2000 in British music

This is a summary of 2000 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

2000 saw many British acts dominate the charts. The year saw how competitive the industry had become over the 1990s with numerous new releases out each week. 2000 holds the record for the most number one singles in one particular calendar year, with 43 singles holding the number one spot, if you include the Westlife number one single spanning over from Christmas in 1999. The year was particularly successful for Moby, Eminem, Travis and The Beatles.

ummary

The Christmas number one single from 1999; a double A-side by Westlife ("I Have a Dream"/"Seasons in the Sun" was able to retain its position at the top for the first two weeks of the year, totalling its run to 4 weeks at the top. This was a milestone for the group on their way to becoming the most successful boyband in Britain ever.

American pop princesses

The year proved to be another successful one for Britney Spears, who scored a 2nd UK chart topper early on in the year with a 4th release from her debut album, "...Baby One More Time". "Born To Make You Happy" was a special release for the European market and was received quite well, as it was a ballad, but more emotional and mature than the more innocent "Sometimes". Meanwhile, her 2nd album, "Oops!… I Did It Again" proved to be a successful follow up, but faired slightly less well than her debut. The title track topped the UK charts for a week, giving her 3 UK #1's in total by the end of the year. The album itself sold 18 million copies worldwide; slightly less than her debut but was the most successful chartwise in the UK peaking at #2. The two follow up singles from the album both hit the Top 10; "Lucky" (#5) & "Stronger" (#7). Christina Aguilera follows up her chart topper from 1999 with three more singles from her eponymous debut album. Whilst "I Turn to You" barely sneaked into the Top 20, "Come on Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" hit the Top 10 and "What a Girl Wants" made the Top 3. The latter two both hit the top of the Hot 100 in the US and the former hit the Top 5 showing that both the girls were winning this race in which the media had put them, in separate areas across the globe.

Other American pop princesses who scored continuous success in the UK during the year were Mariah Carey who made #10 with "Thank God I Found You" which became her 15th and final US #1 single until We Belong Together in 2005, Anastacia who made her debut with "I'm Outta Love", peaking at #6 and made a stronger mark with a successful #2 debut album, "Not That Kind", Whitney Houston who topped the album charts with her double CD Greatest Hits collection celebrating 15 years of success including 4 UK #1's, Madonna who hit the top twice, the first with a cover of Don McLean's classic #2 hit from 1975, "American Pie" from the movie "The Next Best Thing" and the second being title track from her new, chart topping album, "Music", giving her 10 UK chart toppers in total and LeAnn Rimes who hit the top of the UK charts with "Can't Fight The Moonlight", featured in the movie "Coyote Ugly". Jessica Simpson also made #7 with "I Wanna Love You Forever and #15 with "I Think I'm In Love". Mandy Moore made #6 with Candy, which is still her biggest UK hit to date.

Less successful US solo females during 2000 in the UK were Tina Turner who gained a minimal Top 30 hit, which marked the last time she charted for 4 years and Aaliyah who made #5 in the UK with her new single "Try Again", which actually topped the chart in the US, becoming the first single to reach #1 on the Hot 100 based solely on airplay points.

Rock bands

2000 was an incredibly successful return to the charts for U2, who were back with a new album, "All That You Can't Leave Behind", which met with great critical acclaim, the likes of which they hadn't seen since "Achtung Baby". The first single, "Beautiful Day" became their 4th UK chart topper and their album quickly topped the chart in the following weeks. Folk-rock band The Corrs follow up their massive success from the previous year with a new album release, "In Blue" which topped the UK albums chart for 4 weeks and also provided the group with their first and only UK singles chart topper, "Breathless". Despite being successful in its own right, "In Blue" failed to match the unbeatable records set by "Talk on Corners" the previous year.

