1991 in British music

1991 in music in the United Kingdom saw 17 songs at number 1. The first number 1 of the year came from heavy metal band Iron Maiden, scoring their first and only number one "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter" which stayed at the top for two weeks. The next number one was Enigma, with "Sadeness Part 1", which brought commercial success to the new age, chill out genre. Romanian-German producer Michael Cretu mixed repeated trance-like dance beats with gregorian chants and whispered, erotic vocals provided by his wife, Sandra. Enigma's debut concept album MCMXC ad also went straight to the top of the UK Album Chart in January.

In the album charts Simply Red entered with Stars which would prove to be the second best-selling album of the 90s and the best of 1991 and 1992. Although none of its singles reached no.1, title track "Stars" did make the top ten.

February saw cartoon character Bart Simpson reach No. 1 with "Do the Bartman", from the album The Simpsons Sing the Blues which reached #6. The show had premiered on UK screens on the satellite channel Sky One in 1990, though it did not premiere on terrestrial TV until 1996, on BBC One. The family became the first cartoon characters to hit No. 1 since The Archies did so in 1969, with "Sugar Sugar", and the follow-up ("Deep, Deep Trouble") also reached the top ten, peaking at No. 7 in April.

In March, The Clash received their first number 1 with "Should I Stay or Should I Go", after the song was used in a commercial for Levi's. A month later, Cher scored her first UK solo No. 1 with "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", taken from the film Mermaids.

Bryan Adams also reached No. 1 for the first time in July with "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", from the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Breaking the record held since 1955, it stayed there for sixteen consecutive weeks, a record that remains to this day. It also became the biggest selling single of the year, selling over a million copies.

The Christmas number one single this year was Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", re-issued after the death of Freddie Mercury in November, coupled with "These Are the Days of Our Lives". As "Bohemian Rhapsody" had previously hit the top in 1975 (also becoming the Christmas number one) it became the first song ever to reach number 1 in two separate releases.

The classical music scene saw the death of Joy Finzi, who had founded the Finzi Trust in 1969 to commemorate her husband Gerald. Harrison Birtwistle's opera, Gawain, with a libretto by David Harsent, received its premiere at the Royal Opera House in May. Symphony Hall, Birmingham, with a big emphasis on acoustic flexibility, opened in April, with the official opening by the Queen in June.