2008 in British music

This is a summary of the year 2008 in British music. So far this year fifteen singles have been at Number one, with six being new releases. Because of the increase in downloads over physical sales, singles now tend to enter the chart at a lower position, before climbing to the top a few weeks later: a trend which was previously unseen in the 90's/2000's. The average sale for a number one is 45,334 compared to 10 years previous in 1998 where the average was at 140,000.

ummary

January

The 6 January chart saw "The X Factor" winner Leon Jackson at number one in the Singles Chart for a third week with "When You Believe". Radiohead achieved their fifth number-one album at the start of the month with "In Rainbows", an album released three months earlier on the group's website on a "pay what you want" policy. Nickelback climbed into the top ten with "Rockstar" and Soulja Boy's "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" climbed to number two.

Amy Macdonald climbed to number one on 13 January with her debut album "This Is the Life", six months after the album's release. Swedish DJ Basshunter went to number one with his UK debut single "Now You're Gone". Britney Spears climbed to number two with "Piece of Me", while Lupe Fiasco debuted in the top ten on downloads alone with "Superstar".

London band Scouting for Girls climbed to number one on 20 January with their eponymous debut album "Scouting for Girls", on the strength of the success of their singles "She's So Lovely" and "Elvis Ain't Dead". "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol overtook "Amazing Grace" by Judy Collins to become the second most charted single in the history of the UK charts with 68 weeks inside the top 75. BRIT School graduate Adele entered the top ten at number two on downloads alone with "Chasing Pavements", while Kanye West's latest single "Homecoming", featuring Chris Martin, peaked at number nine, and "Be Mine!", the fourth single from Robyn's eponymous top 20 album "Robyn", climbed 13 places to its peak at number ten.

On 27 January, Basshunter stayed at number one for a third week, holding off the heavily-favoured Adele, who failed to climb from her download-only position of number two with a physical release of "Chasing Pavements". Nickelback's "Rockstar" reached a new peak of number three fourteen weeks after its initial debut, and Kelly Rowland climbed to number seven on downloads alone making a jump of 24 places with "Work". On the Albums Chart, Lupe Fiasco's album "Lupe Fiasco's The Cool" debuted at number seven, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's "Raising Sand" took the runner-up spot and a new peak behind Scouting for Girls.

February

On 3 February, Adele's debut album "19" went in at number one. Nickelback's "All The Right Reasons" climbed seven places to number three, and Welsh metalcore band Bullet for My Valentine were new at number five with "Scream Aim Fire". In the singles, Basshunter held on to the top spot for a fourth week, while Kelly Rowland climbed to number four. There were new entries for electropop band Hot Chip at number six with "Ready for the Floor" and indie group One Night Only with "Just For Tonight" at number nine. British singer/songwriter David Jordan made his top ten debut with "Sun Goes Down" at number ten.

Hawaiian singer/songwriter Jack Johnson's album "Sleep Through The Static" was new at the top on 10 February. There were new entries for Hot Chip at number four with "Made in the Dark" and Mary J. Blige's "Growing Pains" at number six. Basshunter made it five weeks as the number one single, seeing off tough competition from Nickelback (number two) and Adele (number three), while David Jordan climbed to number five. Wet Wet Wet, who went to number one for fifteen weeks in 1994 with "Love Is All Around", scored their first top ten single in eleven years with "Weightless" at number ten, and soft rock band The Feeling also returned to the chart at number twelve with "I Thought It Was Over", the first single from their second album "Join With Us".

Soul diva Duffy, who came second in the BBC's "Sound of 2008" poll, entered the chart at number one with her retro-pop style second single "Mercy" on 17 February, pushing Basshunter down to number three. Dance act H "Two" O debuted in the chart with "What's It Gonna Be" at number seven, while Goldfrapp's "A&E" climbed into the top ten. US pop rock band OneRepublic, who enjoyed success in 2007 with their debut single "Apologize", were new at number eleven with follow-up single "Stop & Stare".

The 2008 BRIT Awards took place on 20 February at Earls Court in London. Winners included Foo Fighters, Kate Nash, Mika and Take That (see Brit Awards).

