Official Charts Flashback 2008: Beyonce – If I Were A Boy

It’s five years since Beyoncé’s 'ballad with bite' topped the Official Singles Chart.

If Beyoncé knows how to do one thing, it’s surprise her audience. Having previously relied on bangers like Crazy In Love and Deja Vu to introduce the world to her previous two albums, Bey tried a different approach for the third. For the launch of her third album I Am… Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé decided one lead single simply wouldn’t do, so she unleashed two.

Along with instant earworm and expertly choreographed masterpiece Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), she also released the bittersweet ballad If I Were A Boy. The track was something of a departure for Beyoncé. While she’d never been shy of dishing out punishment to useless blokes in storming putdowns, this was the first time Beyoncé mixed anger with a little bit of sorrow and vulnerability on a single.

The song’s message was simple: boys, think about what it’s like to be a girl and then maybe stop acting like a jerk (or perhaps something stronger). The formula worked and If I Were A Boy became Queen B’s fourth Number 1 single as a solo artist.

The song’s popularity was helped by Beyoncé making some faultless promo appearances in the UK. A couple of weeks after the song was Number 1, it enjoyed a resurgence in popularity thanks to Beyoncé performing the track on The X Factor. She also made a young soon-to-be popstar’s dream come true when she performed a rousing version of her Dreamgirls signature song Listen with finalist Alexandra Burke. We still can’t watch that without some serious blubbing going on. (Watch that very clip at the end of this article, because it's got all the feels.)

If I Were A Boy is Beyoncé’s best-selling single, and has shifted 746,000 copies and spent over a year in the Top 200 of the Official Singles Chart. Over 400 people bought it just last week!

Its close relation Single Ladies may have peaked at Number 7, but it’s racked up impressive sales too, shifting over 704,000 copies. Beyoncé has only been back at Number 1 once since, with her Lady Gaga collaboration Telephone in 2010.

Watch the video for If I Were A Boy before we take a look at the rest of that week’s Top 5 and beyond.

At Number 2, a former chart-topper from The X Factor 2008 finalists, including eventual winner Alexandra ‘Burko’ Burke, JLS (who we interviewed recently), Eoghan Quigg (you may say “who?!” but he actually came third!), Diana Vickers and Ruth Lorenzo. The track was a cover of Mariah Carey’s Hero (a Number 7 hit for her in 1993) and was in aid of the Help For Heroes and Royal British Legion charities. It was the second biggest selling single of the year and has shifted over 825,000 copies.

Taking the bronze this week in 2008 was Brandon Flowers and his band of not-that-merry-really men, The Killers, with Human. This would be The Killers’ fourth and final Top 10 hit on the Official Singles Chart and would go no higher than Number 3. Only once have they improved on this chart position – When You Were Young got to Number 2 in 2006.

At Number 4 was rapper T.I. and queen of the collaboration Rihanna with Live Your Life. It was RiRi’s third top 10 hit of 2008 and peaked at Number 2. She’d hit Number 1 all by herself for the second time in May with Take A Bow. Six more chart-toppers were in Rihanna’s future. Can you name them all? T.I. also had a Number 1 to look forward to, and while he had to wait another five years to get it, his appearance on Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines was probably worth it – it’s the best selling single of 2013 so far.

Rounding off the Top 5 was Katy Perry with her second Top 10 hit, a tribute to bath taps everywhere: Hot N Cold. See the full Top 40 for this week in 2008.

Watch Bey knock it out of the park duetting with The X Factor 2008 winner Alexandra Burke.