2008 Billboard Number One Hits: Every Hot 100 Chart-Topper
The 2008 Billboard Number One Hits list captured the download-era Hot 100 in full swing. Flo Rida and T-Pain started the year with a digital sales monster, Leona Lewis crossed over from the U.K., Lil Wayne reached the pop summit, Katy Perry broke through, T.I. dominated the fall, and Beyoncé closed the year with one of the most famous videos of the decade.
This page follows the Billboard Hot 100 issue dates for 2008, shown here as reader-friendly weekly date ranges. Because Billboard chart weeks can cross calendar years, this list begins with Flo Rida’s late-2007 carryover and continues into early January 2009 with Beyoncé’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).
The Billboard Hot 100 ranks the most popular songs in the United States using radio airplay, sales, and later streaming activity. These are official Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 songs, not pop-only, rock-only, airplay-only, dance-only, ringtone-only, or “I definitely heard this at every mall kiosk” rankings.
2008 Billboard Number One Hits by Week
- December 30, 2007 – March 8, 2008: Low – Flo Rida featuring T-Pain
- March 9 – March 29, 2008: Love in This Club – Usher featuring Young Jeezy
- March 30 – April 5, 2008: Bleeding Love – Leona Lewis
- April 6 – April 19, 2008: Touch My Body – Mariah Carey
- April 20 – April 26, 2008: Bleeding Love – Leona Lewis
- April 27 – May 3, 2008: Lollipop – Lil Wayne featuring Static Major
- May 4 – May 17, 2008: Bleeding Love – Leona Lewis
- May 18 – May 24, 2008: Take a Bow – Rihanna
- May 25 – June 21, 2008: Lollipop – Lil Wayne featuring Static Major
- June 22 – June 28, 2008: Viva la Vida – Coldplay
- June 29 – August 16, 2008: I Kissed a Girl – Katy Perry
- August 17 – August 30, 2008: Disturbia – Rihanna
- August 31 – September 20, 2008: Whatever You Like – T.I.
- September 21 – September 27, 2008: So What – Pink
- September 28 – October 11, 2008: Whatever You Like – T.I.
- October 12 – October 18, 2008: Live Your Life – T.I. featuring Rihanna
- October 19 – October 25, 2008: Womanizer – Britney Spears
- October 26 – November 8, 2008: Whatever You Like – T.I.
- November 9 – December 6, 2008: Live Your Life – T.I. featuring Rihanna
- December 7, 2008 – January 10, 2009: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) – Beyoncé
Song-by-Song Notes on the 2008 Billboard No. 1 Hits
Low – Flo Rida featuring T-Pain
Flo Rida opened the 2008 Billboard Hot 100 calendar with Low, featuring T-Pain. The song spent 10 consecutive weeks at No. 1, making it the longest-running Hot 100 chart-topper of 2008 and Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 song.
Its mix of club-rap, Miami bass flavor, T-Pain’s Auto-Tuned hook, and that famous “Apple Bottom jeans” opening made it one of the defining download-era hits. In 2008, this song was not just low; it was everywhere.
Love in This Club – Usher featuring Young Jeezy
Usher reached No. 1 with Love in This Club, featuring Young Jeezy. The song brought Usher back to the top of the Hot 100 with a slower, synth-heavy club-R&B sound.
Its three-week run showed that Usher still had strong pop crossover power after his huge mid-2000s success. The song was sleek, moody, and very committed to making questionable venue decisions sound romantic.
Bleeding Love – Leona Lewis
Leona Lewis became a major U.S. crossover success with Bleeding Love. The song topped the Hot 100 in three separate runs during spring 2008, trading places with Mariah Carey and Lil Wayne.
Its dramatic vocal performance and polished pop-R&B production helped make Lewis one of the year’s biggest international breakout artists. The title sounded painful, but the chart performance was very healthy.
Touch My Body – Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey reached No. 1 with Touch My Body, giving her 18 Hot 100 No. 1 singles at the time. That moved her past Elvis Presley for the most No. 1s among solo artists in Billboard Hot 100 history.
The song’s playful tone and breezy production made it a lighter entry in Carey’s catalog, but its chart significance was major. It was flirtatious pop with a record-book footnote.
Lollipop – Lil Wayne featuring Static Major
Lil Wayne earned his first Hot 100 No. 1 as a lead artist with Lollipop, featuring Static Major. The song’s Auto-Tuned hook and slow, hypnotic production made it one of the biggest rap crossover hits of 2008.
It spent five total weeks at No. 1 and helped set up the massive success of Wayne’s album Tha Carter III. The song also became a posthumous No. 1 for Static Major, who died shortly before its release.
Take a Bow – Rihanna
Rihanna reached No. 1 with Take a Bow, a polished breakup ballad that showed a more restrained side of her late-2000s pop sound. The song replaced Leona Lewis for one week before Lil Wayne returned to the top.
Its success added another No. 1 to Rihanna’s fast-growing Hot 100 résumé. The song’s message was simple: the apology performance is over, please exit stage left.
Viva la Vida – Coldplay
Coldplay reached No. 1 with Viva la Vida, giving the band its first Hot 100 chart-topper. The song’s sweeping strings, historical imagery, and arena-sized chorus made it one of the year’s most distinctive No. 1 hits.
Its one-week run stood out because rock bands were becoming less common at the top of the Hot 100. Coldplay managed to get there with something grand, unusual, and not especially built like a typical pop single.