Coldplay are met with great critical acclaim worldwide with the release of their debut album, "Parachutes". Their debut single "Shiver" made #35 which was a poor start, however their success quickly grew with the 2 follow up singles both hitting the Top 10 ("Yellow" #4 and "Trouble" #10) and their album hitting the top of the chart. Amazingly, they were very well received in America and have been one of the few new millennium UK acts to do so. Another British act to do extremely well in the States in 2000 was Radiohead. The Oxford quintet's fourth album, "Kid A", was met with mixed opinions from fans and critics alike. This was in part due to Radiohead's radical musical departure from the rock driven "OK Computer", with "Kid A" dominated by electronica akin to that of Aphex Twin and Autechre. The fact that "Kid A" reached #1 both sides of the Atlantic was also surprising because no singles were released to promote the album. Bon Jovi also topped the UK charts with their new release, "Crush", from which the first single "It's My Life" hit #3. Toploader made their debut to the UK charts with the unforgettable "Dancing in the Moonlight", which hits #19. Their success grew during the year, with the follow up single hitting the Top 10 and their debut album peaking at #4. A remix of their debut single saw them inside the Top 10 at the end of the year again.

Blink 182 kickstarted their career after a disappointing second release in 1999, their follow up single, "All the Small Things" hit #2 and their debut album received moderate success peaking at #15 which then spanned another, this time minimal Top 20 hit. Oasis score their 5th #1 hit and their 2nd consecutive #1 after their world tour with "Go Let It Out" which was taken from their new album, "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants", which topped the UK charts 2 months after the single. Welsh band, the Manic Street Preachers scored their 2nd UK #1 single, with a limited availability release "The Masses Against the Classes" after a successful performance at Cardiff on millennium night. R.E.M. hit the Top 3 for the very first time on the UK charts with a release from the soundtrack to the movie "Man on the Moon". "The Great Beyond" continued their success in UK and Europe, but however did not help their decline in the US. The Red Hot Chili Peppers released "Californication" the previous year, their first album since 1995, however its success is larger during 2000, reaching a peak of #5, selling highly and the title track giving them a Top 20 single. It set them on course to becoming one of the most successful rock bands in the new millennium worldwide.

Boybands: continued success

Boybands continued to be successful in the UK during 2000, just like the previous year. A1 increase their success from the previous year with their first release hitting #6 and scoring 2 chart toppers - "Take On Me", a cover of the 1985 #2 hit from Norwegian band A-ha and "Same Old Brand New You" - by the end of the year. *NSYNC's success grew over the year; after reaching a disappointing #34 in January, they were able to redeem themselves with 3 further hits, 2 of which made the Top 10. "Bye Bye Bye" made #3 and became one of their best remembered songs. The Backstreet Boys scored 3 Top 10 hits including "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" and "Shape of My Heart", but were only moderately successful with their new album, which paled in comparison to their previous release "Millennium". Five also were successful, scoring their 2nd chart topper "We Will Rock You", a cover of an old Queen song that was never released as a single, but was still incredibly popular, sang with the remaining members of Queen.

However, none of these boybands were able to surpass the success levels Westlife were able to reach. Probably their most successful year since their career started in 1999 to date; they scored a further 3 chart topping singles. "Fool Again" made them the first act to have their first 5 singles enter at #1 breaking the record set by B*Witched the previous year, "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)", a collaboration with US singer Mariah Carey and a re-working of the 1984 #2 hit from Phil Collins made them the first act to have their first 6 singles enter at #1 and finally "My Love" made them the first act to have their first 7 singles make #1, have their first 7 singles enter at #1 and also equal the Beatles's record of 7 consecutive #1 singles. Their run was broken when their Christmas release "What Makes A Man" only made #2. Their 2nd album, "Coast To Coast" became their first #1 on the UK albums chart.

Girl groups: changing times

Girl groups were slightly more successful than the previous year, but still failed to have the impact they made in the late 90s when groups like the Spice Girls were in their peak of fame. Still, the All Saints made a return to the music scene with their 2nd album "Saints & Sinners", which not only topped the UK charts, but also produced 2 #1 singles: "Pure Shores" which was taken from the soundtrack to "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio and "Black Coffee". One last release, which made #7 in 2001 became their last release before they split and pursued solo careers, but they left successfully with a total of 5 UK chart toppers.

