composers Famous Composers from the United Kingdom

Reference

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1

Elton John age 71 Sir Elton Hercules John CBE is an English singer, songwriter, composer, pianist, record producer, and occasional actor. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriter partner since ...more

2

David Bowie age 71 David Bowie is an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, arranger, and actor. He is also a painter and collector of fine art. Bowie has been a major figure in the ...more

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Paul McCartney age 75 Sir James Paul McCartney MBE is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. With John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, he gained worldwide fame as a member of the ...more

4

Boy George age 56 Boy George is a British singer-songwriter, who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, ...more

5

Sting age 66 Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE, known on stage as Sting, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist, actor and philanthropist. He was principal songwriter, lead ...more

6

Dudley Moore Died at 67 (1935-2002) Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as one of the four writer-performers in the comedy revue Beyond the ...more

7

Tim Curry age 71 Timothy James "Tim" Curry is an English actor, singer, and composer, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film, and television productions, often portraying villainous ...more

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Ringo Starr age 77 Richard Starkey Jr., MBE, better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English drummer, singer, songwriter, producer, and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles. On ...more

9

Sid Vicious Died at 22 (1957-1979) Sid Vicious, born John Simon Ritchie, later named John Beverley, was an English bass guitarist, drummer and vocalist, most famous as a member of the influential punk group the Sex Pistols, and ...more

10

Gavin Rossdale age 52 Gavin McGregor Rossdale is an English musician and actor, known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush. Following Bush's separation in 2002, which lasted for eight years, ...more

11

Christopher Guest age 67 Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest, better known as Christopher Guest, is an English-American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian who holds dual British ...more

12

Robin Gibb Died at 63 (1949-2012) Robin Hugh Gibb, CBE was a British singer, songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of the Bee Gees. He gained worldwide fame with his brothers Barry and Maurice Gibb. Besides, ...more

13

Eric Clapton age 73 Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English musician, singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist and separately as ...more

14

Eric Idle age 75 Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer and comedic composer. Idle is a member of the English surreal comedy group Monty Python, a member of the Rutles on Saturday Night ...more

15

George Sanders Died at 66 (1906-1972) George Henry Sanders was an English film and television actor, singer-songwriter, music composer, and author. His career as an actor spanned more than 40 years. His upper-class English accent ...more

16

Petula Clark age 85 Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades. Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World ...more

17

Pete Townshend age 72 Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group the ...more

18

Richard Curtis age 61 Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is an English screenwriter, producer and film director, who was born in New Zealand to Australian parents. One of Britain's most successful comedy ...more

19

Cat Stevens age 69 Yusuf Islam, commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, humanitarian, and education philanthropist. His 1967 debut album reached ...more

20

Anthony Burgess Died at 76 (1917-1993) John Anthony Burgess Wilson, FRSL – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English writer and composer. From relatively modest beginnings in a Catholic family in Manchester, ...more

21

M.I.A. age 42 Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, better known by her stage name M.I.A., is an English recording artist of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage. She is also a songwriter, painter and director. ...more

22

Matthew Bellamy age 39 Matthew James Bellamy is an English musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. He is best known as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, pianist, and principal songwriter of ...more

23

Ralph Vaughan Williams Died at 86 (1872-1958) Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song; this collecting ...more

24

Vinnie Jones age 53 Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones is a British actor and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder from 1984 to 1999 notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United ...more

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Tarsame Singh Saini age 50 Tarsame Singh Saini aka Taz born 23 May 1967, Coventry, West Midlands, United Kingdom, is a British singer, composer and actor of Indian descent. He is the lead singer of the pop band Stereo ...more

26

Andrew Lloyd Webber age 70 Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He ...more

27

PJ Harvey age 48 Polly Jean Harvey, MBE, known as PJ Harvey, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, writer, poet, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also ...more

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George Martin age 92 Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, audio engineer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle" in reference to ...more

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John Barry Died at 78 (1933-2011) John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English composer and conductor of film music. He composed the soundtracks for 11 of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1987, and also arranged and performed ...more

30

Gustav Holst Died at 60 (1874-1934) Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite The Planets, he composed a large number of other works across a range of genres, although ...more

31

Jon Lord Died at 71 (1941-2012) John Douglas "Jon" Lord was an English composer, pianist, and Hammond organ player known for his pioneering work in fusing rock with classical or baroque forms, especially with Deep ...more

32

Malcolm Arnold Died at 85 (1921-2006) Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer. He gained a reputation for composing light music, film scores, works for theatre, ballets and symphonies.

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Brian Jones Died at 27 (1942-1969) Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was the founder and original bandleader of the Rolling Stones. Jones was a multi-instrumentalist, with his main instruments being the guitar, harmonica and keyboards. ...more

34

Van Morrison age 72 George Ivan "Van" Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are described as mystical and transcendental, while some of his ...more

35

Arthur Darvill age 35 Thomas Arthur Darvill, known professionally as Arthur Darvill, is an English actor and musician. He is perhaps most recognised as Rory Williams, one of the Eleventh Doctor's companions in the ...more

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Nellie McKay age 35 Nell Marie "Nellie" McKay is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and former stand-up comedian, noted for her critically acclaimed albums, and for her Broadway debut in The ...more

37

Oliver Wallace Died at 76 (1887-1963) Oliver George Wallace was an English-born American composer and conductor. He was especially known for his film music compositions, which were written for many animation, documentary, and ...more

38

Thomas Adès age 47 Thomas Adès is a British composer, pianist and conductor.

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Alan Wilder age 58 Alan Charles Wilder is a British musician, formerly of Depeche Mode. His current musical project is called Recoil, started as a side project to Depeche Mode. When he left the latter in 1995, it ...more

40

Paul Englishby age 48 Paul Englishby is a Film and Theatre Composer, Orchestrator, Conductor and Pianist. He is versatile across many genres, from big orchestral works to 1930s jazz-influenced scores. Englishby has ...more

41

John Cale age 76 John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band the Velvet Underground. Though best known for ...more

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Michael Nyman age 74 Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for numerous film scores, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane ...more

43

Baron age 34 Piers Baron is a UK-born, Los Angeles-based award-winning Film Composer, Record Producer and Musician. he is best known for his Drum and Bass DJ/Producer work as "Baron" and his ...more

44

Karl Jenkins age 74 Karl William Pamp Jenkins, CBE is a Welsh musician and composer known for "Adiemus", The Armed Man and his Requiem.

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Humphrey Lyttelton Died at 87 (1921-2008) Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton, also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. As a performer, ...more

46

Leslie Bricusse age 87 Leslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright, most prominently working in musicals and also film theme songs.

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Philip Nixon Phillip Nixon is a British composer and graphic designer for video games. His most notable role was as a member of Flair Software during the 1990s, as an artist, musician and game designer. More ...more

48

Dee Palmer age 80 Dee Palmer is an English composer, arranger, and keyboardist best known for having been a member of the progressive rock group Jethro Tull from 1977 to 1980.

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Anoushka Shankar age 36 Anoushka Shankar is a Bengali/Tamil sitar player and composer. She is the daughter of Ravi Shankar and the half-sister of Norah Jones.

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Richard Ayres age 53 Richard Ayres is a British composer and music teacher. Richard Ayres followed Morton Feldman’s classes at the Darmstadt and Dartington summer schools. He studied composition, electronic music, ...more