UK Singles Chart: 2003

Joining the 30+ UK Top 40 hits club this year is Iron Maiden and Mariah Carey:

	Artist	No of Hits	New Hits
1	Cliff Richard	117	Santa's List
2	Elvis Presley	105	Rubberneckin'
3	Elton John	64	Are You Ready For Love
4	Madonna	58	American Life, Hollywood, Me Against The Music, Love Profusion
5	David Bowie	57
6	Status Quo	51
7	Queen	50	Flash
8	Michael Jackson	48	One More Chance
9	Rod Stewart	45
10	Paul McCartney	43
11	Diana Ross	42
12	Rolling Stones	41	Sympathy For The Devil
13	Stevie Wonder	40	Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours
14	UB40	39	Swing Low
15	Prince	38
16	Depeche Mode	36
=	Pet Shop Boys	36	Miracles
18	Kylie Minogue	35	Slow
19	Tom Jones	34
=	Janet Jackson	34
21	Frank Sinatra	33
22	Shakin Stevens	32
23	Roy Orbison	31
=	Bee Gees	31
=	U2	31
=	Whitney Houston	31
=	Bon Jovi	31	All About Lovin' You
=	Iron Maiden	31	Wildest Dreams, Rainmaker
29	Lonnie Donegan	30
=	Beatles	30
=	Mariah Carey	30	Boy (I Need You), I Know What You Want

Westlife clock up another number one putting them two ahead of Madonna and two behind Cliff Richard:

	Artist	No of #1s	New #1s
1	Elvis Presley	18
2	Beatles	17
3	Cliff Richard	14
4	Westlife	12	Mandy
5	Madonna	10
6	Abba	9
=	Spice Girls	9
8	Rolling Stones	8
=	Take That	8
10	George Michael	7
=	Michael Jackson	7
=	Kylie Minogue	7	Slow
13	Oasis	6
=	Slade	6
=	Rod Stewart	6
=	Boyzone	6
=	Blondie	6
=	Queen	6

Madonna still has the longest run of years of consecutive hits going back to 1989:

	Artist	Hits Every Year Since
1	Madonna	1989
2	Mariah Carey	1990
3	Mary J Blige	1993
4	R Kelly	1994
5	Robbie Williams	1996
=	Super Furry Animals	1996
7	Jay-Z	1997
=	Marilyn Manson	1997
=	Missy Elliott	1997
=	Puff Daddy	1997
=	Stereophonics	1997
=	Travis	1997

We ended 2002 with Pop Stars: The Rivals winners Girls Aloud at number one with their debut hit. 2003 started in a similar fashion, this time the TV show being Fame Academy with winner David Sneddon scoring the first number one of the year with "Stop Living the Lie". However by the end of the year his Top 40 career was over, scoring a further three hits along the way, his final being "Baby Get Higher" which reached 38.

Fame Academy runner up Sinead Quinn also got off to a promising start with her debut "I Can't Break Down" making number two, but she only had one further hit with "What You Need Is".

Third placed Fame Academy contestant Lemar fared much better. He scored a number two with his debut "Dance (With U)" and followed up with the top five hit "50:50 / Lullaby" and his career would continue for years to come. Fourth placed contestant Ainslie Henderson had his only single this year with "Keep Me A Secret" which made number 5.

The second series of Fame Academy finished before the end of the year and brought us the chart debut of winner Alex Parks who reached number three with her debut "Maybe That's What It Takes", but we'd have to wait until next year for hits from other contestants.

It was looking like Pop Idol runner up Gareth Gates was winning the battle of the charts scoring his fourth number one with "Spirit In the Sky" and a number three with "Sunshine" whilst Will Young was nowhere to be seen. However in December Will Young was back with his fourth number one "Leave Right Now" whilst Gareth Gates got to number four with "Say It Isn't So" which would be the last we'd see of him for 4 years and his last top ten.

