Biggest hits of the 2010's NZ VI

This is part VI of my list of the biggest hits of the 2010's in NZ, this is in lieu of making individual lists for each year as it's been a real challenge for me to talk about some of these songs with the dignity and respect they deserve as is.

This was the only hit that Romanian pop star Alexandra Stan managed to achieve anywhere in the world, although at least it was a massive hit for her likely due to it being a swing revival track complete with a saxophone solo that sounds like it was ripped from "We no speak Americano" from earlier on this list. This wasn't a bit hit here in Australia likely due to how overcrowded the market was for this type of music.

This is the other hit that Mumford and sons managed to achieve this decade in NZ, it's the lead single to their second album which was far more popular over there and in America of all places than it was here in Australia for the folk band. Although they wouldn't score another hit in either country, their third album would be a huge success for them as the decade went on regardless of its failure to spawn a hit.

It appears the kiwis were able to find more humour in this comedy track that Jason Derulo made with Snoop Dogg than we Aussies did, although again this is an example of a song performing much better on streaming services than it did with audiences who would pay for songs which is probably why it was a bigger hit over there than it was over here.

I wouldn't have thought that that Chainsmokers of all groups would find more success on the digital charts during the second half of the decade than on streaming services, that's the explanation for why their final two hits found much less success in NZ than they did here in Australia as these two songs didn't do so well on streaming services back in the day.

This is another song that seems to have benefitted on this list from having streaming data incorporated onto the NZ charts when it was initially released, either that or the kiwis seemed to have a lot of nostalgia for Ginuwine's "Pony" when it came out more so than what we Aussies did for the 90's classic.

There was no surprise that this was going to be more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, after all, the success of this track comes from the music video which many will tell you makes this song as effective as it is.

Given how this had become a meme the second it was released as a single, it only makes sense that this would be more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia given how streaming was naturally the main reason as to why it was a success in the first place.

I guess the kiwis were quickly becoming sick of Lady Gaga entering the decade as this also failed to be as successful over there as it was over here for the (then) rising pop star, although she did recover with her next album as we already saw from earlier on this list, suggesting they were simply tired of her style over substance given how this also has an infamously ridiculous video to go along with it.

This proved to be way less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, I guess the kiwis felt that the age difference between the rapper and the singer was a bit too creepy for them to overlook the themes of the song given that it's a grown man duetting with a teenager on this track. At least it was a hit over there months prior to it finally taking off in their native America.

This was slightly bigger in NZ than it was here in Australia for Pia Mia, perhaps because the kiwis weren't as deterred with the presence of Chris Brown and Tyga on this track as we Aussies were which seems to be a running theme for any track with these two on it throughout this decade. Unfortunately, this didn't lead to any further success for the young pop star over there.

This is a bit of a misleading title as it suggests that Beyonce is reminiscing on the love of her life that she gave up for something else, it turns out it's a song about how she dodged a bullet with the person she's singing to which changes the context of what a song with this title would traditionally mean. It appears the kiwis were impressed with this ballad in a way we Aussies weren't as it was a big hit over there.

This wasn't as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia for Jessie J, likely because she was considered yesterday's news over there by this time this came out but also likely because the Pitch perfect franchise wasn't as popular over there as it was over here due to them not being as familiar with Rebel Wilson as we were.

I feel this is the sequel to Drake and Rihanna's collaboration from earlier on this list as whilst that was made with the two were dating, this was made when the two had broken up, suggesting that this was their way of letting each other know that they would always be there for each other as friends even if they were incompatible as lovers. This naturally proved to be more poignant with the kiwis than us Aussies.

This is another song that benefitted from having streaming data incorporated on the NZ charts given how much higher it appears on this side of my site compared to the Australian equivalent of this list, either that or the must've been bigger fans of the Fault in our stars than we Aussies were as this serves as the theme to that film in addition to it being Charli's only hit single as a lead artist.