Both B*Witched and the Spice Girls released their last singles in the UK this year. B*Witched's career had been heading in a downward spiral ever since the release of their second album "Awake And Breathe" in 1999. Their last single release was "Jump Down" which made #16, and as a result, they cancelled the plans for a 3rd album and eventually split 2 years later officially. The Spice Girls, charted in Christmas 1998 at number one with Goodbye,and they score one final chart topper with "Holler/Let Love Lead The Way" in 2000, equalling ABBA's total of 9. The former track was a turn in a more urban direction that any of their previous singles, whereas the latter was a classic Spice Girls love ballad. Now much into decline, this marked their final time to chart, however their 3rd album was much more successful in the UK than predicted, peaking at #2 in the albums chart. They left, however, with 9 UK #1's out of 10 released singles; a very impressive chart feat. They also wont the coveted 'Outstanding Contribution To Music' award at the Brits for their massive record sales and impact on popular culture.

One of the most successful girl groups of the year were Destiny's Child whose success grew massively over the year. "Say My Name" & "Jumpin' Jumpin'" quickly became Top 5 hits for the group, however they scored their first UK #1 with "Independent Woman" - was at #1 in the US for 11 weeks - taken from the soundtrack to the new hit film "Charlie's Angels". Their success was to continue to grow over the next year.

Other ladies in pop

British female singers achieved respectable success, but were somewhat eclipsed by American females during the year. In January, Gabrielle topped both the singles chart and the albums chart. Her new release "Rise" topped the charts (it failed to make the Top 20 upon initial release in 1999) and the title track became her first #1 single since her debut shot to the top 7 years ago. She followed up her 2 week #1 single with an additional Top 10 hit and a further Top 20 hit. She was able to continue successfully into the new millennium.

Other British females to achieve success were Swindon lass Billie Piper who scored a 3rd UK #1 with new release "Day & Night", following her two chart toppers from 1998, British DJ and singer, Sonique who scored a chart topper with a re-issue of her #24 hit from 1998, "It Feels So Good" after massive sales in the US and followed it up with a #2 hit, "Sky" and Irish singer, Samantha Mumba who kickstarted her career with her debut single "Gotta Tell You" peaking at #2, her follow up hitting the Top 5 and her debut album settling in the Top 20.

Geri Halliwell and Melanie C were the only two Spice Girls to receive notable success throughout the year. The former scored a 3rd consecutive chart topper, "Bag It Up" which was the 4th single to be taken from her debut album, "Schizophonic". The latter hit the top twice, initially with "Never Be The Same Again", a duet with TLC member, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and "I Turn to You", which was a respectable hit in the dance charts in the US and even managed to chart on the Hot 100. "Northern Star" had also proved itself as a very successful debut album, selling 3 million copies worldwide and achieving triple platinum status in the UK alone. Victoria Beckham, however, achieved a #2 single being featured on Truesteppers's new release "Out Of Your Mind", which was kept off the top spot by Spiller's single, "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)", which receive considerable media attention placing Victoria in rivalry with the female vocalist featured on Spiller's track, Sophie Ellis Bextor.

Australia superstar, Kylie Minogue came back to the music industry with "Spinning Around", a bouncy pop song co-written by Paula Abdul. It became her first UK #1 in 10 years and set her on course for an even more successful career during the upcoming years. Her new album "Light Years" hit #2 as well as her follow up single "On a Night Like This". Canadian country star Shania Twain hits #5 with a final release from her multi-platinum "Come on Over" in the early part of the year and due to its massive success her 1995 album, "The Woman in Me" was re-issued in the UK and hit #9.

Dance acts

Dance acts received massive success throughout the year, and represented 37% of the total singles sales of the year, making it the most popular genre of the year. Sash! scored a 5th #2 hit, making them the act with the most #2 hits in the UK without ever having made #1. The most successful track was probably "Toca's Miracle" by Fragma. Fusing their own track "Toca Me", with Coco's "I Need A Miracle", they created one of the few #1 singles in the year to spend more than one week at the summit.

Many acts who were very successful in 1999 continued successfully through 2000, but their success dropped slightly. ATB who topped the chart the previous year followed up with a Top 5 hit, however they had hit the Top 3 in between this release and their #1, "9 p.m. (Till I Come)". The Vengaboys only made #9 with their second album release and after scoring 1 Top 5, 1 Top 10 and 1 Top 20 hit they chart once more in February of the following year before leaving the music industry. Eiffel 65 hit #3 with "Move Your Body", freeing them from one-hit wonder status. Their album "Europop" hits #12 and becomes a moderate success worldwide. "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" finally leaves the charts very early in the year, completing its millionth sale in the early parts of the year also.

