1981 in British music
This is a summary of 1981 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year. Year-end charts. The tables below include sales between 1 January and 31 December 1981: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue of "Music Week" dated 26 December 1981 and played on Radio 1 on 3 January 1982 only include sales figures up until 12 December 1981. Best-selling singles. At the end of 1981, the official year-end charts provided by the UK's chart provider, the British Market Research Bureau, stated that the best -selling single of the year was "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell. However, in March 2021, the Official Charts Company announced that new research had shown that "Don't You Want Me" by the Human League, previously thought to be the year's 21st-biggest seller, was in fact the biggest-selling single of 1981 with over one million sales, and the year-end charts were adjusted accordingly. Best-selling albums. Notes: