It had been a while since Lady Gaga last had a genuine hit single anywhere in the world, so to see her back at the top of the charts with this track from the A star is born soundtrack was a bit of a surprise to say the least. The song's popularity came in two waves, the first was upon its initial release to promote the film and the second was when it won best original song at the Academy awards.
How ironic that one of the last songs to become a success in the decade would also be the most successful, at one point this was the most successful song of all time in Australia and if we're going by chart runs, it still is to this day given how it last 26 WEEKS AT NUMBER ONE purely due to "Old town road" lasting nineteen weeks at number one on Billboard at the end of the decade.
The last time George Ezra had any success on the charts was four years prior to when this became a huge runaway success for him with his debut album, although admittedly he did take his sweet time in following up that album as he didn't release any new music in those four years. This is a song whose popularity was a result of it being featured in every commercial you can think of.
For a brief period of time, this was the biggest song of all time in Australia simply for its refusal to drop out of the charts. I guess it makes sense given how this was a party jam from two members of the Gordy family released during the height of the club boom, although as you'll quickly discover from this list, I'm not a huge fan of the 2010's club boom.
This is another song that's become infamous for the internet's opinion of it, it's easy to see why people detest this song as it seems to check all of the boxes for what it hates about music from the vocals to the melody to the lyrics. It's worth noting that even in this day and age, non-American artists usually have to wait until they've conquered the world before they so much as touch the Billboard charts like this did.
It looked like Five seconds of summer were yesterday's news given how they hadn't troubled the charts anywhere in the world since their second album back in 2015, however their popularity was restored when they released the lead single to their third album which became an inescapable success everywhere in the world. Were it not for Tones and I's earlier entry, this would be the biggest hit from an Australian artist of all time.
This was originally released as the theme to the second Despicable me film, a film that's a decent distraction for kids and their parents that like many Illumination films, receives far too much hate these days. I don't think anyone could've predicted this Oscar nominated track would turn out to be a huge runaway success given the lack of hits Pharrell had prior to its release worldwide.
While it didn't last almost half a year at number one outside of America, this meme track from Lil Nas X was a massive success regardless thanks to the controversy that came when it was (rather foolishly) denied being able to chart on the Billboard country charts which sparked accusations of racism due to how many songs that have been able to appear on those charts despite not being country songs.
It seems strange that the biggest hit of Billie Eilish's career (at least as of this writing) would be a song that was released the day that her debut album dropped, I guess audiences wanted to listen to her try and seduce an older person over anything else she had to offer at this point. It saw a minor comeback in the new decade after she swept the Grammys as well as it being crowned the best song of 2019 by many publications.
This is a song that was infamous upon its initial release, so much so that people were urging others to listen to "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC instead given how that song achieves what this song is trying to and was released nearly thirty years prior. Although Imagine dragons were never critical darlings, this was the song where their reputation sunk to the levels of Nickelback and Creed before them.
This is a song whose existence is based around a more popular song; in this case it was "Old town road" which was quickly becoming one of the biggest hits of all time when Blanco Brown decided to cash in on its success by releasing this track which worked wonders for the country singer of colour.
This is to date the final hit single that Justin Timberlake has able to achieve in most parts of the world, although "Say something" from his most recent album (at the time of writing) was a minor success in certain parts of the world two years after this came out. This was the theme to the Dreamworks film Trolls which saw him in a lead role (albeit as a voice actor as the film is animated.)
This was so inescapable here in Australia and over in Kimbra's native NZ that it managed to become a massive worldwide success several months after its initial release, not bad for an indie duet between two artists that even in the southern hemisphere remain one hit wonders to this day with this ballad.
This song was released on the same day as "Castle on the hill," meaning that audiences chose this song about Ed Sheeran objectifying the person in this song over his heartfelt track about missing his childhood friends into making an inescapable hit from his third album. This should tell you the culture we've been a part of since the start of the decade as the internet tends to make hits out of songs meant to be divisive.
Now I should point out that Taylor Swift is among my least favourite artists of all time, however I'm probably one of the few non Swifties to actually enjoy this anthem against the hater simply for how catchy it is (if only she took her own advice on this track.) I'm guessing this is why it was a huge hit for her given how it successfully transitioned her from a pop country chick to a pop diva still going strong to this day.
