Well, I thought I should make one of these lists for the biggest hits in the 00's in Australia, although I should point out that the charts were VERY unreliable when it comes to determining what was popular throughout this decade. To compromise, I'm using a list (which you can find here) to determine what were the biggest hits of the decade mainly through sales rather than chart runs. As such, you can consider the order of this list where each song would appear on the ARIA charts even though I'll still point out where they appear on my homegrown lists on this site. Also, I do apologise if some entries from 1999 and 2009 are much lower than they should be as I want to keep the integrity of the original list (OK I didn't know how to improvise where these songs would be had the decade extended longer than it did.)
It's funny how the Razzies would revive the worst original song category for this one year only for each of the nominees to wind up on this list, this theme song to Crossroads sadly taking home the prize over Britney's other entry on this list (despite both of these songs coming from the soundtrack from the previous year) as well as Madonna's Bond theme, goes to show how much the Razzie organisation dislikes both of these women.
#81 for 2002 (#78 for ARIA)
Even from the very beginning, Rihanna was able to achieve massive success throughout the world with her singles, it's just that she wouldn't be the household name we all know her as until later in the decade as this second single from her debut album often gets forgotten about when looking over her catalogue.
#71 for 2006 (#60 for ARIA)
Wow was this song EVERYWHERE when it first came out, it's hard to believe that it wasn't any bigger here in Australia as it certainly felt like it was on the radio and in commercials. This was the only hit that Groove Armada managed to score down under, likely due to the novelty of a track saying "I see you baby shaking that ass" ad nauseum not allowing them to be taken seriously in the mainstream.
#85 for 2000 (#83 for ARIA)
This was the debut single from Ricki Lee Coutler who achieved massive success throughout the decade both solo and as a member of Young divas despite being knocked out of the second season of Australian idol rather early in the competition (I'd say it was due to her being born in NZ except that wasn't a hinderance for Stan Walker later in the decade.) It's been mostly overshadowed by her other hits throughout the decade.
#90 for 2005 (#87 for ARIA)
It looked like Anastacia's second album was going to become a complete flop for her around the world given how its lead single "Paid my dues" failed to become a hit for her, in order to prevent that from happening, the second single was given a remix which people pointed out made it seem like it was "I'm outta love" 2.0 which regardless proved to be a hit for the American pop star here in Australia at least.
#72 for 2002 (#80 for ARIA)
Considering the original version of this track wasn't among the biggest hits of the 70's anywhere in the world, it seems odd that it would be the song that British DJ Meck would decide to use it as the song to reintroduce the world to Leo Sayer decades after he last had a hit anywhere in the world. It proved to be equally as successful here in Australia as the original was likely for the video which pays homage to Xanadu of all things.
#60 for 2006 (#72 for ARIA)
This was a tie in song to the short-lived Aussie comedy series Summer heights high, it's a show that resonated with audiences back in the day due to it being a parody of School life in Australia (specifically that of Sydney) which no doubt boosted the popularity of this song from one of the characters of the show. The show is certainly a product of its time, however it's worth a watch if you're into politically incorrect humour.
#61 for 2008 (#74 for ARIA)
It was a new decade, so naturally Aqua felt it would be the perfect opportunity to drop the lead single to their second album which was a modest success worldwide thanks to a video which saw a massive improvement in the budget compared to their earlier work. It was more of the same fun bubble-gum pop mixed with EDM that they had offered before, however this formula didn't work out for them on their second album overall.
#92 for 2000
The legends are true people, Paris Hilton did in fact have a singing career back in the day which consisted of this one and only hit from her one and only album. As I said, I promised myself that I was going to be nice to each and every entry I feature on this site, as such I will say that this is far from the worst song I've ever heard as it at least has a catchy melody and Paris doesn't actively drive me insane on the track.
#69 for 2006 (#70 for ARIA)
This is the final hit that Five had in their career before they went their separate ways, although the boys already had signs of tension during their third album's production as ABS would leave soon after its release due to creative differences. At least this was a decent hit here in Australia given how the boy band wars had already come to an end by this point.
