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 albeit without any changed commentary except for new entries on this list (because I really can't be bothered doing so.)
It looked like Zayn was going to be the biggest name from One direction given how he managed to score two hits of his own in 2017 compared to just the one his former bandmates had that year, although it's worth noting that both of these hits had a female vocalist working with him as here he trades Taylor Swift for Sia for this song that was used in a trailer for a film that I doubt anyone remembers.
It looked like the sophomore album from Matthew Colwell AKA 360 would be a huge flop like his debut was back in 2008, however the success of this track where indie singer Gossling sings a chorus about how she was warned about boys like him that serves to connect how he is in a relationship ensured that he would be one of the biggest Australian rappers of the decade along with the Hilltop hoods.
Following the success of their earlier entry on this list, OneRepublic managed to score a second hit from their album Native in Australia and NZ in 2013 which showed signs that the band were here to stay as the decade went on. Alas they wouldn't have another hit until very recently from the second Top gun film of all places, meaning that these guys have a very unpredictable career when it comes to their success.
It looked like Maroon 5's album V was going to be a flop outside of their native America given how none of the singles became a success for them anywhere outside of Billboard, the album was saved when this track from the deluxe edition became a huge hit for them likely due to the video where the band plays at a bunch of weddings as a surprise act.
It looked like Nicki Minaj wouldn't have any success outside of the Billboard charts given how nothing on Pink Friday managed to catch on anywhere else in the world, however her fortunes changed when she released this track from the deluxe edition of the album which was her first pop crossover due to how it features her singing and rapping throughout the track.
This had a bit of a delay to its release here in Australia, likely because it was one of the first hits of the decade to incorporate dubstep into the production and we Aussies needed to make the likes of Skrillex a genuine success before we allowed others to follow suit here. This was the only hit down under to have Tinie Tempah as the British rapper provides a guest verse for his fellow Brit Labrinth on this track.
It may surprise you to learn that "Lights" wasn't a hit anywhere in the world except for America where it nearly topped the Billboard charts, meaning that this was the first solo hit she had in most parts of the world which was a song released on the deluxe edition of her second album Halcyon. She surprisingly didn't have much success here in Australia, or at least not as much as some of her contemporaries did.
This was the lead single to Coldplay's album Ghost stories, an album that saw them further venture towards pop music which allowed it to spawn two hits with this and "A sky full of stars" (which will be featured later on this list) proving that the band still had a fanbase this far into their career.
If you want to know why the cover art I'm using for this entry is blurry, that's because it depicts someone with their hand in their pants. As you can tell with what I just said, this is a blatantly sexual track that was a hit here in Australia likely through how provocative it is.
This was originally released in 2016 to deafening silence from Lizzo, likely because it was the theme song to a film known as Barber shop that I guarantee few if anyone reading this would've heard of. It was given a second chance three years later when "Truth hurts" became a surprise hit as the decade was coming to an end in her native America, although that unfortunately was too much of a sleeper hit to appear on this list.
This was the debut single for two both artists on here, although I think it's safe to say that Bruno Mars would go on to have the bigger career even though he only appears on the chorus to this track from B.O.B who was the lead artist. If nothing else, you can't accuse the rapper of being one dimensional as this was a love song from his album as opposed to a hype anthem or a conscious track like his other two hits.
Given the demise of Australian idol back in 2009, it makes sense that the X factor Australia would take over as the show to dish out victory singles for the winner of each season. Here we have one from its third winner Reece Mastin who was such a popular contestant on the show that he even managed to crossover to NZ shortly after this became a success for him.
This was one of only two hits from Karmin during their time in the spotlight, the other was "Brokenhearted" which won't be making an appearance on this site due to being not being a huge hit here in Australia. Instead, we have this track which I'm guessing is meant to be a parody of the likes of Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj given how easy it is to mock this song which it was back in the day.
This was originally a simple ballad from the American duo A great big world, it was released to deafening silence likely due to no one in the music industry knowing who they were outside of YouTube. Somehow, Christina Aguilera got wind of this ballad and decided to turn it into a duet with them which allowed this to take off worldwide, making it the final hit single from her to date.
