This was the first big hit that the Black-Eyed Peas had in most parts of the world, likely due to the inclusion of Justin Timberlake on the chorus as well as it being their first single where they included Fergie as an official member of the group. The song is also one of their rare conscious hip hop tracks given how it's about the racial injustice of the world and them pleading for there to be racial harmony.
To think this was originally commissioned for the terrible (in my opinion at least) film adaptation of the Daredevil comics starring Ben Affleck, specifically for the scene where Elektra Natchios (played by Jennifer Garner) is training in her mansion with sandbags. At least the song was effective in the scene it was used in as it single handedly launched Evanescence into the mainstream as their debut single.
Well, if you ever wanted to hear what the Macarena would sound like if it were written and performed by women, then you're in luck because that's the best way to describe this track from the Spanish trio Las Ketchup who scored a massive worldwide hit with this track that seems to be recorded in Spanish, English and Portuguese and even comes with some random words that aren't from any language.
Given how Eminem was at the height of his popularity this year, it only seems fitting that a protegee of his would find massive success worldwide which was the case for Curtis Jackson AKA 50 cent. Here we have his club banger which became a massive success for the east coast rapper (despite it being produced by Dr Dre) which led to him having massive success from the album it came from.
If this feels like a victory single to anyone, rest assured that it isn't as it's in fact the debut single from Delta Goodrem who took a circuitous route in becoming a successful musician as she first appeared on Neighbors as Nina Tucker before translating the popularity she had on the show into her music career. I guess you can argue this is a victory single in that regard, although the rest of the album has more personality to it.
This was the theme to Eminem's autobiographical film about his rise to the height of his popularity, it was released during the album cycle of his biggest and (in my opinion) best album the Eminem show where it dominated the charts worldwide due to how big it became in the rap scene. It was also the first hip hop number to win an academy award due to how it resonated with audiences back in the day.
Much like "How you remind me" two years prior, this song was also a hit here in Australia much sooner than it was over in America given how it managed to be one of the biggest hits of the year down under before it even touched the upper echelons of the Billboard charts. I maintain that these guys were very over hated throughout the decade as while their songs did sound similar to each other, there were far worse songs floating around.
This was not only the second single from Nelly's sophomore album Nellyville, but also confusingly the lead single to Kelly Rowland's solo debut Simply deep which is weird because she doesn't contribute much to the song as it's mainly from Nelly's perspective. The dilemma in question is that Nelly is in love with Kelly, but Kelly is currently in a relationship even though she also has feelings for him.
It may surprise you to learn that Beyonce had quite a few love ballads in her career prior to becoming the feminist icon that she's been since her third solo album I am Sasha fierce, this was one of them and arguably her biggest hit where she's not putting down a member of the male population as she teams up with Sean Paul of all people on this ballad about how much they're in love with each other.
This is one of those songs I personally find to be irritating, namely because there's only so many times I can hear the phrase shut up before I personally go insane. With that said, this was a massive follow up to "Where is the love" worldwide for the Black-eyed peas as it depicts Fergie telling the other three members to shut up in the chorus as they spit bars about how they treat her and her not putting up with it.
It seems weird that this would be the bigger hit for 50 cent here in Australia than his second Billboard chart topper "21 questions" mainly because this was a song about how as he puts it is a motherf**king pimp which is why you shouldn't mess with him. I guess we Aussies preferred him being confrontational rather than him being a romantic.
This wasn't a big hit in Amanda Perez's native America, it did OK, but it wasn't a giant hit like it was for her in the southern hemisphere on Billboard. I can understand how this was so big in NZ given how it's a contemporary Christian RNB number, however I can only assume this was a big hit here in Australia due to there being a sudden rise in popularity with songs about questioning one's faith in religion.
