3 Iconic Female Artists Who Personified Pop and Hit No. 1 in 1988

If you wanted to find the greatest year for pop music in human history, you would have to go back in time and use some very sophisticated pop music measuring instruments. Of course, there would be several key years you would have to investigate, but one of those years would certainly be 1988. Truly, the late 80s were when pop music became pop music.

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That’s when the stuff was perhaps at its stickiest. And much of the fabulous music back then was being made by talented female artists. That’s just what we wanted to do here below. We wanted to explore one of the poppiest of pop years—1988—and highlight three iconic female artists from the year who both personified the sound and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the process.

“Could’ve Been” by Tiffany from ‘Tiffany’ (1987)

Part of pop music’s appeal is that it often looks to find young up-and-coming voices. And that was certainly the case in the late 1980s. Pop star Tiffany garnered a No. 1 spot in 1988 thanks to her 1987 single, “Could’ve Been”. At the time of its release, Tiffany was just 16 years old. That’s almost more remarkable than getting a No. 1. Most people at 16 years old were just trying to find what outfit they liked best for the school dance. But Tiffany was making music history!

“Anything For You” by Gloria Estefan from ‘Let It Loose’ (1988)

Gloria Estefan is one of the most successful recording artists of the 1980s. She boasts 38 No. 1 songs on myriad Billboard charts, including 15 on the Hot Latin chart and three on the Hot 100. And one of those three No. 1 songs on the Hot 100 is her 1988 offering, “Anything For You”, an emotive, sensual offering from someone who obviously feels things very deeply. It’s that reservoir of emotion that helped to carry Estefan later in her career into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

“Foolish Beat” by Debbie Gibson from ‘Out Of The Blue’ (1988)

While Tiffany was 16 when her No. 1 song came out, Debbie Gibson was just 17 years old when she got her first No. 1 song with “Foolish Beat”. Both Tiffany’s and Gibson’s songs were passionate, heartfelt. They were slower jams, the kind of songs you put on to feel something deep in your soul. Somehow, these teenagers knew how to capture that. Remarkable stuff! And Gibson is still out there in the public eye doing big things today!

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