2008 in British music
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Part of a series 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 and influences Overview England • Scotland • Wales Ireland • 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 Q • Kerrang! • fRoots

Other links Bands • Musicians Festivals • Venues

Timeline 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • (full list)

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This is a summary of the year 2008 in British music. So far this year only six singles have been at Number one (four of them were new releases). The growth of download meant singles will be increased spent more and more time at the summit.

Summary

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 Eurovision: Your Decision 2008 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

In May, Madonna retained her number-one status with "4 Minutes", and her album Hard Candy, which also reached number one, and was subsequently replaced the following week by Scooter's Jumping All Over the World. Kylie Minogue achieved another top 10 single with "In My Arms" which debuted at #10 on full release. On May 18th, Neil Diamond debuted at #1 on the album chart with his album, Home Before Dark. Also, Pendulum entered at #2 with In Silico. The Ting Tings entered the charts at #1 with their first proper single "That's Not My Name", followed by Rihanna at #2 with "Take a Bow".

Number Ones

Number-one singles

Number-one albums

Number-one downloads

Charts

Current Top 10 singles

• As of May 18, 2008

Current Top 10 albums

• As of May 18, 2008 ^[2]

Top 40 Singles of 2008

As of May 4, 2008

Music awards

Brit Awards

The 2008 BRIT Awards were hosted by Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly and Jack Osbourne on February 20th 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 will be awarded in September 2008.

Popjustice £20 Music Prize

The 2008 Popjustice £20 Music Prize will be awarded in September 2008.

Record of the Year

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

NME Awards

See also

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

References