Year-end charts Best-selling singles Based on sales from 30 December 1996 to 28 December 1997. Notes: Best-selling albums Based on sales from 30 December 1996 to 28 December 1997. Notes: Best-selling compilation albums Based on sales from 30 December 1996 to 28 December 1997. Classical music Thomas Adès – Asyla Geoffrey Burgon – City Adventures Peter Maxwell Davies – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Alun Hoddinott – Spectrum 2: Lizard Graham Waterhouse – Celtic Voices and Hale Bopp Opera Mark-Anthony Turnage – Twice Through the Heart Musical films Cabaret Neiges Noires Births 23 January – Shaheen Jafargholi, actor and singer 18 February – Ramz, rapper and singer 16 February – Charlie Green, singer 7 April – Laura van der Heijden, cellist 7 October – Lauren Platt, singer and 2014 X Factor semi-finalist 24 October – Raye, R&B singer-songwriter Deaths 22 January Ivor Kirchin, bandleader, 92 Billy Mackenzie, singer-songwriter (Associates), 39 (suicide) Wally Whyton, singer-songwriter and broadcaster (The Vipers Skiffle Group), 67 10 February – Brian Connolly, vocalist (Sweet), 51 (liver failure) 18 February – Eric Fenby, music teacher, composer, and amanuensis of Frederick Delius, 90 7 March – Alfred Nieman, pianist and composer, 82 4 June – Ronnie Lane, member of The Small Faces, 51 (multiple sclerosis, pneumonia) 7 June – Paul Reade, composer, 54 10 August – Conlon Nancarrow, composer, 84 8 September – Derek Taylor, press agent for The Beatles, 65 10 October – George Malcolm, pianist, organist, conductor and composer, 80 6 November – Epic Soundtracks, singer-songwriter and drummer, 38 (cause unknown) 17 November – Wilfred Josephs, composer, 70 21 November – Robert Simpson, composer, 76 Music awards Brit Awards The 1997 Brit Awards winners were: Best British producer: John Leckie Best soundtrack: "Trainspotting" British album: Manic Street Preachers – "Everything Must Go" British breakthrough act: Kula Shaker British dance act: The Prodigy British female solo artist: Gabrielle British Group: Manic Street Preachers British male solo artist: George Michael British single: Spice Girls – "Wannabe" British Video: Spice Girls – "Say You'll Be There" International breakthrough act: Robert Miles International female: Sheryl Crow International group: The Fugees International male: Beck Outstanding contribution: Bee Gees Mercury Music Prize The 1997 Mercury Music Prize was awarded to Roni Size/Reprazent – New Forms. See also 1997 in British radio 1997 in British television 1997 in the United Kingdom List of British films of 1997 References External links BBC Radio 1's