Although it may not seem like it, this is in fact a collaboration that was commissioned to be the theme song of a reality series as Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine from Maroon 5 were judges on the Voice America when this initially came out. It signaled a new chapter for the latter as his subsequent releases with his band would shift towards a more pop direction compared to their rock roots.
Although this song has the producer credited as the lead artist, it's really a Bruno Mars track given how it has all of the ingredients to his catalogue throughout the decade. It's a throwback to soul music from the twentieth century delivered by him in a way that makes him wish he was a part of the times.
This lead single to Katy Perry's third album (as Katy Perry at least) sparked controversy due to the similarities it has to "Brave" by Sara Barelles which was released several months prior to this becoming an inescapable hit for Katy. It was just the themes of self-empowerment, rather it was the melody being very similar in both songs.
Given how we're in an era where every song on an album is guaranteed to chart once said album is released, I guess the way to have follow ups from it once it comes out is to take a track and modify it in a way where it stands out from the rest of the track listing. This was the mindset for this ballad which got turned into a duet with Beyonce despite the original being about how Ed feels that the love of his life was perfect the way they were.
This was the song that Shawn Mendes released with Camila Cabello to confirm rumours that the pair were in fact dating, this was likely due to persistent rumours that Shawn was gay due to him being more effeminate than the usual pop star even in this day and age (don't get me started on this stereotype.) It remains Shawn's final hit to date, although Camilla is still sticking around the mainstream.
I guess it's good to know that it's only been recently that Australians have been struggling to make it big even in our local charts, this was such a massive hit for Dean Lewis that it even managed to be a huge international success for the indie folk singer at a time where it was becoming increasingly hard for indie artists to make it big in an increasingly coporatised market.
This remains Adele's biggest hit in Australia, likely because it serves as the lead single to her second album 21 which was a departure from her debut album which was made following her win on the X factor UK in 2007. The album was themed around an ex-boyfriend following a rocky breakup they had with this being the first of many songs where she trashes him with how awful he was to her.
The Chainsmokers were already considered a household name by the time they released this third big hit they had in 2016, however the inclusion of one Halsey ensured that they would have one of the biggest hits of the new millennium so far given how it's a story about how her and Drew Taggart grew apart and how she wants him back, but he's moved on.
It may be too early to say given how it hasn't even been five years since this dropped off the charts (as of this writing of course) however this might be the last we'll ever hear from Maroon 5 given how none of their subsequent singles have been able to take off anywhere in the world outside their native America.
This was a massive hit for both Marshmello and Kane Brown in Australia and their native America, likely because country music seems to be the genre of choice in both countries following the "Old town road" controversy as the decade was coming to an end. In Australia, it could also be because Marshmello was inescapable here as he had plenty of other hits that we'll look at on this list.
This seems like one of those songs that was created specifically to draw out comments from people that will offend their readers, as such I won't say anything about this track other than it being the one and only hit from American singer Ava Max likely because of the reason I just described.
There have been several successful showtunes to make it big in the mainstream throughout the decade, one of the bigger tracks was this song from the Greatest showman which comes from Keala Settle who plays the bearded lady in the film. This was the song that she sings during the film's emotional lowpoint as she did so to convince her peers that she wasn't going to be ashamed of herself regardless of what society thinks of her.
This was the second hit that British RNB singer Taio Cruz managed to achieve worldwide, it was a big hit for him likely due to it being considered the quintessential party jam during the height of the club boom era amongst a sea of stiff competition. He would have one more hit the year after this became inescapable for him before he forever faded into obscurity.
Well, this was the biggest hit of all time for a little while given how it was the theme song to Spiderman into the spider verse, OK it was the favourite song of the lead character Miles Morales which in turn made it the new favourite song of audiences who enjoyed the film. Not bad for two rappers who by this point were divisive at best in the hip hop game.
Well, the title of this song has become toxic to the music industry these days, hasn't it? Prior to being the name of a social media site that's forever going to be blamed for the decline in the music industry, it was the title of Kesha's debut single (as a lead artist that is) which was another example of how big the club boom was even in its infancy given how it was a huge hit during the transition from the 00's to the 2010's.
