Information about 1998 In British Music

Part of a of articles on British music

BPI • OCC

Charts Singles chart (#1s; Records) Albums chart (#1s) Download chart (#1s)

Awards BRIT Awards • Mercury Prize NME Awards

Periods Pre-1950 • 1950s & 60s 1970s • 1980s 1990s - Present

Origins England • Scotland • Wales • Caribbean

Genres Classical • Britpop • Hip-hop Opera • Rock • Jazz

Major music publications NME • Melody Maker Music Week • Record Collector Record Mirror • Record Retailer Smash Hits • Sounds

Other links • Festivals •

Timeline 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 2006 • 2007 • ()

This box:  •  • [ edit]

1990s in music in the UK
List of number one singles
Summaries and charts: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
←1989	2000?

This is a summary of 1998 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

1998 was a transitional year for music, when the hyped up sound of pure pop from the mid-1990s began to fade and popular artists began to experiment with different styles and new artists were brought onto the scene, while previous popular artists began to fade out. The usual domination of UK acts was continued like most other years during the 1990s. Four singles went on to sell over a million copies and throughout the year, 28 songs reached the summit. This year is also remembered for the debuts of B*Witched, the rise of the career of the All Saints and the end of the career for girl group phenomenon, the Spice Girls. The Corrs, The Verve and George Michael all experienced great success on the albums chart.

Summary

The first chart of the year saw the BBC Children In Need single "Perfect Day", performed by a collaboration of various stars, return to the top of the charts for a week, displacing "Too Much" by the Spice Girls.

Disappearances & Resurgences

January saw R'N'B vocalist, Usher Raymond score a #1 with his debut single "You Make Me Wanna...". Although he did not return to the top of the singles charts until 2004, he did experience success on the albums charts in between and 2004 was a massive resurgence year for him, in which he broke several notable records in the US, and solidified himself as an international star. Although Usher's resurgence was yet to come, the lead singer of The Stone Roses was to resurge this year. Ian Brown released his debut solo single "My Star" which peaked at #5. His debut album also became a success, making #4 on the charts. Oasis also scored their 4th UK chart topper in January, which was their last release for two years as they embarked on a massive world tour which brought along the expected controversy and increased publicity for the band.

Girl Groups & Boy Bands

Throughout the year, girl groups remained prevalent. All Saints who made #4 with their debut single in late 1997, clocked up 3 chart toppers across the year. The 1.25 million selling "Never Ever", popular covers of Red Hot Chili Peppers and La Belle "Under the Bridge/Lady Marmalade" and laid-back dance track "Bootie Call" were all tracks from their debut self titled album, which itself was a success, reaching #2. They did not release any new material during 1999, but returned to the charts in 2000. Irish quartet B*Witched receive great success across Europe and even mild success in the US. Comprising Irish folk with mainstream Western pop, they scored many hits. Their debut single "C'est La Vie" made them the youngest group to debut at #1 in the UK and even went Top 10 in the US. Dance-associated "Rollercoaster" and emotional ballad "To You I Belong" quickly became 2 more UK chart toppers for the girls. Cleopatra made up of three sisters from Manchester. Cleo, Zainam & Yonah had major success in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States their first 4 singles went straight into the top 5 and later that year they were signed to Madonna's U.S. label Maverick Records.

Success was made easy for The All Saints and B*Witched because of the declining career of the Spice Girls. Their third release from their second album, Spiceworld, "Stop" was a minimal hit in the US and became their first single to fail to top the UK charts, ending the run of consecutive #1's at 6. To make matters worse for them, Geri Halliwell (also known as Ginger Spice) announced her departure from the group on the 31st May after missing various concerts and an appearance on the national lottery. Their final release from their second album was able to top the charts for 2 weeks. "Viva Forever" became quite a popular single despite the circumstances of the group and was the first video without Geri, however did feature her vocals seeing as she did record the album with them. "Goodbye" became the girls 8th chart topper at the end of the year, and was seen as a tribute to Geri. It took the Christmas number one position, making the Spice Girls only the second act to achieve 3 consecutive Christmas number one singles; the first being The Beatles. Solo careers started for the two Melanies from the group in 1998 with Melanie B hitting the top of the UK charts with "I Want You Back", a duet with female rapper Missy Elliott and Melanie C hitting #3 with "When You're Gone", a duet with Canadian rocker, Bryan Adams. Whilst Melanie B's career slowly went into a downward spiral, Melanie C's was yet to grow.

