1998 in British music
| 1990s in music in the UK | |
| Number-one singles | |
| Number-one albums | |
| Best-selling singles | |
| Best-selling albums | |
| Summaries and charts 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 |
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| ←1989 | 2000→ |
| Top 10 singles 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 |
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| ←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 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.
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.
January saw R'N'B vocalist, Usher Raymond score a No. 1 with his debut single "You Make Me Wanna..."; he would not return to the top of the UK singles charts until 2004. 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 No. 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.
Throughout the year, girl groups remained prevalent. All Saints who made No. 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 Labelle "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 No. 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 3 singles went straight into the top 5 and later that year they were signed to Madonna's U.S. label Maverick Records.
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