Top Billboard Singles: Some of the top singles on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988 included "Faith" by George Michael, "Need You Tonight" by INXS, and "Got My Mind Set on You" by George Harrison. Notable artists and albums released in 1988 include DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, The Jungle Brothers, Eric B & Rakim, N.W.A, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Public Enemy, and Traveling Wilburys. Tina Turner performed in front of an estimated 180,000 fans at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, setting a record for the largest paying audience for a single artist in 1988. Motown Records was sold to MCA. For the first time, CDs outsold vinyl albums. Rap/hip-hop and alternative music continued their growth. Some of the top movie events in 1988 included the release of box office hits like Three Men and a Baby, Good Morning, Vietnam and Crocodile Dundee II, as well as critically acclaimed films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and A Fish Called Wanda. The 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, as well as the Pan Am Flight 103 disaster.
TOP 100 HITZ 1988
| Number | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faith | George Michael |
| 2 | Need You Tonight | INXS |
| 3 | Got My Mind Set on You | George Harrison |
| 4 | Never Gonna Give You Up | Rick Astley |
| 5 | Sweet Child o' Mine | Guns N' Roses |
| 6 | So Emotional | Whitney Houston |
| 7 | Heaven Is a Place on Earth | Belinda Carlisle |
| 8 | Could've Been | Tiffany |
| 9 | Hands to Heaven | Breathe |
| 10 | Roll with It | Steve Winwood |
| 11 | One More Try | George Michael |
| 12 | Wishing Well | Terence Trent D'Arby |
| 13 | Anything for You | Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine |
| 14 | The Flame | Cheap Trick |
| 15 | Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car | Billy Ocean |
| 16 | Seasons Change | Exposé |
| 17 | Is This Love | Whitesnake |
| 18 | Wild, Wild West | The Escape Club |
| 19 | Pour Some Sugar on Me | Def Leppard |
| 20 | I'll Always Love You | Taylor Dayne |
| 21 | Man in the Mirror | Michael Jackson |
| 22 | Shake Your Love | Debbie Gibson |
| 23 | Simply Irresistible | Robert Palmer |
| 24 | Hold On to the Nights | Richard Marx |
| 25 | Hungry Eyes | Eric Carmen |
| 26 | Shattered Dreams | Johnny Hates Jazz |
| 27 | Father Figure | George Michael |
| 28 | Naughty Girls (Need Love Too) | Samantha Fox |
| 29 | A Groovy Kind of Love | Phil Collins |
| 30 | Love Bites | Def Leppard |
| 31 | Endless Summer Nights | Richard Marx |
| 32 | Foolish Beat | Debbie Gibson |
| 33 | Where Do Broken Hearts Go | Whitney Houston |
| 34 | Angel | Aerosmith |
| 35 | A Hazy Shade of Winter | The Bangles |
| 36 | The Way You Make Me Feel | Michael Jackson |
| 37 | Don't Worry, Be Happy | Bobby McFerrin |
| 38 | Make Me Lose Control | Eric Carmen |
| 39 | Red Red Wine | UB40 |
| 40 | She's Like the Wind | Patrick Swayze featuring Wendy Fraser |
| 41 | Bad Medicine | Bon Jovi |
| 42 | Kokomo | The Beach Boys |
| 43 | I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That | Elton John |
| 44 | Together Forever | Rick Astley |
| 45 | Monkey | George Michael |
| 46 | Devil Inside | INXS |
| 47 | Should've Known Better | Richard Marx |
| 48 | I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love | Chicago |
| 49 | The Loco-Motion | Kylie Minogue |
| 50 | What Have I Done to Deserve This? | Pet Shop Boys with Dusty Springfield |
| 51 | Make It Real | The Jets |
| 52 | What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy) | Information Society |
| 53 | Tell It to My Heart | Taylor Dayne |
| 54 | Out of the Blue | Debbie Gibson |
| 55 | Don't You Want Me | Jody Watley |
| 56 | Desire | U2 |
| 57 | I Get Weak | Belinda Carlisle |
| 58 | Sign Your Name | Terence Trent D'Arby |
| 59 | I Want to Be Your Man | Roger |
| 60 | Girlfriend | Pebbles |
| 61 | Dirty Diana | Michael Jackson |
| 62 | 1-2-3 | Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine |
| 63 | Mercedes Boy | Pebbles |
| 64 | Perfect World | Huey Lewis and the News |
| 65 | New Sensation | INXS |
| 66 | Catch Me (I'm Falling) | Pretty Poison |
| 67 | If It Isn't Love | New Edition |
| 68 | Rocket 2 U | The Jets |
| 69 | One Good Woman | Peter Cetera |
| 70 | Don't Be Cruel | Cheap Trick |
| 71 | Candle in the Wind | Elton John |
| 72 | Everything Your Heart Desires | Daryl Hall & John Oates |
| 73 | Say You Will | Foreigner |
| 74 | I Want Her | Keith Sweat |
| 75 | Pink Cadillac | Natalie Cole |
| 76 | Fast Car | Tracy Chapman |
| 77 | Electric Blue | Icehouse |
| 78 | The Valley Road | Bruce Hornsby and the Range |
| 79 | Don't Be Cruel | Bobby Brown |
| 80 | Always on My Mind | Pet Shop Boys |
| 81 | Piano in the Dark | Brenda Russell featuring Joe Esposito |
| 82 | When It's Love | Van Halen |
| 83 | Don't Shed a Tear | Paul Carrack |
| 84 | We'll Be Together | Sting |
| 85 | I Hate Myself for Loving You | Joan Jett and the Blackhearts |
| 86 | I Don't Want to Live Without You | Foreigner |
| 87 | Nite and Day | Al B. Sure! |
| 88 | Don't You Know What the Night Can Do? | Steve Winwood |
| 89 | One Moment in Time | Whitney Houston |
| 90 | Can't Stay Away from You | Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine |
| 91 | Kissing a Fool | George Michael |
| 92 | Cherry Bomb | John Cougar Mellencamp |
| 93 | I Still Believe | Brenda K. Starr |
| 94 | I Found Someone | Cher |
| 95 | Never Tear Us Apart | INXS |
| 96 | Valerie | Steve Winwood |
| 97 | Just Like Paradise | David Lee Roth |
| 98 | Nothin' but a Good Time | Poison |
| 99 | Wait | White Lion |
| 100 | Prove Your Love | Taylor Dayne |
