I did reference the digital charts quite a bit on my 2010's retrospectives, didn't I? Well, I've decided to explore what was popular on those charts and present them on this list albiet without any changed commentary except for new entries on this list (because I really can't be bothered doing so.
Although the lyrics are explicably about JB's relationship with someone, this song was obviously meant to be his apology towards his actions during the first half of the decade given how much of a general nuisance he was throughout the world during his late teenage years. The world forgave him for those actions given how this was an immediate hit for the Canadian singer.
Well, this is a song that I feel the title speaks for itself, although I will say that Ed Sheeran was one of the lucky few to not have his career ruined by collaborating with Justin Bieber which is a lot more than I can say for just about everyone else on this list who made the mistake of doing so.
Of all the songs to be P!nk's biggest hit of the decade, I wasn't expecting it to be her duet with Fun frontman Nate Reuss, but it appears that this ballad about the pair falling out of love connected with audiences upon its initial release better than anything else she (or he for that matter) released in the 2010's. This would be one of the last hits she would have in her native America as her popularity faded over there.
This is another entry form P!nk that should be much higher due to it failing to compete with the Spotify charts despite having strong sales upon its initial release, it has the same theme as "What about us" in that she's speaking up for the disenfranchised on this track which seems to have become her theme in recent years. Although she struggles to retain her popularity going into the 2020's, she has scored a hit here and there.
Many people have had issues with this song from Flo Rida over the years, namely because they believe it stole the success that "Levels" from Avicii would've otherwise had given how the rapper uses that song as a chorus to connect his verses about how he has a good feeling about his future prospects.
This is another song from Taylor Swift I personally don't mind, I'm guessing because it's a rare example of her displaying self-awareness which I've come to appreciate compared to the rest of her catalogue. It appears the rest of the general public agrees with this sentiment as it remains one of her biggest hits to date despite it being the first single she released after (temporarily) pulling all of her catalogue from Spotify.
This was supposed to be an even bigger hit for P!nk but wasn't because she hasn't bought into the Spotify payola like Drake or Ed Sheeran has, even so, its placement on this list should give you an idea of how well loved she remains even to this day in Australia if she can still compete with those guys with such a disadvantage in the mainstream. Speaking of disadvantage, this song is meant to provide a voice for those affected by the political climate of the moment.
This was the second of five consecutive Billboard chart toppers for Katy Perry as she holds the record with MJ for the most number one hits in America from a single album, although internationally she didn't have that string of luck as each of her singles from the album (while still highly successful) had different peak positions around the world. Here we have the title track from that album which is regarded as one of it not her best song.
Well, this song has been ridiculed to death and back, as such I won't be explaining what's wrong with it on this list and instead bring up why it was a success for Bruno Mars back in the day. Basically, it was the video as it features Bruno with a bunch of backup dancers dressed as apes (something that's really problematic the more you think about it) as well as audiences relating to the lyrics at the time.
There have been plenty of reality show winners to make it big over the years, here we have the rare loser from a show (in this case the 2015 season of Britain's got talent) Calum Scott who scored a massive hit with this acoustic cover of Robyn's track from the start of the decade. All I'll say is that this is certainly a different take on the Swedish pop star's track given how that was a dance pop track.
This was the first of two hits that Anne Marie had as a featured artist for a popular EDM track, here she speaks up for single mothers who have to raise a child on their own which no doubt connected with many single women at the time of its release. It also allowed Clean bandit to escape the one hit wonder bin in most parts of the world given how "Rather be" almost trapped them there two years prior.
This was the first of two big hits that Usher achieved from the deluxe edition of Raymond v Raymond which in turn saved the album from tanking worldwide, it's a club banger that features Pitbull at the height of his popularity which no doubt tore the roof off whatever dance floor this happened to play in at any given time. This would also be the penultimate hit he would have in his career before fading into obscurity.
There seems to be a rising interest for the year 2002 in recent memory, so much so that Anne Marie wrote a song about how great that year was despite only being eleven years old at the time. I'd say she must have a very good memory, however that becomes questionable when she references "99 problems" by Jay Z which wasn't released until 2004, hey we all misremember things from time to time.
As it turns out, there is a version of this track that's just has Alicia Keys on it known as "Empire state of mind II" meaning that this likely would've been a hit for her even without Jay Z commissioning her to provide him a chorus to how much he's proud of being from the east coast. This would be the rappers last hit outside his native America, although Alicia would have one more hit with "Girl on fire" in 2012.
This was a bit of a comeback for OneRepublic given how they hadn't bothered the charts here in Australia since their first album back in 2008, although it's worth noting that this was a success here much sooner than it was in their native America likely due to it being a change in direction from their previous sound and their fellow Americans needing time to adjust to it before making it a hit on Billboard.
At first this seems like another contender for claiming the prince of RNB crown from Chris Brown given how it was one of the first new hits of the decade for Iyaz, however it turns out that the Jamaican singer was a protegee of Sean Kingston (despite being older than him) meaning this was more of a passing the torch moment between the two stars even though this was the former's only big hit.
This was supposed to just be the third advanced single for Calvin Harris's album 18 months; however, it was ultimately chosen as the lead single to Rihanna's album Talk that talk given how it came out around the same time she had completed that album. As such, it's the rare track from the Scottish producer where he's the featured artist instead of the vocalist which I feel should've been the case for all of his other singles.
Following the success of his earlier entry on this list, Avicii was able to have a second hit with his album that's a fusion of country and EDM. This time he recruits country singer Dan Tyminski on vocals who manages to provide an equally compelling performance on this track as Aloe Blacc did on "Wake me up" which no doubt helped this become as successful as that track.
Following the success of his collaboration with Dua Lipa (which we'll get to in a bit) Calvin Harris decided to return to his roots of collaborating with strictly British artists which is perhaps why he decided to have Sam Smith be his next collaboration as they were among the most popular artists of the decade regardless of where in the world you're from. I should clarify that this was the last hit that they had before they revealed their identity.
This was seen as a return to form for Eminem given how he spent half a decade disappointing fans with what they perceive as a drop in lyrical quality as well as a bunch of questionable decisions involving the feuds he found himself with. Here he admits to some of his biggest mistakes during this time and how he was going to rediscover himself going forwards which is precisely what happened throughout the decade.
There have been many jokes made about how this wasn't the "revival" that Eminem needed for his career; however, I feel this song's backlash was blown out of proportion given how it was just an (admittedly bizarre) collaboration between Eminem and Ed Sheeran of all people likely due recreate the success of his two collaborations with Rihanna earlier in the decade. In that regard, the song succeeded.
This is only one of two hits that the Australian indie band Sheppard had in their career (as of this writing of course) the other was "Coming home" from later in the decade which sadly won't be appearing on this list due to it only being a hit on the digital charts. Here we have a song that was featured in just about every commercial here in Australia upon its initial release which made it quickly outgrow it's welcome.
Although he had huge international success with his theme to 50 shades of grey (which won't be appearing on this list) this was the song which made Abel Tesfay AKA the Weeknd a household name here in Australia likely due to it being a throwback track to the 80's era of MJ from its bombastic production to the visuals in the video. It was a solid introduction to a man who would shake up the music industry.
This was Ed Sheeran's tribute to the Irish women in his fanbase, of course it received minor controversy from people who don't understand what cultural appropriation is and who are likely secretly against multiculturalism in general. Fortunately, this is such a minor (if not vocal) sector of the world as everyone else appreciated this gesture that Ed made by making this another inescapable hit for him.
This was another instant hit for Bruno Mars given how it's another throwback to when soul music reigned supreme in the American mainstream, although I've always felt that the bass on this track was too overbearing which is perhaps why it wasn't quite as inescapable as the second single from the album of the same name on Billboard. Even so, this still remains popular in the mainstream as of this writing.
This is a bit of an odd entry, mainly because the debut single from Lorde technically was never released as a single in Australia and instead came on her E.P which charted on the albums chart in her homeland. No doubt it was the single which made the E.P a success for the NZ alternative singer largely thanks to it denouncing all of the cliches used in modern pop songs.
This is the most recent song I'll be featuring on this site, mainly because I tried talking about the 2020's on my older sites and trust me, there's no way I can do so without things getting ugly. That aside, this was a good way to send off the 2010's as it's a sequel to Dua Lipa's previous biggest hit "New rules" as she practices self-assertiveness by not allowing the person she's singing to boss her around.
I did mention on the NZ side of this site that this was a big hit on the Australian streaming and digital charts despite being ineligible for our main charts, this is roughly where it would've appeared on the official list had it been eligible for the list. I guess I should bring up the song itself on this entry, it's another song that became popular this decade to be widely mocked for its strange concept and equally bizarre music video.