This was the only hit from Jarryd James, an Australian indie singer who was already in his thirties by the time he released this from his debut album. It was discovered by Triple J due to him being on a tiny indie label who ballooned the song's success here to the point where it even crossed over to NZ shortly after its release.
This was the last official single that was released from Beerbongs and Bentleys before the album dropped, it was exactly as successful as the previous entry (its placement on this list was down to the wire) despite both songs having completely different subject matter as the former was about moving on from a toxic relationship whilst this was about how he felt he was a psycho.
This was released around the same time as "Titanium" from earlier on this list here in Australia, this should explain why this wasn't as successful here as it was in other parts of the world since we Aussies felt we needed to support Sia over Usher at this time. Still, this was a massive hit here even if it remains the last hit that Usher had even as a featured artist.
This was the first of a string of hits that Rudimental had in Australia and throughout the world, it's also the first song to have John Newman who would go on to have a big hit the year after its release with "Love me again." Indeed, these guys would recruit a bunch of talented British vocalists to provide a voice to their EDM such as Emeli Sande, Jess Glynne and even Ed Sheeran.
It looked like Camila Cabello was the real driving force of Fifth harmony's success throughout the decade as she was effortlessly able to score a second hit on her own whilst the band had by this point faded into obscurity, here she further moves away from their sound by moving in a more adult contemporary direction which many people found irritating due to her vocals clashing with the production.
This was the only other hit that Cobra starship had worldwide, likely for the video which curiously features Zelda Williams implying that she (and by extension her father Robin) were a fan of the band which I'm sure boosted their egos at the time. It was also a success due to it still being the height of the club boom when it was released as a single, although this would be the last the world would hear from them.
For five years, this was Kesha's final hit anywhere in the world as despite her promising to dial back on the overproduction on her second album, it was still seen as a vacuous and shallow record complete with one of the most hated songs of the decade in the form of "Crazy kids." This at least was well received due to it being a song about living like you would die young, a sentiment that connected well with audiences.
Given how both the brothers from Good Charlotte were judges on the Voice Australia (which led to them having to hilariously share a chair with each other on the show) they decided to release an album of just the two of them exclusively in Australia and NZ which contained this lead single that was a chart topper for them in both countries. They would eventually leave the show to reform the band later in the decade.
This is to date the final hit that Clean bandit has been able to achieve throughout the world, I guess because it was their second collaboration with an American pop star (following "I miss you" with Julia Michaels which was only a sleeper hit at best here) that being Demi Lovato fresh off her success with her earlier entry on this list.
This was the other big hit that Adam Levine had with a hip hop group this decade, although at least the Gym class heroes were already an established act from the 00's so it's not like he was boosting a no name on this track with his chorus. Indeed, this was the first of three big hits that the trio would achieve worldwide from their final album, the other two tracks also featuring a chorus from other artists.
Although the first hit these guys had in their native America was "It's time," it was this second single from their debut album Night visions where they started having massive international success likely due to the music video which depicted some form of fighting ring for plushies (if there were more strange videos this decade, it would go on that list.) This was also the first song of theirs to be overused in commercials, although it certainly wasn't the last.
Whereas the previous two entries from Avicii were both well received for his blending of EDM and country, this wasn't as highly regarded mainly for the vocals of Audra Mae who many people (me included) feel she gives a terrible performance on this track. Not everyone had this opinion obviously as it became the Swedish producer's third hit from his debut album which was also a huge success.
With all of the songs to become a success through the internet (specifically YouTube) this decade, it's surprising that this was a flop on Billboard given how inescapably popular it was internationally for the pop rapper Lunchmoney Lewis. While this is a humourous track about how paying bills is a pain, it's surprisingly a good message about doing so given how the alternative tends to have dire consequences.
This is another artist I really don't like, mainly because I tend to get a headache whenever I listen to one of their songs which they had three that were very successful here in Australia throughout the decade which leaves me in the minority here. This was the biggest of the three hits likely due to it having the best vocals of the trio.
Oh boy I do not want to talk about this song, so I won't apart from how it was the song which made Justin Bieber a household name and led to a career that while successful, remains critically panned to this day.