This is one of those ironic songs where the melody is upbeat and happy, but the lyrics are actually about a relationship being on its last legs as Andre 3000 sings about the woes of his love life. It was the lead single to the duo's double album which actually comprises of two solo albums where the duo eased fans into the fact that they were thinking of splitting up which is what happened later in the decade.
This is one of two collaborations that J-Lo made with LL Cool J throughout the decade, the other was with "Control myself" three years later which was a hit in most parts of the world but not here in Australia. Here the duo is in a relationship that's falling apart and how she feels like that her pride is all she has left, although in the chorus, he points out that she no longer has that either.
I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I used to like this song from Limp Bizkit, admittedly I wasn't aware of the original version from the Who until much later in life which should be a testament to how well written the song is when even Fred Durst manages to find some meaning in it thirty years after the original was released. I'm guessing that's how this managed to be such a huge hit for the band back in the day.
I guess the first Bad boys film spawned not one but two big hits that took the world by storm in 1995 (those being "Shy guy" and "I've got a little something for you") so it makes sense that the sequel would also have a massive hit with this posse cut from Nelly, his protegee Murphy Lee and P Diddy of all people. It was a massive hit worldwide despite criticisms involving the chanting on the track and the police siren in the production.
If you felt that her earlier entry on this list was too much of a victory single from a reality show, then fear not as the rest of Delta's catalogue (well at least most of it) is a lot more personal such as this second single from her debut album which details her trying to live without her partner at the time. It was the second of six consecutive chart toppers here in Australia for her which predictably led to her backlash.
This is the last hit that Shaggy was able to achieve anywhere in the world, mainly because there's two versions of the song floating around which helped it become a hit here albeit slowly as the remix was released much later than the original version. Both versions have Brian and Tony Gold handling the chorus while Shaggy himself raps about how the woman in question turns him on.
It feels weird that Kelly Rowland was the first member of Destiny's child to release a solo album given how she's long since faded into obscurity since the demise of the girl group, here she is with her first solo single which is an ode to her fallen friends she lost during her teenage years that she felt she should've been there for. It remains a highly poignant track from her to this day and was a guaranteed hit for her back then.
This was the third entry from Delta's debut album, this time it's the title track from said album which is a reflection of how far she came from when she began her long journey as a musician which obviously connected with audiences who likely initially felt she was the Australian equivalent of the likes of Mariah Carey or P!nk. It was her third chart topper in a row, although like the rest of her catalogue, audiences have since come around for this track.
It looked like the Counting crows would only be known for their debut album from 1993, however their fortunes changed when this cover of the Joni Mitchell classic was chosen to be the theme to the rom com Two weeks' notice which stars Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant. The film isn't very good as it hinges on the premise that they'll end up together despite him being a thorn in her side.
This was the only other hit that Atomic Kitten managed to achieve in Australia, I'm guessing because they interpolate the Blondie classic of the same name in the chorus while they provide their own verses which makes the song their own. Like many British groups of the late 90's and early 00's, they were much more popular in NZ likely due to the kiwis following the British charts as opposed to the American charts like we were.
This is another deeply personal ballad that came from Delta Goodrem's debut album, this time it's about her complicated feelings towards her partner which seems to go against "Lost without you" from earlier on this list which showcases the range of emotions she has throughout the album. It was her fourth consecutive chart topper, which meant that she already broke the record for most chart toppers from a single album in Australia with this entry.
This is a song that reminds me of "Antmusic" from over two decades prior, mainly because it was a song boasting about how awesome the act in question was and how they were going to shape the culture of the music industry only to turn out to be a flash in the pan in the long run. In this case it's the British RNB group Big brovaz who did indeed make a huge splash with this track and two other songs much like Adam and the Ants did in the 80's.
In case you were wondering, this is indeed a remix of a track from R Kelly's album Chocolate factory that he released due to the song having some of the stranger lyrics in his catalogue. Somehow, the troubled RNB singer (I won't go into why that is on this site) is a two-hit wonder here in Australia with this remix and one other song on this list as none of his other songs managed to become a hit like they did internationally.
