Official Top 40 best-selling singles of 1999 (original) (raw)

1999 saw the arrival of a popstar for who global domination would be instant: Britney Spears.

The former child star of Disney TV show The Mickey Mouse Club, Britney soon grew up in front of our very eyes, starting out with the undeniable classic ...Baby One More Time. Aided by a deliciously cheeky music video, the track stormed in at Number 1 in February, scoring 463,722 sales in its opening week, and finished the year on 1.45 million sales to be the UK's best-selling single of 1999.

The Max Martin-produced track kick-started a new ultra-slick style of pop from the US that would also earn Number 1 success in the UK for Backstreet Boys (May chart-topper I Want It That Way ranks 35th), and later *NSync and Pink.

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Britney's follow-up single Sometimes - also released that year - wasn't quite the runaway hit of its predecessor, peaking at Number 3, but still places at 34 on the end-of-year Top 40. View Britney's Official UK Chart history in full here.

1999 also saw the rise of Europop dominating the airwaves and charts. Italian dance group Eiffel 65 scored the year's second best-selling track with three-week Number 1 Blue (956k), German DJ ATB ranks fifth with summer smash 9pm (Til I Come) (791k), French musician Mr Oizo is at 9 with Flat Beat (678k) (a Number 1 thanks to its use in a Levi's advert), and Dutch outfit Alice Deejay land just outside the Top 10 at 12 with Better Off Alone.

Another act waving the flag four Europop that year was Vengaboys, who claim three entries in the end-of-year Top 40: Number 1s Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! (15) and We're Going To Ibiza! (38), while Top 3 smash We Like To Party! (The Vengabus) places at 29.

Latin-inspired music was also on the rise in 1999, including Lou Bega's two-week Number 1 Mambo No.5 (A Little Bit Of...), the year's fourth best-seller (850k), and Ricky Martin's Livin' La Vida Loca at 6 (776k), which spent three weeks at the top in July.

MORE: Official Top 40 best-selling singles of 1998

Elsewhere, UK outfit Shanks & Bigfoot place at Number 8 with Sweet Like Chocolate (707k), the UK's first garage Number 1 in May, while several British pop acts scored big: S Club 7 with their first release Bring It All Back (11), former Eastenders star Martine McCutcheon topped the chart with her debut single Perfect Moment (14), and Steps with their first chart-topper Heartbeat/Tragedy (19).

Finally, plenty of US stars also enjoyed UK success in 1999, including Christina Aguilera with her debut effort Genie In A Bottle (13), R&B trio TLC scored a long-running Top 40 hit with No Scrubs (16) and Whitney Houston enjoyed two sizeable hits with My Love Is Your Love (22), and It's Not Right, But It's Okay (25).

Official Top 40 best-selling songs of 1999

| | TITLE | ARTIST | PEAK | | | -------- | -------------------------------------- | ------------------ | - | | 1 | BABY ONE MORE TIME | BRITNEY SPEARS | 1 | | 2 | BLUE (DA BA DEE) | EIFFEL 65 | 1 | | 3 | THE MILLENNIUM PRAYER | CLIFF RICHARD | 1 | | 4 | MAMBO NO.5 (A LITTLE BIT OF...) | LOU BEGA | 1 | | 5 | 9PM (TILL I COME) | ATB | 1 | | 6 | LIVIN' LA VIDA LOCA | RICKY MARTIN | 1 | | 7 | THAT DON'T IMPRESS ME MUCH | SHANIA TWAIN | 3 | | 8 | SWEET LIKE CHOCOLATE | SHANKS & BIGFOOT | 1 | | 9 | FLAT BEAT | MR. OIZO | 1 | | 10 | WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH | BOYZONE | 1 | | 11 | BRING IT ALL BACK | S CLUB 7 | 1 | | 12 | BETTER OFF ALONE | ALICE DEEJAY | 2 | | 13 | GENIE IN A BOTTLE | CHRISTINA AGUILERA | 1 | | 14 | PERFECT MOMENT | MARTINE MCCUTCHEON | 1 | | 15 | BOOM,BOOM,BOOM,BOOM!! | VENGABOYS | 1 | | 16 | NO SCRUBS | TLC | 3 | | 17 | IF I COULD TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME | R KELLY | 2 | | 18 | WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL | RONAN KEATING | 1 | | 19 | HEARTBEAT/TRAGEDY | STEPS | 1 | | 20 | I TRY | MACY GRAY | 6 | | 21 | 2 TIMES | ANN LEE | 2 | | 22 | MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE | WHITNEY HOUSTON | 2 | | 23 | BEAUTIFUL STRANGER | MADONNA | 2 | | 24 | TURN AROUND | PHATS & SMALL | 2 | | 25 | IT'S NOT RIGHT BUT IT'S OKAY | WHITNEY HOUSTON | 3 | | 26 | I HAVE A DREAM/SEASONS IN THE SUN | WESTLIFE | 1 | | 27 | WITCH DOCTOR | CARTOONS | 2 | | 28 | KING OF MY CASTLE | WAMDUE PROJECT | 1 | | 29 | WE LIKE TO PARTY! (THE VENGABUS) | VENGABOYS | 3 | | 30 | PRETTY FLY (FOR A WHITE GUY) | OFFSPRING | 1 | | 31 | EVERYBODY'S FREE (TO WEAR SUNSCREEN) | BAZ LUHRMANN | 1 | | 32 | WILD WILD WEST | WILL SMITH | 2 | | 33 | MARIA | BLONDIE | 1 | | 34 | SOMETIMES | BRITNEY SPEARS | 3 | | 35 | I WANT IT THAT WAY | BACKSTREET BOYS | 1 | | 36 | KEEP ON MOVIN' | FIVE | 1 | | 37 | RE-REWIND THE CROWD SAY BO SELECTA | ARTFUL DODGER | 2 | | 38 | WE'RE GOING TO IBIZA! | VENGABOYS | 1 | | 39 | TENDER | BLUR | 2 | | 40 | YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE | NEW RADICALS | 5 |