Third placed Pop Idol contestant Darius had a couple more hits this year with "Incredible (What I Meant To Say)" and "Girl In The Moon" whilst fourth placed contestant Zoe Birkett had her only hit with "Treat Me Like A Lady". We also had the final hits for Pop Idol contestants Rosie Ribbons with "A Little Bit" and Sarah Whatmore with "Automatic".

The second series of Pop Idol was underway later on in the year and the top ten finalists on the show released a cover of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" which reached number 5. The original from John Lennon also re-entered the charts this year but only reached 33.

The only act this year to have more than one number one was Busted who scored number ones with "You Said No" and "Crashed The Wedding". They also had a number two with "Year 3000" and a number three with "Sleeping With The Light On".

Westlife were the only other boy band to have a number one this year. Blue had a mixed year, they reached number four with "U Make Me Wanna" and number two with "Guilty". However, after finishing 2002 with an Elton John cover alongside Elton John that reached number one, they tried a similar thing this year covering Stevie Wonders "Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours" alongside Stevie Wonder which because their first single not to reach the top ten, stalling at 11.

Blazin Squad had a trio of top ten singles this year, the highest being the number two record "Flip Reverse". It was the end of the chart career of O-Town with their final hit being "These Are The Days". There were also two boy bands having there second and final hits this year, 3rd Edge with "Know You Wanna" and Pop Stars: The Rivals winners One True Voice with "Shakespeare's Way With Words", the number ten it reached seemingly not good enough.

Much like the original Pop Stars series, a boy band of the runners up from Pop Stars: The Rivals was created who were called Phixx. They matched the second hit of One True Voice reaching number ten with their debut hit "Hold On Me".

Another boyband making their debut this year was Triple 8. They debuted at number 8 with "Knock Out" and followed up at number 9 with "Give Me A Reason" which would be their final hit. Then at the end of the year we had the debut of D-Side with "Real World" which made number 9.

Girl Group winners of Pop Stars: The Rivals, Girls Aloud, didn't score a number one this year but had number twos with "No Good Advice" and "Jump" and a number three with "Life Got Cold".

The female runners up were also in the charts this year. Javine reached number four with her debut "Real Things" and followed up with the number 15 hit "Surrender". The remaining female runners up were in a group called Clea and only managed number 21 with their debut hit "Download It".

The only Girl Group to have a number one this year was Sugababes with "Hold In the Head". They also had a number 10 with "Too Lost In You" and a number 11 with "Shape". Atomic Kitten had a trio of top tens with the highest being the number three "If You Come To Me".

There was a Girl Group from Russia causing a stir early on this year, the so called lesbian duo Tatu. They reached number one with their debut "All the Things She Said" and also made the top ten with the follow up "Not Gonna Get Us".

We had a Girl Group called Tommi who had their only hit this year reaching number 12 with "Like What". Then there was the debut of Lemonescent with "Help Me Mama" followed up by the highest charting of their hits "Cinderella" which made number 31.

Then we had the one and only hit from a cartoon Girl Group called VBirds with "Virtuality" which made number 21.

Original Pop Stars runners up Liberty X kept the run of top ten singles going this year with "Being Nobody" and "Jumpin". Former Hear Say member Kym Marsh started her solo career with the number two single "Cry". She followed up with the top ten hit "Come On Over" but her third single "Sentimental" only managed number 35 and that was the end of her solo career.

After 3 of the 5 Steps members came and went with their post Steps careers the year before, this year was the turn of Lisa Scott Lee to launch her solo career. She made number six with her debut "Lately" but missed out on the top ten making number 11 with her follow up "Too Far Gone". She would be back the following year.

It was the end for S Club (formerly S Club 7) who's final hit appropriately titled "Say Goodbye / Love Ain't Gonna Wait For" made number two. Just three months later Rachel Stevens was back at number two with her debut solo hit "Sweet Dreams My LA Ex". Her follow up "Funky Dory" only made number 26. Meanwhile S Club Juniors had now become S Club 8 and had two number fours this year with "Fool No More" and "Sundown".