Notable for their most successful single in their career to date, Daft Punk hit #2 with "One More Time", a release from their second album "Discovery". The song was a club smash and is still remembered today as one of the best club songs.

There were some number one songs from Black Legend, Chicane, Fragma, Madison Avenue, Modjo, Oxide & Neutrino, Sonique, Spiller and a lot of other successful singles from the likes of Artful Dodger, DJ Luck & MC Neat, Darude, Bomfunk MC's, Zombie Nation, Hi-Gate, York, Paul Van Dyk, Moloko, Sweet Female Attitude, Bob Sinclar, Des Mitchell, Alice Deejay, Rank 1, Watergate, Southside Spinners, B15 Project, Aurora, Lonyo, Architechs, Public Domain, Joey Negro, Storm, Delerium, Element Four, Fatboy Slim, Moby, and others.

'Quality' of number ones

Chart critics have complainedwho? that after the 1990s, a very successful decade in music for sales and chart records, the early 2000s decimated the music industry due to illegal downloads with the birth of Napster, especially the singles chart. Due to this, singles spent less time at the summit with the turn of the new millennium and sales also began to considerably drop. 2000 was an excellent example of this, being the year that still holds the record for most #1 singles in a calendar year (43) and also contains the longest run of consecutive 1 week #1 singles. Between the week ending 24 June 2000 and the week ending 16 September 2000, each week saw a new single hit #1 in the UK, a run of 13 #1's. The run began with Black Legend hitting the top with a re-working of an old Barry White classic, "You See the Trouble with Me". It was brought to an end by French house music act Modjo who hit #1 with their debut single "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)". As for sales they were to steadily decline over the upcoming years, and 2000 was a slight turning point showing signs of weakening, with only 1 million seller, which compared to the 90s was a poor turnout. Weekly sales for #1's tended to remain around the 110,000 bracket, with the exception of a few extremes. An example of a very average week would have been when Madison Avenue's "Don't Call Me Baby" hit #1 and sold 93,000 copies.

Pop acts

S Club 7 continued successfully from the previous year, topping the albums chart for the first time with their second release "7". On the singles chart, they scored two Top 3 hits and a chart topper with their Christmas release "Never Had a Dream Come True". Steps are also successful; they scored a 2nd chart topper "Stomp" along with 2 Top 5 hits and their new album, "Buzz" hit #4.

Female duo Daphne & Celeste made their chart debut with the hilarious "Ooh Stick You" which peaked at #8. They followed up their debut with 2 Top 20 (UGLY and School's Out) hits and then never charted again. Aqua made a return to the Top 10 of the UK charts, however their new album was much less successful and their follow up was only a minimal Top 30 hit.

Pop acts were ultimately making a transition from the 90s when very basic pop ruled the charts. The start of a new decade saw a stronger liking towards new genres of music such as hip hop and R'N'B. However, this particular year still saw plenty of pop acts rule the chart, and it would be the strongest year for the genre until today since the turn of the millennium.

A Year Of Hip-Hop

Rap proved to be a successful genre in 2000; something that would continue well into the decade. Dr. Dre made the Top 10 of the UK charts with "Still D.R.E" for the first time since his chart debut in 1994. By far the most successful rapper of the year was Eminem. He accumulated his first two of many chart toppers with singles "The Real Slim Shady" and "Stan". The latter - telling the story of an obsessive fan who ends up committing suicide - featured female singer Dido and brought around so much interest in her that her album "No Angel" was re-issued and subsequently topped the chart. "The Marshall Mathers LP", Eminem's second album from which these two singles plus another Top 10 hit for him were taken from, also topped the charts. The album also went on to being one of the best selling of the decade as well as one or raps greatest LPs.

uccessful solo males

Solo males from a range of musical genres were successful throughout the year 2000 in the UK. Ian Brown started off 2000 just as he did 1998 when he made his debut; his first hit of the year peaked at #5. The only difference was by 2000 he had established himself as a successful solo artist. He scored a minimal Top 30 hit and did not chart otherwise during the year. David Gray kickstarted a very successful music career hitting #5 with his debut single "Babylon" and his debut album "White Ladder" finally reaching the top of the charts after a 64 week climb. The album is a great success selling over 2.6 million copies and placing 18th in the top selling albums of all-time in the UK.

