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 Robbie Williams, Britney Spears, Moby, Eminem, Travis and The Beatles.
Summary
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 three weeks of the year, totalling its run to four weeks at the top.
Female American artists
The year proved to be another successful one for Britney Spears who scored a second UK chart-topper early on in the year with a fourth 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 second album, Oops!... I Did It Again proved to be a successful follow-up, but fared slightly less well than her debut. The title track topped the UK charts for a week, giving her three UK #1s in total by the end of the year. The album itself sold 21 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) and "Stronger" (#7). Anastacia exploded onto the music scene in 2000 with "I'm Outta Love", peaking at No. 6 and made a stronger mark with a successful No. 2 debut album, Not That Kind. Christina Aguilera followed 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 female American artists who scored continuous success in the UK during the year were Mariah Carey, who made No. 10 with "Thank God I Found You" which became her 15th and final US No. 1 single until "We Belong Together" in 2005, Whitney Houston who topped the album charts with her double CD Greatest Hits collection celebrating 15 years of success including 4 UK #1s, Madonna who hit the top twice, the first with a cover of Don McLean's classic No. 2 hit from 1975, "American Pie" from the movie The Next Best Thing and the second being the title track from her new, chart-topping album, Music, giving her ten 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 No. 7 with "I Wanna Love You Forever" and No. 15 with "I Think I'm in Love with You". Mandy Moore made No. 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 Top 30 hit, which marked the last time she charted for four years; Aaliyah, who made No. 5 in the UK with her new single "Try Again", which actually topped the chart in the US, becoming the first single to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100 based solely on airplay points; and Toni Braxton, who released her album "The Heat" in April, charting at No. 3 in the UK, preceding the success of her amazing R&B anthem, He Wasn't Man Enough, which charted in more than 18 countries (No.5 in the UK).
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 fourth UK chart topper and their album quickly topped the chart in the following weeks. Folk-rock band The Corrs followed up their massive success from the previous year with a new album release, In Blue which topped the UK albums chart for four 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 No. 35 which was a poor start, however their success quickly grew with the two follow-up singles both hitting the Top 10 ("Yellow" No. 4 and "Trouble" #10) and their album hitting the top of the chart. 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 No. 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 "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, which was used in adverts for the supermarket Sainsbury's.
Blink-182 kickstarted their career after their second release in 1999, their follow-up single, "All the Small Things" hit No. 2 and their debut album received moderate success peaking at No. 15 which then spanned another, this time a Top 20 hit. Oasis score their 5th No. 1 hit and their second consecutive No. 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 second UK No. 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 No. 5, selling highly and the title track "Californication" 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
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 No. 6 and scoring 2 chart toppers – "Take On Me", a cover of the 1985 No. 2 hit from Norwegian band A-ha and "Same Old Brand New You" – by the end of the year. 'N Sync's success grew over the year; after reaching a disappointing No. 34 in January, they were able to redeem themselves with 3 further hits, 2 of which made the Top 10. "Bye Bye Bye" made No. 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, 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 No. 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 No. 2 hit from Phil Collins made them the first act to have their first 6 singles enter at No. 1 and finally "My Love" made them the first act to have their first 7 singles make No. 1, have their first 7 singles enter at No. 1 and also equal the Beatles's record of 7 consecutive No. 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 No. 1 on the UK albums chart.
Girl groups
Girl groups were slightly more successful than the previous year, but still failed to have the impact they made in the late 1990s 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 two No. 1 singles: "Pure Shores" which was taken from the soundtrack to The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio and "Black Coffee". One last release which made No. 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 No. 16, and as a result, they cancelled the plans for a 3rd album and eventually split two 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 latter track was a turn in a more urban direction that any of their previous singles, whereas the former 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 No. 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 won 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" and "Jumpin' Jumpin'" quickly became Top 5 hits for the group; however they scored their first UK No. 1 with "Independent Woman" – was at No. 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.
English girl group Sugababes scored their first hit single with "Overload'" which peaked at number 6. Their debut album produced three more Top 40 hits.
Other female artists