For the young, the old, and the everyone-in-between, 2008 revolved around what was arguably the most significant election of our lives, to date. Although you may not have been eligible to vote yet, it was exciting to have—for the first time—a presidential candidate that was cool enough to commission a street artist for his campaign. It was also the Summer Olympics that Michael Phelps managed to break an insane world record at the Beijing Olympics.
Related
We’ll breakdown 2008, but you can relive all your summer anthems year by year: 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013
These memorable summer songs filled in the rest with advice about kissing girls and how to stage a flash-mob wedding dance. Or, just see all the No.1 songs from 2007 here.
1.”I Kissed a Girl” – Katy Perry
Katy Perry’s debut was produced by hit-maker Dr. Luke (well before Kesha’s allegations of sexual assault) and Benny Blanco. Kesha herself, still an unknown, was featured in the video. Believe it or not, this song was considered a little shocking—it was released before the legalization of same-sex marriage. Nonetheless, we’re sure cherry chap-stick sales soared, because the video garnered over 115 million views on YouTube.
2. “Lollipop” – Lil Wayne feat. Static Major
The song that forever changed the way we look at lollipops. There was a price to pay for any teen who played the song, though not because of its not-that-subtle innuendo. This was the smash that featured the lyric “no homo”, which inspired many a conversation about homophobia in the hip-hop game. The controversy surrounding the jam didn’t prevent music heavyweights like Young Jeezy, Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, Nicki Minaj, and many more from remixing it.
3. “Viva La Vida” – Coldplay
You might have remembered “Viva La Vida” from iTunes commercials, the 90210 reboot, the Simpsons, or as one of the first songs One Direction performed together on the X Factor. It was also sampled on multiple songs including Flo Rida’s “Be On You.” Basically, you couldn’t get away from the Coldplay hit even if you wanted to. It was the first No. 1 single for the band ever, and it won a Grammy for Song of the Year.
4. “Forever” – Chris Brown
Only a few years ago, Chris Brown was better known for the sweet, sensitive single from his sophomore album, Exclusive, than his troubles with violence against women. Before his multiple arrests, he was even deemed Disney material, since he landed a guest-starring role on The Suite Life of Zach and Cody to promote the ballad. In addition to its chart success, it served as the soundtrack for the now famous viral video “JK Wedding Entrance Dance” which has been played more than 94 million times on YouTube and later imitated in The Office episode for Jim and Pam’s wedding.
5. “Pocketful of Sunshine” – Natasha Bedingdfield
Could there be a more perfect song for summer? After the British blonde became famous for providing the theme song to MTV’s The Hills, she turned extra peppy with lyrics that paired exceptionally well with the sunny season. And the sun lasted well through fall and beyond. Even two years later, Natasha’s one-time chart topper continued to have a presence in pop culture when Emma Stone passionately sang along to the tune in Easy A.
Little did we know…
Remember the Large Hadron Collider? Well the $9 billion photon-smashing invention encased in a 17-mile tunnel fired up in 2008. Opponents of the program insisted it would create a black hole that would swallow the earth and launched Ghostbusters like legal battles to shut it down. They failed, it went live and we’re still around to tell the tale. Nice, huh?