It looked like that Guy Sebastian's popularity came to an end with "Like a drum" from earlier on this list, heck not even his appearance at the 2015 Eurovision as Australia's first entry did his career any favours as that track failed to become a hit for him even here that year. Fast forward four years and he managed to score a massive comeback with this track even with all of the Spotify streaming it had to compete with.
This was originally an album track from Maroon 5's album Red pill blues, it was given the remix treatment when the band decided to turn it into a female empowerment anthem by having the video had Adam Levine dance with some of the most powerful women in the world as well as having a guest verse from Cardi B which (in my opinion) might just be the only thing remotely empowering about the track.
This song feels like a lie due to it crediting Bebe Rexha as the lead artist when really it should be Florida Georgia Line (man what a stupid band name) as they have far more presence on here than the pop star. The song is rather innocuous on its own, however it caused massive controversy for breaking the record for the most weeks at number one on the Billboard country charts, a set of charts I think we can all agree has little value.
We have the second appearance from LMFAO this early on from my list, it goes to show you how inescapable these two were for their second album even if that success faded almost as instantly as it came for them. I guess this was meant to be their version of "I'm too sexy," mainly because it came out twenty years after that track and both songs having a similar reputation nowadays.
This is a song whose popularity I personally don't understand, it obviously leaves me in the minority that I don't like this track considering A: how inescapably popular it was going into the new decade and B: the critical acclaim it continues to receive to this day for Post Malone.
This was the lead single to Katy Perry's third album Teenage dream, it's a song that is all kinds of ridiculous thanks to its music video (which would appear on a weirdest videos list if I bothered to make one for this decade) as well as the Snoop Dogg feature which has him rattling off nonsense likely to compliment the mindless fun this song is supposed to be.
This ballad from Ed Sheeran was the first hit of hits to bring him into the big leagues given how everything he released prior wasn't as big as his more recent material. It's also one of the last songs of his to be a soulful acoustic ballad as his subsequent releases would see him adapting to the trends of the moment rather than him staying true to his roots.
It had been a while since Panic! at the disco troubled the charts anywhere in the world, indeed this has the same criticisms as what people have for Maroon 5 as if feels more like a solo joint from Brendan Urie rather than a comeback for the band. In any case, this revived Brendan's popularity enough for him to have a duet with Taylor Swift about how awesome it was to be her just before the decade came to an end.
Although this is credited to Mark Ronson much like his other hit with Bruno Mars from earlier on this list, this is really a Miley Cyrus track where she discovers her inner Stevie Nicks for this track that's meant to be a throwback to the 70's disco but feels more like one of the Fleetwood Mac singer's solo material from the 80's. It was a massive success for them worldwide except of course in Miley's native America.
Following her departure from Fifth harmony, Camila Cabello launched a solo career which began with this song about how she was in love with the city of Havana (which just happens to be where she was born.) It was a massive hit for her likely due to it being released when the Latin craze of the late 2010's took off thanks to "Despacito" from earlier on this list.
2017 was a great year for the individual members of One direction, here we have the biggest hit that Nial Horan had on his own which was likely due to the strange lyrics in the song about him having sex with the person he's singing to (does anyone know what he means about "like sweat dripping down our dirty laundry?") Like Liam from earlier, he only has the one hit to his name from this year.
It may surprise you to learn that Adele's earlier entry on this list didn't get to number one in Australia or NZ, I'm guessing because the success of that track was partially due to how we Aussies and kiwis instantly gravitated towards this second single from the singer's sophomore album which allowed both songs to linger in the upper echelons of our charts.
This would've easily been much higher on this list were it not for all of the Spotify payola pushing songs like this out of the mainstream, even so, its placement on this list should be telling of how popular indie singer Amy Shark was during the second half of the decade as this was able to be a massive hit for her in a way that many of her contemporaries failed to achieve.
This was originally released in 2012 to deafening silence for the folk singer Passenger (he was originally the lead singer of a band with this name and used it as a stage name when he went solo) it was given a new life a year later when it became a surprise hit for him throughout the world.
I did mention towards the start of this list that this song lost out to "Shape of you" given how both tracks were released on the same day worldwide, however that didn't necessarily mean that this was a flop from Ed Sheeran as enough people were touched by this song about longing for his childhood days that it became one of the bigger hits of the decade for the English folk singer.