On 24 February, Duffy stayed at number one for a second week, while Nickelback were replaced by H "Two" O at number two. Kylie Minogue's "Wow" climbed into the top ten, as did OneRepublic's "Stop & Stare". After a successful performance at the BRIT Awards ceremony, Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse's "Valerie" climbed back into the top twenty, over thirty weeks after its original release. Ronson and Winehouse also saw an increase in sales of their albums, with "Version" and "Back to Black" both re-entering the top five.

The Shockwaves NME Awards 2008 took place on 28 February at The O₂ in London. Winners included The Enemy, The Killers, Klaxons, Manic Street Preachers and Radiohead.

March

On 1 March, "The X Factor" finalist Andy Abraham's song "Even If" won the BBC's "" show, and therefore was chosen to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 final in Belgrade, Serbia on 24 May.

Three months after its initial release, the deluxe edition of Amy Winehouse's Grammy Award-winning sophomore album "Back to Black" climbed to number one on 2 March, holding off Goldfrapp's fourth studio album "Seventh Tree" which entered the chart at number two. Duffy held on to the singles top spot for a third week, managing to keep H "Two" O, Nickelback and Kylie Minogue all from climbing up.

Leona Lewis' double A-side "Sport Relief" charity single "Better in Time/Footprints in the Sand" peaked at number two on 16 March, earning Lewis her third consecutive UK top three hit. Dance duo Utah Saints climbed into the top ten with the remixed version of their 1992 hit "Something Good", while alternative rock band Panic at the Disco entered the chart at number fourteen with "Nine In The Afternoon", the first single from their sophomore album "Pretty. Odd.". Duffy stayed on top of the albums for a second week with her debut "Rockferry".

On 23 March, London hip-hop sensation Estelle's single "American Boy", a collaboration with Kanye West, went to number one on download sales alone. Madonna returned to the chart with the Timbaland-produced "4 Minutes", featuring vocals from Justin Timberlake, at number seven. Girls Aloud scored their eighteenth UK top ten single with "Can't Speak French" which climbed to number nine, while their rivals the Sugababes missed out on the top ten with "Denial" peaking at number fifteen.

US rapper Flo Rida's "Low" was denied the top spot on 30 March, as Estelle and Kanye West held on for a second week. House musician Sam Sparro climbed into the top ten with "Black and Gold", as did Chris Brown's "With You". Duffy's album "Rockferry" stayed at number one for a fourth week, seeing off competition from Panic at the Disco, Foals and OneRepublic

April

In April, Madonna and Justin Timberlake's "4 Minutes" climbed to number one, earning Madonna her thirteenth UK number one single. Mariah Carey and Usher both returned to the top ten with "Touch My Body" and "Love in This Club" respectively. Hip-hop star will.i.am's second solo single "Heartbreaker", featuring guest vocals from Girls Aloud's Cheryl Cole, entered the top ten, along with British rapper Wiley's "Wearing My Rolex". New albums from R.E.M., The Kooks and Arctic Monkeys' frontman Alex Turner's side project The Last Shadow Puppets all topped the charts. Coldplay released their new single "Violet Hill" on their website as a free of charge download for one week, and it was subsequently downloaded two million times.

May

Number one albums in May were Madonna's "Hard Candy", Scooter's "Jumping All Over the World", Neil Diamond's "Home Before Dark", and "We Started Nothing" by The Ting Tings, who also went to number one in the Singles Chart with their second single "That's Not My Name". Other new entries to the top ten included "In My Arms" by Kylie Minogue, Duffy's third single "Warwick Avenue", Coldplay's "Violet Hill", which was released commercially on 6 May, and Rihanna's "Take a Bow", which later climbed to number one.

Andy Abraham's song "Even If" represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 final in Belgrade, Serbia on 24 May. The song received just fourteen points and came joint last, raising questions over the United Kingdom's future in the contest.