I Kissed a Girl – Katy Perry
Katy Perry broke through with I Kissed a Girl, which spent seven weeks at No. 1. The song’s provocative hook, glossy pop-rock production, and instant headline value turned Perry into one of 2008’s biggest new pop figures.
Its long run helped introduce the image-forward, chorus-heavy Katy Perry era that would dominate several more years of pop radio. Subtlety was not the strategy. Recognition was.
Disturbia – Rihanna
Rihanna returned to No. 1 with Disturbia, a dark electro-pop single that fit the late-2000s club-pop shift. The song’s haunted hook and danceable production made it one of the standout tracks from the expanded Good Girl Gone Bad era.
Its two-week run gave Rihanna her second No. 1 of 2008 and continued her move from R&B-pop star into full pop-radio force.
Whatever You Like – T.I.
T.I. reached No. 1 with Whatever You Like, one of the biggest rap-pop crossover hits of 2008. The song topped the Hot 100 across multiple interrupted runs, returning after Pink, Rihanna, and Britney Spears briefly took over.
Its seven total weeks at No. 1 made it one of the year’s most successful chart-toppers. It also helped make T.I. the dominant Hot 100 artist of the fall.
So What – Pink
Pink hit No. 1 with So What, a rowdy pop-rock breakup anthem that became one of her signature songs. The track’s defiant tone and big chorus helped it cut through a chart crowded with rap, R&B, and dance-pop hits.
It gave Pink her first solo Hot 100 No. 1. The song was messy, funny, loud, and proud of all three.
Live Your Life – T.I. featuring Rihanna
T.I. and Rihanna reached No. 1 with Live Your Life, a major pop-rap hit built around a prominent interpolation of O-Zone’s viral 2004 song Dragostea Din Tei. The track debuted at No. 1, briefly left the top, then returned for a longer run.
Its success gave both T.I. and Rihanna another major 2008 chart moment. The song also showed how internet-era novelty hooks could be refashioned into mainstream rap-pop hits.
Womanizer – Britney Spears
Britney Spears returned to No. 1 with Womanizer, her first Hot 100 chart-topper since …Baby One More Time in 1999. The song marked a major comeback moment after years of public turbulence.
Its one-week run was short, but the symbolism was big. Britney was back at No. 1, and the pop world noticed.
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) – Beyoncé
Beyoncé closed the 2008 Billboard Hot 100 year with Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), which carried into January 2009. The song’s sharp rhythm, chant-like hook, and instantly recognizable video choreography made it one of the most iconic pop singles of the late 2000s.
The video became a cultural event, inspiring countless recreations, parodies, award-show references, and wedding-dance attempts of varying structural safety. The song did not just top the chart; it entered the hand-gesture hall of fame.
Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Stories of 2008
Low Owned the Year
Low by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain spent 10 weeks at No. 1 and finished as Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 song of 2008. Its massive digital sales helped make it one of the defining hits of the download era.
Rihanna Had a Huge No. 1 Year
Rihanna reached No. 1 twice as a lead artist with Take a Bow and Disturbia, then returned as a featured artist on T.I.’s Live Your Life. Her 2008 chart run helped cement her as one of the late-2000s’ most reliable hitmakers.
T.I. Dominated the Fall
T.I. spent much of fall 2008 at No. 1 with Whatever You Like and Live Your Life. Those songs showed his ability to move between solo rap-pop crossover and superstar collaboration.
New Pop Stars Broke Through
Katy Perry reached No. 1 with I Kissed a Girl, while Leona Lewis crossed over with Bleeding Love. Both songs introduced artists who became major fixtures of late-2000s pop conversation.
Videos Still Had Massive Cultural Power
Beyoncé’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) became one of the most famous music videos of the decade. Along with songs like I Kissed a Girl and Womanizer, it showed that a strong visual identity could still turn a hit into a pop-culture event.
2008 Billboard Number One Hits Trivia
- Low by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain was Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 song of 2008.
- Low spent 10 consecutive weeks at No. 1, the longest Hot 100 run of the year.
- I Kissed a Girl spent seven weeks at No. 1 and gave Katy Perry her first Hot 100 chart-topper.
- Whatever You Like spent seven total weeks at No. 1 across interrupted runs.
- Touch My Body gave Mariah Carey her 18th Hot 100 No. 1.
- Viva la Vida gave Coldplay its first Hot 100 No. 1.
- Womanizer was Britney Spears’ first Hot 100 No. 1 since …Baby One More Time.
- Lollipop gave Lil Wayne his first Hot 100 No. 1 as a lead artist.
- Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) closed 2008 and carried into the 2009 Billboard chart year.
- No One by Alicia Keys was a major late-2007 No. 1, but it was not No. 1 on the 2008 Billboard Hot 100 issue calendar.
Why the 2008 Billboard Number One Hits Matter
The 2008 Billboard Number One Hits list showed the Hot 100 deep in the download era. Digital sales could move songs quickly, hip-hop and R&B remained central, and pop stars increasingly needed memorable visuals, strong hooks, and crossover appeal to dominate.
The year also introduced or elevated several major pop figures. Katy Perry broke through, Leona Lewis crossed over, Lil Wayne reached the Hot 100 summit, Rihanna kept stacking No. 1s, and Beyoncé ended the year with a song and video that became part of pop culture far beyond the chart.
For chart fans, 2008 was a year of big hooks, big digital sales, and big personalities. The Hot 100 was moving faster, looking brighter, and getting ready for the even more electronic pop explosion of 2009 and 2010.
