2012: A year in pop music moments

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Page last updated at 01:18 GMT, Friday, 28 December 2012

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JANUARY: Following in the footsteps of previous winners like Ellie Goulding and Jessie J, Michael Kiwanuka topped the BBC Sound Of 2012 list tipping the next big musical acts. Beyonce and Jay-Z also welcomed their first child together - Blue Ivy Carter.
FEBRUARY: Whitney Houston died on the eve of the Grammy Awards in L.A., Madonna performed the half-time show at Super Bowl XLVI, Adele's winners speech was cut short at the Brits and Gotye scored a UK number one with his track Somebody I Used To Know.
MARCH: In a year where British artists stormed the US charts, One Direction started the ball rolling by becoming the first British group to go straight to the top of the US Billboard chart with their debut album Up All Night.
APRIL: Justin Bieber revealed he'd written a song about a woman who wrongly claimed he was father of her child. Meanwhile, his label mate and fellow Canadian, Carly Rae Jepsen kept him off the UK number one slot with her single Call Me Maybe.
MAY: Beastie Boys rapper Adam Yauch aka MCA passed away after a battle with cancer at the age of 47. Ed Sheeran picked up two songwriting prizes at the Ivor Novello awards. The Uk's entry, Engelbert Humperdinck finishes second to last, at the 57th Eurovision Song Contest.
JUNE: Leanne Mitchell was crowned the winner of the first UK series of The Voice. Jay-Z and Rihanna headline Radio 1's Hackney Weekend. The Stones Roses played homecoming gigs in Manchester, Gary Barlow organised the Queen's Jubilee concert and Swedish House Mafia announce they were to split up. A stage collapsed before a Radiohead show in Toronto killing one person.
JULY: The London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, created by director Danny Boyle, featured musical performances from Arctic Monkeys, Two Door Cinema Club and Sir Paul McCartney. Emeli Sandé opened the show.
AUGUST: British music takes a leading role in the closing ceremony of London 2012. Stars who took to the stage included The Spice Girls, Jessie J, Tinie Tempah, Muse and Take That.
SEPTEMBER: The UK catches Gangnam Style-fever as south Korean star Psy's track goes to number one in the official chart. Green Day's front man Billie Joe Armstrong seeks help for "substance abuse" days after an on stage outburst at a festival in Las Vegas.
OCTOBER: Girls Aloud came back together to celebrate their tenth anniversary. Mumford & Sons sold 600,000 copies of their second album in the first week in the US. Shortly after, Taylor Swift's Red sold 1.2m in it's first seven days on sale. Radio 1 held it's annual Teen Awards at London's Wembley Arena.
NOVEMBER: Rihanna equalled Madonna's chart record for the female artist with the most consecutive number one albums in the UK. The Rolling Stones celebrated 50 years together with a pair of gigs at London's O2 and Cambridge-based alternative pop band Alt-J picked up the Mercury Prize for their album An Awesome Wave.
DECEMBER: James Arthur, 24, was crowned the winner of this year's X Factor. His debut single Impossible was the fastest selling track of the year despite millions fewer people tuning into the series finale.