This was originally released two years prior to it being a huge chart topper for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, I guess this was meant to be their debut single but didn't find much love due to the pair being on a tiny indie label and Triple J not discovering their music until their earlier entry on this list. This was released as the second single in their native America from the Heist; however, it was pushed back as the third single internationally.
This was a hit twice here in Australia for Mumford and sons, the first time was upon its initial release due to us Aussies being intrigued by their fusion of folk and country complete with using a banjo as their main instrument. The second time was when it was crowned the best song of 2009 according to listeners of Triple J which is what allowed it to become a mainstream success here and eventually worldwide.
This was one of two hits that Justice crew had during their time together, the other we'll get to in a bit but suffice to say that this was a dance troupe turned boy band that was briefly a phenomenon in Australia before their hype faded into obscurity.
This was Katy Perry's attempt at a self-empowerment anthem, while it's easy to make fun of (no Katy I've never felt like plastic bag, if that's even something that one can possibly feel like) I will say that it's a much better empowerment anthem than her earlier entry on this list if only because the production is much catchier as well as her sounding more earnest on here than she did on "Roar."
I have a complicated relationship with this song, mainly because I know that this is actually meant to be far dirtier than people give it credit for (you can say it's about inner beauty all you want people but trust me it's not.) Enough people were fooled by the lyrics that it became a massive hit for Labrinth and Emeli Sande, the latter of which never had a solo hit here in Australia and the former having one with "Earthquake."
Both the Greatest showman and P!nk were inescapable forces here in Australia during the last stretch of the decade, so it only makes sense that having the latter cover a song from the former would be a massive success on our digital charts despite never receiving an official single.
*I had to improvise for album art with his entry as this wasn't released as a single from the album*
This was the only hit that the Danish band Lukas Graham (named after their lead vocalist) managed to achieve outside of Europe, although in Australia they could've had a second hit later in the decade had the Spotify charts not taken over our charts as "Love someone" was a huge hit here sales wise. This song has been widely mocked for how arrogant the narrator comes off in the lyrics, not helped by it being an autobiographical track from the lead artist.
This was a massive comeback for Enrique Iglesias given how he hadn't troubled the English-speaking charts since 2004 with "I'm not in love" form his album 7. Here he hopes on the club boom trend from using similar production to everyone else as the start of the decade to even including Pitbull on the track to help him achieve his conquest of collaborating with every Hispanic pop star in the music industry.
Well, I've been pretty positive towards Taylor Swift so far on this list, let's change that by highlighting one of my least favourite songs from her due to it being her attempt at dubstep. Normally my problems with her come from her writing, however here it's the way it sounds which I'm guessing was the case due to it coming out around the height of Skrillex's popularity who ushered in the sub-genre into the mainstream.
It looked like J-lo's singing career died off back in 2005 when her album Rebirth flopped on the charts, however she was able to make a successful comeback during the height of the club boom with this party jam with the assistance of Pitbull who seemed to be collaborating with every Latin musician during the first half of the decade. It remains her final hit to date, although her acting career also resurrected itself at this stage.
Just a heads up that five out of the five members of One direction will be making an appearance on this list as all of them managed to score a huge hit in 2017 alone following the demise of them as a group, at least during the 2010's, Liam was the one to score the biggest hit with this track that denounces his time with the boy band in a way many people to this day find condescending.
Oh look, a song about oral sex becoming a huge worldwide hit from Flo Rida, I mean I guess you can argue it's more innocent than that except anyone who's familiar with the concept of "blowing a whistle" will know what this song is actually about. This was an easy chart topper for the Miami rapper and one that likely led to the rise of the politically correct crowd that would dominate the remainder of the decade.
This was the victory single for the 2012 season of X factor UK that also served as a charity single for a company known as Together for short lives in the UK which no doubt led to its popularity internationally for James Arthur. It seemed like he was a force for good in this world, however that perception changed when he posted stuff on social media that made him come off as homophobic.
This was originally released in 2012 to deafening silence for the Jamaican singer Omi, likely because it was a little bit ahead of its time when it came to the tropical house EDM of the decade. It was given a new life when it was remixed by Felix Jaehn three years later where it became a massive hit for him, although I get the feeling the original mix would've been a huge hit that year given how the times changed in its favour.
