List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1988

These are the Billboard magazine Hot 100 number one hits of 1988. The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart that ranks the best-performing singles of the United States. Published by Billboard magazine, the data are based collectively on each single's weekly physical sales, and airplay. R&B/pop megastar Whitney Houston's two singles released from her second studio album Whitney, "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go", both peaked at number one, which gave her a total of seven consecutive number one hits, breaking the record of six previously shared by The Beatles and The Bee Gees. The longest running number-one single of 1988 was "Roll With It" by Steve Winwood, which obtained four weeks at the top of the chart. When "Dirty Diana" reached number-one on the chart, it became Michael Jackson's fifth single from the album Bad to reach number-one. Jackson became the first artist to have five singles from one album reach number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and is the only male to do so. George Michael's "Faith" was the best selling single of 1988 in the United States, despite most of its weeks at number one occurring in December 1987. (It carried over into 1988 at number one as the result of a frozen chart.) 1988 is tied with 1989 for the second most #1 hits with 32 songs going to number one.

That year, 17 acts earned their first number one song, such as INXS, Exposé, Rick Astley, Terence Trent D'Arby, Gloria Estefan, Miami Sound Machine, Debbie Gibson, Cheap Trick, Richard Marx, Guns N' Roses, Bobby McFerrin, Def Leppard, UB40, The Escape Club, Will to Power, Chicago and Poison. George Michael, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and Rick Astley were the only acts to hit number one more than once, with George Michael having the most with four, Michael Jackson with three, and Whitney Houston and Rick Astley with two.

Chart history +KeyThe yellow background indicates the #1 song on Billboards 1988 Year-End Chart of Pop Singles.

Issue dateSongArtist(s)646January 2 "Faith" George Michael647January 9 "So Emotional" Whitney Houston648January 16 "Got My Mind Set on You" George Harrison649January 23 "The Way You Make Me Feel" Michael Jackson650January 30 "Need You Tonight" INXS651February 6"Could've Been"TiffanyFebruary 13652February 20"Seasons Change"Exposé653February 27"Father Figure"George MichaelMarch 5654March 12"Never Gonna Give You Up"Rick AstleyMarch 19655March 26"Man in the Mirror"Michael JacksonApril 2656April 9"Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car"Billy OceanApril 16657April 23"Where Do Broken Hearts Go"Whitney HoustonApril 30658May 7"Wishing Well"Terence Trent D'Arby659May 14"Anything for You"Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound MachineMay 21660May 28"One More Try"George MichaelJune 4June 11661June 18"Together Forever"Rick Astley662June 25"Foolish Beat"Debbie Gibson663July 2"Dirty Diana"Michael Jackson664July 9"The Flame"Cheap TrickJuly 16665July 23"Hold On to the Nights"Richard Marx666July 30"Roll With It"Steve WinwoodAugust 6August 13August 20667August 27"Monkey"George MichaelSeptember 3668September 10"Sweet Child o' Mine"Guns N' RosesSeptember 17669September 24"Don't Worry, Be Happy"Bobby McFerrinOctober 1670October 8"Love Bites"Def Leppard671October 15"Red Red Wine"UB40672October 22"A Groovy Kind of Love"Phil CollinsOctober 29673November 5"Kokomo"The Beach Boys674November 12"Wild, Wild West"The Escape Club675November 19"Bad Medicine"Bon JoviNovember 26676December 3"Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley"Will to Power677December 10"Look Away"ChicagoDecember 17678 December 24 "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" Poison December 31

Notes

Number-one artists + List of number-one artists by total weeks at number one Position Artist Weeks at No. 1 1 George Michael 8 2 Michael Jackson 4 Steve Winwood 4 Whitney Houston 3 Rick Astley 6 Tiffany 2 Billy Ocean Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine Cheap Trick Guns N' Roses Bobby McFerrin Phil Collins Bon Jovi Chicago Poison 16 George Harrison 1 INXS Exposé Terence Trent D'Arby Debbie Gibson Richard Marx Def Leppard UB40 The Beach Boys The Escape Club Will to Power

See also 1988 in music List of Billboard number-one singles List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of the 1980s

References

Additional sources Fred Bronson's Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, 5th Edition () Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2008, 12 Edition () Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Eighties () Additional information obtained can be verified within Billboard's online archive services and print editions of the magazine.