Although the 1990s was full of boybands, 1998 was not the strongest year for them on the singles or albums chart. Five managed to have their debut album hit the top, but were yet to experience a #1 single. Boyzone were by far the most successful boyband of the year with 2 #1 singles "All That I Need", and "No Matter What", the latter of which sold over 1.07 million copies (it was taken from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, Whistle Down the Wind) and also saw their new album Where We Belong hit the top of the albums chart.

American Acts

Many American acts this year were very successful in the UK, yet were still slightly more successful back home. Brandy & Monica made #2 with "The Boy Is Mine", which had a 13 week run at the top in the US. This was actually a very successful year in the UK for Brandy, who had 2 #2 hits. Christmas number one in the US, "I'm Your Angel", a duet with R. Kelly and Céline Dion only made #3 here in the UK, despite both acts being quite successful in the UK otherwise. Mariah Carey hit #4 with solo release "My All", which became another chart topper for her in the US, however her duet with Whitney Houston, "When You Believe" from the soundtrack to The Prince Of Egypt was a bigger hit here than in the US, making #4 here and only making #15 on the Hot 100; it was set up to be a much bigger hit than it became. Rock band Aerosmith scored their biggest global hit throughout their career to date. Emotional ballad, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", taken from the soundtrack to Armageddon, made #4 in the UK and managed to top the US charts, entering at #1. Former Fugees member, Lauryn Hill began her solo career and hit #3 with her debut single "Doo Wap (That Thing)", which topped the charts in the US. Her album, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill became a worldwide smash and was also very successful in the UK hitting #2 on the albums chart.

Other US acts who received fame in the UK during 1998, who were not quite as popular back home were the likes of Aaron Carter and Madonna. Aaron Carter had his most successful year ever in the UK clocking up 3 Top 30 hits and landing a place in the Top 20 with his eponymous debut album. Although Madonna did experience great success in the US, she failed to top the charts, but did so in the UK, with "Frozen", becoming her 8th UK chart topper; it was only able to make #2 in the US. It had, however, been 8 years since she last topped the charts with "Vogue". Her new mostly dance-influenced album, Ray of Light also topped the charts, producing several other hits including the title track which made #2. Hip Hop trio Destiny's Child also begin their career this ear with the release of their debut single, "No, No, No", which was well received on both sides of the Atlantic, making #5 in the UK and #3 in the US. Their debut album was a relative flop in both countries, but was more successful here than in the US.

Noted for its long lasting popularity was the debut single from country/pop singer LeAnn Rimes, "How Do I Live". It spent 33 weeks in the UK Top 40, selling 714,000 copies, thus becoming the biggest selling single ever to peak at #7. It was even more popular in the US, spending 32 weeks in the US Top 10, 61 weeks in the US Top 40 and 69 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100; if the Hot 100 allowed singles to stay on if below No.50 for a limited amount of time, it is likely "How Do I Live" could have had an even longer chart stay. It is the single to have the longest stay ever on the Hot 100 and won Miss Rimes a Billboard Music Award.

British Acts

Two UK rock bands were prevalent on the albums and singles chart. The Verve hit the top of the albums chart with Urban Hymns for 7 weeks (non-consecutive). The album was largely successful and spawned 2 hit singles: the chart topping "The Drugs Don't Work" and the better remembered #2 hit, "Bittersweet Symphony", which was on the soundtrack to the film Cruel Intentions. Welsh rock band, Manic Street Preachers scored their first #1 single, "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" and their new album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours also topped the charts, despite their career starting in 1991. The album brought along a huge fanbase for the band, which continued to last as their career moved forward.

Ex-Take That member, Robbie Williams topped the albums chart twice during the year, when his debut album, Life Thru a Lens returned to the charts and managed to climb to the #1 spot. His second album, I've Been Expecting You topped the charts later on in the year and gave the star his first #1 single, "Millennium". Despite all this chart success, no single was as large selling as his #4 hit "Angels" from 1997 which went on to win the award for Best British Song of the Past 25 Years at the 2005 BRIT Awards. I've Been Expecting You, however is his biggest selling album to date, with over 2.7 million copies sold. Irish family folk band, The Corrs received massive success with their album, Talk on Corners which went on to sell over 2.7 million copies and topped the albums charts for 10 weeks (6 of them were during 1998). The album also produced high peaking singles hits for the band, including the likes of "Dreams", "So Young" & "What Can I Do?" which all hit the Top 10.

Acts From Other Countries

As for acts outside of the UK and the US, there were a few successes. Australian singer, Natalie Imbruglia followed up the success of her #2 hit "Torn" from 1997 with 3 more hits, 2 of which went top 5. Danish pop outfit, Aqua completed a hat-trick of #1's after the massive success of "Barbie Girl", as "Doctor Jones" and "Turn Back Time" both hit the top. The first was a slightly similar sounding track to their debut single, but "Turn Back Time" was a much slower track than their previous two singles. Their debut album, Aquarium was also a great success clocking up high sales and peaking at #6 on the albums chart. They followed up their 3 consecutive #1's with two further hits by the end of the year; the former hit the Top 10 and the latter made the Top 20. They did not return to the UK charts until 2000.