If my American readers are confused as to where this song came from, that's because it wasn't released as a single over there as "Clap back" was released instead which was a massive flop for the rapper worldwide. This was a massive hit here in Australia which goes to show how much we Aussies loved him back in the day, although that love wouldn't last much longer thanks to his beef with 50 cent.
This is a song that was meant to be a tribute to Madonna who was quickly becoming less relevant in the mainstream by the time of its song's release, to do this the Androids compared her favourably to other female pop stars of the moment and how they couldn't hold a candle to the queen of pop's legacy. It was a surprise hit for the Australian band likely due to the video where the members cosplay as the different pop stars.
This fifth single from Innocent eyes sort of cheated in becoming a chart topper for Delta Goodrem as it came bundled with her cover of "Happy X mas" given how it was released during the Christmas period of 2003. Even so, it allowed her to become the only artist to score five chart toppers from a single album in Australia as no other album has spawned more than three chart toppers down under over the years.
This was the only hit to come from B2K even in their native America, I'm guessing P Diddy's desires of managing boy and girl bands would only last him for one song each as the female counterpart to these guys Dream (well white girl counterpart) only scored one hit two years prior with "He loves u not" before they too faded into obscurity (not here in Australia obviously.) These two acts were his only notable success in this regard.
I think I'm in the minority when I say that this is my favourite song from Jewel, sure it's a sellout and a complete betrayal of what she had released prior, however I appreciate her trying to make a pop song and I think she did a fairly good job on this track. Of course, her justification for this song in particular is that it was supposed to be a parody of pop songs which many have felt had become vacuous by this point.
This was Jay-Z's first big hit here in Australia, even as a featured artist, he didn't have any success prior to this collaboration with his future wife Beyonce about how they were the (then) modern equivalent of Bonnie and Clyde. This song samples "Me and my girlfriend" by 2pac when he was known as Makaveli, I thought I'd bring that up given how this east coast rapper sampled a west coast rapper.
Following the success she had with Josh Abrahams the previous year throughout Europe as the Puretones on their rebranded collaboration of "Addicted to bass," Amiel Daemion finally released a solo single which was a massive hit here in Australia due to it being about how she wrote as she puts it a "stupid love song" following the end of her relationship with someone that clearly connected with us Aussies.
This will be Busta Rhymes one of only two appearances on the Australian side of my site as the rapper never had much success here for some reason, even so this isn't much of a hip hop track as the rapper instead sings on this song along with Mariah Carey who was still very much cancelled around this time due to her erratic behaviour around the time she starred in her first film Glitter.
This was supposed to be the song which confirmed J-Lo as someone who was down to earth and not a spoilt rich diva, I guess it's safe to say that she's long given up on this endeavour as there is countless evidence to support the fact that she is a toxic celebrity who only ever thinks of herself in recent years. None of this stopped the song from being a huge success for her back in the day, likely due to how bouncy it is.
This was the final hit to come from No doubt before they went their separate ways to allow Gwen Stefani to embark on a solo career, although the real accomplishment this song achieved was it that it allowed people to discover the original from Talk talk as it wasn't a hit anywhere in the world back in the 80's. I don't think the original even appeared on oldies stations until this version became a massive worldwide hit.
This is where it all began for Kelly Clarkson outside her native America as this second single from her debut album managed to crossover here in Australia due to its lyrics of a woman (presumably Kelly herself) regretting shutting herself off from affection out of fear of being mistreated. It remains a poignant track to this day and was a hint of what was to come on her subsequent albums.
This was the third and final hit to come from Big Brovaz worldwide, likely due to the video which was clearly meant to be an homage to the TV show Friends (solving that shows issue of having an all-white cast in the process.) It was a much more sentimental track from the group who introduced themselves to the world as a tough RNB group who was all about being hard edge.