June

After it was featured in George Sampson's winning performance on "Britain's Got Talent", Mint Royale's 2005 top 20 hit "Singin' in the Rain" re-entered the Singles Chart in June at number one following strong download sales. Other new additions to the top ten included American singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles and Australian teen sensation Gabriella Cilmi, along with R&B singers Chris Brown ("Forever"), Jordin Sparks ("No Air"), and Ne-Yo, who climbed to number one with latest single "Closer" - his second UK number one single to date. June was a big month for Coldplay, as they earned their first UK number one single with "Viva la Vida" and their album of the same name also went to number one, selling over 300,000 copies in its first week of release. Albums from Usher and Paul Weller also topped the charts.

July

In July, Dizzee Rascal's project with Calvin Harris and Chrome - "Dance Wiv Me" - claimed the top spot on download sales alone; the first UK number one single for all three artists. Basshunter returned to the top five with "All I Ever Wanted", while his debut UK album "Now You're Gone – The Album" topped the Album Chart for one week. Country rocker Kid Rock made his top ten debut with "All Summer Long", and McFly scored their fourteenth top ten single with "One for the Radio". Other new additions to the top ten included singles by The Ting Tings ("Shut Up and Let Me Go") and Madonna ("Give It 2 Me").

The 2008 T in the Park festival took place on 11, 12, and 13 July at Balado, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Headlining acts included The Verve, Rage Against the Machine, R.E.M., and the Kaiser Chiefs.

August

On 3 August, Kid Rock's "All Summer Long" replaced Dizzee Rascal's "Dance Wiv Me" at number one. One week later, however, American singer-songwriter Katy Perry's controversial debut UK single "I Kissed a Girl" claimed the top spot, after reaching number one in over twenty other countries. Elsewhere in August, Rihanna returned to the top ten with "Disturbia", and folk rock band Noah and the Whale made their top ten debut with "5 Years Time". Other new additions to the top ten included singles by Scottish band Biffy Clyro ("Mountains") and Norwegian band Madcon ("Beggin'"). Following the success of "Mamma Mia! The Movie", ABBA's returned to number one - 16 years after it was originally released. Pop rock band The Script's debut album "Script", and The Verve's comeback LP "Forth" also topped the charts.

eptember

"I Kissed A Girl" remained at number 1 for the fifth week in a row and "Forth" from The Verve stayed at number 1 in the album chart. Pussycat Dolls came back (with 1 less member) and their new single "When I Grow Up" which charted at number 3 on downloads alone. Kings of Leon soar to the top of the UK singles chart on 14th September with "Sex On Fire". It remained at the top spot the following week. Ne-Yo's third album "Year of the Gentleman" enters at number 2 on 21st September. Dreamgirls actress and formed American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson enters at 15. On 28th September, Kings of Leon stay at number one for a third week. Their new album soars to the top of the album chart, with over 200,000 sales.

October

On 5 October Pink made it to number 1 with her new single So What. There were also new entries into the top 10 from Oasis with "The Shock of the Lightning" and Boyzone with "Love You Anyway".

Number-ones

Number-one singles

Records of 2008 (so far)

Current Top 10 downloads

* As of October 1 2008 [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/downloads.shtml BBC - Radio 1 - Chart Show - The UK Top 40 Downloads] ]

Current Top 10 albums

* As of October 5 2008 [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/albums.shtml BBC - Radio 1 - Chart Show - The UK Top 40 Albums] ]

Music awards

Brit Awards

The 2008 BRIT Awards were hosted by Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly and Jack Osbourne on February 20 2008.

*British male solo artist: Mark Ronson
*British female solo artist: Kate Nash
*British group: Arctic Monkeys
*MasterCard British album: Arctic Monkeys - "Favourite Worst Nightmare"
*British single: Take That - "Shine"
*British breakthrough act: Mika
*British live act: Take That
*International male solo artist: Kanye West
*International female solo artist: Kylie Minogue
*International group: Foo Fighters
*International album: Foo Fighters - "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace"
*Critic's Choice: Adele
*Outstanding Contribution to Music: Sir Paul McCartney

Mercury Prize

The 2008 Mercury Prize was awarded to Elbow - "The Seldom Seen Kid

Popjustice £20 Music Prize

The 2008 Popjustice £20 Music Prize was awarded to Girls Aloud - "Call The Shots"

Record of the Year

The Record of the Year will be awarded in December 2008.

ee also

* List of number-one dance hits of 2008 (UK)

References