There have been countless jokes made towards this big hit from Usher's breakup album Raymond v Raymond that I suggest looking up in your own time, suffice to say that having the G in this track stand for gosh rather than God was a surefire way for this song to enter meme territory upon its initial release. In any case, it did save the album from flopping given how the first two singles failed to become a hit for him.
This was one of only two hits that Owl city had in most parts of the world, the other being with Carly Rae Jepsen who was also a one hit wonder on her own worldwide. Here we have a song about his mindset which was so fascinating to listeners that it not only became a massive hit for him, but also had him confirm that he was neuro divergent which should be obvious when reading the lyrics.
This is the only hit that Carly Rae Jepsen had on her own throughout the world, oh sure she had a hit with Owl City after this took the world by storm, however none of her other singles managed to take hold anywhere outside her native Canada. As it turns out, this only became a worldwide smash due to an endorsement from Justin Bieber of all people, meaning this is actually a success due to the Beliebers.
This is a song I don't want to talk about, OK I guess I can because it's the video that makes me angry whenever this comes up in conversation (look it up to see where I'm coming from.) I guess this was able to get Bastille out of the one hit wonder bin that "Pompeii" threatened to trap them in earlier in the decade (stay tuned for that further down this list) however that's about the only positive I have for this track.
While this wasn't the lead single to Eminem's album Recovery, it was the song which showcased the rapper was back on his A-game after two albums where he failed to live up to his hype he established for himself a decade prior. Here he recruits Rihanna on the chorus of this track which is something he would repeat later in the decade as the two would collaborate again on "The monster" on his next album.
Given how there's two versions of this track that were making the waves at the time of their release, it only makes sense that the Latin craze would come back into the mainstream even if most of it was confided to the Billboard charts. The original was a standard reggaeton track from two of its more popular members of the sub-genre, the remix has Justin Bieber which of course means the two men didn't have any further success.
This remains Pitbull's biggest hit worldwide, likely for the chorus provided by Ne-yo which helps this stand out among the other bangers for the club boom around this time. This song caused a bit of controversy due to a cheap shot that Pitbull takes against Lindsey Lohan which resulted in her suing him for defamation of her character, that and the lyrics being perceived as an endorsement for sexual harassment even prior to the "Blurred lines" controversy.
This was the first big hit that Avicii had in most parts of the world, sure "Levels" did attract buzz for the Swedish producer earlier in the decade and he did have a hit here in Australia with "I could be the one" with Nicky Romero, however it was this track which featured an uncredited Aloe Blacc on vocals which made him a household name as well as proving that EDM and country music can work well together.
There were no signs of Lady Gaga slowing down exiting the 00's given how this lead single to her E.P The fame monster managed to be a huge success for her worldwide, it was a sign that she would be the biggest pop star of the 2010's much like her obvious influence Madonna was throughout the 80's and 90's.
This was a song that was a complete flop upon its initial release, likely because indie music really needs that marketing edge if it wants to have any chance of it crossing over to the mainstream. That came when this song started finding itself in movie trailers and TV commercials due to its theme of meeting the love of the narrator's life while on the dancefloor which still connects with audiences to this day.
While this wasn't the first novelty track to make it big through the internet, it was the song which convinced Billboard to change how they calculated their charts due to it failing to get to number one in America due to it being a foreign language track that wasn't receiving much airplay over there. Naturally this decision would ruin the music industry throughout the decade, although that certainly wasn't this song's fault as it's just a harmless diss track towards the citizens of the Gangnam district in Korea.
Oh, this song, this was the song which ushered the world into the politically correct climate as it was the final straw for audiences who were tired of songs that depicted the narrator as a skeevy sex pervert having their way with the opposite sex. I can admit that this song does cross a few boundaries, however the backlash towards the track has gotten out of hand and birthed one of the most toxic aspects of the internet.
This was the first of two big hits that the Weeknd had with Daft punk, the other being the only other song from the album of the same name "I feel it coming" which has a completely different subject matter to the one on here. This is about him dealing with his fame in ways I won't describe on this list as they can potentially be triggering to certain people reading this.