Also benefiting from the TV this year were Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne who had an MTV reality TV show with "The Osbournes" and scored a number one with their cover of the Black Sabbath song "Changes". This was knocked off by the Christmas number ones which was a cover of "Mad World" by Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules.

There were two Spice Girls in the charts this year with solo hits. Emma Bunton had a pair of top tens with "Free Me" and "Maybe" whilst Mel C had a top ten with "Here It Comes Again" but failed to reach the top ten with "On The Horizon" and "Melt / Yeh Yeh Yeh".

It was the end of the chart career of Appleton this year. They reached the top ten with "Don't Worry" but only made 38 with their final hit "Everything Eventually". Fellow All Saint Mel Blatt had her only solo hit with "Do Me Wrong".

There was a return to the charts after 6 years away for former Take That member Mark Owen following his victory on Celebrity Big Brother. He appropriately reached number four with "Four Minute Warning" but only managed number 26 with the follow up "Alone Without You".

The Trance covers of old hits just kept on coming this year. These included "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" by Flip & Fill, "Heaven Is Closer (Feels Like Heaven)" by Dario G, "Time After Time" by Novaspace, "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" by Aquagen, "The Boys Of Summer" by DJ Sammy, "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" by Jan Wayne, "Someday" by Resonance Q, "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" by Soda Club featuring Hannah Alethea, "Show Me Heaven" and "All Out Of Love" by Foundation featuring Natalie Rossi.

We also had the Trance covers of old Happy Hardcore records in "Field Of Dreams" by Flip & Fill featuring Jo James and "Pretty Green Eyes" and "Feelin' Fine" by Ultrabeat.

The biggest Trance record of the year was "Loneliness" by Tomcraft which was number one. Another number one Dance was the Nu Disco hit "Make Luv" by Room 5 featuring Oliver Cheatham. There was another big Nu Disco hit in "Move Your Feet" by Junior Senior.

Perhaps the most notable debutant from a future perspective was David Guetta who reached number 19 with "Just A Little More Love". It would be three more years until we'd next see him in the charts.

The Drum & Bass tunes in the charts this year were "Mo' Fire" by Bad Company UK / Rawhill Cru, "Midnight" by Un-Cut, "Twist 'Em Out" by Dillinja featuring Skibadee, "Feelin' U" by Shy FX & T Power / Kele Le Roc, "Barcelona" by D Kay & Epsilon featuring Stamina MC and "Complete" by Jaimeson which made the top ten.

Jaimeson also had a UK Garage record with "True". We also had UK Garage tunes from M J Cole with "Wondering Why", Billy Crawford with "You Didn't Expect That" and Mr Reds vs DJ Skribble with "Everybody Come On (Can U Feel It)", so UK Garage wasn't quite finished yet.

The So Solid Crew were back in the charts but had moved away from UK Garage with their hit "Broken Silence" being more of a Rap record. So Solid Crew member Lisa Maffia began her solo career with the R&B hits "All Over" and "In Love". Mis-Teeq also moved away from UK Garage with the hits "Scandalous", "Can't Get It Back" and "Style" all being R&B records. This would however be the last we'd see of Mis-Teeq in the charts.

There were three number one R&B hits this year. First up was "Ignition (Remix)" by R Kelly which was a remix based on the final part of "Ignition" which was from the same album but not a single. Then there was "Crazy In Love" by Beyoncé ft Jay-Z which was the second collaboration of the year from them following the number two hit "03 Bonnie & Clyde".

The third and final hit of the year for Beyoncé was "Baby Boy" which reached number two and featured Sean Paul, who also featured on the third R&B number one of the year, "Breathe" by Blu Cantrell.

Sean Paul had three hits of his own this year with "Gimme The Light", "Get Busy" and "Like Glue". He was one of the Reggae/Dancehall artists from Jamaica making their mark on the charts this year. We also had Beenie Man with "Street Life", Wayne Wonder with "No Letting Go" and "Bounce Along" and Elephant Man with "Pon De River Pon De Bank".