This is one of the more bizarre tracks from Rihanna, mainly because it's about her admitting to being into S&M which would be fine if it were by anyone else but coming from her makes this a bit uncomfortable for reasons I won't get into on this site (I'll leave it at how one of her relationships came to an end.) It was a huge hit for her likely due to the controversy surrounding its release as well as it's strange video.
This is one of the grooviest songs to come out of the decade, it comes to us from a band that had been active for over a decade by the time they scored their one and only hit in the music industry (as of this writing of course.) As with most indie bands, this managed to become a success due to ad execs somehow discovering the track and including it in their ads, that and it being a favourite on Triple J here in Australia.
Were it not for streaming services dominating the last stretch of the decade, this would've easily been Birds of Tokyo's biggest hit here in Australia given how it became a surprise hit for the band as the decade was coming to an end on the digital charts. I remember this receiving quite a fair amount of airplay, which is further proof I have that the digital charts reflected what people in the real world wanted to hear.
Ed Sheeran's collaboration album was met with divisive reviews, while most of the tracks were panned for being meaningless collaborations with pop stars (such as his earlier entry with Justin Bieber) others were praised such as this collaboration with Khalid which was meant to be a song about how being conventionally unattractive wasn't a reason to feel left out of society.
Nelly is one of those artists that seems to randomly pop up from time to time ever since he conquered the world with his third album from 2004, here he is five years after his big hit "Over and over" topped the charts here in Australia with a ballad about a failed relationship he had.
For a little while, it seemed like there was a rush to find the new prince of RNB given how Chris Brown temporarily had that title revoked from him for reasons I won't get into on this list. An early contender for his replacement came from Jay Sean who achieved minor success in his native UK prior to this Billboard chart topper he had thanks to a guest verse from Lil Wayne of all people.
This was the theme to the film 50 shades darker, a film that's infamous for having very little content given how the book it was based on was also short on content (although you can make that argument for the entire franchise.) Here we have Zayn teaming up with Taylor Swift making a theme song that unintentionally captures the feeling naysayers have towards the franchise.
This is the final entry from Kesha on this list, it's by far her most personal ballad to become a hit as it directly addresses the turmoil she had while working with Sony and specifically Dr Luke. While it was far from the biggest hit of the decade (even taking into account it was somewhat pushed aside by Spotify payola) it did lead to change in the music industry where many people corroborated her claims of abuse.
I think this is one of the few songs to be produced by JR Rottem that isn't based on an egregious sample, this might be why this was Jason Derulo's first chart topper here in Australia and not his earlier entry despite that being the slightly bigger hit for the RNB star down under like it was everywhere else in the world. It could also be because this song is about him having sexual fantasies to the person he's singing to.
OK let's get one thing out of the way right now, I'll be referring to Sam Smith by their preferred pronouns of they/them as I want to reassure my readers they have a right to present themselves however they chose while they're on this site. That said, it also pains me to admit that I don't particularly care for them as a vocalist especially on tracks like their solo debut single which was an instant success for them.
This remains as the biggest hit to come from the Hilltop hoods, I guess it became so big due to it being released around the same time that Bill Cosby got convicted of his multiple sexual harassment allegations and that this was meant to be an ironic take on the actor's legacy rather than a sincere one.
Well, I think this is the first love song to become a success to have Legos as a metaphor for how a relationship is working out, it was certainly a unique spin for love songs which no doubt helped it be a massive success for Ed Sheeran during the first half of the decade. He would have a few more hits from his debut album before he went to work on the theme to the second Hobbit film.
I could talk about how this song's appeal is meant to be that it's actually a joke (albeit a pretty unfunny one in my opinion) about how this guy wants the approval of his girlfriend's dad to marry her until he realises said father doesn't like him, but that's been talked about to death already. Instead, I'll bring up that this was a huge hit in Australia and NZ during our summer season despite it being a mere modest success in their native Canada which resulted in their label marketing the song as a summer jam in America.
Before there was Tik Tok, there was Vine which was a similar music app where young creatives would release their music in the hopes of being discovered by a major label. By far its biggest success story was Shawn Mendes who was discovered by Teddy Geiger who gave the Canadian folk singer mainstream success which arguably peaked with this track about Shawn (or possibly Teddy) being badly wounded in a relationship.
