These are the Billboard magazine Hot 100 number one hits of 1988. The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart that ranks the best-performing singles of the United States. Published by Billboard magazine, the data are based collectively on each single's weekly physical sales, and airplay. Pop/R&B megastar Whitney Houston's two singles released from her second studio album Whitney, "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go", both peaked at number one, which gave her a total of seven consecutive number one hits, breaking the record of six previously shared by The Beatles and The Bee Gees. The longest running number-one single of 1988 is "Roll With It" by Steve Winwood, which obtained four weeks at the top of the chart. When "Dirty Diana" reached number-one on the chart, it became Michael Jackson's fifth single from the album Bad to reach number-one. The King of Pop became the first artist to have five singles from one album reach number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and is the only male to do so. Although it spent only one week at number one in 1988, George Michael's Faith was the best selling single of the year in the United States.
| Issue Date | Song | Artist(s) | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 2 | "Faith" | George Michael | |
| January 9 | "So Emotional" | Whitney Houston | |
| January 16 | "Got My Mind Set on You" | George Harrison | |
| January 23 | "The Way You Make Me Feel" | Michael Jackson | |
| January 30 | "Need You Tonight" | INXS | |
| February 6 | "Could've Been" | Tiffany | |
| February 13 | |||
| February 20 | "Seasons Change" | Exposé | |
| February 27 | "Father Figure" | George Michael | |
| March 5 | |||
| March 12 | "Never Gonna Give You Up" | Rick Astley | |
| March 19 | |||
| March 26 | "Man in the Mirror" | Michael Jackson | |
| April 2 | |||
| April 9 | "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" | Billy Ocean | |
| April 16 | |||
| April 23 | "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" | Whitney Houston | |
| April 30 | |||
| May 7 | "Wishing Well" | Terence Trent D'Arby | |
| May 14 | "Anything for You" | Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine | |
| May 21 | |||
| May 28 | "One More Try" | George Michael | |
| June 4 | |||
| June 11 | |||
| June 18 | "Together Forever" | Rick Astley | |
| June 25 | "Foolish Beat" | Debbie Gibson | |
| July 2 | "Dirty Diana" | Michael Jackson | |
| July 9 | "The Flame" | Cheap Trick | |
| July 16 | |||
| July 23 | "Hold On to the Nights" | Richard Marx | |
| July 30 | "Roll With It" | Steve Winwood | |
| August 6 | |||
| August 13 | |||
| August 20 | |||
| August 27 | "Monkey" | George Michael | |
| September 3 | |||
| September 10 | "Sweet Child o' Mine" | Guns N' Roses | |
| September 17 | |||
| September 24 | "Don't Worry, Be Happy" | Bobby McFerrin | |
| October 1 | |||
| October 8 | "Love Bites" | Def Leppard | |
| October 15 | "Red Red Wine" | UB40 | |
| October 22 | "A Groovy Kind of Love" | Phil Collins | |
| October 29 | |||
| November 5 | "Kokomo" | The Beach Boys | |
| November 12 | "Wild, Wild West" | The Escape Club | |
| November 19 | "Bad Medicine" | Bon Jovi | |
| November 26 | |||
| December 3 | "Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley" | Will to Power | |
| December 10 | "Look Away" | Chicago | |
| December 17 | |||
| December 24 | "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" | Poison | |
| December 31 |
Famous quotes containing the words list, hot, number-one:
“The advice of their elders to young men is very apt to be as unreal as a list of the hundred best books.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (18411935)
“Did you know, Putnam, that more murders are committed at 92 Fahrenheit than any other temperature? I read an article once. Lower temperatures, people are easygoing. Over 92, its too hot to move. But just 92, people get irritable.”
—Harry Essex (b. 1910)
“Im your number-one fan.”
—William Goldman (b. 1931)