I'm a bit surprised this was less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia given how much the kiwis loved Ed Sheeran by the midpoint of the decade when this was released as a single, although I guess you can make the argument they were only interested in the genuine article as opposed to us Aussies who liked variety with our singer/songwriters.

While this wasn't as big a hit for Lost frequencies in NZ as it was internationally, the fact it managed to make a second appearance on this site proves just how much the kiwis loved EDM during the midpoint of the decade as I can't imagine this being a success over there during any other point in time.

Even though this didn't go to number one in NZ like it did here in Australia, this still proved to be equally as popular in both countries proving that Kelly Clarkson still had some appeal during the club boom with her music. She would score one more minor hit over there with "Stronger" (which we'll look at in a bit) that would end up being her third Billboard chart topper.

I'm a bit surprised this wasn't a big hit here in Australia as I do remember hearing this quite a bit back in the day, however its success on this list seems accurate to how big it was due to the artist momentum that both Pitbull and Chris Brown had at the time.

While this was still more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia for Drake, it will be his lowest entry on this list as opposed to the previous entry of his with Rihanna we looked at which was his lowest entry here in Australia. Either way, both of these songs saw much less success than what he would go on to achieve once streaming services began taking over the music industry.

This was slightly more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia for Silento, I guess the kiwis were a bit more forgiving when it came to this internet meme than we Aussies were even if it was at its most popular in Silento's native America during the midpoint of the decade.

This was where it all began for Jessie J, although many consider this to be a more of a meme than a song given how it often appears on many worst of lists of the decade thanks to how abrasive it is even for a song released during the height of the club boom. We Aussies didn't even entertain the idea of making this a hit back in the day, however the kiwis did hence its appearance on this list.

This was way more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia, I guess the kiwis were bigger fans of Ella Eyre's vocals on here than we Aussies were given how "Feel the love" was less popular over there than it was over here for the EDM duo. This will be their final entry on this list as they didn't score any other success over there throughout the decade.

Well, we have a collaboration with two artists that seem to be highly unusual together but were able to score a hit regardless with this team up, at least this was the case over in NZ as Coldplay teamed up with Rihanna on this second single from the former's album Mylo xyloto. I guess the kiwis were impressed with this team up in a way no one else in the world was.


Although he failed to win on his season of the X factor NZ, Benne Tipene was nonetheless able to score a massive hit in his homeland in the form of this ballad which resonated with his fellow kiwis upon its initial release.

It looks like the kiwis were really unimpressed with this self-empowerment anthem given how much lower it appears on this side of my site, indeed this was Rachel's only charting single over there as we Aussies at least gave her a second minor hit with "Stand by you" when she released her debut album.

I would say that Taylor Swift was such an inescapable phenomenon this decade that even her theme to the first Hunger games film managed to become a worldwide success, except that was only the case in NZ as this flopped everywhere else in the world for her. Instead, this feels like evidence that the kiwis were the biggest fans of the film franchise given how it isn't even the final theme to appear on this list.

I'm a bit shocked that this was less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing the kiwis weren't as big of fans of this phase of Abel's career than we Aussies were for this to be the case.

Much like "Price tag" from way earlier on this list, this managed to be equally as successful in NZ for Jessie J as it was here in Australia, suggesting that the kiwis were only interested in making some of her songs more successful than they were over here from her debut album. Admittedly this song has long since been lost in the shuffle with her other entries on this list and especially "Do it like a dude."

I did mention that we would eventually get to this ballad from Emeli Sande didn't I? So here we are with her one and only hit as a lead artist that she achieved in NZ and her native UK long before either of her two entries we've already looked at on this list where she was the featured artist. This did become a minor hit here in Australia a year after its initial release due to someone using it as their audition for the Voice Australia.

It's not every day where the remix of a song is considered to be the original version of it, yet that's exactly the case when it comes to this song from Sia as before it served as the second single from her album 1000 forms of fear, it was originally the theme song to the second Hunger games film that included production from Diplo and a guest verse from the Weeknd long before he became a household name worldwide.

