This is a summary of 1999 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

Not only was this year the end of a decade and a century, but also of an entire millennium, a millennium of massive changes in music. Beginning in a time when most music was focused on instruments and spread by passing on the song from person to person, it transformed to a time where the consumer has wide accessibilty to all types of music at their fingertips and everything is more industrial.

The year may well be remembered for the debuts of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Westlife. The most successful album, Come on Over by Shania Twain, spent a cumulative total of ten weeks at the top, followed by Boyzone's By Request with nine weeks in total. Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca", Eiffel 65's "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" and Cliff Richard's "The Millennium Prayer" all topped the singles charts for three weeks.

Summary

January

Novelty act Chef, a character from the cult animated television show South Park voiced by influential soul artist Isaac Hayes, hits the top spot with "Chocolate Salty Balls" just before the year started, knocking off the Spice Girls who took the Christmas number one of 1998. A run of one week number one singles begins with song and dance quintet Steps hitting the top with their million selling single, "Tragedy", a cover of the Bee Gees number one from 1979. Following Steps is Fatboy Slim, the recording name of DJ Norman Cook, with dance filler "Praise You". Boyband 911, who split the following year, followed with "A Little Bit More" and then was the only chart-topper for The Offspring with their single "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)".

The albums chart saw Robbie Williams return to number one with his massive album, I've Been Expecting You featuring the 1998 chart topper, Millennium. However, after one week, Fatboy Slim's new album You've Come A Long Way Baby topped the charts for four weeks spanning into February. The album was incredibly successful and contained the number one hit, "Praise You", which hit the top of the singles chart while this was still at the top of the album chart.

February

Britney Spears debuted in the UK in February

The run of one week number ones continues with U.S. dance music producer Armand Van Helden reaching the top with a solo release, "You Don't Know Me". He had remixed hits for many stars including a number one for Tori Amos in 1997. Blondie return to the charts after 18 years with their album The Curse Of Blondie. Hitting the top with their first release from the album, "Maria", Debbie Harry becomes the oldest female, at the age of 54 to make reach number one. U.S. rock star Lenny Kravitz also scores a number one hit with his single "Fly Away".

A phenomenon rises when 16-year-old "pop princess" Britney Spears releases her debut single "Baby One More Time". Becoming the fastest selling single for a female artist in the UK (0.46m copies sold in its first week), it becomes the 24th biggest selling single in the UK and the biggest selling single of 1999. Her debut album, also called Baby One More Time, has gone on to sell over 25 million copies worldwide.

Coming back to steal the top spot from Fatboy Slim, Robbie's I've Been Expecting You returns to the top of the albums chart, only to be knocked off the following week by the Corrs' new album Talk On Corners. Talk On Corners is the 16th biggest selling album in the UK and contains the hit singles "So Young", "Dreams" and "What Can I Do".

March

The official Comic Relief single of 1999 by Boyzone is released – a remake of the 1986 number one from Billy Ocean, "When The Going Gets Tough". Spending two weeks at the top, they are knocked off by Irish girl group B*witched and their last release from their self-titled debut album, "Blame It On The Weatherman". Despite being their last chart topper, they scored a chart record being the first act to have their first four singles enter the chart at number one.

After the Corrs had a 3 week run at #1, they were knocked off by the Stereophonics' new release, Performance And Cocktails. It only took 7 days for them to be knocked off however by Britpop band, Blur, who with their new album 13 remained at the top of the charts for 2 weeks.

April

French act Quentin Dupieux scored a number one with his song "Flat Beat" under the name "Mr. Oizo". It received instant popularity after being featured in a Levi jeans commercial – the accompanying cuddly toy also sold well. Staying at number one for 2 weeks, it was knocked off by Martine McCutcheon and her second single release, "Perfect Moment". Originally Tiffany in the soap Eastenders, she left the show for what was to become a very successful, if short-lived, music career – she never made number one again after her 2 week stay at the top and returned to acting with a role in Richard Curtis's Love Actually. Westlife, managed by Boyzone star Ronan Keating, hit the top of the charts with their debut release from their self titled debut album, "Swear It Again". Staying at the top of the charts for two weeks, they would eventually become the most successful boyband in Britain.

Talk On Corners returned to the top of the UK charts for one final week making its total stay at the top 10 weeks, but in five different spells at the top. A re-issue of Abba's Gold:Greatest Hits, album, containing 19 of their finest saw the pop quartet back at the top, but they bid farwell to the number one spot after a week when Welsh pop-rock band, Catatonia scored a number one album with their new release, Equally Cursed And Blessed.