This was the debut single from Jason Derulo, a man who would go on to have massive success in Australia and throughout the rest of the world due to him breaking through when Chris Brown was temporarily blacklisted from the music industry. Here he (or rather JR Rottem) samples "Hide and seek" from Imogen Heep and recontextualises the song to be about Jason apologising to her for being unfaithful.
To date this is the final hit single that Lorde has been able to achieve anywhere in the world, even in her native NZ, this remains the case as her third album was a huge critical and commercial failure for her when she recently released it (as of this writing.) At least this was a hit in the southern hemisphere even if some people have accused her of selling out on this track given how pop friendly it is.
This is the only hit that Wiz Khalifa was able to achieve as a lead artist outside of his native America, sure he had other hits with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Maroon 5; however, he was playing second fiddle to those acts. Here he recruits Charlie Puth who was previously known for his work with famous YouTubers before stepping into the big leagues thanks to the chorus he provides on this track.
It puzzles me when people say that the second live action Alice in wonderland was a box office flop when it was still among the 50 most profitable films of 2016, then again, the first film was the second biggest film of 2010 so perhaps that's what they mean that it was a flop. It was certainly panned by critics for its incoherent plot and bad acting, with this theme song from P!nk being the only praise it received.
Well, I guess I hyped up this collaboration when I brought it up when discussing the two hits that both artists on here had respectively, so here we are with that collaboration which seemed to bring out the best of both of them. Adam Young would struggle to recapture this success artistically if the numerous complaints from his longtime fans are anything to go by, however Carly would become a critical darling with her subsequent releases.
To think that this is the final hit single that Britney Spears has had in her career (as of this writing at least) mainly because I'm not even sure she's on this track given how uncharacteristic her performance is on this track compared to the rest of her catalogue (she sounds like Lady Gaga to me.) This also feels like something that was meant for a Black-Eyed Peas album that Will I am instead used for his solo album.
Most people will only know Wynter Gordon for her contribution to Flo Rida's "Sugar," however in Australia, she managed to score a number one hit with this song which is strange because "Sugar" wasn't a big hit here back in 2009. I'm guessing Kesha was on to something by requesting her feature be removed on "Right round" as Wynter obviously didn't do the same for her collaboration with the Miami rapper.
This was the song where Lady Gaga's ambitions proved to be too much for the general public, mainly because it was cluttered with so much overproduction that any meaning to the song got lost from the public upon its initial release. That said, the song does have a powerful meaning behind it as this is openly a self-empowerment anthem specifically for the LGBT community given how she was queer herself.
This was the second of three hits that 3oh!3 had in most parts of the world, the first was "Don't trust me" which was a song that was originally uploaded to YouTube before it was picked up as a single several months later and their third hit was a collaboration with Kesha during the height of the club boom. Here they collaborate with Katy Perry for a song that I'm sure most people have forgotten even exists.
Given how Keith Urban has become one of the most popular country artists of the decade here in Australia, it only makes sense that there would be a younger version of him finding success here even if that success only came from our digital charts during the last stretch of the decade. Who knows how much more successful Morgan Evans would've been had he broken out sooner in the decade.
While this wasn't the final hit that BEP managed to score with Fergie, it was the song which led to a massive backlash towards them due to it ruining the fond memories people have of the film Dirty dancing to the point where it's now considered a terrible movie by modern audiences.
This was a song tailor made to be used as a ringtone, after all you don't make a chorus that goes "stop calling I don't wanna talk anymore" and not have that be the purpose of your song. I guess in order to make it come off as a real song, Lady Gaga recruited Beyonce to play off her in the song and especially the video which would be a shoe in for my weird videos list if I could find enough of them to make one for this decade.
This was the remix to a song from Snoop Dogg that likely would've faded into obscurity had it not caught the attention of David Guetta when it did, after all it was a song where the rapper wanted to see a woman work out for his own amusement which even back in the early 2010's, I don't think would've gone over very well with the general public unless it had a catchy dance beat to go along with it.
This is the other big hit that the Justice Crew had in their career, it came out two years prior to their earlier entry and is another example of a party track that was made to light up the dance floor and little more.
This is the last hit that BEP has been able to achieve to date, sure they had some buzz since the departure of Fergie over the years, however that buzz has only stayed on the internet as none of their viral singles have translated to mainstream success since this was a hit for them. It puzzles me when people say that the Beginning was a failure, maybe a critical failure but it certainly wasn't a commercial one.