This was roughly as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia for Avicii, this goes to show you how in tune both countries were with each other when it comes to the EDM scene as well as Avicii's popularity overall throughout the decade.

This is another song that was widely criticised by the public upon its initial release this decade, this time it's a song that got lost in the shuffle when JB released his album Purpose due to how much more popular the three singles I've already featured on this list were compared to this track about how he wants to prove to his audience that he's learned from his mistakes.

We Aussies really didn't care much for Nick Jonas as a solo artist did we? Fortunately, the kiwis certainly did as he manages to score a second appearance on this list of mine with the assistance of Tove Lo who also scores a second appearance on this side of my site with this duet with the former Disney star.

Even though this was the fourth single to come from their debut album in NZ as opposed to it being the third single here in Australia, it appears that Imagine dragons still managed to find more success over there than they did over here with this entry just like their other entry from that album that I've featured on this list of mine.

It looks like this collaboration between Calvin Harris and Kelis was far less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia given how much lower it appears on this side of my site, although at least now Kelis has had all of her entries on the Australian side of my site reappear on this side of my site even if two out of three of them were less popular with the kiwis than they were with us Aussies.

I really didn't want to include this collaboration between Nicki Minaj and 6ix9ine on this site (side note, what's with that awful rap name?) however, it appears the kiwis allowed it to become enough of a success back in the day for it to qualify for this site likely due to the controversy that it stirred up upon its initial release worldwide.

This was about as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia for all three musicians on the track, I'm guessing this was because of streaming data being incorporated onto the NZ charts when this came out as opposed to it not being as such here in Australia which would cancel out how this is a remix of a previously unheard-of track from the start of the decade.

You'd think that the son of one of the most popular reggae artists of the 90's would've had more success in NZ than he did here in Australia, then again, he was based here in Australia at the time he launched his career, so he was likely seen as a local artist who had to find his success over there the same way as most Aussies did over the years.

This didn't see as much of an improvement on this ranking as Martin's earlier entry on this list, I guess the kiwis weren't as on board with having Dua Lipa as a household name even with the assistance of the Dutch producer as we Aussies were which makes her eventual breakthrough over there that much more heartwarming once it happened.

I'm a bit surprised that Jarryd James was able to score a massive hit in NZ with this entry, mainly because it wasn't the biggest hit over here in Australia despite how huge the trend was for folk singer/songwriters worldwide. My guess is that Triple J had enough of an influence on their market to allow this to crossover despite it not being the biggest thing over here.

I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this breakthrough single from Elle King as we Aussies were, although at least it was a success much earlier over there than it was over here given how it peaked during the summer period of 2015/2016 as opposed to only entering our charts in the latter year down under. She still remains a one hit wonder as of this writing as none of her other singles have become a success for her.

This was slightly more popular for the Chainsmokers in NZ than it was here in Australia, I can't stress my surprise that the duo managed to achieve far less success on streaming services down under with the material from their debut album as opposed to the material from their E.P. I'm not sure what happened with their online fanbase between the projects, but that explains the imbalance of their rankings on this list.

I guess the kiwis were also able to get their hands on this track from former reality contestant Alexis Jordan like we Aussies did, although it appears they were far less impressed with it than we were given how much less popular it was over there compared to what it was over here.

If you couldn't tell from the cover art, Jackie Thomas was the winner of the first season of X factor NZ which of course led to her having minor success in her homeland with this victory single before she was promptly forgotten about by the end of that year.

Well, this is a bit of a downgrade when it comes to appearing on this list, not that this was among the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia, but at least it did much better over here than it did in NZ upon its initial release. I guess the kiwis were ready to wash their hands of Avril's music but couldn't quite bring themselves to do so with this lead single to her fourth album.

I'm a bit surprised that this wasn't more of an international success when it came out given how it was a collaboration between two of the biggest stars of the moment, although even back then, JB was heavily disliked in the music scene, and this was at the beginning for Chris Brown's redemption ark which explains why it wasn't a huge success in many parts of the world.

