NOW That's What I Call 40 Years (5CD)

Celebrate 40 years of huge hits with NOW That’s What I Call 40 Years – 100 tracks across 5 CDs - honouring the legacy with a selection of the best from 40 years of NOW. Take the journey from the first edition back in 1983, right up to the present day – making at least one stop at every year in between

Opening with 1983’s biggest selling single ‘Karma Chameleon’ from Culture Club, before #1s from UB40 and Bonnie Tyler, and the huge hit ‘Radio Ga Ga’ by Queen. Signature smashes from Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Tina Turner, and Wham! follow ahead of mid-80s gold from Eurythmics, Peter Gabriel, Bananarama and The Communards with Sarah Jane Morris. The collaboration between Run DMC & Aerosmith and Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ are both legendary rock anthems, and the first disc closes with #1s from T’Pau, Pet Shop Boys and S’Express.

Disc Two presents floor-fillers from Yazz & The Plastic Population and Womack & Womack plus ‘Back To Life…’ from Soul II Soul & Caron Wheeler. The timeless version of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ by Sinéad O'Connor ushers in the ‘90s and is followed by #1s from Elton John, Shakespears Sister and SNAP! The smash-hit collaboration between The KLF and Tammy Wynette features along with sophisticated ballads from Duran Duran, The Pretenders and Sade. Massive #1s from Freddie Mercury, Meat Loaf, Wet Wet Wet and Coolio & L.V. follow before Oasis close the disc with ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’.

1996’s #1s included ‘Wannabe’ by Spice Girls, and ‘Fastlove’ by George Michael – and they open Disc Three – ahead of a run of pure pop gems from Eternal feat. Bebe Winans, All Saints, Boyzone, Steps, Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’, and from 1999, the debut ‘…Baby One More Time’ from Britney Spears. Other superstar smashes on this disc include ‘Angels’ from Robbie Williams, ‘Believe’ from Cher and Kylie Minogue’s biggest hit ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’. Incredible R&B from Mary J. Blige, and The Black Eyed Peas is included alongside artists who launched from TV talent shows to achieve massive success; Girls Aloud, and closing the disc, Will Young.

Disc Four kicks off with a run of huge selling #1s from James Blunt, Westlife, Gnarls Barkley and MIKA, before the amazing vocals of Amy Winehouse and Leona Lewis. Pop royalty Take That feature with ‘Rule The World’ and Coldplay enjoyed their first #1 in 2008 with ‘Viva La Vida’. Pop gold from P!NK and The Killers, and the huge dance-pop hits ‘Bad Romance’ by Lady Gaga, and ‘On The Floor’ from Jennifer Lopez follow; and 2011 saw Lana Del Rey make her debut with ‘Video Games’, and One Direction with “What Makes You Beautiful’. PSY had a global sensation, Pharrell Williams went to #1 with ‘Happy’, and the disc ends with the anthemic ‘Let It Go’ by Idina Menzel from ‘Frozen’.

The final disc opens with ‘Sing’ - the first #1 for Ed Sheeran, leading a line-up of stellar chart-toppers from Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars, Little Mix, Justin Bieber and George Ezra. There’s huge dance-pop from Dua Lipa, and ‘Promises’ from Calvin Harris with Sam Smith – and Keala Settle’s ‘This Is Me’ from the movie and soundtrack mega-hit ‘The Greatest Showman’. Huge era-defining songs from Lewis Capaldi, Billie Eilish and The Weeknd bring the collection into the ‘20s. Up next are introductory hits from Glass Animals and Olivia Rodrigo, along with more #1s from Lil Nas X, Elton John & Dua Lipa and David Guetta & Bebe Rexha. The Eurovision Song Contest in 2022 provided a huge hit for Sam Ryder, and in 2023 for Loreen… the final track, taken from the Summer of 2023 is ‘Padam Padam’ from Kylie Minogue – an artist who has enjoyed - much like NOW That’s What I Call Music! - continued success during five decades from the ‘80s to the ‘20s.

NOW That’s What I Call 40 Years – celebrating NOW’s legacy with Massive Pop Hits from the past 40 years.