It blows my mind when people say that teen pop was dead once the turn of the millennium happened at the start of the decade, it's true that the boy band wars had died off (for the most part) however teen pop still had its place in the mainstream as evidence by the two entries that Stacie Orrico has on this list alone. This was the bigger of the two hits due to how she was in a complicated relationship with her partner.
This was one of two hits that Sean Paul had in Australia as a lead artist, this is impressive considering how he only ever had a hit as a featured artist over in NZ which is bizarre considering the kiwis would've loved this guy throughout the 90's if he had released his catalogue back then. Another surprise is that he was massive over in the UK given how the Brits also didn't have much love for reggae over the years.
Now I know I should think this cover is awful especially since I'm a huge fan of Fleetwood Mac, however anything that makes me think of the band and especially Stevie Nicks is a win in my book which means this cover is fine with me. It was a surprise hit for the Dixie chicks given how they were on the cusp of getting cancelled when it was released due to them dissing the (then) current president.
This was released mere months after the MTV music awards where Madonna kissed both Britney and Christina Aguilera on stage, meaning that moment was meant to hype up this lead single to Britney's fourth album In the zone which it did as it became the biggest hit of the decade for her in most parts of the world. Admittedly Madonna doesn't add much to the track as she's mostly there to bring up the lesbian aspect of the track.
The lead single to their second album was a bit of a commercial disappointment here in Australia, however this second single from the album was a massive hit for them likely because of it being an honest display of Chester Bennington's pain that definitively connected with audiences back in the day. It was so popular that it was mashed up with Jay-Z's "Encore" where it became an even bigger hit.
There are two versions of this track that contributed to its success, there's the original which was a solo venture from Blu Cantrell where she fancied herself a rapper to try and convey the guy's perspective of this song about them falling out with each other. This version didn't go over very well likely due to her cosplaying as her partner, so a remix was commissioned with Sean Paul proving new verses which was much better received.
This is an English cover of In grid's debut single from two years prior, it was a huge hit here in Australia likely due to the opulence of the production which allows it to still be used in ads for fancy jewellery and holiday destinations to this day. In grid was an Italian pop diva who saw much more success throughout Europe than she did in English speaking parts of the world due to the language barrier of her music.
Before Hannah Montanna, there was Lizzie McGuire which was a Disney show about a teenage girl dealing with her day-to-day struggles. It starred Hilary Duff in the title role who would go on to have a singing career once the movie premiered in theatres this year, this being the biggest hit in her career likely due to the success of the show and the film she starred in.
This was a surprisingly good year for music to appeal to lesbians, wasn't it? Although I should point out that this Russian duo isn't a gay couple or even gay themselves and were only showing their support for the queer community (a bold stance for them considering Russia's stance on said community) with this song and music video which has the clever spin of having the homophobes be prisoners instead of them.
The last time Snoop Dogg had a hit here in Australia was almost a decade prior with his breakthrough single "What's my name," so to see him return with a song that seems to be respectful towards women as opposed to his other hit which had casual sexism in it (it's not as offensive as you would think) is a bit of a surprise but inevitable given its catchy chorus and production provided by Pharrell Williams.
This was the only hit for both people involved on this track here in Australia, although both of them were much more popular in America given how Fabolous scored a bunch of hits on Billboard whilst Tamia was a popular choice for a guest vocalist on other people's tracks over there. As with most tracks with a male rapper and female singer, this was a "thugs need love too" anthem that was popular back in the day.
Although the kiwis were quick in making Missy Elliott a household name in the late 90's, we Aussies didn't give the female rapper a chance until she released what would be her biggest hit in her native America, even then it had a slow rise to its success as it was released towards the end of the previous year down under. This is Missy's signature track as it is the perfect example of her displaying her sexual nature despite being aware she's not conventionally attractive.
