WIL MARLOW looks back at the musical year that was 2006 with it's rock revival and quite a few comebacks.

JANUARY

The musical year began with raised eyebrows as little known indie star Preston from The Ordinary Boys wandered into the Big Brother house.

He quickly became the main story when he fell for pretend pop star Chantelle Houghton, despite having a girlfriend on the outside. They married eight months later. The Arctic Monkeys phenomenon continued as their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not became the fastestselling debut ever. And The Kooks began their domination of the 2006 album charts.

FEBRUARY

The unlikely coupling of Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle and Desperate Housewives star Jesse Metcalfe was revealed. New star on the block Corinne Bailey Rae released her self-titled debut album. Smash Hits magazine, which finally folded after a 28 year run.

MARCH

March saw the most surprising of all the success stories from the second series of The X Factor. The show's jester Chico scored a No 1 hit with It's Chico Time. The Sugababes released their first single with new member Amelle Berrabah, a re-recorded version of Red Dress. It went to No 4, proving that the loss of Mutya Buena wasn't to affect the band.

Former megastar Prince returned with his critically-lauded album 3121 and gained his first No 1 album in America since 1989's Batman.

APRIL

Gnarls Barkley became the first act to get a No 1 through download sales alone with Crazy. The song went on to sit at the top of the charts for nine weeks. Pink returned and Mike Skinner got plenty of tongues wagging with the lyrics to his new single When You Wasn't Famous, which recounted his real-life romance with an unnamed drug-taking mainstream pop star. And it was goodbye to ITV's flagship music show CD:UK.

MAY

While Pete Doherty continued throughout 2006 making more headlines than music, his former Libertines bandmate Carl Barat quietly launched his new band Dirty Pretty Things with No 5 hit Bang Bang You're Dead.

London-based singer-songwriter Sandi Thom, who scored a No 1 with I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker and caused controversy about how she'd achieved fame. The messiest divorce in rock history began with the announcement that Paul McCartney was splitting from Heather Mills-McCartney.

JUNE

The Top Ten was full of football songs honouring the World Cup, but none of them were any match for Shakira, whose Hips Don't Lie began a lengthy chart reign. Nelly Furtado made an impressive comeback with her Timbaland-produced third album Loose and single Maneater. Rock music dominated with the likes of Primal Scream and Lostprophets releasing new albums, Foo Fighters playing huge outdoor gigs, while The Automatic's Monster began dominating radio playlists as the shouty hit of the summer.

Country singer Keith Urban wed Hollywood star Nicole Kidman.

JULY

Girls Aloud's Cheryl Tweedy married England footballer Ashley Cole, affirming her WAG status alongside Posh Spice. The charts were full of male singer-songwriters such as James Morrison, Paolo Nutini and Ray Lamontagne. Thom Yorke and James Dean Bradfield took breaks from Radiohead and Manic Street Preachers respectively to release solo albums.

Lily Allen's success relegating actor Keith Allen to Lily Allen's dad' status.

BBC's flagship music show Top Of The Pops departed after 42 years on screen.

AUGUST

Christina Aguilera went back to the 30s and 40s for inspiration for her latest album, Kasabian came back bolshier and better, while Bob Dylan got his best reviews for years.The Feeling dominated radio playlists with their single Never Be Lonely, eventually becoming the most played band on the radio this year. OK Go, meanwhile, garnered the most played music video on YouTube with the clip for Here It Goes Again, featuring the band doing a dance routine on treadmills. Boy George collected litter in New York as part of his community service, Mel B got together with Eddie Murphy, and Posh got a new haircut.

SEPTEMBER

The Scissor Sisters, Jamelia, Justin Timberlake and Beyonce returned as well as the debut solo effort from Black Eyed Peas' Fergie. Robbie Williams confused the world with Rudebox, a concoction of electro, pop, and hip hop.

The similarly-titled album would follow in October to similarly baffled reviews.

He arrived in the UK on his Close Encounters tour, playing to thousands upon thousands of fans. George Michael received similar adulation on his first tour in 15 years, despite run-ins with the police. Arctic Monkeys picked up the Mercury Music Prize.

OCTOBER

Madonna's musical success this year was overshadowed by the furore surrounding her adoption of baby David Banda from Malawi.

New albums from Jet and The Killers deominated, while Razorlight lived up to the bluster by scoring their first No 1 with America, and My Chemical Romance took emo to the top of the charts. McFly scored yet another No 1 with Star Girl, while Amy Winehouse managed to put out some more credible pop on her second album Back To Black. David Hasselhoff still managed to spark Hoffmania with No 3 hit Jump In My Car.

NOVEMBER

More comebacks All Saints album Studio 1 met with little interest despite being quite good, and The Beatles, whose album Love met with lots of interest because it was very good. Oasis grumpily threw out a best of, Stop The Clocks. Dance continued its resurrection with huge crossover hits from Bodyrox and Fedde le Grand, who went to No 1 with Put Your Hands Up For Detroit. Britney Spears made the gossip columns by getting divorced.

Again. Kylie did much better, playing her triumphant Homecoming shows in Australia.

DECEMBER

Take That ending an amazing comeback year by topping all five music charts in one week, Leona Lewis won The X Factor and Matt Willis was crowned King Of The Jungle on I'm A Celebrity. Prince William and Prince Harry announced a Concert For Diana to commemorate the tenth anniversary of their mother's death in July.