Covers & Reworkings

Despite not being very successful in the French World Cup themselves, the 1996 hit "Three Lions" was re-written for the World Cup as "Three Lions '98" and topped the charts for 3 weeks, becoming more successful than the original. Reworkings of songs were very popular this year with the massive success of the remix of Run DMC's 1983 hit "It's Like That", which, thanks to Jason Nevins topped the charts for 6 weeks and sold 1.12 million copies. It also kept "Stop" off the top of the charts, breaking the run of consecutive #1 singles of the Spice Girls. The song was one of the fastest selling singles of the year. A Norman Cook remix of the Cornershop single, "Brimful of Asha" saw the British duo top the charts with a track that originally failed to make the Top 40 the previous year. The song comprised music from the duo's Indian roots with Western rock beats.

Film Music - The Success Of Titanic

Film music dominated the February chart with the soundtrack to Titanic topping the albums chart for a cumulative total of 3 weeks. Composed by James Horner, the soundtrack was a massive success worldwide and the love theme from the song, "My Heart Will Go On" was also incredibly successful. Sung by Céline Dion, it sold 1.31 million copies in the UK alone and topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The film is the biggest selling worldwide in terms of box office sales.

Popular Genres

Various styles of rock bands topped the albums and singles charts in the earlier part of the year with everything from pop-rock to alternative electronic rock. This included Oasis, Garbage, Catatonia, Space, Embrace, Pulp and Massive Attack. Jamiroquai even topped the singles chart with their release "Deeper Underground"; their album Synkronized made #1 the following year. However, this did not stop resistance from pop acts such as Savage Garden who made #2 with their debut self titled album after the massive success of their #4 hit from 1997, "Truly Madly Deeply". Simply Red are able to top the albums chart with their new release Blue, however their 1991 release Stars still remains their most successful in their career by far. Extending the success of pop acts on the albums chart during 1998 was singer Jane McDonald whos debut self titled album topped the charts for 3 weeks. She released one single from the album, "Cruise Into Christmas", a special release for the festive season which made #10 on the singles chart.

Breaking Records

Age records were broken in 1998 at both ends of the spectrum. Billie became the second youngest solo female to obtain a chart topper at the age of 15 (Helen Shapiro being the youngest - 14 years old) and became the youngest solo female to enter at #1. The year was successful for her after receiving a recording contract from appearing in an advertising campaign for Smash Hits magazine. Her debut single "Because We Want To" and more laid-back follow up "Girlfriend" both topped the UK charts, each for one week. On the other end of the range, Cher at 52 years of age became the oldest solo female to top the UK charts. "Believe" topped the charts for 7 weeks, becoming the longest stay since "Wannabe" in 1996 and also the last single to spend more than 3 weeks at the top in that millennium. "Believe" also became the largest selling single by a female artist in the UK, with 1.67 million copies sold. Her album of the same name became very successful also, producing other hits and both the single and the album topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

Greatest Hits

The last few months of the year were filled with greatest hits compilations. Reaching #10 in the albums chart was the #1's compilation from Mariah Carey; a collection of all her #1 singles to that point. It contained everything from her debut single "Vision Of Love" to the likes of her most recent work "Honey", but also came with some bonus tracks, "When You Believe" a duet with Whitney Houston "Sweetheart" a duet with Jermaine Dupri & "I Still Believe", a cover of the hit song from Brenda K. Starr. The more successful compilations came from Phil Collins, whose album was entitled Hits and from U2 who released The Best Of 1980 - 1990 & B-sides. Both were able to top the albums chart. However, the most successful came from George Michael, who topped the albums chart for 8 weeks, the longest stay since Spice managed a consecutive 8 week run in 1996, with Ladies And Gentlemen - The Best Of George Michael. It included his 7 UK #1's such as "Careless Whisper", "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" and "Jesus To A Child" and other hits since his career began in 1984.

Hip Hop

Unlike the previous year, where LL Cool J, Puff Daddy and Will Smith topped the UK singles chart, no Hip Hop acts reached number one. However Jason Nevins's remix with Run DMC "It's like that" reached the top spot, starting an era of Hip Hop remixes. Jay Z got as high as #2 with his signature song "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)". Pras Michel of The Fugees released his breakthrough track "Ghetto Superstar", featuring Mýa and Method Man, was one of the highest selling tracks in the UK, selling 680,000 copies.

