This is a list of Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1998. [1]
The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales, online streaming, and radio play in the U.S.
"Stand by Me" is a song originally performed in 1961 by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King and written by him, along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who together used the pseudonym Elmo Glick. According to King, the title is derived from, and was inspired by, a spiritual written by Sam Cooke and J. W. Alexander called "Stand by Me Father," recorded by the Soul Stirrers with Johnnie Taylor singing lead.
"My Heart Will Go On" is a song recorded by the Canadian singer Celine Dion as the theme for the film Titanic. It was composed by James Horner, with lyrics by Will Jennings. It was produced by Horner, Walter Afanasieff and Simon Franglen. "My Heart Will Go On" was released as a single internationally by Columbia and Epic on November 24, 1997, and was included on Dion's fifth English-language album, Let's Talk About Love (1997), and the Titanic soundtrack.
My Love Is Your Love is the fourth studio album by American singer Whitney Houston, released worldwide on November 17, 1998. It was Houston's first studio album in eight years, following I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990) although she had participated on three movie soundtracks during that period. My Love Is Your Love is composed of mid-tempo R&B, hip hop soul, pop and dance music, produced by musicians such as Whitney Houston herself, Rodney Jerkins, Soulshock & Karlin, Missy Elliott, Wyclef Jean, David Foster, Lauryn Hill, and Babyface.
"Iris" is a song by American alternative rock band Goo Goo Dolls. Originally written for the soundtrack of the 1998 film City of Angels, the song was later included on the band's sixth album, Dizzy Up the Girl, and released as a single on April 1, 1998.
"Lady Marmalade" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, originally for Nolan's disco group. The song is famous for the repeated refrain of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?" in French as part of the chorus, a sexually suggestive line that translates into English as: "Do you want to sleep with me?" The song first became a popular hit when it was recorded in 1974 by the American funk rock group Labelle and held the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week, and also topped the Canadian RPM national singles chart. In 2021, the Library of Congress selected Labelle's version for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".
"I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, expressing Parton's decision to pursue a solo career, the country single was released in 1974. The song was a commercial success for Parton, twice reaching the top spot of Billboard Hot Country Songs: first in June 1974, then again in October 1982, with a re-recording for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas soundtrack.
"1999" is a song by American musician Prince, the title track from his 1982 album of the same name. Originally peaking at number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100, a mid-1983 re-release later reached number 12 in the US, while a January 1985 rerelease, a double A-side with "Little Red Corvette", later peaked at number 2 in the UK.
"I'm Your Angel" is a duet by Celine Dion and R. Kelly from Dion's These Are Special Times album and Kelly's R. album. It was released on 13 October 1998. The song was written and produced by R. Kelly. The single was very successful, reaching number one in the United States and was certified platinum by the RIAA. The single also reached the top five in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
"Nice & Slow" is a song from American singer-songwriter Usher's second album, My Way (1997). Released on January 6, 1998 by LaFace and Arista, the song became Usher's first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1998. The song was written by Usher, Brian Casey of the R&B group Jagged Edge, Manuel Seal Jr. and Jermaine Dupri.
"Believe" is a song by the American singer and actress Cher from her 22nd studio album, Believe. It was released as the album's lead single on October 19, 1998, by Warner Bros. Records. After circulating for months, a demo written by Brian Higgins, Matthew Gray, Stuart McLennen and Timothy Powell, was submitted to Warner's chairman Rob Dickins, while he was scouting for songs to include on Cher's new album. Aside from the chorus, Dickins was not impressed by the track so he enlisted two more writers, Steve Torch and Paul Barry in order to complete it. Cher also later did some adjustments herself to the lyrics but did not get a songwriting credit. Recording took place at Dreamhouse Studio in West London, while production was handled by Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling.
"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song by American singer Whitney Houston. Originally written for inclusion on TLC's third studio album FanMail, it was later recorded by Houston after TLC rejected the song. The song was written by Carsten Schack, Kenneth Karlin and Tamara Savage, and produced by Soulshock & Karlin. It was released on December 15, 1998, by Arista Records, as the second single from Houston's 1998 album My Love Is Your Love. The song prominently features R&B singers Faith Evans and Kelly Price during the choruses and bridge.
"Hot Stuff" is a song by American singer Donna Summer from her seventh studio album Bad Girls (1979), produced by English producer Pete Bellotte and Italian producer Giorgio Moroder and released as the lead single from Bad Girls in 1979 through Casablanca Records. Up to that point, Summer had mainly been associated with disco songs but this song also showed a significant rock direction, including a guitar solo by ex-Doobie Brother and Steely Dan guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. It is the second of four songs by Summer to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Play That Funky Music" is a song written by Rob Parissi and recorded by the band Wild Cherry. The single was the first released by the Cleveland-based Sweet City record label in April 1976 and distributed by Epic Records. The performers on the recording included lead singer Parissi, electric guitarist Bryan Bassett, bassist Allen Wentz, and drummer Ron Beitle, with session players Chuck Berginc, Jack Brndiar (trumpets), and Joe Eckert and Rick Singer (saxes) on the horn riff that runs throughout the song's verses. The single hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 18, 1976; it was also No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over 2 million records and eventually sold 2.5 million in the United States alone.
"All My Life" is a song recorded by American R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo. The song was written by Joel "JoJo" Hailey and Rory Bennett and produced by K-Ci & JoJo for the duo’s debut studio album, Love Always (1997). The song was released to airplay in January 1998 and was released physically on March 17, 1998, as the third single from the album through MCA Records. "All My Life" is an R&B and soul song. Music critics have claimed this as the duo's most successful song of their career.
"Lady" is a song written by Lionel Richie and first recorded by American country music artist Kenny Rogers. It was released in September 1980 on the album Kenny Rogers' Greatest Hits.
The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart that ranks the best-performing singles of the United States. Its data, published by Billboard magazine and compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, is based collectively on each single's weekly physical and digital sales, as well as airplay and streaming. At the end of a year, Billboard will publish an annual list of the 100 most successful songs throughout that year on the Hot 100 chart based on the information. For 2017, the list was published on December 11, calculated with data from December 3, 2016 to November 25, 2017.