1988 in music
Who ruled 1988? George Michael was Artist of the Year on the Billboard Hot 100 and Kylie Minogue on the UK Singles Chart. Every #1 song of 1988, the biggest songs and the top artists.
Billboard Hot 100
| # | Artist | Era Power | Crowns | Top-five weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Michael | 134 | 9 | 18 |
| 2 | INXS | 113 | 1 | 12 |
| 3 | Michael Jackson | 112 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 | Def Leppard | 105 | 1 | 9 |
| 5 | Whitney Houston | 98 | 3 | 9 |
| 6 | Taylor Dayne | 96 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Rick Astley | 93 | 3 | 9 |
| 8 | Debbie Gibson | 87 | 1 | 7 |
| 9 | Steve Winwood | 78 | 4 | 6 |
| 10 | Terence Trent D'Arby | 77 | 1 | 7 |
| # | Song | Artist | Peak | Weeks | Record Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Look Away | Chicago | #1 | 24 | 42.0 |
| 2 | Straight Up | Paula Abdul | #1 | 25 | 40.2 |
| 3 | My Prerogative | Bobby Brown | #1 | 24 | 39.9 |
| 4 | Hands To Heaven | Breathe | #2 | 29 | 39.6 |
| 5 | Wild, Wild West | The Escape Club | #1 | 27 | 39.4 |
| 6 | Every Rose Has Its Thorn | Poison | #1 | 21 | 39.1 |
| 7 | Waiting For A Star To Fall | Boy Meets Girl | #5 | 25 | 38.9 |
| 8 | I'll Always Love You | Taylor Dayne | #3 | 30 | 38.6 |
| 9 | Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley | Will To Power | #1 | 24 | 38.6 |
| 10 | Wishing Well | Terence Trent D'Arby | #1 | 25 | 38.5 |
UK Singles Chart
| # | Artist | Era Power | Crowns | Top-five weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kylie Minogue | 114 | 8 | 21 |
| 2 | Bros | 99 | 4 | 17 |
| 3 | Tiffany | 75 | 3 | 10 |
| 4 | Belinda Carlisle | 66 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | Pet Shop Boys | 66 | 4 | 7 |
| 6 | Phil Collins | 65 | 2 | 9 |
| 7 | Michael Jackson | 63 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Rick Astley | 63 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | Erasure | 61 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 | Salt-N-Pepa | 54 | 0 | 7 |
| # | Song | Artist | Peak | Weeks | Record Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Driving Home for Christmas | Chris Rea | #10 | 90 | 88.7 |
| 2 | Everywhere | Fleetwood Mac | #4 | 167 | 60.7 |
| 3 | Fast Car | Tracy Chapman | #4 | 51 | 49.0 |
| 4 | I Should Be So Lucky | Kylie Minogue | #1 | 17 | 37.7 |
| 5 | Especially for You | Kylie & Jason | #1 | 14 | 36.6 |
| 6 | The Only Way Is Up | Yazz And The Plastic Population | #1 | 15 | 36.4 |
| 7 | Teardrops | Womack and Womack | #3 | 18 | 35.5 |
| 8 | I Think We're Alone Now | Tiffany | #1 | 18 | 34.9 |
| 9 | Crackers International (Ep) | Erasure | #2 | 15 | 33.7 |
| 10 | Push It/Tramp | Salt-N-Pepa | #2 | 19 | 33.2 |
Artist of the Year and the rankings are the ChartReign Power model: the artist with the most chart power over the year, not the most #1s. Crowns are weeks crowned Artist of the Week. How it works