Charts

Singles

Issue Date	Song Title	Artist	Sales
4 January	Perfect Day	Various Artists	83,000
11 January	Never Ever	All Saints	54,000
18 January	All Around the World	Oasis	110,000
25 January	You Make Me Wanna	Usher	110,000
1 February	Doctor Jones	Aqua	102,000
8 February	Dr Jones	Aqua	117,000
15 February	My Heart Will Go On	Céline Dion	234,700
22 February	Brimful of Asha	Cornershop	208,321
1 March	Frozen	Madonna	197,000
8 March	My Heart Will Go On	Céline Dion	112,000
15 March	It's Like That	Run DMC vs Jason Nevins	246,796
22 March	It's Like That	Run DMC vs Jason Nevins	167,000
29 March	It's Like That	Run DMC vs Jason Nevins	136,000
5 April	It's Like That	Run DMC vs Jason Nevins	114,000
12 April	It's Like That	Run DMC vs Jason Nevins	128,000
19 April	It's Like That	Run DMC vs Jason Nevins	87,000
26 April	All I Need	Boyzone	80,049
3 May	Under The Bridge / Lady Marmalade	All Saints	106,956
10 May	Turn Back Time	Aqua	75,000
17 May	Under The Bridge / Lady Marmalade	All Saints	50,714
24 May	Feel It	The Tamperer featuring Maya	49,500
31 May	C'est La Vie	B*Witched	153,000
7 June	C'est La Vie	B*Witched	93,000
14 June	Three Lions 98	Baddiel & Skinner & The Lightning Seeds	232,075
21 June	Three Lions 98	Baddiel & Skinner & The Lightning Seeds	150,000
28 June	Three Lions 98	Baddiel & Skinner & The Lightning Seeds	104,000
5 July	Because We Want To	Billie	80,000
12 July	Freak Me	Another Level	99,000
19 July	Deeper Underground	Jamiroquai	89,000
26 July	Viva Forever	Spice Girls	277,911
2 August	Viva Forever	Spice Girls	112,000
9 August	No Matter What	Boyzone	277,554
16 August	No Matter What	Boyzone	176,000
23 August	No Matter What	Boyzone	148,442
30 August	If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next	Manic Street Preachers	148,000
6 September	Bootie Call	All Saints	116,000
13 September	Millennium	Robbie Williams	140,000
20 September	I Want You Back	Melanie B featuring Missy Elliott	86,000
27 September	Rollercoaster	B*Witched	156,800
4 October	Rollercoaster	B*Witched	112,000
11 October	Girlfriend	Billie	119,000
18 October	Gym And Tonic	Spacedust	66,000
25 October	Believe	Cher	107,000
1 November	Believe	Cher	205,000
8 November	Believe	Cher	287,000
15 November	Believe	Cher	165,000
22 November	Believe	Cher	139,000
29 November	Believe	Cher	126,000
6 December	Believe	Cher	114,000
13 December	To You I Belong	B*Witched	150,000
20 December	Goodbye	Spice Girls	380,000
27 December	Chocolate Salty Balls	Chef	220,000

Albums

Issue Date	Album Title	Artist
4 January	Urban Hymns	The Verve
11 January	Urban Hymns	The Verve
18 January	Urban Hymns	The Verve
25 January	Urban Hymns	The Verve
1 February	Urban Hymns	The Verve
8 February	Titanic (original soundtrack)	Music Composed and Conducted by James Horner
15 February	Urban Hymns	The Verve
22 February	Titanic (original soundtrack)	Music Composed and Conducted by James Horner
1 March	Titanic (original soundtrack)	Music Composed and Conducted by James Horner
8 March	Ray of Light	Madonna
15 March	Ray of Light	Madonna
22 March	Let's Talk About Love	Céline Dion
29 March	The Best Of	James
5 April	This Is Hardcore	Pulp
12 April	Life Thru a Lens	Robbie Williams
19 April	Life Thru a Lens	Robbie Williams
26 April	Mezzanine	Massive Attack
3 May	Mezzanine	Massive Attack
10 May	International Velvet	Catatonia
17 May	Version 2.0	Garbage
24 May	Blue	Simply Red
31 May	Where We Belong	Boyzone
7 June	Blue	Simply Red
14 June	The Good Will Out	Embrace
21 June	Talk On Corners	Corrs
28 June	5ive	Five
5 July	Talk On Corners	Corrs
12 July	Hello Nasty	Beastie Boys
19 July	Jane McDonald	Jane McDonald
26 July	Jane McDonald	Jane McDonald
2 August	Jane McDonald	Jane McDonald
9 August	Talk On Corners	Corrs
16 August	Talk On Corners	Corrs
23 August	Talk On Corners	Corrs
30 August	Where We Belong	Boyzone
6 September	Where We Belong	Boyzone
13 September	Talk On Corners	Corrs
20 September	This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours	Manic Street Preachers
27 September	This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours	Manic Street Preachers
4 October	This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours	Manic Street Preachers
11 October	Hits	Phil Collins
18 October	Quench	Beautiful South
25 October	Quench	Beautiful South
1 November	I've Been Expecting You	Robbie Williams
8 November	The Best Of 1980-1990 & B-Sides	U2
15 November		George Michael
29 November	Ladies & Gentlemen - The Best Of George Michael	George Michael
6 December	Ladies & Gentlemen - The Best Of George Michael	George Michael
13 December	Ladies & Gentlemen - The Best Of George Michael	George Michael
20 December	Ladies & Gentlemen - The Best Of George Michael	George Michael
27 December	Ladies & Gentlemen - The Best Of George Michael	George Michael