This was meant to be Christina Aguilera's self-empowerment anthem; it was a massive hit for her due to it coming from an album where she strips herself of the pop machine that made her a household name during her time with Disney and thus makes it more genuine from her than if she had of released it earlier in her career. I get the feeling this also would've been even bigger here if digital downloads were legal at the time.
This was the biggest hit from JT's solo debut album Justified, mainly because it's well known that it was written for the king of pop in mind who passed this up for reasons I can't seem to ascertain. Justin scooped it up and strangely didn't have it be the lead single for whatever reason as it was clear from the get-go that this would be the song to launch his career away from N sync following his breakup with Britney Spears.
This was the only major hit that Candice Alley managed to achieve in her career, it was a massive hit upon its initial release likely due to it being well promoted this year along with many other tracks from Australian artists prior to when Australian idol took over our music scene by the end of the year. Candice would have a second minor hit later in the year with "Obsession" which has a similar subject matter to this ballad.
Given how well-loved Nelly was from around this time, it only seems fitting that Chingy would follow suit into being an overnight sensation from the mid-west which began with his debut single which contains the infamous line "give me what you got for a porkchop." The song regularly appears on worst of the 00's lists for the line in question as well as people believing that Chingy isn't a good rapper.
I get the feeling if we Aussies were more open to allowing British artists to make it big throughout the decade then this British trio would've had a ton of success here, after all they did have a minor hit with "One night stand" the previous year which sounded similar to their biggest hit. I guess the lyrical content is different as that's about having a one-night stand whereas this is about wanting more out of a relationship.
We looked at Kelly Rowland's solo debut from earlier on this list, now let's look at the song that introduced Beyonce as a solo artist which comes complete with a guest verse with her future husband Jay z who she's obviously crazy in love with on this track. It feels weird that this wasn't among the bigger hits of the year in Australia, mainly because I remember this being overplayed to hell and back.
This wasn't nearly as successful internationally as it was on Billboard where it became 50 cent's second consecutive chart topper, and in case you were wondering, yes there are exactly 21 questions asked in this song (even if some of them were asked more than once.) I think the real appeal of this track was having Nate Dogg on the chorus who just like on "Regulate" nine years prior, delivers a killer chorus.
I think this is the first hit to become as such thanks to the power of text to speech, and who says that AI generated content is a recent phenomenon when it was able to give Italian DJ Benny Benassi a hit in the early to mid 00's? Of course, the real success of this song comes from its two music videos, both of which are completely bizarre which of course makes it a shoe in for my inevitable weirdest videos list.
I've heard people describe P!nk as little more as little more than an industry plant for the pop rock sphere to seem as real as possible despite being completely fake, to those people, I point them to this fourth and final single from her sophomore album which is about her coping with the divorce of her parents which greatly connected with people back in the day to allow it to be a huge hit for her.
The hits kept on coming for Ja Rule in Australia as he released the lead single to his album the Last temptation, I'm guessing it was due to the presence of Bobby Brown who hadn't had a hit here for a decade and was now providing a chorus for Ja about what it's like to have thug loving (basically a term he coined for the "thugs need love too" troupe.) This was a huge flop for him in his native America, although at least it was released over there.
This was the only hit that Ja Rule had from his album the Last temptation in his native America, I'm guessing it was mainly for the video which is an homage to the final song sequent from Grease only with Ja Rule as Danny and Ashanti as Sandy (this was a good year for musicians of colour taking on roles originally done by Caucasian actors.) It's also the second "thugs need love too" ballad from the pair in question.
This will be one of only three appearances from the Sugababes on the Australian side of my site, although like most British groups (specifically the girl groups) they were much more successful over in NZ throughout the decade. The girls are best known for their multiple lineup changes throughout their career, to the point whereby the time the band was no more, none of the original members were a part of the group.
This was the only hit to come from Puddle of Mudd here in Australia, although their big hit internationally was "Blurry" from the previous year which flopped here for some reason. The song is infamous for being written from the perspective of a teenage boy who got dumped for the first time, at least that's what people who despise this song have claimed given how it's been widely mocked since its initial release.