This was the first hit that Miley Cyrus had following her departure from Disney, suffice to say, it's purpose for existing is for her to put as much distance between her and the company as possible which she certainly succeeded at doing due to the video as well as the promotion she did for the song. It's also the reason why twerking has become popular over the years given how she was many people's introduction to the movement.
This was the one and only hit from American DJ ZHU, it was a massive hit here in Australia due to being discovered by Triple J despite it being yet another flop for an American EDM artist on the Billboard charts. Whereas most EDM tracks were more about noise, this one goes for ambience which really connected with people (me included) back in the day.
Although she had a hit the year prior this year in America with "The way," this was the song which introduced the rest of the world to Ariana Grande outside of her TV show Victorious on Nickelodeon likely due to it having Iggy Azalea as the featured rapper who was already taking the world by storm with her earlier entry on this list. This has a throwback sound to the 70's which is further accentuated in the video.
If you can believe it, this song was a genuine hit long before it was used in the 2016 campaign for Hilary Clinton becoming the first American female president, people have since joked that it was because of how unconvincing of a self-empowerment anthem this was that she lost the election (which is the most I'll be talking about that trainwreck on this site.)
This was sandwiched between Justice Crew's two earlier entries on this list, it's a reminder that the club boom was a massive deal during the first half of the decade as (in my opinion) there isn't much reason to return to this song unless you're in the mood for having a good night out.
There was a trend in the second half of the decade of chopped up vocals in EDM, this was the song to popularise that trend as it's the earliest song to become a hit with this gimmick that led to other artists on this list copying the formula to varying degrees of success. Like most pioneers in music this decade, this was the one and only hit for the British DJ Alan Walker.
For five years, this was the final hit that Jason Derulo had here in Australia, this is because we Aussies weren't interested in his worldwide hit "Swalla" from 2017 and would only become interested in his music again in 2020. I guess it's fair to say that even we Aussies have grown fed up of Jason being the prince of RNB, although in this case we dealt with it by having no one take that crown,
R city are a rap duo who scored their one and only hit with this collaboration with Adam Levine, this is actually the second time this decade where Adam Levine was on the chorus to a hip hop track as he appeared on "Stereo hearts" in a similar fashion with Gym class heroes earlier in the decade (stay tuned for that track.) I think most people don't even realise that this isn't a Maroon 5 track with how he dominates it.
After two songs that caused the internet to further turn against her, Taylor Swift finally managed to redeem herself at least in the eyes of her fans with this title track to her final album of the decade. It was a return to her country roots (well at least it was with the writing) which many people appreciated from her as most of her songs from the second half of the decade have been described as petty and vindictive.
This was a song that many felt was a new low for Jason Derulo, mainly because he samples "Banana boat" by Harry Belafonte and flips the original song which was about being overworked a night shift to now mean that he doesn't want to leave the club even though it was the early hours of the morning. It was a massive hit during the height of the club boom by people who shared the sentiment of the song.
This is the final hit from Avril Lavigne to date given how it's in that dead zone of being too immature to be from her first too albums whilst not being campy enough to be among the likes of "Girlfriend" and "Hello kitty," although at least the middle ground was what allowed it to be a success for her given how her fans would widely reject her next album in 2013 due to "Hello kitty" turning her into a meme.
I think this is the first song to become a hit after its remix was released as a single, although it's worth noting that the original version of this track was the remix that was used for the second Hunger games in 2013 which was the worlds' introduction to the Weeknd and Diplo from Major Lazer. It appears we Aussies weren't interested in this remix but were interested in the song without these features.
Even though these guys had already released two albums throughout the 00's to minimal success, it was the lead single to their third album which finally brought them the recognition in the mainstream they had from listeners of Triple J thanks to it being a welcomed alternative to the club boom from the start of the decade. They would have some peaks and valleys throughout the decade as the trends shifted in and out of their favour.
This was originally released in early 2013 where it was a minor success in Sara's native America due to it being a sincere self-empowerment anthem, although it received a massive boost in popularity worldwide when "Roar" from earlier on this list became a massive success by copying just about everything from it. It also helped that it appeared in every commercial you could think of once the comparisons were made.
This was a comeback single for the Veronicas after many issues with their label to get them to release their third album, it was a ballad which no doubt was meant to signify the struggles they had with their label that they framed as them coming out of a bad relationship with someone.