May

Boybands seemed to dominate the charts throughout early May, with the U.S. boyband the Backstreet Boys finally scoring a number one hit with "I Want It That Way". They had previously had seven Top 10 hits before scoring this number one single. Boyzone returned to the top of the charts, for the sixth and last time with their cover of the U.S. number one "You Needed Me" by Canadian singer Anne Murray. Although not officially splitting, they did soon go their separate ways. Ronan Keating was the only member to enjoy solo success with other members focusing on other projects including one joining the cast of soap opera Coronation Street. To end the month, UK production duo Stephen Meade and Daniel Langsman hit the top as Shanks & Bigfoot with their release, "Sweet Like Chocolate". Vocals were provided by Sharon Woolf.

Knocking Catatonia off the top spot, Abba returned with their Gold album for 2 weeks. Alternative Rock band Suede pushed Abba off with their new album, Head Music. Rock bands were dominating the album charts, when Texas with their new release Hush took over from Suede. Abba returned for another two weeks at the top knocking Texas off the top spot. Abba's Gold: Greatest Hits went on to become the 6th biggest selling album in Britain with over 3.6 million copies sold.

June

June saw the transformation of the charts from UK and US to Europe and other nationalities. Australian film director Baz Luhrmann hit the top spot with his song "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)". The song depicts how one should live their life filled with advice and was adapted from his 1996 film Romeo + Juliet. Next to hit the top were the most successful mixed-gender pop group since Abba. S Club 7 already had their own successful TV show, Miami 7, which spanned four seasons, each season changing to a different location. Their debut single, "Bring It All Back", charged to the top of the charts and they were to experience great success for the next four years, with a string of consecutive Top 5 hits. Multi-national dance act, Dutch-based Vengaboys with two Top 5 hits behind them, scored their first chart topper with "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom".

Boyzone's 1999 release, By Request was released this month and shot straight to the top of the UK album charts remaining there for 2 weeks. It contained many Boyzone chart topping singles like "When The Going Gets Tough", "No Matter What" and "You Needed Me". After their stay, Jamiroquai stole the top spot with their new album Synkronized. The album contains the 1998 chart topper, "Deeper Underground".

July

German Producer Andre Tannenberger reached the top with "9PM (Till I Come)". Europop and Eurodance had settled in to become a national craze. The next number one headed up the summer of '99 latino craze. Puerto Rican born, Latin American performer, Ricky Martin scores a worlwide hit from his self titled album when he releases "Livin' La Vida Loca". He became a major star in the US and the song remained at number one for three weeks in the UK, the longest stay all year. This summer month saw things change and Britain started going crazy for Latin records and Europop. However, UK pop acts still had continuous fame, despite interruptions on the top of the charts from European performers.

Fusion act, the Chemical Brothers knocked Jamiroquai off the number one slot and took it for themselves with their new album Surrender. Boyzone's album, By Request took the top spot for the following 7 weeks.

August

Lead singer from boyband Boyzone, Ronan Keating went straight to the top of the charts in early August with his debut single "When You Say Nothing At All". Taken from the movie Notting Hill, it remained at the top of the UK charts for two weeks and set Ronan off into becoming a massive UK star. Overtaking their boss at the top, boyband Westlife scored a second consecutive chart topper with their second release from their debut self titled album, "If I Let You Go". Ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell released her debut single, "Look At Me" in May, which stalled at number two, being kept off the top by the Backstreet Boys. However, this Latin track caught sales when the style of music was in its peak of popularity, and her second release from debut album Schizophonic, "Mi Chico Latino", went in straight at the top of the charts.

Boyzone's album, By Request was at the top of the charts throught most of this month. The 7 week run at the top was the longest consecutive stay all year and since George Michael's Best Of christmas chart topping album in 1998 which spent 8 weeks at the top. Travis finally knocked them off the top spot with what is probably their most successful album to date, The Man Who.