My American readers are likely confused as to how this managed to become a hit here in Australia given how it wasn't even released as a single over there, I guess we Aussies didn't want a song as controversial as "Superman" to become a success here, so instead we went with this as the fourth single from the album instead of that which the rest of the world followed suit with.
There have been plenty of ballads like this over the years to make it big, however I feel this was the first to make it big solely for why it exists which is that it's a victory single for the winner of the first season of Australian idol Guy Sebastian. This is someone I personally don't have much respect for reasons I won't get into on this site but suffice to say I'm not a fan of his music.
It appears we Aussies were a bit amused with this fourth and final single from JT's solo debut album, not amused enough to make it a massive hit like his earlier entry on this list but amused enough to make it a hit despite it flopping everywhere else in the world except for NZ. The reason why this wasn't that big is likely due to the outro where Justin does a call and response for guys and girls listening, specifically him impersonating his female audience in the outro.
Following the massive success she had with her sophomore album, Kasey Chambers decided to hold fans over between that and her third album by releasing this cover of the Cyndi Lauper classic from the 80's which proved to be a massive hit for the Australian country singer upon its immediate release.
This was originally the B-side to Elvis's hit single "Don't cry daddy" from 1970, there it was a big hit here in Australia and in most parts of the world given that it was the first song he released after the success of "Suspicious minds." British DJ Paul Oakenfold decided to remix the track where it became a big success for the king of rock and roll posthumously just like "A little less conversation" the previous year.
Well, this is a song that I'm sure was a success purely through wholesome values, OK jokes aside, this was a song that was tailor made to be as explicit as possible given how we have the female rapper Khia exploiting her sexuality that only those who find her attractive could appreciate (which admittedly would be a lot of people as she is conventionally attractive.) It took a while to take off in Australia, but once it did it was a massive hit.
It looked like Matchbox 20's third album would be a commercial disappointment for them worldwide given how its lead single "Disease" failed to become a hit anywhere in the world the previous year. Fortunately, this second single from the album proved to be a massive success here in Australia and the band's native America, likely due to the video which compliments the lyrics about Rob Thomas dealing with mental health issues.
This is often considered the best song to come from JT given how it airs out his dirty laundry with Britney Spears as it was recorded not long after their breakup, I won't go into the details of what drove them apart except by mentioning that it involved her hooking up with Wade Robson while she was dating Justin. It was the weakest selling single on the album at the time, although time has made it more popular over the years.
This is another song on this list that's much lower than it probably should be, although it had the similar fate to U2's "Beautiful day" from the start of the decade where it had strong first week sales and then quickly dropped out of the charts as opposed to many entries that had their releases tampered with by our music industry. This was the lead single to Kylie's album Body language, a mixed bag of a release that many fans will say was her last decent album.
This will be the final appearance of Holly Valance on my site, mainly because "State of mind" wasn't a big enough hit here to qualify for this list even though it might arguably be her best song (it's my personal favourite at least.) Instead, we have this third hit from her debut album which is about how she know she's a "naughty girl" (whatever that's supposed to mean) and how she can't help by be the way she is.
This was Stacie Orrico's other big hit here in Australia and in most parts of the world outside her native America, here she's contemplating about her purpose in life and whether she's living it to her fullest potential which no doubt helped audiences appreciate their own place in this world back in the day. It was a very poignant track considering it was a teen pop number, although it would also be her final hit.
This was another female empowerment anthem to become a hit worldwide, this time it comes from Christina Aguilera and Lil Kim who collaborated with each other for the second time this decade after "Lady marmalade" from two years prior for a song that might not have been as successful, but still resonated with audiences worldwide due to them making an anthem for women for the ages.