This was one of only two hits to come from James Bay, an English folk singer who made it big during the midpoint of the decade due to the sudden rise in interest with folk singers given how Ed Sheeran was quickly becoming one of the biggest names in music. Even though this was his bigger hit internationally, his other big hit (which is still to come on this list) was his only hit over in America.
To date this is the final hit to come from Jessie J, it was the theme to the second Pitch perfect film which was one of the most popular film franchises of the decade (that wasn't a comic book adaptation) which made its success inevitable.
I thought we were done with E.P's appearing on the singles chart by this point in time, but it appears we weren't as we have the E.P from the runner up of the fifth season of Australian idol Matt Corby becoming a massive hit for the indie singer following him cutting ties with the reality show and joining the Australian indie sphere. The strength of this E.P comes from its key track "Brother" which was a massive hit on Triple J.
This was originally released from the Dutch rapper Mr Probz in 2013 to deafening silence, likely because hip hop generally doesn't do well when it comes from European artists (with rare exceptions of course.) It was given the remix treatment from Robin Schulz the following year where it became a massive worldwide success, although there weren't any other songs the German DJ felt worth of a remix.
Here's something that may surprise you with this sex jam from Jason Derulo, this was originally released exclusively in the southern hemisphere due to how popular he was in Australia and NZ and only crossed over internationally when it became one of his biggest hits in both countries. Apparently, we Aussies and kiwis were intrigued with him having a bad boy persona when this initially came out.
This was the third and final hit that Robin Schulz achieved here in Australia, mainly because it samples the Baby bash track from 2003 of the same name and that song was among one of the bigger hits of the 00's down under. Here he recruits Canadian singer Francesco Yates to provide vocals on the track to replace the performances of Baby Bash and Frankie J.
Behold the first giant hit that Drake had here in Australia, sure he had hits here earlier than this, but it was this meme fest of a track that managed to make him a household name here like he was in America. Admittedly the meme comes more from the video rather than the song as the song is just him being upset with how his ex-girlfriend has moved on from him, the video on the other hand is ridiculous beyond words.
This was the third big hit that B.O.B had worldwide, this time it's a hype anthem using magic trick metaphors that has Rivers Cuomo from Weezer providing the chorus. This was the only hit Rivers had both solo and with his band in most parts of the world as the band have always been too alternative to crossover to the mainstream, even with plenty of promotion on Triple J and them having a Billboard hit with "Beverly hills."
We Aussies were a bit late to the party when it comes to Adam Lambert, although he did score two hits at the start of the decade including this third single from his debut album, so we did catch on to his hype eventually. The success of his debut album led to him becoming the new lead singer of Queen following the departure of Paul Rodgers in 2009 where he's remained as such ever since 2011.
Many people (me included) have described this as elevator music set to EDM, I guess the success of Kenny G throughout the 80's and 90's has taught us that there is indeed a market for this type of music even if this was a bigger hit than any of the singles the clarinetist had throughout his career.
This is the final hit that Usher had in his career in most parts of the world, it was the second single to come from the deluxe edition of his album Raymond v Raymond which goes to show that the deluxe edition had a better selection of singles than the standard edition given how it took Usher's collaboration with Will I am for that album to take off worldwide.
By this point, Lady gaga was more famous for her music videos than her music which is perhaps why many people can only talk about the video to this third single from her E.P the Fame monster. The song itself is about her being in a three-way relationship with different men (or maybe the same guy with three different names) whilst the video seems to be Russian inspired for some reason.
This was one of the last hits to have T Pain in any capacity, you'd think a man who was synonymous with both autotune, and the club boom would've had more presence during the height of these two sub genres but alas he didn't. This was a massive hit for the club boom but also for the rise in popularity of Zumba, a craze where people (usually older women) would have dance workouts to songs from the Latin craze.
This is the closest that "I'm with you" got to being a hit here in Australia, mainly because Rihanna sampled the track with Avril's permission as the fifth and final single from her album Loud. As you can tell from the title, this is a song about her celebrating something in her life by making a toast to it, although you can argue that the song is meant to be ironic given the choice of sample.