This is one of my least favourite songs on this list (which is saying quite a bit if I'm being honest) this is because I've never liked Train as a band, and this might be their most annoying song in my opinion. It appears the rest of the world agrees as from what I can gather, this only became a hit purely through how much of a meme it was upon its initial release due to its bad lyrics.
It may surprise you to learn that this wasn't an immediate chart topper here in Australia, in fact it didn't top our charts at all as it was only a modest success upon its initial release and only became a best seller due to the One direction phenomenon taking off throughout the rest of the world. Indeed, this is one of the lower charting songs to appear this high on this list to give you an idea of how much of a sleeper hit it was down under.
This was the first hit that Bruno Mars had as a lead performer, sure he had hits with B.O.B and Travie McCoy prior to this ballad which shares its name and themes with a Billy Joel track from the 70's, however it was this ballad that made him a household name in the music scene.
There were a ton of DJ's to make it big as the decade was coming to an end that were from places that you likely didn't even realise had a music scene, here we have a hit from Regard who hails from Kosovo who came across the Jay Sean track from 2008 and made it his own by remixing it for a modern audience. It was a massive hit going into the new decade and one that promised great things for the man in question.
It may surprise you to learn that Justin Bieber had yet to have that huge inescapable hit in Australia prior to the success of this lead single from his fourth album Purpose, then again that might be due to him being the laughingstock of the music industry during the first half of the decade for various reasons I won't be getting into on this list.
You may be surprised to learn that this will be the Jonas Brothers only appearance on this site as they never had much success during their time on Disney like their female counterparts, in fact I get the feeling this was only a hit for the trio due to it sounding a lot like "Feel it still" from Portugal the man which was one of the bigger hits of the decade worldwide (stay tuned for it.)
It looked like this guy was going to be a one hit wonder with "Impossible" from earlier in the decade following some problematic statements he made which suggested that he was homophobic, he was able to get back in the good graces of the general public by the time he released this ballad which saw him crossing over to America for his one and only hit on Billboard.
Well, this is just mature, isn't it? It seems weird this was written by Ed Sheeran considering the whole song hinges on a single joke (and a cringy one at that in my opinion) however he gave it to JB presumably because he felt he would do better justice to the song which at least on a commercial level was the case. Still, I'll take this over Halsey's cover who doesn't even hide how immature this song is.
This is the last hit that Conrad Sewell has had to date in his career, although he is an indie artist, so perhaps if we ever have data to songs that got big outside of Spotify's monopoly of the music industry, then perhaps I can feature other songs of his on this site. This has nothing to do with the Elton John song of the same name even though the two have a similar subject matter to each other.
This is another song that admittedly has some strange lyrics (what does she mean when she says, "I want you to love me like I'm a hot guy?") however, it's obvious that the appeal for this song was how opulent it sounds which does match the theme of the song as she wants this person to make her feel so special that no other woman in the world exists. It's a power fantasy sure, but one that's largely inoffensive.
Evidently this was a song originally meant for Taylor Swift as this was written back when her and Calvin Harris were dating, it appears she wasn't too pleased with him giving the song to Rihanna shortly after they broke up as she created quite the drama when this song became a hit for the two of them when it did. This drama was one of the factors that led to her backlash in 2016 throughout the music industry.
This is one of only two hits that John Legend had outside of his native America, the other was with Meghan Trainor where the two duetted on how they were going to love each other as if they would never see each other again (whatever that's supposed to mean.) Here we have John making a love ballad for his wife Chrissy Teigan which I'm sure connected with audience upon its initial release here in Australia as it took a while to take off everywhere else in the world.
This was released in early 2014 to deafening silence for the Irish singer/songwriter Hozier, likely because of how overdramatic it is despite it being an attack on the religious community for all of its atrocities it committed over the years (particularly towards the LGBT community if the video is anything to go by.) It was given a second chance when it was nominated for several Grammies which allowed it to become a massive success during the awards season.
Well, no one ever said that Macklemore wasn't a corny guy, here he is with the only hit he had with his second and final album with Ryan Lewis which is about him wanting to own a moped. Not a motorcycle mind you as that would've been at least cool, but a moped. Even though this was a massive hit for him due to the charm he brings to the track, he wouldn't have another hit until his first solo album later in the decade.