Given that "Stronger" was a defining moment in Britney Spears career when it comes to female empowerment, I guess it's only fitting that Christina Aguilera would make a song of her own where she overcomes an abusive relationship only to thank her toxic partner for making her a stronger person in the process. It was as successful as her former rival's track from earlier in the decade even though it was far better received by critics.
This was released the previous year in Gareth Gates native UK when he came second in the short-lived series Pop idol, basically it was a version of Popstars but for solo artists much like what that series would become throughout the decade. I'm not sure why this was released as a single here in Australia a year later, however it was which led to it becoming a surprise hit for the British contestant.
This is the second single where Robbie Williams is questioning his place in this world, while it isn't as anti-religious as "Better man" was, it does have references to how he feels that God doesn't think much of him throughout the song that makes it somewhat similar to that song. It was a massive hit for him worldwide and likely the reason why his third album this decade was a massive success here in Australia.
Although she managed to score two hits from her third album here in Australia, neither of them was that big and the album wound up underperforming for P!nk which suggested that her time in the spotlight was up which thankfully wasn't the case as we'll see later in the decade. It's a shame this underperformed because it's one of her more fun tracks about how much of a troublemaker she can be.
Given how the Eminem show was meant to debunk all of the controversies that were lobbied against Eminem, it only makes sense that he would make this the centrepiece of the album which of course meant that it would be released as a single right after his entry from towards the top of this list. While it didn't win over his haters, it did reassure those who were on the fence that no, he wasn't a violent misogynistic homophobe like he portrayed himself as on his albums.
This was the last song to become a hit for Craig David outside his native UK, although I get the feeling this was the case due to it sampling Sting's "Shape of my heart" from his 1993 album Ten summoner's tales and even managed to get Sting to rerecord the chorus on this track which connects the verses together. It was also the first time Sting managed to score a hit anywhere in the world in over a decade.
The first season of Australian idol was such a phenomenon here in Australia that its theme song was an instant number one hit when Sony of Australia decided to release it as a single, although the real success from the show came with Guy Sebastian's earlier entry on this list becoming the biggest hit of the decade and the second biggest hit of all time behind Elton John's tribute to Princess Diana from 1997.
I think this may be the shortest song I ever feature on this site, even if I were to go back to the 60's, this would still hold that record due to it not even being a minute and a half long. I suppose calling this a song is stretching it as it's more a quick comedy routine set to rock music that amused fans of MTV back in the day from comedian Liam Lynch.
This served both as the theme song to the second Charlie's angels' film as well as the lead single to P!nk's third album Try this, neither project was well received at the time (despite the album being excellent in my opinion) which was a sign that her time in the spotlight was coming to an end. As bad as the film was, it's still infinitely better than the 2019 film as its at least cheesy fun that's unapologetic with what it is.
This was the one and only hit that Norah Jones had in her career, although she was more of an album's artist anyway and her brand of jazz pop really didn't fit well with the likes of every other entry on this list so it being a hit was more of a surprise than anything. What wasn't a surprise was that she would see so much critical and commercial success given how she's the daughter of a well-established musician Ravi Shankar
Sandwiched between their two earlier entries on this list was this second single from Big Brovaz, it's a song that interpolates the song from the Sound of music and updates the lyrics to be about how much the female members are into expensive luxuries that their male counterparts could give them. It was an easy hit for them in Australia and their native UK, however the rest of the world was obviously turned off by this interpolation.
Named after the heritage he was a part of Panjabi MC initially broke through with this track throughout Europe the previous year given how popular Indian style music was becoming throughout the early 00's worldwide. This year, he recruited Jay-z to provide him a guest verse which allowed this to crossover here in Australia, although I get the feeling the true intent of this remix was to gain him an American audience.
This will be Dido's only single appearance on the Australian side of my site, oh sure she scored a ton of success with her first two albums here and scored two additional hits over in NZ with "Thank you" and "Here with me," however this ballad from her second album was the best she could do here given how her fans knew that Sony would pull it from shelves soon after its initial release to promote said album.
