NZ hits of 2001

This was the first year of the 21st century, as well as the year where reality TV began to sink its teeth into the music industry as we started seeing many reality show contestants score massive hits worldwide. At least that wouldn't be an issue in the southern hemisphere until 2004 which means we still have a bunch of hits from non-TV stars to make it big until then.

This seems like a more fitting placement for Alicia Keys given how it's often regarded as one of the quintessential ballads of the decade worldwide, however I can assure you that this wasn't the case here in Australia where it was only decently successful for the (then) rising star. The kiwis instantly fell in love with this piano ballad which allowed it to live up to the success it achieved in her native America.

This was the biggest hit to come from Craig David over in NZ, likely because it remains his most popular track in his catalogue to date and that the kiwis never allowed album sales to impact the success of said albums singles. Even though Usher already had moderate success in the southern hemisphere prior to Craig's album, it no doubt led to the American singer finding more success in both countries after the fact.

I guess the kiwis were also massive fans of the film Duets back in the day given how this cover of the Smokey Robinson classic managed to be a massive hit over there like it was over here, although it could also be that they had enough fond memories of the original as well as Huey Lewis's career in the 80's that they felt this was a nice nostalgia bomb for them at the time.

Unlike in Australia where these girls were only a two-hit wonder, they were far more popular over in NZ as this will be one of several entries from them that will be appearing on these lists. Naturally their biggest hit down under was also their biggest hit over there given how this was the first song they released with their most consistent lineup; this was after former member Heidi Range scored a hit with her new group the Sugababes after all.

For the longest time, I was confused as to why this second single from Nelly Furtado was far more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, then I realised it was the bigger hit for her in America which no doubt led to this mindset translating to the kiwis upon its initial release. That said, her other big hit from her debut is still to come on this list, so it's not like that was passed up in favour of this song's success over there.

This is another song I remember being way more popular back in the day than what its success would otherwise suggest here in Australia, as such, its placement on this list is a far better indicator of how popular it was back in the day as it appears that the kiwis didn't grow tired of this track as quickly as we Aussies did at the time. The trade-off is that they never had another hit after this over there like they did here.

This was another song that saw a massive improvement in the rankings on this side of my site thanks to Sony not tampering with its success over in NZ like they did here in Australia, although admittedly this lead single to P!nk's second album got off pretty light here compared to some of the other tracks from around this time. Her second album was the only one to be more successful over there than it was over here for the record.

As far as the kiwis are concerned, this was the first hit that Leann Rimes had in her career as her country material fell on deaf ears over there throughout the 90's despite how big it was here in Australia. Indeed, she would have far better luck over there during her pop phase as "Life goes on" would prove to be an even bigger hit for her on her next album as well as this being equally as big there as it was here.

It appears the kiwis preferred this to be the unofficial anthem for 9/11 over "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias, possibly because the Latin superstar already had massive success prior to the terrorist attacks and thus, they felt he was inappropriate to play over the tragic news that unfolded during that event. I'm also guessing this song's success over there was what led to it becoming a hit here in Australia months after it broke through.

This is another entry whose appearance feels more in line with how popular it was over here in Australia, in this case it's the debut single of Uncle Kracker as a lead artist given how he was only known as Kid Rock's turntablist prior to the release of this adult contemporary ballad. Unlike in Australia where he scored a second hit in 2010, he remains a one hit wonder over in NZ.

This was the biggest hit that Che Fu had in his entire career, this includes his run with Supergroove even though those songs provide stiff competition for that title for the rapper/RNB star. The success of this lead single to his second solo album led to said album becoming a massive hit for him during the first half of the decade.

Well, this is a more accurate placement for this song on this list if we're measuring how popular it was, this is another reason why I wanted to look over the NZ charts on this site as the kiwis didn't allow the music industry to tamper with their songs release schedule in the 00's. In any case, we have this lead single from Kylie's biggest album Fever which remains her signature tune despite it not being among my favourites from her.

It seems strange to me that Daft Punk never had a hit in NZ until "Get lucky" in 2013, mainly because we've now had two of their contemporaries from their homeland featured on these lists of mine to find more success over there than they did over here during their initial heyday. I'm guessing this song's popularity over there was more due to the video which still freaks me out to this day for the record.

One of the more promising bands from NZ to make it big at the start of the decade was Fur Patrol, mainly because they follow in the roots of No doubt and the Pretenders as a male band consisting of a female lead vocalist which no doubt helped them achieve their one and only hit with this gem. The album this came from also did reasonably well, however their subsequent material not so much.

It's worth noting that this was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, I can only speculate why her earlier entry was even bigger over there than this was, but I think it was due to its popularity over in America and the kiwis appreciating that track more than they did with this debut from her. She managed to score a third hit from the album over there with "On the radio."

This is another song that proved to be far more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, although it's hard to say whether it was due to its release being tampered with here or if it was more popular over there organically especially considering how this was Blu's only hit over there as "Breathe" didn't even chart over there like it did over here. Either way, it was a massive success for her over there likely due to its popularity in her native America.

I wasn't expecting this to be Destiny's Child's biggest hit over in NZ, primarily because it was only barely a hit here in Australia but also because it's the rare cover from Beyonce's entire catalogue as this is an update on Samantha Sang's one and only hit from the late 70's. At least it wasn't her biggest hit over there overall as her solo material from later in the decade did far better than anything with her band.

I feel this theme from Bridget Jones diary was more a success in NZ due to the sudden rise in popularity Gabrielle had over there rather than it being from the critically acclaimed film, after all, Geri Halliwell failed to make a second appearance on this site with her cover of the Weather girls classic and that's often the song people think of when they think of the franchise. In any case, she's a two-hit wonder over there just like she is over here.

I should point out that "Stan" was released the previous year in NZ to deafening silence, it's failure over there is perhaps what allowed the song that sampled to become a massive hit over there this year as Dido's label allowed it to be released over there as opposed to here where it wasn't because of the success of that song here. It's weird that this sweet love ballad was chosen for a song about the rapper's toxic fanbase.

Even though the album art suggests that this was released from Robbie's (then) latest album Sing when you're winning, that's only the case for the second single as "The road to Mandalay" was tagged onto "Eternity" in order for him to score a hit from an album that already produced three massive hits for him worldwide. It paid off as this double A-side was a massive success in NZ and his native UK.

While this wasn't as big a hit in NZ as it was here in Australia (mainly due to not charting as high over there as it did over here) this was still a huge success for Lifehouse likely due to the rising trend of post grunge which would also result in the success for the likes of Creed and Nickelback. Admittedly these guys have always been far better received over the years than either of those bands.

Although she saw plenty of success over in NZ with her debut album, it appears that the kiwis weren't as on board with RNB P!nk as we Aussies were given how much more of a sleeper hit her debut single was over there compared to its immediate success over here. Indeed, I feel it was us Aussies that were the most on board with this phase of her career anywhere in the world.

This was equally as successful in both countries in the southern hemisphere, likely because it serves as the theme to the first theatrical adaptation of Charlie's angels which still polarises audiences to this day depending on whether or not they find it sexist (it boils down to how you define female empowerment.) The success of this track led to hype for the girls third album which was effortlessly met worldwide.

Unlike in Australia where these guys didn't have much success past the boy band wars save for their cover of a Billy Joel classic, it appears the kiwis still had plenty of love for one of the finalists of the second boy band wars of the 90's as the lead single to their second album proved to be a massive success to the point where said album was also a hit for them over there.

This is the final hit that Lenny Kravitz managed to achieve anywhere in the world, mainly because it came from a highly successful greatest hits album where it was a bonus track from said album. Obviously, this was meant to ensure fans that he was still on top of his A-game, however that wasn't the case in the long run given how he's failed to achieve any success after this.

This is another song that I feel is in its rightful placement on this list to replicate how popular it was in Australia back in the day, again we have the label tampering with its release schedule to blame for its lower placement on that side of my site. For most people, this was likely their introduction to the Patti Labelle classic from the 70's given how all four girls do their best to pay tribute to the original on this track.

Given how her earlier entry on this list was a massive success over in NZ, it only seems fitting that Dido was able to score a second hit over there given how this remains one of her most popular singles to this day and that it was a massive hit throughout Europe as well. This did chart here in Australia, although supposedly its success was taken away from it due to how strong the album sales were over here.

Much like Sporty Spice from the previous year, the solo debut single from Baby Spice also managed to be more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, again likely because British artists had more of an advantage over there than they did over here for some reason. Apart from this being twice as successful over there as it was over here, her solo career trajectory was identical in both countries.

This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, although this was the only song of theirs where that was the case as Blue managed to score far more success over there during the first half of the decade than they did over here as was the case for most British artists throughout the decade. I guess they wanted to start a third round of the boy band wars which never ended up happening.

While this was delayed over in NZ for some reason, said delay paid off as it became a much bigger hit for Madonna over there than it did over here in Australia (the only song in her career to do so mind you) proving that even the queen of pop herself can occasionally benefit from a delayed released in her career. It proved to be a bigger hit than "Music" over there as well which also wasn't the case down under.

This proved to be equally as successful for Usher in both countries in the southern hemisphere, or at least it would've had it not been for the stiff competition it had in NZ which means that it was technically more successful over there than it was over here for the prince of RNB (albeit only slightly.) I guess the tradeoff for him having this much success with his singles over there is that his album was a commercial disappointment.

Even though Jewel was one of the biggest names in music throughout the 90's, this was her only hit over in NZ which coincidentally was a song that failed to become as such here in Australia despite her having plenty of success with her singles over here. I guess this is somewhere between her indie folk roots from her first two albums and her pop sellout of her fourth album which the kiwis found to be the perfect balance.

This was originally an album track from Ricky Martin's second English album Sound loaded, it was turned into a duet when Christina Aguilera decided to try and appeal to the Latin market to let people know of her Hispanic heritage given her exotic surname led people to question what it actually was. It was a massive hit for the duo in NZ, definitely more so than in Australia where it was a flop for them.

I guess I should talk about the song itself in this entry given how we all know what happened to her once this became her final hit anywhere in the world, this is a song about the love of Janet's life that the kiwis and her fellow Americans found more endearing back in the day than we Aussies did. It was a bit of a comeback for her in NZ considering the disappointing turnout of her singles from the Velvet rope over there.

Although the placement on this breakthrough hit from Train suggests that it was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, it turns out that the bulk of this songs chart run over there came from the lower half of their charts, meaning that this was actually more successful over there than it was over here for the band.

I did mention on the Australian side of my site that the Sugababes had more success in NZ than they did down under, let's have a look at the song which introduced the world to the trio which was a massive hit over there and one that I remember hearing on the radio quite a bit back in the day as was the case for many entries on these lists of mine that failed to appear on the Australian side of my site.

While this was slightly less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, I should bring up that it did have stiff competition this year from many of the entries we've looked at so far on this list. Something else I noticed is that this is the biggest hip-hop track of the year of there, suggesting that the kiwis were more interested in giving success to British artists than American artists and their genres.

This took a while to take off in NZ which is odd because Craig's debut album was more of an instant success over there than it was over here, I guess the kiwis needed some incentive to make this song about his sexual escapades a success which came when it became a massive hit for him over in Australia upon its initial release here. They would explain why it was slightly more popular here than it was over there.

While this was slightly more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, I think that's more because Westlife were fairly inescapable over there during the first half of the decade as opposed to them finding more love with this cover of the Billy Joel classic than we Aussies did. I didn't mention that this was a bonus track from the deluxe edition of their second album, mainly because that didn't seem to be important on the Australian equivalent of this list.

It's interesting that this song would be a massive hit for the teenage singer/songwriter K'lee given how the original from Mr. Mister was never a success over in NZ back in the day like it was internationally, then again, it did chart over there so perhaps she came across it one day and decided to make it her own fifteen years after the original's release.

I'm surprised this was only a sleeper hit at best for Michelle Branch here in Australia, mainly because I remember hearing this quite a bit on the radio back in the day which I would've thought translated to people making it a success for her here. Fortunately, that was the case in NZ which led to her joining the ranks of Vanessa Carlton and Avril Lavigne as successful female singer/songwriters of the decade.

This being far less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia is further proof I have that the kiwis were losing interest in hip hop and indeed American music in general coming into the new millennium, although admittedly they clearly made somewhat of an exception for these guys given how this did chart higher over there than it did over here even though it was still more popular over here.

This was slightly bigger over in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly because it charted higher over there which gives you the impression that the Irish singer was poised for great things this decade over there given how this managed to break her through into the American market this year. Alas, this was also her only hit over there like it was in Australia and America, meaning those promises were empty.

This wasn't quite as inescapable in NZ as it was here in Australia for Shaggy, I'm guessing because the kiwis weren't as thrilled with the "Angel of the morning" sample that the track uses but it could also be them not being as impressed with Shaggy's comeback overall despite said comeback being released slightly earlier over there than it was over here.

While there were many songs that were released months late in Australia that wound up finding more success here than in most parts of the world, this one and only hit from former Xscape member Kandi Burruss was the rare exception to a song being released on time this decade finding more success in NZ than it did here in Australia. I'm not too familiar with the girl group she came from, mainly because they saw no success outside their native America.

Much like here in Australia, this disco inspired track from S club 7 was their final hit in NZ likely due to us Aussies and kiwis growing tired of their phenomenon both with their music and TV show. Depending on who you ask, this is either their best or worst song as those who love it feel it's an accurate recreation of the 70's disco scene whilst those who hate it feel that it's dated kitsch from a fad band.

This was Sugar Ray's only success in NZ, likely due to the animated video that aired on Cartoon Network which is honestly my only memories of this song back in the day here in Australia (admittedly it was a huge flop here despite it airing on the program.) It could also be that it makes for a good beach jam as do a few other entries on this list that failed to appear on the Australian side of this site.

Unlike here in Australia where it was obvious that both versions of this track charted back in the day for J-Lo due to the "remix" causing the song to rise up on our charts the following year, it's hard to say which version was the big hit in NZ as its chart run over there suggests that only one of them was successful. I've included both versions on this list to ensure that the correct versions is represented regardless.

This was merely a minor hit for Robbie Williams here in Australia, at least it was released here on time as opposed to "Better man" which only saw the light of day here by the end of this year (which we'll revisit in a moment.) Naturally this song was a bigger hit in NZ where he was on a roll thanks to how charismatic he was coming off with the kiwis from the start of the new millennium.

While this was a hit here in Australia for Powderfinger, it was only a sleeper hit despite entering our charts in the top five (it quickly fell to the lower half of our charts.) I guess the kiwis were willing to allow this to be a hit over there this year in exchange for the album not being as successful as it was down under, although the album was a massive sleeper hit over there throughout the year.

This was slightly more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly because in addition to charting better over there than it did over here, it also had stiffer competition from many of the entries that outrank it on this list. With that said, his popularity wouldn't peak anywhere in the world until his next album Confessions, specifically with all of the hit singles it managed to spawn.

Given how this song was released on time in NZ due to "Better man" already being a hit for Robbie Williams upon that song's initial release over there, this means that his collaboration with Nicole Kidman managed to become more of a success for him there which of course resulted in its appearance being much higher on this side of my site as well as it appearing on more than one list of mine.

Given how Robbie Williams was one of the most popular artists of the moment going into the new millennium in NZ, it makes sense that this third single from his third album was released on time over there as opposed to it randomly being released as year later here in Australia where it admittedly went on to become more of a hit over here than it was over here and even boost the popularity of the album.

For whatever reason, this cover of the MJ classic from 1988 wasn't as big a hit for Alien ant farm in NZ as it was everywhere else in the world given how much lower it appears on this list compared to the Australian equivalent. I guess the kiwis made up for this blunder later in the decade by giving the band a second hit over there that wasn't a hit anywhere else in the world.

This is only one of three songs from J-Lo to find more success in NZ than it did here in Australia, I'm guessing the kiwis were bigger fans of the Wedding planner given how her album this also serves as the lead single to didn't find any success over there until the success of her earlier entry on this list. At least she still had plenty of success over there during the first half of the decade.

This was the debut single for one of the few openly gay NZ musicians to make it big in their homeland, although it took a while to take off over there likely due to her fellow kiwis being sceptical of her initially when it came to her wanting to be a successful female singer/songwriter. They were eventually won over as this climbed their charts around the time she released her debut album.

Following their victory on Popstars UK, Hear'say managed to score a massive hit in their homeland as well as NZ of all places with this cover of the obscure girl group err.... Girl thing. Girl thing did have a minor hit here in Australia with "Last one standing" the previous year, so it is surprising that this cover didn't crossover here in Australia as well, however British music in general wasn't doing to well down under this decade.

I'm not sure why the deluxe edition of Ronan Keating's debut album was a flop over in NZ considering how it's one and only bonus track managed to be a massive success over there, I guess this song's success was the tradeoff to the album's failure considering how the inverse was the case for both the song and the album here in Australia despite me hearing this quite a bit on the radio back in the day.

Although this became a chart topper for Atomic Kitten in NZ whereas the original didn't, the original was still more successful over there than this rendition likely because it was purely through nostalgia of that version which allowed this to become a massive hit for the British trio over a decade after its release. Still, at least it was a massive hit over there and in their native UK as opposed to here in Australia where it wasn't.

You'd think that this cover of the 90's classic would've been an even bigger hit for Blue, not only did it fail to become a bigger hit than the original over there, but it also even failed to become a bigger hit for them over there than it was over here despite charting higher over there than it did over here. I guess the kiwis didn't like their take on the RNB classic as much as the rest of their catalogue as they had plenty of success over there after this.

It may surprise you to learn that Destiny's Child didn't have as much success in NZ as they did here in Australia, this title track from their third album being one of the rare exceptions of them finding more success over there than they did over here likely due to the kiwis being bigger fans of the show that it was named after. Indeed, the girls didn't have any more success over there as solo artists than they did here either.

This was a girl group that was put together by P Diddy, I'm guessing so that he could enter the girl band wars that was far less prevalent worldwide given how they mostly took place in the UK where the Spice Girls were the clear winners despite pulling out of the competition early on compared to their rivals. Dream managed to score a hit with their debut single in NZ and their native America and nowhere else in the world.

This was Stellar's biggest hit in their homeland, likely due to it being considered a strong choice for a lead single which seemed to be an issue with their previous album even though it did eventually spawn a massive hit with "Every girl" the previous year. I guess the downside to this being so successful is that their sophomore album overall didn't find as much success as their debut did.

This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, I guess the kiwis also wanted to atone for "Edge of seventeen" being a flop over there back in the day given how this was also the closet that song came to ever being a hit (or indeed any of Stevie Nick's solo material.) The girls would achieve less success over there than they did over here as a unit from here on out.

It seems weird that these guys would find more success in NZ at the turn of the millennium than they did here in Australia given how the opposite was true throughout the 90's, here they score a huge hit with the bonus track from their greatest hits package they released following the success of their (then) most recent album.

This was the lead single to the Feeler's second album Communicate, an album that was a massive success for the band that nonetheless won't be appearing on this site due to not racking up enough points to do so. Even so, there's no denying how popular the band was in a decade that seemed to finally reward the kiwis with success in their local music scene.

I guess these guys were a one hit wonder in both countries in the southern hemisphere albeit with a different song in each country, we Aussies gave them a hit with "Why does it always rain on me" from the previous year whilst the kiwis saddled them with this lead single to their third album which also proved to be their biggest hit in their native UK rather coincidentally.

Before they were members of the Cheetah Girls (a Disney girl group that I'm sure some would appreciate me referencing) 3 Little Ladies (3LW for short) were an RNB group who scored their one and only hit with this track about no putting up with a bad partner in a relationship. The song has sparked criticism for having the girls repeat the last word of a sentence in each of the verses.

This was the third single to be released from Ronan Keating's solo debut album, it was a mere modest success here in Australia and charted too low for it to appear on the Australian side of my site likely due to the album sales eating up its success. It was naturally more of a hit in NZ for the former Boyzone singer, proving how much the kiwis loved his solo work following the departure of his group.

Although this wasn't a huge success for J-Lo in NZ like I'm sure she was hoping this would be (likely due to her dropping the F-bomb that radios had to censor) it did become more popular over there than it did over here in lieu of the albums success which suggests that the kiwis weren't part of the initial hostile reception to the album I remember it having back in the day worldwide.

For whatever reason, "Clint Eastwood" was only a sleeper hit in NZ just like it was here in Australia, as such it won't be reappearing on this side of my site. Fortunately, this second single from the album was a much bigger deal over there (a number one hit in fact) which ensures that it gets a spot on this list likely through the gimmick of the band recognising the turn of the century with its release.

This was the debut single for what would become one of the most inescapable artists of the decade in NZ, that being the hip hop group Nesian Mystik who decided to introduce their music as their style which was an immediate success for them even if each of their other songs would prove to be more popular than this as the decade went on.

I guess the kiwis weren't as amused with this comedy track about how being a stoner ruined the life of Afroman, although it could be possible that this song was pulled from shelves over there due to it depicting weed 420 culture despite it being a negative depiction of the culture.

This is the first of two entries that Incubus will be making on this side of my site given how they managed to connect with the kiwis in a way they weren't able to with us Aussies, although I do remember hearing this quite a bit back in the day so perhaps this was yet another victim of digital piracy this year in Australia. In any case, we have this ballad that came from an album filled with nu metal.

Even though this was released much sooner in NZ than it was here in Australia, this proved to be far less successful over there likely due to the kiwis not caring for the message of this track (or possibly even not realising there was a message to this track like we Aussies did) and only making it a success due to how admittedly bouncy the production is.

I'm as shocked as you are that this wasn't more of a hit in NZ especially considering how it was a huge success here in Australia this year, I guess the kiwis weren't that big of fans of the duo back in the day as none of their singles (save for one new entry on my next list) managed to be more of a success over there than they were over here. At least all of their entries will be reappearing on this side of my site.

It's hard to believe that these guys began their career as a legitimate west coast hip hop trio rather than a pop friendly hip hop group that's best known for their female vocalist who wasn't originally part of the group, although they did score their first hit with a female vocalist as Macy Gray is on here to provide the trio with a chorus to connect their verses together that appealed to the kiwis this year.

These guys were on a roll in NZ following the success of "Breathless" from the previous year, indeed they were able to achieve success with this second single from In blue where it was a flop here in Australia despite me hearing this quite a bit on the radio back in the day. They would continue to find moderate success over there with their subsequent follow ups, however their winning streak would end with their next album.

Although this was released on time in NZ as opposed to three months late here in Australia, it appears that the punctuality of the songs release over there was a curse in disguise given how much less popular it was compared to what it would eventually become on our charts for the unknown RNB singer. This was a shockingly common trend for RNB artists of the early 00's as you've no doubt already noticed.