This is the first new entry from this list, I told you that pop music wasn't dead during the second half of the decade once you looked past the streaming services. In any case, we have this (to date) one and only hit from English singer/songwriter Freya Riding who managed to connect with audiences in the real world with this self-empowerment anthem about overcoming a rough relationship.
OK this is an artist that I have trouble talking about without coming off as caustic, here we have the biggest hit from Meghan Trainor which is supposed to be a body positive song but instead comes off as highly abrasive towards people who don't fit in her standards of beauty. It was a hit due to songs about body positivity being rare upon its initial release, however it's widely been ridiculed for its toxic nature.
Many people feel that this is a mere rip-off of "Roses" from the Chainsmokers a year prior to when this became a hit for them and Coldplay, obviously it didn't have any impact on the songs popularity as this proved to be twice as popular as that other track (which we'll get to eventually.) As of this writing, but parties have yet to score another hit on the charts, suggesting this was the song which killed their respective popularity.
To date, this is the final hit for everyone involved with this track, mainly because it's a song about how we're living in good times released during a time where that couldn't be further from the truth (don't even get me started on how the world's been in recent memory.) The song's intentions are good of course, which is perhaps why it was a hit even if you can definitely say it was released at a bad time.
This was the third hit to come from the debut E.P from Tones and I, much like her earlier entry, this is a song about her struggles living in poverty which naturally connected with an audience albeit to a much smaller scale as it wasn't turned into a meme like "Dance monkey" was. You'd think with all of this success she would still be one of the most popular artists of the moment, alas she no longer is.
This is the last song from Guy Sebastian to have a featured artist from America, this time it's Lupe Fiasco who provided a rap verse for the former reality show winner which also failed to connect with an audience in the northern hemisphere.
This was the second of three hits that B.O.B had at the start of the decade, he was pipped for great things early on in his career but has since fallen into obscurity due to his questionable views on the world that I won't get into on this site. Here he recruits Hayley Williams of Paramore to provide him a chorus to connect his verses about him contemplating his place in the hip hop scene.
There was a time where people were excited for what Macklemore had to offer the music industry, I won't go into why that's no longer the case except to say that people weren't happy with how much critical acclaim he and Ryan Lewis received at the expense of others back in the day. In any case, we have their breakthrough single about not wasting your money on expensive fads and instead being conscious with your spending habits.
This was released a mere month after Daya's hit single "Hide away" became a worldwide hit for her, I'm guessing the Chainsmokers were looking to cash in off her sudden rise in popularity with this collaboration which to be fair was a gambit that paid off as it was a massive success for the duo upon its initial release. Much like their earlier entry, this is a song where the woman is being submissive towards the duo.
This was originally released as a single in 2010 to deafening silence, not even an endorsement from Triple J could make this a hit for the trio Foster the people upon its initial release that year. It was given a second chance when it finally crossed over in their native America which allowed it to be a success worldwide, although it was technically a hit twice here in Australia as it received a boost in popularity early in 2012 for some reason.
There didn't seem to be any signs of Flo Rida slowing down in the music scene as this became yet another instant success for the rapper, although in this case I think this is due to the presence of Sia on the chorus as this was released shortly after the mainstream exposure she received on "Titanium" with David Guetta. It feels strange that her popularity would skyrocket from this collaboration whilst the rappers would decline.
This is another song that's easy to make fun of due to how melodramatic the lyrics are, after all would anyone actually catch a grenade for someone regardless of the situation? This is the song I feel best represents why I don't like Bruno Mars (well almost as it's not like this is a throwback track to the twentieth century) as I've never particularly cared for him as a vocalist or as a musician overall.
Given how he caused quite a stir with his previous two singles in the music industry (which we'll get to later on this list) it seems fitting that this bonus track from the one-year anniversary of Shawn Mendes's second album would restore him in people's good graces even if nowadays people feel that it's little more than an obvious choice of a song to soundtrack a car commercial.
This is one of those bittersweet hits that I've featured on this site as the band in question would go their separate ways just after it became a massive hit for them worldwide. I'm not sure why they called it quits as EDM would continue to thrive as the decade went on, however I'm guessing they didn't have much faith in this song when they released it and felt its success was a fluke when it took off.