This was the final hit that Ronan Keating had in his career, mainly because it's a cover of the Bob Seger classic but using the Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton format as that version was more popular back in the day. Here he recruits 60's legend Lulu who finally escapes the one hit wonder bin after over thirty years given how she never had another hit on her own in Australia apart from "To sir with love" in 1967.
I wonder if the term MILF existed around the early 00's, this is essentially an anthem for that subculture as the lyrics of the song explicitly detail how the underage narrator was in love with an older woman (at least he acknowledges that this was a weird phenomenon he was having.) It was a surprise hit here in Australia likely due to us Aussies finding the situation hilarious to the point where we wound up loving it.
Although it failed to appear on this list, "Lifestyles of the rich and famous" was a big sleeper hit here in Australia that found most of its success in the lower half of the charts from the previous year. Their second single from their sophomore album proved to be more of an immediate hit here which also helped the album become a commercial success and put the band on the map of the emo rock scene.
I did mention that this was a commercial disappointment earlier on this list, however that didn't mean this lead single to Meteora was a flop here in Australia given how it managed to rack up enough points to appear on this list of mine. Still, I don't remember hearing this much on the radio back in the day, certainly not compared to the other songs on the album especially their earlier entry.
Well just look at that cover art, this was what was sold to us Aussies back in the day as the "censored" cover art was just the same girl in the same outfit but with her whole body on it and her face looking at the viewer. Thankfully the song isn't as egregious as it's a nu metal track about a girl the narrator has the hots for, I'm not even sure why the woman on the cover is dressed as a cop seeing as though she isn't literally one in the lyrics.
I'm surprised this was one of the big hits off of Escapology here in Australia given how I don't remember hearing this song much on the radio at the time, I guess this song's success was due to it coming out around the time Robbie released his live album recorded at Knebworth.
It's a bit understandable that this wasn't as big a hit here in Australia for Evanescence as their earlier entry on this list, after all their album was a massive success already and this wasn't as much of an earworm as their other big hit nor was it radically different like the third single from the album "My immortal" which was also a monstrous hit the following year here and throughout the world.
Although this will be his only appearance on this site, it's worth noting that "Gotta get thru this" was a modest success here in Australia the previous year for Daniel Bedingfield even if it wasn't as big as it was in his native UK or even in America. This was more of a sleeper hit for him here hence its low placement on this list, however it was a success due to it being a ballad about how he's confused about someone's rejection of him.
It seemed like Kelly's earlier entry on this list was a fluke given how her victory single from American idol wasn't a hit anywhere in the world except on Billboard from the previous year, however this third single from her album proved that she was the real deal given how it showcased a more personal side of her in a way that was becoming quite prominent with female vocalists throughout the decade.
This was the final hit to come from Jennifer Love Hewitt here in Australia, it was as such thanks to this being an excellent time for female singer/songwriters even though both of her hits in the 00's were written by Meredith Brooks as opposed to her contemporaries who wrote their own songs. I guess the songs written by the woman who wrote "Bitch" is why I have a soft spot for these tracks.
This was meant as both the theme song from the Lizzie McGuire film as well as the lead single to Hilary Duff's debut album, it kick started her career outside of Disney as she found herself in acting roles that showcased a more risqué side of her in addition to her albums slowly becoming less kid friendly with each release.
This was the other big hit that R Kelly had here in Australia, although it was more of a sleeper hit than anything hence its low placement on this list. This is a song that's clearly meant for him to showcase his love of oriental culture from the Asian inspired production to the video taking place in what appears to be a dojo; however, it feels very insensitive towards Asian culture which resulted in its backlash.
This was the first of three hits two have these three Aussie artists together, although the biggest hit they had also had vocalist Lolly which we'll look at on the following list as that's when it became popular for them. It was the first Aussie hip hop track to become a success which no doubt eventually led to the success of the Hilltop hoods much later in the decade.
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