New works
- Peter Maxwell Davies – Image, Reflection, Shadow
- Alun Hoddinott – Quodlibet on Welsh Nursery Tunes for orchestra
- Michael Tippett – The Mask of Time
Opera
- Gavin Bryars – Medea
Film and Incidental music
- Michael Nyman – The Draughtsman's Contract directed by Peter Greenaway.
Musical theatre
- Anthony Burgess – Blooms of Dublin
- Geoffrey Burgon – Orpheus
Music awards
BRIT Awards
The 1982 BRIT Awards winners were:- Best British producer: Martin Rushent
- Best classical recording: Gustav Mahler's – "Symphony No. 10"
- Best selling album: Adam and the Ants – "Kings of the Wild Frontier"
- British breakthrough act: The Human League
- British female solo artist: Randy Crawford
- British group: The Police
- British male solo artist: Cliff Richard
- Outstanding contribution: John Lennon
Births
- 11 January – Ashley Taylor Dawson, singer
- 16 January – Preston, singer
- 10 March – Jonathan Ansell, tenor
- 26 April – Jon Lee, singer
- 7 June – Amy Nuttall, actress and opera singer
- 20 June – Example, singer-songwriter, musician and rapper
- 30 June
- *Andy Knowles, musician
- *Ashley Walters, rapper and actor
- 17 July – Natasha Hamilton, singer
- 22 September – Billie Piper, singer and actress
- 4 October – YolanDa Brown, jazz saxophonist
- 14 December – Anthony Way, chorister
Deaths
- 12 January – Hervey Alan, operatic bass and voice teacher
- 4 February – Alex Harvey, rock singer and entertainer
- 1 May – William Primrose, violist
- 12 May – Humphrey Searle, composer
- 24 May – Richard Hall, composer
- 16 June – James Honeyman-Scott, guitarist of The Pretenders
- 25 June – Alex Welsh, jazz musician
- 29 September – A. L. Lloyd, folk song collector
- 6 October – Philip Green, film and TV composer and conductor
- 16 October – Rory McEwen, artist and musician
- 29 October – William Lloyd Webber, organist and composer
- 5 December – Caryl Brahms, musician and writer
- date unknown
- *Pipe Major Donald MacLeod, bagpipe musician and composer
- *Bob Roberts, folk singer