The Black Eyed Peas became a household name this year with the number one "Where Is the Love?". This was their second hit having had a minor hit in 2001. They followed this up later in the year with "Shut Up".

Perhaps the most bizarre record from the Hip Hop world this year was "Hey Ya!" by Outkast. The two members of Outkast, Andre 3000 and Big Boi, had gone solo but their solo albums were released together as a double album under the Outkast name. This tune was by Andre 3000 and wasn't really a Hip Hop record at all, instead more of a Funk/Soul record. Meanwhile Big Boi under his own name collaborated with Killer Mike on his only hit "A.D.I.D.A.S."

Other rappers making their debuts this year included 50 Cent with "In Da Club", Joe Budden with "Pump It Up", Fabolous with "Can't Let You Go", Chingy with "Right Thurr" and Obie Trice with "Got Some Teeth".

50 Cents group G-Unit also made their debut later on in the year with "Stunt 101". We also had the number one debut from Hip Hop DJ Fatman Scoop with "Be Faithful" which sampled "Love Like This" by Faith Evans.

In February a new music TV channel was launched, Channel U which focussed on Urban music from the UK including an emerging sound known as Grime. One artist from this scene, Dizzee Rascal, made his way into the charts and had three hits this year, "I Luv U", "Fix Up Look Sharp" and "Jus' A Rascal".

In the Indie world, two of the big four Garage Rock acts had hits. The Strokes had a hit with "12:51" and the White Stripes had a hit with perhaps their best know record "7 Nation Army" and followed up with "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" and "The Hardest Button To Button".

We also had hits from Libertines, Datsuns, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Making their debut was Kings Of Leon with "What I Saw" and Jet with "Are You Gonna Be My Girl".

There were a notable number of bands from the Brit Pop days having hits this year. We had already seen the end of Pulps chart career and this year was the end for Suede with "Attitude / Golden Gun" and Blur with "Good Song". Oasis were also in the charts with "Songbird" but they would be back.

Also coming to the end of their chart careers were Bluetones with "Never Going Nowhere" and Shed Seven with "Why Can't I Be You" whilst we also had hits from Ocean Colour Scene and Supergrass who weren't finished yet.

The Grunge revival of the previous year proved to be short lived with the only record being "Someday" by Nickelback. However this arguably paved the way for other Rock/Metal genres from yesteryear to return.

Most notable was Gothic band Evanescence who had a number one with "Bring Me To Life" and also had hits with "Going Under" and "My Immortal". There was also the band Him who had hits with "Buried Alive By Love" and "The Sacrament".

There was also room for Glam Metal to make a comeback with The Darkness. They debuted with "Growing On Me" and followed up with "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" and "Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)".

Rage Against the Machine minus Zack de la Rocha teamed up with Chris Cornell from Soundgarden to form Audioslave and they had their only hit this year with "Cochise".

The comebacks of Hard Rock bands Def Leppard and Wildhearts from the previous year ended this year with both bands having their final hits, Def Leppard with "Long Long Way To Go" and Wildhearts with "Top Of The World".

Metallica returned to the charts this year going back to their Metal roots with "St Anger" and "Frantic". Nu Metal was still around with hits from Korn, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.

It was a big year for Punk chart wise too. Making their only chart appearances were Less Than Jake with "She's Gonna Break Soon", Violent Delight with "I Wish I Was A Girl" and "All You Ever Do", and AFI with "Girl's Not Grey".

We also had debuts for Good Charlotte with "Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous" and All-American Rejects with "Swing Swing". Blink 182 also returned to the charts with "Feeling This" plus we had the side project of Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker, The Transplants, with "Diamonds & Guns".

Finally we had the only act to date from Georgia chart this year with Katie Melua charting with "Closest Thing to Crazy".

Whilst it's evident that guitar music is on the rise again, other styles weren't exactly suffering as a result, so there was probably more parity between the main genres this year than there had been for a while. In 2004 will this still be the case and if not which genres will rise and which ones will fall.