Released: 24th November 2023. 'NOW That's What I Call Music!' is excited to celebrate our 40th anniversary, and we are proud to present four very special collector's editions that together present 250 essential hits from the past 40 years on CD.
The third of these is 'NOW That's What I Call 40 Years: Volume 3 - 2003-2013'. Looking back at 10 years of huge Pop hits, this special edition 3CD is housed in 'hard-back-book' packaging, including a 26-page booklet featuring a summary of the era, a track-by-track guide, a quiz, plus original singles and NOW artwork. 63 tracks that span 10 years of NOW releases, including tracks from all of the numbered NOW That's What I Call Music! albums from NOW 55 to NOW 85.
CD 1 kicks off with 50 Cent's rap classic and 2003's biggest single in the U.S. 'In Da Club', followed by R&B hits from Kelis and Outkast, and pop smashes from Justin Timberlake and Sugababes. The mid-noughties saw first #1s from Natasha Bedingfield, James Blunt, Stereophonics, The Pussycat Dolls and Gnarls Barkley, whose #1 'Crazy' in 2006 became not only that year's best seller, but also the first single to reach #1 on download only sales. Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, and Alexandra Burke all won the TV talent show 'The X-Factor' and enjoyed massive #1s, and JLS, Olly Murs and One Direction also went on to huge success - all feature on this collection. Pop royalty Take That returned, and Amy Winehouse and Duffy emerged (achieving huge album sales). Coldplay hit #1 with 'Viva La Vida', and the end of Disc 2 features The Black Eyed Peas, and Lady Gaga with electro-dance pop floor-fillers. Bruno Mars enjoyed his first #1 with B.o.B on 'Nothin' On You' which opens Disc 3. As the 'Tens' decade got underway, Katy Perry, CeeLo Green, Jessie J and Jennifer Lopez all released massive pop tracks to great success, and are all included... and in 2011 Lana Del Rey released the defining 'Video Games'. Fabulous collaborations follow from David Guetta feat. Sia, Fun. feat. Janelle Monae, will.i.am & Britney Spears, and Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX, plus Florence + The Machine who reached #1 with a fantastic Calvin Harris remix of their track 'Spectrum (Say My Name)'. Bastille feature with their first Top 3 single 'Pompeii', and the volume closes with 'Another Love' by Tom Odell - a single that would become enduringly popular and return to the Top 10 nine years later.
NOW That's What I Call 40 Years' - celebrating NOW's legacy with Massive Pop Hits from the past 40 years.