I guess if Train hadn't of alienated the remnants of their fanbase with this entry, then they would've been able to thrive on digital services given how all of this song's success here in Australia came from how well it did on the format. To give an idea of how strong the format was as recently as 2017, this only barely missed the cut on my official list as it did scrape the top ten on the main charts.
I think it's safe to say that dubstep isn't my thing, I can tolerate it in small dosages such as with many of the other entries on this list, however a whole song of the EDM production just gives me a headache after repeated listens. This isn't the case for fans of Skrillex who managed to help him score a massive hit in Australia with this track from his E.P of the same name.
This is the only other hit that Pitbull had that didn't have any assistance from anyone else in the music industry, although in this case it was due to it being the theme to the third Men in black film which came ten years after the second film and was better received due to it having a better story to go along with the film as opposed to the second film. The theme song wasn't on the other hand as it was panned by critics and audiences alike.
This is the second time that Nelly had a random hit this decade here in Australia, this time it's an endorsement for the car company Porsche that he attempts to frame as a love song to women who happened to be named after the car company. It was a hit here due to it being ultimately harmless, however many people complained that it was Nelly desperately trying to remain relevant in the mainstream.
This is the third hit that Jonas Blue managed to achieve throughout the decade, this time he brought on Australian singer William Singe to provide vocals on here which are among the best in his catalogue (in my opinion of course.) Singe was best known prior to this collaboration as a member of the failed Australian group the Collective, I'm guessing Jonas was a fan of the group as he recruited him on here.
This was the third and final big hit to come from Scorpion, this was because Drake attached a challenge to it where one has to film someone dancing to the song whilst driving in a car (at least all of the videos I've seen have this happening.) It was a predictable hit from the Canadian rapper and one that extended his good will into the 2020's even with how much overexposure he's gotten over the years.
This was the first of three hits that Peking Duk had here in Australia, although considering we've already looked at their other two hits on this list, I think it's safe to say that their popularity increased with each song they released in their career. I guess if this had of been released around the time Triple J puts out a year end list, it would've been one of the biggest hits of the decade given how popular it remains.
This was a posse cut from three women who would have varying degrees of success moving forward from this track, Ariana Grande would explode in popularity after this, however Jessie J and especially Nicki Minaj would struggle to find any success moving forward for whatever reason. I guess it was due to how miscast all three of them were as we're expected to believe Grande to be a sex goddess, Jessie to be sweet and innocent and Nicki to be a third wheel.
This was the second single to come out of Bruno Mar's Grammy award winning album 24K magic, it also remains his final Billboard chart topper (at least as a solo artist and as of this writing) likely due to it being a throwback to the heyday of the Temptations and the Miracles without drowning the song in autotune like the title track from earlier on this list did.
If I had to choose a favourite Nicki Minaj track, this would be it as everything that normally irritates me about her is nowhere to be found on here. This is weird because this is often considered to be one of her worst songs likely due to it stripping her of her personality as well as dialing up the autotune to a million, but for some reason, this doesn't bother me or the tons of people back then that made this a hit.
Dua Lipa already had a huge hit earlier in the decade with "Be the one" (which is still to come on this list) so it's little surprise that she would score a massive hit with this track about her learning some self-care when it comes to going out to party. It was such a massive hit for the English diva that it managed to crossover to the American charts as well as allow her debut album to be a massive success.
This was the only hit to come from Ella Henderson, a British pop singer who I heard described as the English equivalent of Lorde when it came to teenage pop stars who seemed wise beyond their years. Evidently, she came from X factor UK despite only coming in sixth place on the 2012 season, I guess that explains why she only had one album to her name for so long even though it had this as its lead single.
This is a posse cut that just doesn't make any sense to me, it was a massive hit for them but only because it was part of one of the most hyped-up movies of the decade that has a massive fanbase (which includes me even though I'm aware of its faults.) We have four rappers and two rock bands for a total of six acts on here, half of which are credited as the lead artist whilst the other half are the featured artists.
This was the first song to become a success through digital sales that seemed like a flop here in Australia ("Dark horse" doesn't count because that should've been a hit here but was ineligible for ARIA's main charts.) It was the second single and title track from P!nk's seventh album which I remember being quite big back in the day due to its lush production and admittedly bizarre video.
