# List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1988

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. R&B/pop 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 was "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. Jackson 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. George Michael's "Faith" was the best selling single of 1988 in the United States, despite most of its weeks at number one occurring in December 1987. (It carried over into 1988 at number one as the result of a frozen chart.) 1988 is tied with 1989 for the second most #1 hits with 32 songs going to number one.
That year, 17 acts earned their first number one song, such as INXS, Exposé, Rick Astley, Terence Trent D'Arby, Gloria Estefan, Miami Sound Machine, Debbie Gibson, Cheap Trick, Richard Marx, Guns N' Roses, Bobby McFerrin, Def Leppard, UB40, The Escape Club, Will to Power and Poison. George Michael, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and Rick Astley were the only acts to hit number one more than once, with George Michael having the most with four, Michael Jackson with three, and Whitney Houston and Rick Astley with two.

## Chart history

Key :
* The yellow background indicates the #1 song on Billboard's 1988 Year-End Chart of Pop Singles.
An asterisk (*) by a date indicates an unpublished, "frozen" week, due to the special double issues that Billboard published in print at the end of the year for their year-end charts.
| No. | Issue date | Song | Artist(s) |
| 646 | January 2* | "Faith" | George Michael |
| 647 | January 9 | "So Emotional" | Whitney Houston |
| 648 | January 16 | "Got My Mind Set on You" | George Harrison |
| 649 | January 23 | "The Way You Make Me Feel" | Michael Jackson |
| 650 | January 30 | "Need You Tonight" | INXS |
| 651 | February 6 | "Could've Been" | Tiffany |
| 651 | February 13 | "Could've Been" | Tiffany |
| 652 | February 20 | "Seasons Change" | Exposé |
| 653 | February 27 | "Father Figure" | George Michael |
| 653 | March 5 | "Father Figure" | George Michael |
| 654 | March 12 | "Never Gonna Give You Up" | Rick Astley |
| 654 | March 19 | "Never Gonna Give You Up" | Rick Astley |
| 655 | March 26 | "Man in the Mirror" | Michael Jackson |
| 655 | April 2 | "Man in the Mirror" | Michael Jackson |
| 656 | April 9 | "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" | Billy Ocean |
| 656 | April 16 | "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" | Billy Ocean |
| 657 | April 23 | "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" | Whitney Houston |
| 657 | April 30 | "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" | Whitney Houston |
| 658 | May 7 | "Wishing Well" | Terence Trent D'Arby |
| 659 | May 14 | "Anything for You" | Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine |
| 659 | May 21 | "Anything for You" | Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine |
| 660 | May 28 | "One More Try" | George Michael |
| 660 | June 4 | "One More Try" | George Michael |
| 660 | June 11 | "One More Try" | George Michael |
| 661 | June 18 | "Together Forever" | Rick Astley |
| 662 | June 25 | "Foolish Beat" | Debbie Gibson |
| 663 | July 2 | "Dirty Diana" | Michael Jackson |
| 664 | July 9 | "The Flame" | Cheap Trick |
| 664 | July 16 | "The Flame" | Cheap Trick |
| 665 | July 23 | "Hold On to the Nights" | Richard Marx |
| 666 | July 30 | "Roll With It" | Steve Winwood |
| 666 | August 6 | "Roll With It" | Steve Winwood |
| 666 | August 13 | "Roll With It" | Steve Winwood |
| 666 | August 20 | "Roll With It" | Steve Winwood |
| 667 | August 27 | "Monkey" | George Michael |
| 667 | September 3 | "Monkey" | George Michael |
| 668 | September 10 | "Sweet Child o' Mine" | Guns N' Roses |
| 668 | September 17 | "Sweet Child o' Mine" | Guns N' Roses |
| 669 | September 24 | "Don't Worry, Be Happy" | Bobby McFerrin |
| 669 | October 1 | "Don't Worry, Be Happy" | Bobby McFerrin |
| 670 | October 8 | "Love Bites" | Def Leppard |
| 671 | October 15 | "Red Red Wine" | UB40 |
| 672 | October 22 | "A Groovy Kind of Love" | Phil Collins |
| 672 | October 29 | "A Groovy Kind of Love" | Phil Collins |
| 673 | November 5 | "Kokomo" | The Beach Boys |
| 674 | November 12 | "Wild, Wild West" | The Escape Club |
| 675 | November 19 | "Bad Medicine" | Bon Jovi |
| 675 | November 26 | "Bad Medicine" | Bon Jovi |
| 676 | December 3 | "Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley" | Will to Power |
| 677 | December 10 | "Look Away" | Chicago |
| 677 | December 17 | "Look Away" | Chicago |
| 678 | December 24 | "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" | Poison |
| 678 | December 31* | "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" | Poison |

## Number-one artists

List of number-one artists by total weeks at number one :
| Position | Artist | Weeks at No. 1 |
| 1 | George Michael | 8 |
| 2 | Michael Jackson | 4 |
| 2 | Steve Winwood | 4 |
| 4 | Whitney Houston | 3 |
| 4 | Rick Astley | 3 |
| 6 | Tiffany | 2 |
| 6 | Billy Ocean | 2 |
| 6 | Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine | 2 |
| 6 | Cheap Trick | 2 |
| 6 | Guns N' Roses | 2 |
| 6 | Bobby McFerrin | 2 |
| 6 | Phil Collins | 2 |
| 6 | Bon Jovi | 2 |
| 6 | Chicago | 2 |
| 6 | Poison | 2 |
| 16 | George Harrison | 1 |
| 16 | INXS | 1 |
| 16 | Exposé | 1 |
| 16 | Terence Trent D'Arby | 1 |
| 16 | Debbie Gibson | 1 |
| 16 | Richard Marx | 1 |
| 16 | Def Leppard | 1 |
| 16 | UB40 | 1 |
| 16 | The Beach Boys | 1 |
| 16 | The Escape Club | 1 |
| 16 | Will to Power | 1 |