Top 40 Singles of 1998

Position	Song Title	Artist	Sales	Highest Position
1	Believe	Cher	1,519,000	1
2	My Heart Will Go On	Celine Dion	1,302,000	1
3	It's Like That	Run-DMC vs Jason Nevins	1,092,000	1
4	No Matter What	Boyzone	1,074,000	1
5	C'est La Vie	B*Witched	851,000	1
6	How Do I Live	LeAnn Rimes	701,000	7
7	Chocolate Salty Balls (PS I Love You)	Chef	682,000	1
8	Goodbye	Spice Girls	680,000	1
9	Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)	Pras Michel featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard introducing Mýa	680,000	2
10	Truly Madly Deeply	Savage Garden	646,000	4
11	Music Sounds Better With You	Stardust	632,000	2
12	Heartbeat / Tragedy	Steps	626,000	1
13	Viva Forever	Spice Girls	623,000	1
14	3 Lions '98	Baddiel and Skinner and The Lightning Seeds	619,000	1
15	Doctor Jones	Aqua	591,000	1
16	Never Ever	All Saints	567,000	1
17	I Don't Want To Miss A Thing	Aerosmith	559,000	4
18	The Boy Is Mine	Brandy and Monica	542,000	2
19	Feel It	Tamperer featuring Maya	522,000	1
20	Brimful of Asha	Cornershop	508,000	1
21	Rollercoaster	B*Witched	493,000	1
22	Frozen	Madonna	486,000	1
23	Horny	Mousse T vs Hot ‘N' Juicy	474,000	2
24	Vindaloo	Fat Les	468,000	2
25	Angels	Robbie Williams	467,000	4
26	Dance The Night Away	The Mavericks	432,000	4
27	Under The Bridge / Lady Marmalade	All Saints	429,000	1
28	Freak Me	Another Level	415,000	1
29	Millennium	Robbie Williams	414,000	1
30	To The Moon And Back	Savage Garden	400,000	3
31	One For Sorrow	Steps	393,000	2
32	Together Again	Janet Jackson	381,000	4
33	To You I Belong	B*Witched	381,000	1
34	Got The Feelin'	Five	375,000	3
35	High	Lighthouse Family	369,000	4
36	Finally Found	Honeyz	363,000	4
37	Perfect 10	Beautiful South	358,000	2
38	Sex On The Beach	T-Spoon	355,000	2
39	Save Tonight	Eagle-Eye Cherry	350,000	6
40	I Love The Way You Love Me	Boyzone	345,000	2

Music awards

BRIT Awards

The 1998 BRIT Awards winners were:

• Best British producer: The Verve, Chris Potter and Youth
• Best selling British album act: Spice Girls
• Best soundtrack: "The Full Monty"
• British album: The Verve – "Urban Hymns"
• British breakthrough act: Stereophonics
• British dance act: The Prodigy
• British female solo artist: Shola Ama
• British Group: The Verve
• British male solo artist: Finley Quaye
• British single: All Saints – "Never Ever"
• British Video: All Saints – "Never Ever"
• Freddie Mercury award: Sir Elton John
• International breakthrough act: Eels
• International female: Björk
• International group: U2
• International male: Jon Bon Jovi
• Outstanding contribution: Fleetwood Mac

Mercury Music Prize

The 1998 Mercury Music Prize was awarded to Gomez - ''Bring It On.

Record of the Year

The Record of the Year was awarded to "No Matter What" by Boyzone.

External links

• BBC Radio 1's Chart Show
• The Official United Kingdom Charts Company