This was the Weeknd's final hit of the decade worldwide, although he would begin the 2020's with the biggest hit not just of his career but of all time (at least for a brief spell it was) proving that this was a mere holdover to when he released his fourth album that year.
It may surprise you to learn that Olly Murs didn't have any success outside his native UK until his third album where this lead single managed to become a worldwide hit for him, this might be due to having Flo Rida provide a guest verse which guaranteed him success over in America shortly after it became a hit for him worldwide. He would score two more international hits later in the decade with "Dear darling" and "Up."
Thought that Redfoo had faded into obscurity when he had a falling out with his nephew Skyblu which spelt the end of LMFAO? Well, it turns out that wasn't the case as he became a judge on X factor Australia which served as a launching pad for his solo career which began with this track that he filmed in Sydney's northern beaches. It was an instant success for him here and a minor hit worldwide.
It hadn't even been ten years since the original track from Savage was released even in his native NZ, and yet we have this remix of an already provocative track from Australian DJ Joel Fletcher becoming a massive hit for him all over again albeit only in Australia and not his homeland.
Given the sudden success of Lorde during the midpoint of the decade, it only makes sense that we started seeing people inspired by what she had to say which leads us to this big hit from the indie band Echosmith. They had been active since the late 00's, however they finally managed to score a hit with this track about how they wished they were like the cool kids despite known that they were too quirky to be like them.
Marvin Priest is the son of one Maxi Priest who achieved a massive hit here in Australia and NZ with this club banger and nowhere else in the world, this is because the English singer was based here at the time he released this track and never managed to find international buzz from this.
This was the fourth single to come from Kesha's debut album, it's a song that divides audiences to this day as on the one hand it's nothing but an annoying track that actively taunts you for giving its attention whilst on the other hand people praise it for being a song that mocks the club boom for making such shallow music for the masses. I'm somewhere in the middle as I can see both sides of the argument.
This was Flo Rida's attempt at conscious rap which I'm sure he attempted to try and branch out of his typecast of being a club rapper, it was a hit for him mainly for the sample which was of an obscure song from the 80's that was a minor hit on Billboard and nowhere else in the world. The song in question is "Piano in the dark" by Brenda Russell which naturally skyrocketed in popularity on the internet when this came out.
This is the first song to have Zedd in any capacity, here he produced the track which would go on to be a quartertone of his sound which is perhaps why Ariana Grande allowed him a featuring credit despite him not providing any vocals on this track. It was a huge hit for her likely due to it fitting in with the EDM scene, although it could also be due to the wacky video that seems to reference much sci fi flicks.
Much like their earlier entry on this list, this was a hit mainly for it being released around the time where Triple J announced their best songs of the year where this and their earlier hit "High" (which is still to come on this list) placed high on their annual list for 2004.
Rather coincidentally, this came out on the twentieth anniversary of the original from Donna Lewis from the Australian singer Betty who (yes, she named herself after the Betty Boop character much like Betty Boo did in the early 90's.) It was a huge hit here in Australia as this was back when we still looked after our local music scene, however it predictably failed to catch on anywhere else in the world.
This was the last hit that Timbaland had in most parts of the world, although I get the feeling this was only the case due to it featuring Katy Perry who was inescapable during the height of the club boom due to her being the most popular pop diva of that time. He did have one more hit with Justin Timberlake after this with "Carry out," a song that was widely mocked for its bad food puns.
One of the biggest girl groups of the 00's in the UK was Girls aloud, I bring this up because they never managed to have a hit anywhere in the world outside of their homeland likely due to being a product of UK reality TV which with few exceptions (such as Adele and 1D) only tend to have hits through association with the shows they were from rather than the quality of their music. It appears the world made an exception for band member Cheryl Cole's solo debut likely due to the presence of Will I am.
This is a remix of a song known as "Danza Kuduro" by Lucenzo, the remix was done by Haitian producer Qwote who also recruited Pitbull for this remix to help the rapper collaborate with every known Latin artist during the 2010's. The original song and this remix were both popular back in the day thanks to the overwhelming success of the Zumba craze which included both songs in their playlists.
This is a remix of a track that French singer Imany released earlier in the decade, its success is proof that age is nothing but a number in this day and age as the vocalist was in her mid-thirties when she scored a massive worldwide hit with this remix and didn't even have success in her native France prior to when it came out.