This was the only hit that Eminem had with his former partner in crime Royce da 5'9, an old colleague of his that hadn't had a hit until the start of the decade when the pair collaborated with Bruno Mars of all people to help give them a hit. It was a huge success in NZ and their native America and even a minor success here in Australia due to it coming off the heels of Eminem's comeback album Recovery.

I'm honestly shocked that this was more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia, not by much mind you as it only appears higher on this list due to how fewer hits there were over there this decade compared to over here, however it was noticeably more successful overall.

This was far less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, although at least he managed to have both of his songs from F.A.M.E reappear on this list even if neither of them was able to reach the same level of success over there that they did over here.

It seems weird that I would only feature both of Hot Chelle Rae's hits on each side of this site, however it appears that we Aussies passed up this second single from the pop rock band just as the kiwis did for their international hit "Tonight tonight."

This is a strange entry due to it becoming a success in NZ at the start of the decade rather than upon its initial release back in 2008, I guess you can make the argument the kiwis wanted to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the song's existence except it was a huge flop over there despite it being a massive success here in Australia back in 1990.

This is another song that barely missed the cut on the Australian side of this site due to its success being overshadowed by us Aussies still buying digital downloads of songs back in the day, however this wasn't the case in NZ where this managed to be a moderate success over there against the wishes of the two deceased artists who reportedly despised each other during their respective lifetimes.

This was also a bigger success in NZ than it was here in Australia, as well as it being a bigger hit than "Live while we're young" which at least is still to come later down this list as the kiwis also made that a moderate hit for the boys.

For whatever reason, this was a hit again at the start of the decade in NZ, making this one of the few songs to become a success over there more than once even if I can't seem to find out the reason for this to be.

This will be Demi Lovato's only other appearance on this site given how the kiwis managed to make this summer jam a hit over there, granted it was a hit in our winter which explains why it didn't do so well in the southern hemisphere, but they seemed to be on board with it regardless. The song has become an unofficial queer anthem due to the lyrics suggesting she was in a lesbian relationship.

Does anyone remember the panic that went into the world ending in 2012? Apparently, this was enough of a concern for Jay Sean and Nicki Minaj that they decided to make a club jam two years prior to the supposed doomsday to reassure themselves and audiences that there would be life in 2013 and beyond, naturally we're coming up to a decade past the doomsday, so I think it's safe to say they had nothing to worry about.

This is the only song to come from Beyonce's self-titled album, it seems like a sequel to "Crazy in love" from a decade prior given how it not only has a Jay-z feature but is also a rare love track from Queen B much like that song was. I guess this is proof that she could still release a song where she's not critical of her partner given how the two seem to have strong chemistry on the track.

Here's that entry from Tinie Tempah that I mentioned much earlier on this list, here he recruits Kelly Rowland of all people to provide him a chorus to connect his hip hop verses which went over well in NZ and his native UK but nowhere else in the world given how much of a flop it was outside those two countries.

This is the final hit that Fifth harmony was able to score anywhere in the world, even then it was mainly a success through streaming rather than digital sales which explains its absence on the Australian side of my site. They recruit Fetty Wap to give this song a boost in the rap market similar to how "Worth it" had Kid ink on there.

This is another song that barely missed the cut for appearing on the Australian side of my site, needless to say that this was the lead single for 1D's second album that was largely overlooked here in favour of "Little things" from earlier on this list.

This proved to be equally as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia for Taylor Swift, although let's face it, if it wasn't for the fact that she had put her entire catalogue back on Spotify mere months prior to when she released this critically panned track, I doubt this would've even charted over there since it became an instant meme the minute it was released into the world.

Even though it was better received than his previous album Revival, Kamikaze was only able to spawn one hit for Eminem which was this track that didn't even receive a proper single release despite there being a music video for it.

