These are the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1989. The two longest running number-one singles of 1989 are "Miss You Much" by Janet Jackson and "Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins, which each charted at number one for four weeks. "Another Day in Paradise" attained two weeks at number one in 1989 and two more weeks in 1990, achieving four weeks at the top. 1989 ties with 1988 by having the second most number-one hits with 32 songs going to number one during the year.
That year, 12 acts earned their first number one song: Bobby Brown, Sheriff, Paula Abdul, Mike + the Mechanics, Roxette, Fine Young Cannibals, Michael Damian, Bette Midler, New Kids on the Block, Milli Vanilli, Martika, and Bad English. Phil Collins, Paula Abdul, Roxette, Fine Young Cannibals, New Kids on the Block, Richard Marx, and Milli Vanilli were the only acts to hit number one more than once, with Paula Abdul and Milli Vanilli having the most with three, and Phil Collins, Roxette, Fine Young Cannibals, New Kids on the Block, and Richard Marx with two.
The #1 song of 1989, "Look Away" by Chicago, despite reaching #1 in late 1988, never reached #1 in 1989. |
An asterisk (*) by a date indicates an unpublished, "frozen" week, due to the special double issues that Billboard published in print at the end of the year for their year-end charts.
Position | Artist | Weeks at No. 1 |
---|---|---|
1 | Paula Abdul | 6 |
2 | Milli Vanilli | 5 |
3 | Phil Collins | 4 |
Richard Marx | ||
Janet Jackson | ||
6 | Debbie Gibson | 3 |
Madonna | ||
8 | Roxette | 2 |
Fine Young Cannibals | ||
New Kids on the Block | ||
Martika | ||
Bad English | ||
Billy Joel | ||
14 | Poison | 1 |
Bobby Brown | ||
Sheriff | ||
Mike + the Mechanics | ||
The Bangles | ||
Bon Jovi | ||
Michael Damian | ||
Bette Midler | ||
Simply Red | ||
Prince | ||
Gloria Estefan |
Milli Vanilli was a German R&B music act from Munich. The act was packaged by Boney M. founder Frank Farian in 1988 and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus as the lip-syncing performers, with the two actual main studio singers, Brad Howell and John Davis, and studio singers Charles Shaw, Jodie Rocco and Linda Rocco, with an unrelated touring band. Their debut album, as All or Nothing in Europe, and expanded, including "Baby Don't Forget My Number" and "Blame It on the Rain", composed by Diane Warren, as Girl You Know It's True in the United States, achieved international success and brought them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist on 21 February 1990, which was later taken away.
Diane Eve Warren is an American songwriter. She has won an Academy Honorary Award, Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards and three consecutive Billboard Music Awards for Songwriter of the Year from 1997 to 1999. She first gained recognition for her work on DeBarge's 1985 single "Rhythm of the Night". By the late 1980s, she joined the record label EMI, where she became the first songwriter in the history of Billboard magazine to have written seven hit songs, each recorded by different artists, prompting EMI's UK Chairman Peter Reichardt to call her "the most important songwriter in the world".
Girl You Know It's True is a 1989 album that served as the North American debut of German R&B duo Milli Vanilli. It is a reconfigured and repackaged version of the group's first album All or Nothing for the North American market.
"Miss You Much" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson. Composed by songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, it was recorded for the singer's fourth studio album, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). As with all tracks for the album, recording took place at Lewis and Jam's Flyte Tyme Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota between 1988 and 1989. Lyrically, the song narrates a longing to reconnect with a romantic partner after time spent apart.
"Cherish" is a song by American singer Madonna from her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer (1989). It was written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, and was released by Sire Records as the album's third single on August 1, 1989. "Cherish" was built around the themes of love and relationships, with William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet being one of the major inspirations. The track also included a line from "Cherish" by the 1960s band the Association. Musically constructed as a doo-wop-style pop song, it is regarded as a light-hearted track by critics and includes instruments such as a drum machine, percussions, keyboards and a saxophone. Lyrically, it speaks of Madonna's devotion to her lover, and her promise to be always by his side. "Cherish" was included on Madonna's greatest hits compilations The Immaculate Collection (1990) and Celebration (2009).
"Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" is a song by German dance-pop group Milli Vanilli. It was released in July 1989 as the third single from their debut album, All or Nothing (1988), as well as its American counterpart, Girl You Know It's True (1989). The single was a success, hitting the number one spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and being certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The song also reached number one in Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland, number two in Ireland, the United Kingdom and West Germany, and number three in Australia.
"Blame It on the Rain" is a song written by Diane Warren and performed by the German dance-pop group Milli Vanilli. It was released as a new track from the group's North American debut album, Girl You Know It's True (1989), and did not appear on All or Nothing (1988), their debut album in other regions. An extended remix of the song did appear on The U.S.-Remix Album: All or Nothing (1989), which served to release the new tracks included on Girl You Know It's True that did not appear on All or Nothing outside of North America.
"Baby Don't Forget My Number" is a song by German dance-pop group Milli Vanilli. The track was released in December 1988 as the second single from their debut album, All or Nothing (1988), as well as its American counterpart, Girl You Know It's True (1989). It became the first of their three number-one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1989, earning a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Worldwide, the single reached the top 10 in seven other countries and was certified gold in Australia, where it charted for 36 weeks.
"Girl You Know It's True" is a song by Maryland-based group Numarx, later made internationally famed by German dance-pop group Milli Vanilli. Released as the lead single from MV's European debut album, All or Nothing (1988), and the duo's American debut album, Girl You Know It's True (1989), the song peaked at number one on the German Singles Chart, number two in the United States and number three in the United Kingdom, becoming one of Milli Vanilli's most successful singles.
"I Go to Extremes" is a song by American singer Billy Joel from his eleventh studio album, Storm Front (1989), released as the album's second US single in early 1990. It reached the number-six position on the US Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number three on the Canadian RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart. The song was also a top-10 hit on both the Billboard Adult Contemporary and Album Rock Tracks charts. The song also reached at number 70 on the UK Singles Chart.
"All or Nothing" is a song by German dance-pop group Milli Vanilli. It was released in January 1990 and was their final top 10 single, peaking at number four in the United States. This was their final single before the lip syncing scandal. In November 1990, the duo's manager, Frank Farian, publicly announced that he had fired Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. He also confirmed long standing rumors that Morvan and Pilatus did not actually sing on any Milli Vanilli releases. Session singers had provided the lead vocals while Morvan and Pilatus lip synced to the recorded tracks when performing live.
This is a discography of Milli Vanilli, a pop/dance music project formed by Frank Farian in Germany in 1988, fronted by Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus.