It's day three of Chart Rigger's look back at pop history over the past half decade, to commemorate the blog's five-year anniversary. Today's timeline focuses on the year 2007.* JANUARY 2007: Mika hits the scene, tops the U.K. chart with "Grace Kelly." Former Steps member Ian "H" Watkins comes out just before his stint on Celebrity Big Brother begins.
* FEBRUARY 2007: Britney Spears, now separated from Kevin Federline, shaves her head at a Tarzana, California hair salon. Days later she enters rehab. After ten weeks at #1, Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" is replaced (ha!) by Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right." 'The Dixie Chicks win all five Grammy Awards they're nominated for. Take That wins the Best Single BRIT Award for "Patience." Kylie Minogue enlists fledgling 23-year-old bedroom DJ Calvin Harris to work on her new album after finding him on MySpace. Dannii Minogue goes on Simon Cowell's payroll by becoming a judge on Australia's Got Talent. Leona Lewis signs a U.S. record deal worth $9.7 million.
* MARCH 2007: Fergie tops the U.S. chart with "Glamorous." Take That top the U.K. chart with "Shine." MTV's Total Request Live is no longer taped live every day. Short-lived British pop quartet Scooch, who disbanded after their 2000 album Four Sure, reunite and win the vote to represent England in the Eurovision Song Contest.
* APRIL 2007: Alanis Morissette's cover of the Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps" becomes a viral video hit. Timbaland releases Shock Value, and OneRepublic and Keri Hilson are introduced to the masses. Reports surface that boy band mogul Louis Pearlman is wanted by the FBI for orchestrating a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme over the years. Avril Lavigne scores her first #1 single in the U.S. with "Girlfriend." Rihanna releases a little something called "Umbrella."
* MAY 2007: British Prime Minister Tony Blair announces his resignation. Dannii Minogue is hired as a judge on The X Factor. Kelly Clarkson publicly catfights with label boss Clive Davis over her latest album My December. Rihanna tops both the U.S. and U.K. charts with "Umbrella." Scooch place 24th (out of 25) at Eurovision, but land their song "Flying The Flag (For You)" at #5 in the U.K. chart. The Feeling pick up the "Songwriter Of The Year" honor at England's Ivor Novello Awards.
* JUNE 2007: All five original Spice Girls announce they're reuniting for a world tour later in the year. Troubled British soul singer Amy Winehouse cracks the U.S. Top 10 with "Rehab."
* JULY 2007: After seven weeks, Rihanna's "Umbrella" is bumped off the top of the Billboard Hot 100 by Plain White T's' "Hey There Delilah." A band called the Rubinoos sue Avril Lavigne for alleged similarities between her hit "Girlfriend" and their song "I Want To Be Your Boyfriend." The video for "If That's OK With You," the first single off Shayne Ward's sophomore album surfaces. Simon Cowell is reportedly unhappy with the track.
* AUGUST 2007: High School Musical 2 airs on the Disney Channel, and Zac Efron appears on the cover of Rolling Stone in a white T-shirt (that he's tearing off). Fergie lands her third #1 solo single in the U.S. with "Big Girls Don't Cry." Robyn and Kleerup's "With Every Heartbeat" tops the U.K. chart.
* SEPTEMBER 2007: World famous tenor Luciano Pavarotti dies at 71. Britney Spears lip syncs and stumbles through an embarrassingly disastrous performance of "Gimme More" at the MTV VMAs. 50 Cent and Kanye West enter into a much-hyped chart battle when their albums are released the same week. Kanye wins. Sugababes' "About You Now" goes to #1 in the U.K.
* OCTOBER 2007: Despite hardly any promotion (other than a godawful appearance at the VMAs), Britney Spears' "Gimme More" charts at #3 on the Hot 100. Madonna signs a $120 million deal with Live Nation. Leona Lewis releases "Bleeding Love" in the U.K. and it hits #1, keeping Take That held at #2 for an entire month with "Rule The World." Danish pop act Aqua announce they're reuniting seven years after the release of their last album.
* NOVEMBER 2007: The week Britney Spears' fifth album Blackout is released, Billboard revises its chart rules so that The Eagles' Long Road Out Of Eden—which is only available at Walmart—is eligible for the Top 200 Albums. It ends up blocking Britney from hitting #1. The Spice Girls release "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)," their first new single in seven years. Kylie Minogue releases tenth studio album X around the globe (except in the States).
* DECEMBER 2007: The Spice Girls' reunion tour hits Los Angeles. I am wowed. Timbaland premieres new Madonna song "4 Minutes" at the Philadelphia Jingle Ball, months before the single is released. Kylie Minogue perfoms on The X Factor the night Leon Jackson wins. Chart Rigger names Soulja Boy Tell 'Em's "Crank That" as the Worst Single Of 2007, and Robyn and Kleerup's "With Every Heartbeat" as the Best Pop Single Of 2007.
ALSO SEE:
* The Chart Rigger Timeline, Part One: 2005
* The Chart Rigger Timeline, Part Two: 2006