Contrary to popular believe, this was the debut single for JB and not "Baby" from earlier on this list, it was a hit single in NZ and a moderate sleeper hit here in Australia thanks to the hype that he had going into its release.

From what I can gather, Zowie was meant to be NZ answer to the likes of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga which means we have a dance pop number from her that managed to become a hit in her homeland at the start of the decade much like Zoe Badwi was for Australia around the same time.

It makes sense that Pitbull would have more success in NZ with this collaboration with Marc Anthony than he did here in Australia given how the latter did achieve massive success with his breakthrough album back in 2000 over there where he failed to do so over here.

This may have failed to appear on the Australian side of my site due to how thoroughly unimpressed we Aussies were with this change in direction Lady Gaga made with her sound, however the kiwis had enough love for this new direction for it to become a modest success for her at the time of its release.

This was equally as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia, likely because it came at the tail end of the club boom and that both countries were looking to move on from it in favour of the indie scene which Chris didn't think to capitalise off of.

This is to date the only hit single that Machine gun Kelly has had outside of his native America, although the rapper turned rocker likely has Camila Cabello to thank for this song's success given how this was the first thing she released following her departure from Fifth harmony. Her solo success here in Australia wouldn't come until she released "Havana" from earlier on this list.

It appears that this is one of the rare songs that managed to not only be a hit upon its initial release but also be more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing this means the kiwis went with the original version of this track and not the version which has Nicki Minaj tacked on it that became a success here and, in the duo's, native America.

This is the only noticeable hit to come from Tori Kelly anywhere in the world, Tori is best known for her role in Illumination's Sing where she played Meena the elephant (although I always thought she was played by Ariana Grande) given how little success she's had with her singing career outside of this one hit she had in the midpoint of the decade.

I have no idea how the kiwis came across this track from Canadian rapper K'naan, I'm guessing they gravitated towards this hip hop track due to the chorus that Nelly Furtado provided him, which allowed her to have one more hit over there before she truly faded into obscurity.

This is another song that became huge thanks to streaming during the final stretch of the decade, although this wasn't the case here in Australia as this didn't even chart here, proving that not everything related to Spotify streams was guaranteed to be a success down under.

This is to date the only hit that Tyler the Creator has been able to achieve anywhere in the world, he's best known for a rumour that he once went out with Jaden Smith with both parties have fiercely denied over the years.

This was a hit twice in NZ, once upon its initial release as the third single from Taio Cruz's debut album, and the second when it was turned into a duet with Kylie Minogue of all people which boosted its sales months after its initial release.

This it to date the final hit that Kelly Clarkson has had anywhere in the world given how her 2010's output hasn't resonated with audiences like her 00's output, indeed this was heavily criticised back in the day as it being her least personal track even though it remains one of her biggest hits in her native America.

This was the second collaboration that MJ made with Akon, although this time this was done posthumously given how the former had died in 2009 and that this came out the following year despite the protest of his family and friends. Naturally this flopped here in Australia given how we Aussies didn't use to take too kindly to artistic grave robbery with very rare exceptions.

Well, it took us long enough, but we've finally come to the debut single that made Shawn Mendes a star in NZ and his native Canada. I'm willing to bet that most people outside of these two countries don't even realise he released anything prior to "Stitches" given how this has fallen into obscurity over the other entries I've featured on this list already.

This will be the only appearance that Yung Thug has as a lead artist on this site, here he recruits J Cole and Travis Scott for his one and only hit that managed to become as such worldwide thanks to strong streaming data, although it was pushed aside here in Australia due to how strong our digital sales were even by the final stretch of the decade.

This barely managed to make the cut on this list given how we're at what I like to call the fan single section of the list, that is to say, songs that only made it on here due to the artists in question having a strong fanbase but too niche of an appeal for a wider audience.

From what I can gather, the Kin are an Australian trio who are based in America who scored their one and only hit over in NZ with this folk track, I wish I could tell you more about this but that's the best I could do with my research.