Flume had moderate success here in Australia prior to this becoming a surprise international success, however it was his collaboration with Canadian singer Kai that put him on the same level as the likes of the Chainsmokers and Major Lazer when it came to unconventional EDM. This led to him scoring a second hit shortly after this before he retreated back to the indie sphere.
This is the second and final hit to come from Fun, a band who was popular throughout 2012 thanks to having two massive hits from the indie sphere which cropped up around the time the club boom was coming to an end. Despite how big the band was this year; they would go on hiatus once the album cycle was done where Nate Reuss would embark on a solo career and Jack Antonoff would become an in-demand producer.
This came out around the same time as "Where are u now" which was a hit that Diplo from Major Lazer had with Skrillex and Justin Bieber, although I think it's safe to say that this was the song that introduced the world to his work given how much bigger it was then that track. The video for this song caused minor controversy due to depicting the singer MØ in an Indian outfit which led people to accusing her of cultural appropriation.
This was the second single to come from Rihanna's seventh album Unapologetic, an album that's been described as tired by even her most ardent defenders which I can certainly see with this track as she sounds downright depressed on here. She recruits indie singer Mikky Ekko to collaborate with her and drive this point home which likely explains its popularity at the time.
This was the only hit from the American girl group GRL, at least it was as a lead artist as they did score a minor hit with Pitbull on his hit single "Wild wild love" (which will appear much later on this list.) There's a reason as to why these girls are a one hit wonder worldwide and it's one I won't go into here as it involves one of the members being in a very dark place in their life which led to them no longer being with us.
It's getting increasingly difficult for me to be nice to these songs on this list, here's the third hit from Jason Derulo that uses a sample of the Verve's "Bittersweet symphony" for a song about how he screwed up in a relationship he was in. Now obviously I don't have an issue with the content of the track, however I really don't like Jason as a vocalist and I find him to be really annoying on here.
This was the first song from Bruno Mars to take influence from a past genre as opposed to a particular artist, although it was obvious that this was meant to be a tribute to the Police given how quickly people compared it to that band's back catalogue upon its initial release. Admittedly Bruno has always been quick to credit his inspirations as his debut album was heavily inspired by the works of Billy Joel.
Following the success of "Moves like Jagger" from earlier on this list, Maroon 5 decided to make that be the template of their new sound which resulted in their mainstream popularity skyrocketing at the expense of them alienating their existing fanbase as well as angering internet critics for the better part of a decade at this point. Here they recruit Wiz Khalifa to provide them a guest verse on a song about a relationship coming to an end.
This is the only other hit that Emeli Sande managed to achieve in her career here in Australia, this time it's as a featured singer for Rudimental's fifth single from their debut album which for what it's worth, proved to be their biggest hit from the album and would've been their biggest hit overall were it not for their earlier entry on this list that came out five years after this did.
This was a massive comeback hit for Daft Punk given how they hadn't troubled the charts anywhere in the world since 2001 with their album Homework, although this feels more like a Pharrell track given how he's the vocalist on this track which no doubt led to the success of his theme for the second Despicable me film from earlier on this list.
This was already a moderate success for Peking Duk when it was initial released, however it received a boost in popularity when it placed high on the Triple J year end list for 2016 due to it coming out relatively late in the year. They would have one more hit after this with their E.P Reprisal before they faded into obscurity.
Just a fair warning that Imagine Dragons thrived on the digital charts during the last stretch of the decade, as such this will be the first of two new entries from the band on this list even if this was a mere collaboration with Kygo. It appears we Aussies appreciated this collaboration the most in the real world as this easily would've been the Norwegian DJ's biggest hit down under were it not for streaming services.
This is to date the final hit that Jessica Mauboy was able to achieve in her career, even then, it was only a hit through digital sales which were strong enough for this lead single on her (to date) final album to be a massive success on those charts and even had that success translate to minor success on the main charts.
This was released the same time in Australia as David Guetta's collaboration with Usher, meaning that there were two of his singles from Nothing but the beat floating around the upper echelons of the charts down under given how Usher and Sia are two very different vocalists. This was Sia's first hit in the mainstream anywhere in the world, likely due to it being a self-empowerment anthem even if it's paired with a beat made for the clubs.