Two males started their careers early in the year, but by the end their success had mostly dissolved. Stephen Gately, ex-Boyzone member made #3 with his debut solo release, which was a good start, however his debut album peaked at #9 and his follow up single only made #11, putting him in a quick downward spiral. Richard Blackwood suffered a similar defeat with his debut reaching the same position, however his follow up releases were not as successful and his album achieved only minimal sales.

Showing the cultural diversity of successful male artists in the UK, Mexican rock and roll guitarist, Carlos Santana scored a #3 hit with "Smooth" - 12 week #1 in the US - and a #6 hit with his follow up-single "Maria Maria" - 10 week #1 in the US - which were both taken from his most successful album "Supernatural" which topped the charts in the UK as well as the US. His "Ultimate Collection" was also released in 2000, reaching #12.

After fronting Artful Dodger's #2 Christmas hit of 1999, Craig David started a very successful solo career. His first 2 singles "7 Days" & "Fill Me In" both topped the charts as well as his debut album, "Born to Do It". He did not continue this streak throughout the year though as his Christmas release peaked at #3. Tom Jones continues to have success with his chart-topping album "Reload" when "Sexbomb" and "Mama Told Me Not To Come" - the latter being a duet with the Stereophonics - both became Top 5 hits for the legendary star.

Probably the most successful solo male artists of the year were Robbie Williams and Ronan Keating. The former scored a 3rd UK chart topper with his new single "Rock DJ", however the very popular collaboration with Kylie Minogue "Kids" stalled at #2 despite spending 15 weeks inside the UK Top 40. His album "Sing When You're Winning" topped the charts for 3 weeks. The latter's second single "Life Is A Rollercoaster" became another chart topper for the Irish star and his eponymous debut album also hit the top of the charts. His Christmas release was unable to match the success he achieved in the middle of the year, peaking at a mere #6.

Christmas number one

The Christmas number one single had many artists in competition to be the first Christmas #1 of the new millennium. Robbie Williams, Ronan Keating, Madonna, Craig David & Westlife all released singles desiring to be the new Christmas #1. However, they were all beaten by a special novelty release that captured the hearts of many fans across the festive season. "Can We Fix It" by Bob the Builder became 2000's Christmas #1 single. He had become very popular through his successful television series and this was the start of a very short lived, but moderately successful singing career. He destroyed the run of consecutive #1 singles of Westlife, ending it at 7, keeping "What Makes A Man" at #2.

Perhaps worthy of greater note was the Christmas number one album of 2000. Reigning supreme at the top of the albums chart for 9 consecutive weeks with their 15th #1 album were The Beatles with their latest greatest hits release "1". The album comprised all their UK & US #1 singles, totalling to 27 different singles. It became the fastest selling album of all time across the world and also in the UK, and also debuted at #1 in various countries, including the UK, which was amazing considering they hadn't played together for over 30 years. It eventually went on to sell 2.1 million copies in Britain, becoming one of the top selling albums.

Charts

ingles

Top 10 albums

Music awards

BRIT Awards

The 2000 BRIT Awards winners were:

*Best selling live act: Steps
*Best soundtrack: "Notting Hill"
*British album: Travis – "The Man Who"
*British breakthrough act: S Club 7
*British dance act: The Chemical Brothers
*British female solo artist: Beth Orton
*British group: Travis
*British male solo artist: Tom Jones
*British single: Robbie Williams – "She's the One"
*British video: Robbie Williams – "She's the One"
*International breakthrough act: Macy Gray
*International female: Macy Gray
*International group: TLC
*International male: Beck
*Outstanding contribution: Spice Girls
*Pop act: Five

Mercury Music Prize

The 2000 Mercury Music Prize was awarded to Badly Drawn Boy - "The Hour of Bewilderbeast.

Record of the Year

The Record of the Year was awarded to "My Love" by Westlife

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/ BBC Radio 1's Chart Show with JK and Joel]
* [http://www.theofficialcharts.com/ The Official United Kingdom Charts Company]