A Look Back at the 2008 Pop Music Charts

2008 was an interesting year for pop music. Let’s take a look back at some of the most popular songs and see what made them so special.

Introduction

2008 was a big year for pop music. Britney Spears made a comeback, Katy Perry had her first number one hit, and the Jonas Brothers became household names. Let’s take a look back at the pop music charts from 2008 and see which songs were the biggest hits of the year.

The 2008 Pop Music Charts

The 2008 pop music charts were filled with catchy songs and talented artists. The top songs of the year were “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis, “No One” by Alicia Keys, and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” by Beyonce. These artists dominated the charts and cemented their place in pop music history. Let’s take a look back at the 2008 pop music charts.

The Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart that ranks the best-performing songs in the United States. Published by Billboard magazine, the data is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan based on each song’s weekly physical and digital sales, as well as airplay and streaming. In 2008, a total of 33 songs reached the top spot on the Hot 100.

Here are the songs that topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2008:

“Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis
“No One” by Alicia Keys
“Apologize” by Timbaland featuring OneRepublic
“Hot n Cold” by Katy Perry
“So What” by P!nk
“I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry
“Love Story” by Taylor Swift
“Viva la Vida” by Coldplay
“Disturbia” by Rihanna
“Just Dance” by Lady Gaga featuring Colby O’Donis

The UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling singles of the week in the United Kingdom. Before 2004, the chart was only based on the sales of physical singles. This list shows singles that peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart during 2008, as well as singles which peaked in 2007 and 2009 but were on the top 10 in 2008. The entry date is when independents (not affiliated with a major label) and smaller labels began to have an impact on perceptions of what was popular; for example, Lily Allen’s “Smile” started its run at number one after being released independently and only entered once major labels started releasing it physically.

1. “Bleeding Love” – Leona Lewis
2. “Viva la Vida” – Coldplay
3. “Nancy Mulligan” – Ed Sheeran
4. “Chasing Pavements” – Adele
5. “I Kissed a Girl” – Katy Perry
6. “Closer” – Ne-Yo
7. “Sex on Fire” – Kings of Leon
8. “No One” – Alicia Keys
9. “Apologize” – Timbaland featuring OneRepublic
10. “Leave Right Now” – Will Young

The Canadian Hot 100

The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine. The Hot 100 is the country’s premier song chart, measuring airplay and sales data from more than 1,200 radio stations and digital music retailers across the country.

In 2008, the Canadian Hot 100 saw a total of nineteen different songs hit the number-one spot, including Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend”, Timbaland’s “Apologize”, Nelly Furtado’s “Say It Right”, and Lily Allen’s “Smile”. Below is a list of all the songs that topped the Canadian Hot 100 in 2008.

“Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne
“Apologize” by Timbaland featuring OneRepublic
“Say It Right” by Nelly Furtado
“Smile” by Lily Allen
“Crank That (Soulja Boy)” by Soulja Boy Tellem
“Feels Like Tonight” by Daughtry
“(You Want To) Make A Memory” by Bon Jovi
“No One” by Alicia Keys
“Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” by T-Pain featuring Yung Joc
“Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood
“Never Again” by Kelly Clarkson
“Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” by Kelly Clarkson

Conclusion

As we look back at the 2008 pop music charts, we see a year that was marked by a number of firsts. For the first time, we saw a song by a rap artist (Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop”) top the Billboard Hot 100. We also saw the first ever tie for the top spot on the Hot 100, as both Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” and T.I.’s “Live Your Life” spent three weeks in the top position.

It was also a big year for female artists, as Beyonce, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Pink, and Leona Lewis all had songs that reached the top 10 of the Hot 100. In fact, eight of the year’s top 10 songs were by female artists.

So what does all this mean for the state of pop music in 2008? Well, it seems that 2008 was a year that belonged to female artists and rap music. We’ll see if 2009 can top it!