You know that you're a popular EDM group when you manage to get Ed Sheeran on your track during the height of his fame, here he is with this track from Rudimental who managed to score just one hit from their second album which was also a massive flop for them, I guess they needed to have six advanced singles from the album like their debut had for it to be a success.
It seems odd to me that this had already become a massive hit worldwide by the time it began charting in Lauv's native America, apparently it only did so due to it being the theme of a Netflix film no one's heard of (side note, avoid Netflix originals if you can, they're rarely any good.) Once it took off on Billboard, it was widely mocked for its strange production elements, which would explain its initial failure over there.
I guess Ava Max was another artist from the last stretch of the decade that had a promising career to look forward to in the 2020's were it not for the rise of streaming, here she escapes the one hit wonder bin that her previous entry threatened to trap her in (and many will tell you has due to this song's poor performance on the main charts worldwide) with a similar subject matter to that song of her being an outcast.
Given how Ed Sheeran was the most successful folk singer of the decade, it only makes sense that there would be a bunch of artists looking to cash in off the success of his work which leads us to an artist Sheeran himself found potential in as he signed Jamie Lawson to his new label who went on to achieve a huge worldwide hit with this ballad and nothing else in his catalogue.
It feels strange that this would be the big hit off of Ariana Grande's third album, although I guess it was the second time that she collaborated with Nicki Minaj after "Bang bang" (which is still to come on this list) so perhaps this was simply fans wanting the two to work together more often. In fact, this feels like a direct sequel to that track considering both women are still being sexually provocative on here like they were there.
This is literally a friendzone anthem, it's bad enough when one is friend zoned as it means that the person they have feelings for and/or is attracted to doesn't feel the same way about them but cares enough that they want their company, but to have that awkward situation glamourised in this song is problematic to say the least. That's ignoring the fact that this person Anne Marie is friend zoning likely needs a restraining order.
We haven't had a lot of appearances from Chris Brown on this list, have we? Yeah, we Aussies were a bit mixed when it came to having him come back in the mainstream following his controversies in his personal life, however we allow him to have the occasional hit such as with this track with Benny Benassi who previously had a hit here in Australia with "Satisfaction" back in 2003.
This was the penultimate hit that Delta Goodrem had in her career, the final would come later in the decade when she finally redeemed herself in the Australian LGBT community who had turned against her due to her relationship with Brian McFadden who's an open homophobe. This was a hit due to her involvement with the first season of the Voice Australia, making it the only hit to come from that season.
Well, this is a song that caused quite the stir when it first came out, mainly because people have a lot of fond memories of A-ha's "Take on me" that this song ruined due to how egregiously the song samples that track for what's essentially a club banger from Pitbull and Christina Aguilera. Between the star power and the nostalgia bomb, it was an easy hit for the duo despite the internet's disapproval.
This was the second hit that Calvin Harris had with Ellie Goulding this decade, although it would also be the last time the two would team up as (at least as of this writing) they haven't reunited since this collaboration became a hit for them. This feels like the opposite of their other team up from earlier on this list as this depicts the end of a relationship whereas that depicted the start of a relationship.
There haven't been a lot of emo tracks to make it big this decade, one of the very few to do so was this one and only hit from both Gnash and Olivia O'Brien who both scored a hit with this song about how they both hate and love each other. I know that this isn't a factor to the quality of the song, but it's worth noting that Olivia was only seventeen years old when she recorded this track whilst Gnash was 23.
This is where it all began for Dua Lipa, at least that's the case here in Australia and her native UK where this was a massive hit for the (then) rising star who would go on to dominate the music scene by the end of the decade. Evidently her real name is Dua Lipa as she's of Albanian descent which would explain her exotic name, it would also explain the exotic sound of her debut single.
One of the more positive role models to come from the indie sphere this decade was Alessia Cara, mainly because two of her three entries on this list were songs tackling serious subject matter in a way that was (at least for her part) respectful to the mases ("Stay" being the odd one out of her three hits this decade.) This song sees her tackling the issues of outer beauty and how plastic surgery isn't the way to go in conforming to beauty standards.
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