September

German born, Sicilian-American performer, Lou Bega took over from Geri Halliwell at the top spot, with "Mambo No.5". Dance act Vengaboys scored a second and last chart topper, with their new release from their debut album, "We're Going To Ibiza". The song was a revised version of the number one from 1975, "Barbados" by Typically Tropical. Finally, to end the Europop number ones, came an Italian trio known as Eiffel 65. With their debut release, "Blue (Da Ba Dee)", they were immensely popular. It remained at the top of the UK charts for three weeks and not leaving the charts until 2000, ituliet (1996 movie)|Romeo + Juliet]]. Next to hit the top were the most successful mixed-gender pop group since Abba. S Club 7 already had their own successful TV show, Miami 7, which spanned four seasons, each season changing to a different location. Their debut single, "Bring It All Back", charged to the top of the charts and they were to experience great success for the next four years, with a string of consecutive Top 5 hits. Multi-national dance act, Dutch-based Vengaboys with two Top 5 hits behind them, scored their first chart topper with "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom".

Boyzone's 1999 release, By Request was released this month and shot straight to the top of the UK album charts remaining there for 2 weeks. It contained many Boyzone chart topping singles like "When The Going Gets Tough", "No Matter What" and "You Needed Me". After their stay, Jamiroquai stole the top spot with their new album Synkronized. The album contains the 1998 chart topper, "Deeper Underground".

October

Spanish speaking American Christina Aguilera topped the charts with her debut single "Genie In A Bottle". Although spending the same number of weeks at the top as Britney's debut, "Baby One More Time" outsold "Genie In A Bottle" by a large amount, however in the United States, Christina did better compared to Britney based on chart performance and sales. The media became obsessed with placing both Britney and Christina in immediate competition. Christina went on to become a massively popular artist just like Britney. Another ballad from their debut album, saw boyband Westlife hit the top for the third time in 1999. "Flying Without Wings" became ITV's record of the year 1999. Westlife won this award twice again, once the following year and once in 2003.

After Come On Over's two week stay at the top, house music duo Leftfield, scored a chart topper with their new album Rhythm And Stealth. Singing legend, Tom Jones returned to the top of the charts a week later, with this new release, Reload. However, Come On Over then returned to the top of the charts for a 3 week stay.

November

Boybands were back on the scene, when Five scored their first chart topper. They had six previous Top 10 hits and three successive number twos before this single. "Keep On Movin'" remains to be one of their best known songs. Proving she could last more than 15 minutes in the limelight, Geri Halliwell hit the top again with a third release from her debut album. "Lift Me Up" is perhaps Geri's strangest video in which she befriends a group of aliens. Schizophonic was becoming a great success and she was proving many critics wrong who thought she would never be successful as a solo artist. She was not, however, receiving success in the US. Ex-Take That member Robbie Williams scored a second chart topper with a single from his new album, I've Been Expecting You. "She's The One" was Robbie's first chart topper for a year and by now he had a massive fanbase. Finally, US producer Chris Brann produced a dance track called "King Of My Castle". After being remixed in Italy, it was released in the UK and went straight to number one. The team responsible for the production of the record were entitled "Wamdue Project".

It appeared as if Come On Over would stay at the top for a very long time but Steps' second album, Steptacular knocked Shania straight off the top spot, lasting at the top for 3 weeks. Their new album's material had already enjoyed great success when million selling single Tragedy topped the UK charts earlier in January. After a three week stay at the top, Celine Dion released her new album, All The Way...A Decade Of Songs, featuring her greatest hits from the 1990s knocking Steps off the top spot.

December

The Christmas number one, seen as particularly important as this was the one that would span into the new millennium, saw huge competition from the Vengaboys, S-Club 7, newcomer Artful Dodger, Cliff Richard and Westlife. Even John Lennon's hit song, "Imagine" was re-issued. Cliff Richard shot straight to the top of the charts with his special release for the new millennium, "The Millennium Prayer". Having been associated with Christmas Chart toppers since the 1980s, Cliff strongly desired to be the one who got the Millennium Christmas Number One. Despite resistance from radio stations (many DJ's refused to play the song), it stayed at number one for three weeks. However, Westlife came in on Christmas week with their fourth single from their debut album; a double A side including a cover of Abba's 1979 number two hit, "I Have A Dream", and a cover of Terry Jacks' 1974 number one hit, "Seasons In The Sun". This replaced Cliff Richard at the top to claim the Millennium Christmas number one and stayed at the top of the charts for four weeks – their longest stay at the top. They also equalled B*Witched's record of their first four singles entering at the top, which they later broke next year. They went on to become megastars, as of January 2005 scoring twelve UK number ones by 2003, putting them fourth in the list of most UK chart toppers.

Steptacular returned to the top of the charts for another week, but eventually Shania's Come On Over came back to claim the Christmas Number One album spot and top the charts for 5 weeks. It also became the biggest selling album of the year.

Charts

Singles

Albums

Cumulative chart