After much hype from her collaborations with the likes of David Guetta and Flo Rida, Sia finally managed to score a huge hit as a lead artist with this lead single to her album 1000 forms of fear. This is one of a surprising number of hits to be about the joys and dangers of being an alcoholic this decade as the lyrics is about how Sia is going to cut loose and have the time of her life regardless of the consequences.
Post Malone had moderate success prior to this song about how he wished he was a rock star rather than a rapper (although I hesitate to call him a rapper if I'm being honest) however it was this track that finally made him transition from a meme that "White Iverson" made him earlier in the decade to a household name likely because of the subject matter.
This was one of the last hits that Pitbull had anywhere in the world, in fact I feel this was a success more due to Kesha's chorus as it had her working with a country beat as opposed to her usual club bangers from earlier in the decade. Pitbull would continue to have minor success after this became a hit, and while she had a lot of personal struggles after this, this wouldn't be the last we see of Kesha either.
There haven't been many Canadian artists in recent years, sure Justin Bieber is going to stick around for the rest of time and we shouldn't be surprised if Shawn Mendes suddenly reappears on the charts, however, there haven't been many other artists to make it big from the far north. One of the more recent success stories comes from this duo who scored a massive hit with this EDM track worldwide.
This was originally from Post Malone's debut album Stoney; it was a mere album track which contained the type of misogyny you'd expect from someone who doesn't understand that women were people and thus was largely dismissed as a dud from the album initially. It gained traction a year after the album came out due to a live performance of the song which was so well received that it was pushed as a single.
Thankfully Drake doesn't have as many entries on this list of mine as you'd think as we Aussies were a bit slow in allowing the Canadian child star turned rapper to dominate our charts like he did on Billboard earlier in the decade. Here he has his biggest hit, which was the lead single to his album Views, the song made news back in the day by becoming the first to be streamed a billion times on Spotify.
To think this remains Coldplay's biggest hit in certain parts of the world, although I'm guessing their big hit would've been "Clocks" or "Speed of sound" had digital downloads been legal when those songs were initially released as singles. Even so, this is one of the more divisive tracks from the band's catalogue likely due to it sounding like something that was made specifically for web commercials.
This was the lead single to Adele's third album 25, a song that seems to be a continuation of "Rolling in the deep" from her previous album as it once again showcases her feeling remorseful towards her ex that she trashed throughout 21. It was a huge hit for her as was the album it came from, although she certainly took her time in following this album up as it's only come out recently (as of this writing.)
This was the first big hit that Jessie J achieved in Australia, I guess we Aussies weren't interested in validating "Do it like a dude" as a hit given how that flopped here despite it being a success in her native UK. Here we have her song about how money doesn't matter and its love that makes the world go around, a nice sentiment that some have criticised for being hypocritical coming from a pop song.
This is the only hit that Australian DJ Timmy Trumpet had, yes, he calls himself that due to having a gimmick of him playing the trumpet whenever he does a live show. Here he recruits NZ rapper Savage who had his popularity restored at the time when a remix of his biggest hit "Swing" became a hit earlier in the year this was released.
Well, if there's one artist I really don't like talking about, it's Nicki Minaj as in addition to me not liking her music, she also happens to have a long list of controversies both in and out of the music scene that I'd rather not get into. Here we have her biggest hit which showcases her more as a pop star than a rapper given how there's hardly any rapping on the track.
We looked at the biggest hit from Halsey's career earlier on this list, now let's look at her biggest hit to date which has her as the lead artist (as of this writing of course.) It's a song about how she felt she was responsible for G-Eazy's fame (despite him finding success much earlier than she did, let alone when they met) and how he was going to have a hard time living without her now that they were through as a couple.
This was the song that Sam Smith released to coincide with them coming out as non-binary, although I always found it weird that they chose to reveal who they truly were on this track as it's a collaboration with Normani from Fifth harmony and appears to be a song about how they were cheating on each other as if they were dating. To date, it remains the final hit single from Normani as she's yet to have a hit as a lead artist.
I guess the success of this song was proof that the world was ready to move on from an infamous incident that Chris Brown had involving his ex-girlfriend Rihanna (this will be the only time I mention it on this site, I promise) given how this managed to be a massive success for the RNB singer as if no time had passed between his last big hit "Forever" and this becoming a success.
No comments:
Post a Comment