Here we have a collaboration which by no accounts makes any sense, it comprises of Kanye West and Rihanna singing a duet with Paul McCartney providing the instrumentation for them to sing over. It was a surprise hit for the trio given how it was the first time that Paul touched the singles chart in over thirty years as his last hit was back in 1984 with "No more lonely nights."
Here's the other big hit that Zedd had as a lead artist, it's also the second hit he had with the American duo Grey following the success the three DJ's had with Hailee Steinfeld from two years prior (that collaboration is still to come on this list.) The only new name on this track is Marren Morris who is a country singer who scored her big crossover hit worldwide with this collaboration.
This was the only solo hit that Travie McCoy was able to achieve anywhere in the world, although he was better known as the lead rapper from his group the Gym class heroes so it's not like he was a no name prior to this collaboration with Bruno Mars. Speaking of Bruno, this was the second collaboration he had from the start of the decade following the success he had with B.O.B on "Nothing on you."
This was another hit that Guy Sebastian managed to have in the southern hemisphere thanks to the assistance of an international artist, in this case he recruits American rapper Eve who tries to help him appeal to an American market to no avail.
This was a collaboration with two of the biggest names in British music during the last stretch of the decade, after all Calvin Harris was still a household name in the EDM scene whilst Dua Lipa was coming off the success of her debut album taking off over in America. Here the two score another worldwide hit with this collaboration proving that their respective popularities were as strong as ever.
Given how his theme to the second Step up film was a massive success in 2008, it only makes sense that Flo Rida would be called back to make another theme for the franchise which he did at the start of the decade along with the assistance of David Guetta who gave him one of his beats for him to rap over. It's basically the same song as "Low" only without the T-pain chorus and with more emphasis on the club boom.
This was one of two self-empowerment anthems that P!nk released at the start of the decade, it was by far the more successful of the two likely due to its Dark knight reference that many felt was dated even upon its initial release (which was two years after the film came out mind you.) It was an instant success here in Australia as was most of her songs that came out after her third album.
This was the second collaboration that Eminem had with Rihanna this decade, although it wasn't nearly as popular as their earlier entry likely for two reasons. First off, this has weird yodeling on it which I'm sure turned off fans, second is that we already had a team up of these two and the subject matter didn't change much from these songs.
There haven't been many artists of Asian descent to make it big over the years, one of the lucky few was the hip hop quartet the Far east movement who managed to score a huge hit with this club banger about how they girls act drunk around them despite being stone cold sober. I guess this was meant to be ironic like Kesha's work, however it doesn't come across that way given how straight they play out the situation.
I guess this was meant to be the track where Meghan Trainor displays her down to earth side as she recruits John Legend of all people to collaborate with her on a track about how the two were in love with each other, it was a surprise hit for them here in Australia months prior to it crossing over in their native America.
To think that this remains Ellie Goulding's biggest hit in her career, I'm guessing this was due to it being one of the two themes from the 50 shades of grey film which appears to be from the perspective of its female lead Anastasia Steele. With that in mind, I'm guessing "Earned it" by the Weeknd was from the perspective of its male lead Christian Grey, which explains why that song wasn't as big as this was.
This was the lead single to Shawn Mendes's third album, an album that was much better recieved than his earlier work likely due to there being a maturity that he and songwriter Teddy Geiger went through during its process following the backlash to songs such as "Stiches" and especially "Treat you better" from earlier on this list. It was their only hit from this album as they would part ways after its production was complete.
Well, it looks like I can finally feature an artist from Iceland whose name isn't Bjork on this site, here we have the one and only international hit from Of monsters and men who took the world by storm a year after its initial release due to it being a duet between two people about how they'll always be in each other's hearts. I guess this was the precursor to "Never forget you" between MNEK and Zara Larsson.
This was written as an empowerment anthem specifically for the LGBT community given how Kesha herself is bisexual and how she could relate to the bullying that members of the community go through on a daily basis (I certainly got a lot of flak for it myself growing up and even now experience casual discrimination solely based on who I am.) Naturally it was an instant hit for her due and made her an overnight queer icon.
This was a massive hit for the British DJ Duke Dumont during the midpoint of the decade, mainly because it was rather unique compared to everything else coming out at the time despite it fitting in comfortably in the EDM genre that was dominating the mainstream at the time. He's sadly a one hit wonder with this track here in Australia, although he had more success in his native UK.
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