List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2003

Uncle Kracker's cover version of "Drift Away" held the number one position for 23 consecutive weeks.

Adult Contemporary is a chart published by Billboard ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the adult contemporary music (AC) market. In 2003, eight different songs topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weekly airplay data from radio stations compiled by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

In the first issue of Billboard of the new year, the number one song was Josh Groban's rendition of the 19th century Christmas song "O Holy Night", which was in its second week atop the chart. It held the top spot for a single week in 2003 before being replaced by "Cry" by country singer Faith Hill. Five of the year's eight chart-toppers featured female vocalists, including "Beautiful", which gave pop singer Christina Aguilera her first AC number one. The song had been considered for release as the first single from Aguilera's album Stripped, but was passed over in favor of the uptempo, sexually-charged song "Dirrty". When that single performed poorly, "Beautiful", a ballad with themes of personal acceptance and inner beauty, was released and went on to become one of the singer's signature tracks. None of 2003's AC number ones topped Billboard's all-genre chart, the Hot 100; Aguilera's "Beautiful" came the closest, peaking at number 2. In 2003 the top spot on the Hot 100 was almost exclusively occupied by R&B and hip hop acts such as Beyoncé and 50 Cent.

In the issue of Billboard dated June 7, Uncle Kracker reached the top spot on the AC listing with his rendition of "Drift Away", featuring additional vocals by Dobie Gray, who had achieved the biggest hit of his career with his version of the song in 1973. It was the first AC number one for Kracker, who had launched a solo career as a singer in 2000 after performing as the backing DJ for rap rock star Kid Rock. Released as the lead single from Kracker's second solo album No Stranger to Shame, his version of "Drift Away" topped the AC listing for 23 consecutive weeks, keeping it atop the chart into November. It would ultimately achieve a total of 28 weeks at number one, a new record for the AC chart which would stand until 2019 when it was broken by the band Maroon 5. Despite this level of success, however, it would prove to be Kracker's only AC number one. The year's final AC number one was "Unwell" by the band Matchbox Twenty.

Chart history

File:Santana Acer Arena Sydney (5560384540).jpg

Santana (leader Carlos Santana pictured) had two spells at number one with "The Game of Love", featuring vocalist Michelle Branch.

"Beautiful" was the first AC number one for Christina Aguilera.

Shania Twain topped the chart with "Forever and for Always".

American rock band Matchbox Twenty ended the year at number one with their song “Unwell”

Key

Indicates best-performing AC song of 2003

Issue date	Title	Artist(s)	Ref.
January 4	"O Holy Night"	Josh Groban
January 11	"Cry"	Faith Hill
January 18
January 25
February 1
February 8
February 15	"Landslide"	Dixie Chicks
February 22
March 1
March 8
March 15
March 22
March 29
April 5	"The Game of Love"	Santana featuring Michelle Branch
April 12
April 19	"Beautiful"	Christina Aguilera
April 26
May 3
May 10
May 17
May 24	"The Game of Love"	Santana featuring Michelle Branch
May 31
June 7	"Drift Away"	Uncle Kracker featuring Dobie Gray
June 14
June 21
June 28
July 5
July 12
July 19
July 26
August 2
August 9
August 16
August 23
August 30
September 6
September 13
September 20
September 27
October 4
October 11
October 18
October 25
November 1
November 8
November 15	"Forever and for Always"	Shania Twain
November 22	"Drift Away"	Uncle Kracker featuring Dobie Gray
November 29
December 6	"Forever and for Always"	Shania Twain
December 13
December 20	"Unwell"	Matchbox Twenty
December 27

See also

• 2003 in music
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart