NZ hits of 2002

While we did start to see some international reality stars make it big in the southern hemisphere this year, there was still plenty of artists from the music industry that didn't feel the need to go through that process to make it big this year.

It's hard for me to tell if "Boys of summer" was one of the biggest hits of the early 00's in NZ or if it had the assistance of "Heaven" given how on the one hand, the chart run suggested that the latter was added to the release as it rebounded just as it began to lose its popularity over there but on the other hand there's no evidence that "Heaven" ever had any success over there at all. I've included this as a double entry in case the former is true, however feel free to correct me if this isn't the case.

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.

Now this is a much more deserving spot for Avril Lavigne's debut single given how I remember it being inescapable here in Australia upon its initial release, goes to show you how much better the NZ charts were back in the day when they can accurately reflect what audiences were consuming at the time. It's little surprise this was a massive worldwide success for her given how earnest it is whilst sounding pleasant to listen to.

It's no surprise that Eminem saw equal amounts of success over in NZ as he did here in Australia with this lead single to his magnum opus the Eminem show, after all, it remains funny to this day without resorting to any of his shock value that many have criticised him for as being inappropriate to his predominantly younger audience. Indeed, his success was largely the same from here on out in both countries in the southern hemisphere.

There was little chance that this female equivalent to the Macarena would flop over in NZ considering how inescapable it was throughout the rest of the world, it wasn't quite as successful over there as it was here in Australia, although that might be because it had stiffer competition given that its success wasn't tampered with down under like many other entries on this list were.

This is another song on this list that didn't quite dominate the NZ charts the way it did here in Australia, again because it had much fairer competition over there than it did over here which is a theme that continues strong on this latest list of mine. If you can believe it, this was his first Billboard chart topper as nothing he released prior to his 2009 comeback managed to go to number one in America other than this.

This was an easy hit for Atomic Kitten over in NZ given how A: they were among the most successful groups of the decade so far worldwide and B: the Blondie track this interpolates on the chorus was and still remains one of the biggest nostalgia bombs for audiences to this day. These were both factors as to why it did well in Australia, so naturally it would continue their winning streak with the kiwis as well.

It appears the kiwis also found the strange lyrics on this English breakthrough single from Shakira to be charming as this was equally as successful over there as it was over here for the Columbian singer, it's interesting to see how much bigger she was in the southern hemisphere during this phase of her career given how Laundry service didn't do as well in America or throughout Europe this year.

Given how Hear'say managed to score a massive hit over in NZ the previous year, it only seems fitting that the band they beat in the first season of UK Popstars would have even more success this year over there than they did here in Australia given how the kiwis seemed to be fans of the first season at the time. Of course, this love didn't extent to its second season as none of the future contestants found success over there.

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.

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.

Even though this was released much sooner in NZ than it was here in Australia, it wound up only becoming popular over there thanks to it instantly rising to the top of the charts here which means the kiwis needed a bit of incentive in making this second consecutive Billboard chart topper from Nelly a hit over there that we Aussies gave them. At least it otherwise had equal amounts of success in both countries.

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.

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'm a bit surprised that this was only a sleeper hit here in Australia given how I remember this being flogged on our radios back in the day, at least it was a more mainstream success in NZ which means I finally get to include it on this site. This was the only hit that Santana had with his second album during his comeback period in the new millennium, this time teaming up with Michelle Branch during the height of her popularity.

I guess the kiwis weren't able to take this ballad as seriously as we Aussies were, likely due to the video which sees her playing her piano while green screened onto what I'm guessing is someone's footage of a road trip they took across America. It did last quite a while on their charts like it did over here, however with all the stiff competition it had over here, it was largely on the lower half of their charts.

It appears the kiwis were also invested in this remix of the (then) obscure track from Elvis's catalogue given its popularity in the Ocean's eleven remake from around this time, this in addition to how much love he was given in Disney's Lilo and Stich was enough to revive the popularity of the king of rock and roll worldwide 25 years after his untimely death.

While this had a bit of a delay to its release in NZ, it proved to be worth it as it was more of a success over there than it was over here for Leann Rimes proving that we Aussies and kiwis were on board with her new pop direction moving forward. I get the feeling was meant to be about her moving on from her country roots which admittedly led to her having a lot of bad memories during her time in the genre.

Incubus were a band never known to make the same album twice given how they followed up their nu metal album from the previous year with an album that's more in line with what RHCP would make from around this time. The album was initially a flop for them worldwide, however it became a success over in NZ thanks to this becoming a surprise hit for the band months after its initial release.

This proved to be equally as successful in both countries from the southern hemisphere, this is quite impressive given how this song had much stiffer competition over in NZ given how no song had its release tampered with over there like they did over here which suggests it was actually more popular over there for Nelly than it was over here.

This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, likely because the kiwis were also touched with this ode to Kelly's (and possibly Beyonce's) fallen friends and how she feels sorrowful about how they never managed to achieve their dreams like she ended up doing. Although she had other hits in her career over there, this is her only appearance on this side of my site as a lead artist.

This was the one and only hit from the NZ indie band Goodshirt, a band who looked like they wouldn't be able to score any success with their debut album when it was released the previous year but saw their fortunes change when this track about a childhood friend of theirs named Sophie became a surprise hit for them this year.

Given how Robbie Williams was far more popular in NZ than he was here in Australia this decade, it only makes sense that his second song about questioning his faith in religion after "Better man" would prove to be an even bigger hit over there than it was over here even if the album it came from was far less success with the kiwis than it was down under.

While her album Up failed to become a massive success over in NZ like it was here in Australia, at least the lead single managed to become a hit over there despite it failing to do so over here which I'm sure was a bit of a consolation for Shania Twain upon its initial release. The album has been described as uneasy by its fans as it tries to recreate the success of Come on over to mixed results.

While it wasn't their first hit single over in NZ, this was the song that convinced their fellow kiwis that Nesian Mystik would be one of the hottest new names in their local music scene thanks to their slick and catchy hip hop that helped them stand out from their American contemporaries at the time.

Although we'll be looking at the title track from Enrique second album he released in English later down this list, it's apparent that this was the big hit off the album given how much more popular it was over there compared to what he had released prior and certainly since. I guess the kiwis were more interested in listening to him serenate his longtime girlfriend than anything else he had to offer.

This was Bic Runga's biggest hit from her homeland, naturally you'd think this ballad would also be a massive hit here in Australia given how "Sway" became as such from her debut album in lieu of said albums success over here. Alas that wasn't the case as she remains a one hit wonder over here despite her being more popular this decade in her homeland than she was upon her initial breakthrough.

This song's placement on this list feels like a more accurate representation of its popularity back in the day here in Australia, although said popularity went towards Alex Lloyd's album it served as the lead single to as opposed to in NZ where said album flopped in exchange for this being a massive success over there. He didn't have another hit in either country, although this remains a staple in commercials to this day.

This was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, although I get the feeling it was still more popular over there given how it had much stiffer competition compared to over here where it had little issues dominating our music scene. There was little chance it would fail in either country regardless given how it's one of many personal ballads to make it big throughout the decade.

While this was decently successful here in Australia because of its affiliation with Coyote Ugly, it was a mammoth success over in NZ despite the soundtrack to the film flopping over there compared to it being a massive success over there. I'm guessing this means that the kiwis made this a success due to it being from the post grunge genre which is what made Lifehouse and Creed a success worldwide.

Much like the lead single to Avril's debut album, this also wasn't pulled from shelves over in NZ like it was here in Australia which allowed it to last much longer on their charts and thus have a much accurate representation on this list to how popular the song was. It's one of the clumsier written songs in her catalogue, but that's forgivable given how it works with the theme that the song is going for.

This was slightly more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly because it charted higher over there for much longer which is odd because it obviously had much stiffer competition over there than it did here in Australia and yet this is how its success panned out in both countries. Either way, this song's success was proof that both countries wanted more of Savage Garden and initially took whatever they could get from either member.

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.

This wasn't quite as successful in NZ for Ronan Keating as it was here in Australia, mainly because once again, it had stiffer competition with many of the entries that outrank it on this list which prevented it from dominating their charts the same way it did over here. I guess it could also be that there was already a popular cover of the Garth Brooks classic to make it big over there from five years prior.

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 the second hit that the Sugababes managed to achieve in NZ and their native UK, it was also their first hit here in Australia given how popular this was on our radio even though it took a while for it to crossover here after it became an international hit for them. They would have two more hits over there later in the decade, both of which were also hits for them here in Australia.

Given how the album cycle for P!nk's second album wasn't tampered with in NZ like it was here in Australia, this means that the second single from the album managed to be much more successful over there which is interesting as many will tell you that this is her true debut single given how it has far more personal lyrics than anything she had released prior.

If you couldn't tell from the band name or album art, Katchafire was a tribute band to the late and great Bob Marley who managed to score a massive breakthrough this this track that does sound like something the reggae legend would've made had he lived to see the 21st century. It was their only hit over there, however they were more of an albums band given that's where their success came from.

Whereas in Australia this was a huge success for Nickelback upon its initial release the previous year, this only became a success this year in NZ once it became a Billboard chart topper for the band in the early months of the year which prompted the kiwis to finally check out what all the fuss was about with this track. You can say that they tried to not make these guys a household name but caved once they were in America.

While this does appear slightly higher on this list than on the Australian counterpart, I should mention that it along with every other entry on here had stiffer competition with each other, meaning this collaboration between Wyclef Jean and City High frontwoman Claudette Ortiz was far more successful over there than it was over here. This is impressive given how City High didn't have any success over there like they did over here.

Although her hit from the previous year was massive and allowed her album to go straight to number one, it was this song from the album that allowed it to finally be a massive success for Anika Moa in her homeland which put her in the same leagues as the likes of Bic Runga and her sister Boh when it came to influential female musicians from NZ.

This was slightly less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, although I guess once you factor in the stiffer competition it had over there compared to over here, then you can argue it was equally as successful in both countries for Sophie. It turns out this was a much bigger hit over there than her biggest hit here in Australia, although that is still to come so it's not like the kiwis ignored it or anything.

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 song from Mary J Blige was delayed a release over in NZ, this is a bit odd considering that A: it was usually us Aussies that delayed the release of an RNB track over the years and B: Mary already had minor success over there throughout the 90's which means the kiwis would already recognise her work prior to this Billboard chart topper of hers. Of course, this worked out for her over there given how much bigger it was compared to down under.

This is the final hit that Westlife managed to score in NZ, although they would find success with their later material albeit only on their album charts even though they scored a massive hit here in Australia with "You raise me up" from one of those albums. If there was a third round of the boy band wars, I would declare Blue as the winner as they managed to score far more success with their singles than these guys.

Even taking into consideration that every song that placed high on the Australian equivalent of this list had stiffer competition to what didn't place high on that list, it appears that the kiwis weren't as impressed with this breakthrough single from Sophie Ellis Bextor as we Aussies were likely due to them not finding the video as endearing as her earlier entry on this list.

This is a song that only barely missed the cut from appearing on the Australian side of my site, likely because we Aussies passed up the songs from Alicia Key's debut album in favour of buying the album itself this year. Fortunately, the kiwis have never allowed a successful album to affect the success of its singles, hence why this female empowerment ballad managed to be a massive success for her over there.

Given how Five for fighting's earlier entry on this list was considered as the unofficial anthem for 9/11 in NZ instead of this track from Enrique Iglesias, it meant that it wouldn't have the same impact over there as it did here in Australia which seems to have largely affected the sales of his second English speaking album over there as while it was successful, it won't be appearing on this side of my site.

There were no signs of Blue slowing down in NZ and especially their native UK as they managed to achieve massive success in both countries with the lead single and title track from their second album, by this point, we Aussies had given up on any prospect of a third boy bands war but that clearly wasn't the case in those two countries given how this wasn't their final hit in their catalogue.

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.

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.

Well, I've pretty much hyped up this third single from P!nk's second album throughout the Australian side of this site, so let's finally look at how this song did massively well worldwide and why it was a huge radio staple here back in the day despite lacking a physical release. This is P!nk taking the "your love is my drug" metaphor and flipping it to be about how the love she had for this person is making her sick as if she was taking drugs.

This was the third single to be released from K'lee from her one and only album, given how it dropped around the time the album came out, its success was predictable even if most of her fellow kiwis would likely only know her for her cover of the Mr. Mister track from the previous year. Sadly, the album itself was a massive flop for her, leading to her not releasing anymore music in her career.

*Apologies for the terrible quality of this album art, images of this album cover are scarce on the internet. *

This proved to be equally as successful for P!nk in NZ as it was here in Australia, then again, this ballad about P!nk coping with her parents' divorce (presumably written at a young age) was the only song of hers from her second album to not be pulled from shelves here in Australia given how Sony had finally got the message that we Aussies weren't going to by her album by making the song unavailable to us.

It appears that the kiwis had a love/hate relationship with this song from J-Lo just like the rest of the world did, on the one hand, they appreciated her attempts at being down to earth over a bumping beat whilst on the other they felt that she missed the mark and wound up coming off as more out of touch with reality than ever before. The song has had a better reputation over the years due to this being a normal feat for celebrities.

There were no signs of Bic Runga slowing down in her homeland this year as the second single from her highly acclaimed album Beautiful collision proved to be a massive success for her over there, it makes you wonder why she was unable to have some of this success translate over to Australia given how both entries on from the album were bigger hits over there than her big hit over here "Sway."

While Ja Rule did have massive success with his album Pain is love in NZ, it appears that the kiwis were only interested in his "thugs need love too" songs as his only hits he had over there had Ashanti involved on the chorus as opposed to here in Australia where he at least had a few other hits without her. That said, this did manage to be a bigger hit for them over in NZ than it was here in Australia.

This is one of the few singles from No Doubt to find more success in NZ than it did here in Australia, it also serves as a comeback single for them over there given how their second international album from earlier in the decade was a complete flop for them as opposed to being a mere modest success down under. I guess the kiwis came around for this track due to the reggae influence as well as the hip hop verse.

This was the third hit to come from Nelly Furtado's debut album in NZ, it was a huge hit for her over there and virtually nowhere else in the world due to it feeling out of place with her other two hits from the previous year. Lyrically this feels more like it belongs on her third album Loose which perhaps explains why the kiwis had an easier time gravitating towards that album upon its initial release.

Westlife were on a roll over in NZ as they managed to achieve a huge hit with the lead single to their third album, an album that once again, saw a ton of success over there and virtually no success over here likely due to us Aussies already moving on from the boy band wars by the time it was released. It would be their final album to find success over there until they reinvented themselves later in the decade.

Following his departure from Five, ABS decided to embark on a solo career that was off to a good start with this solo debut single of his given how it was a big hit in NZ and his native UK. I guess it was interesting to see him abstain from rapping on this track given that's how he stood out from the other members of the boy band, however that only gave him one hit as the rest of his album would be a flop.

It appears the kiwis passed up "Hella good" this year in favour of this third single from No Doubt's album Rock steady as this was a flop here in Australia due to the success of that song over here, I guess they preferred listening to Gwen dial it back on this track as opposed to her rocking out to that track back in the day. Her final hit with the band would be equally as popular in both countries the following year.

Even though Kasey Chambers never found any success with any of her albums in NZ, at least she managed to score a huge hit with her breakthrough single over there likely due to it fitting in with all of the female singer/songwriter ballads that managed to be popular over there this year. Indeed, I'm surprised that Kasey didn't find more success down under with that in mind.

This was much more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing because Fever didn't do as well over there as it did here which meant that the kiwis were more interested in the singles from the album rather than the album itself even though both "In your eyes" and "Come into my world" failed to appear on this list of mine. I guess it's fitting that the best song on the album (in my opinion) was a big hit over there.

This was the third hit to come from Blue's debut album as well as the first to make it big in NZ and not here in Australia given how these guys were a two-hit wonder down under with their two entries on my previous list. This was slightly overshadowed by "Fly by" (which is still to come on this list) due to that receiving a radio edit to make it seem like a sequel to the album version.

Given how this has a similar placement on this list as it does on the Australian side of this site, this means that the third single from Enrique's second English language album was slightly more popular over there due to having stiffer competition than on the Australian counterpart. Once again, this is due to this coming from a highly successful album that didn't affect its popularity over there like it did over here.

It appears that JT managed to find equal amounts of success with this lead single to his debut album in NZ that he achieved here in Australia, I guess this was impressive given how his big hit he had with Nsync this year failed to make a second appearance on this side of my site which suggests the kiwis weren't initially interested in having him dabble into RNB around this time.

You'd think that these two would've had more success in NZ than they did here in Australia, for the most part that's true as this managed to be a hit over there where it wasn't over here, however this will be their only new appearance on my site which is odd given how much the kiwis loved hip hop of their calibre. At least all of their other entries from the Australian side of my site will be reappearing on this side of it.

I guess the kiwis were a bit late in discovering this track from IIO compared to us Aussies, although once they did, it managed to become a decent success over there even if it wasn't as popular there as it was over here for the American duo. This unfortunately meant that they remain a one hit wonder over there like they are over here as nothing else became popular in the southern hemisphere for them.

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'm surprised this wasn't a hit here in Australia back in the day considering how they used to flog this on the radio as with many of the entries on this list that didn't appear on the Australian side of this site, fortunately the kiwis seemed to have made it a success over there which got her out of the one hit wonder bin that "Torn" threatened to trap her in four years prior.

While this didn't chart as high in NZ as it did over here in Australia, it still managed to be equally as successful in both countries due to this having to work its way up to its success over there as supposed to it debut high on our charts and quickly falling off once its initial appeal wore off. Either way it was an impressive feat for the third single of a (then) unknown singer/songwriter making it big worldwide.

I guess one way of ensuring the success of the fourth single from your debut album was to have it be a "sequel" to the album version which is exactly what Blue did with this track, although it appears that only us Aussies and their fellow Brits saw any value to this remix as this predictably bombed everywhere else in the world for the boy band.

It appears the kiwis were just as intrigued by this collaboration between Fat Joe and Ashanti (and Ja Rule if you listen to the chorus closely enough) as we Aussies were that it manages to retain a similar position on this list as its Australian counterpart. Unlike here in Australia where he remains a one hit wonder, he did manage a second hit in NZ as the lead rapper for his group Terror squad later in the decade.

It appears the kiwis were bigger fans of this theme to the first Spiderman flick than us Aussies were given how it managed to appear much higher on this side of my site, this is taking into account that Nickelback weren't as popular over there around this time as they were over here and that no one knew who Saliva or the frontman of that band was when this was initially released.

This will be Carly Binding's only appearance on my site given how this was the only hit she managed to achieve that racked up enough points to appear on here ("We kissed" did come close though) Carly is best known for her work with the girl group Truebliss who became the first group to win a reality TV series when they appeared on Popstars NZ in 1999.

I guess the kiwis weren't as on board with Eminem airing out his dirty laundry on this single like we Aussies were given how much less successful it was over there compared to what it achieved over here, although it was a decent success there which goes to show that they were willing to allow him to have a more serious hit as opposed to the comedy tracks from earlier in his career.

I guess the kiwis were thoroughly unimpressed with Ashanti back in the day given how her one and only international hit barely managed to make a reappearance on this side of my site despite how popular it was here in Australia and her native America. I would say it was because the kiwis didn't like her presence overall except all of her collaborations with Ja Rule managed to reappear on this side of my site.

Apparently, Ireland had their own version of Popstars which resulted in this group being formed and eventually winning the series, this was enough of an incentive for the kiwis to make a modest success this year even though as far as I can tell, this flopped even in their homeland.

It looks like the kiwis had less tolerance for Diddy this far into the new millennium than we Aussies did given how this only barely made the cut for reappearing on this side of my site, in fact his influence in general would see a sharp decline going forward as many of his other projects would achieve far less success over there than it did over here.

This is the final hit that Stellar were able to achieve in their homeland, it was a decent success for the band in lieu of the album it came from which was a massive disappointment for them even though it spawned two of their bigger hits in their catalogue.

This was a minor success here in Australia for Toya; however, it was more of a success in NZ and an even bigger success in her native America thanks to how funky the beat is as well as her having a commanding presence on here despite still being a teenager when she released it as a single. Even though this was a huge success in her homeland, she would only release one album in her career.

I guess the kiwis had a bit more of a soft spot for this lead single to Puddle of Mudd's breakthrough album than we Aussies did, the trade-off of course being that "She hates me" was a huge flop over there despite it being a massive success over here the following year. Still, they have the comfort of giving them a hit with this ballad about coping with domestic violence that people still have fond memories of.

I'm as surprised as you are that this made it on this side of my site and not the Australian side, I would say that the kiwis were kinder to these guys going into the new millennium than we Aussies were except the album did really well so perhaps this is another example of us Aussies pushing aside a radio staple in favour of those strong album sales.

This was the third hit that K'lee had from her debut album, it was a decent success due to it being released around the time the album came out even though said album was a huge flop for her.

*Apologies for lack of album art, this is "A lifetime left to wait" if you couldn't tell from my commentary*