#84 for 2001 (#81 for ARIA)
This often gets lost in the shuffle for the singles from Mariah Carey's comeback album, mainly because it wasn't a huge number one hit in her native America like "We belong together" or "Don't forget about us" was nor as memorable as "It's like that" despite that being her lowest charting song on the album worldwide. It could also be that a much more famous song with this name has since come out over the years.
#71 for 2005 (#77 for ARIA)
One of the earliest viral hits to become as such at the turn of the millennium was Hampton the Hampster, specifically its theme song which was a minor top ten hit here in Australia (not enough to make this list but still.) Following the breakthrough success of his theme song, he released a cover of a John Denver track (a mere four years after his death mind you) which became a success here.
#78 for 2001 ARIA
It turns out Biggie Smalls wasn't a one hit wonder here in Australia after all as he managed to achieve a second posthumous hit here with this posse cut with Diddy, Nelly and Jagged edge. I suppose if 2pac was able to keep scoring hits worldwide from beyond the grave there was no reason his main rival in his lifetime couldn't do the same.
#61 for 2006 (#69 for ARIA)
It seems odd that of all the victory singles to make it big from American idol here in Australia, it would come from Fantasia who never had much success even in her homeland following her victory on the reality series. I guess this was a hit here due to the previous winner Rubben Studdard having success over in NZ the previous year along with the runner up Clay Aiken.
#80 for 2004 (#87 for ARIA)
This was the title track from Jessica Mauboy's second album, it was a big hit for her just like another entry that's still to come on this list, proving that she was robbed three years prior when she lost the fourth season of Australian idol.
#74 for 2009 (#77 for ARIA)
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.
#28 for 2009 (#32 for ARIA)
Well given how the Crazy frog was no longer able to score hits in the music scene, this allowed the German creation Gummibear to fill in for the amphibian which managed to score one hit this year thanks to its CGI video making the waves on YouTube. This won't be making my weird videos list as it was obvious that the bizarre imagery on there was intentional much like it was on Crazy frog's videos.
#78 for 2007
This was the last song to become a hit for Craig David outside his native UK, although I get the feeling this was the case due to it sampling Sting's "Shape of my heart" from his 1993 album Ten summoner's tales and even managed to get Sting to rerecord the chorus on this track which connects the verses together. It was also the first time Sting managed to score a hit anywhere in the world in over a decade.
#80 for 2003 (#74 for ARIA)
This was a hit for both British DJ Tim Deluxe and Irish singer Sam Obernik here in Australia but not in their native UK, I'm guessing it was due to their fellow Brits finding the production too irritating to realise this was actually a female empowerment anthem due to Sam standing up to the person who's supposedly trying to chat her up. That's honestly my assessment of the song and why I don't enjoy it despite its good intentions.
#63 for 2002 (#76 for ARIA)
It looked like Kasey Chamber's third album would be a mere modest success when it was released the previous year, however it received a boost in popularity this year when this track from the album became a surprise hit during the early months of the year.
#91 for 2005
It had been two decades of silence from Santana when they released this lead single to their comeback album Supernatural this year, it's hard to say if the album would've been a success without this track given that many people attribute this as a Rob Thomas solo project more than a Santana track with Rob's vocals on it. What I do know is that it made both Santana and Matchbox 20 international superstars.
#3 for 2000 (#6 for ARIA)
This was the final hit that Jordin Sparks has had anywhere in the world, although in this case she was playing second fiddle to Guy Sebastian who was clearly trying to find an international audience now that he had established his comeback with "Like it like that" going into the 2010's.
#63 for 2009 (#58 for ARIA)
This feels like an odd choice for a single because like the rest of Confessions on a dance floor, this was meant to flow in from the previous track on the album and into the following track seamlessly to give off the illusion it was one big continuous song on the album. That didn't seem to hinder its popularity here in Australia as it became a massive hit for the queen of pop even this far into her career.
#73 for 2006 (#82 for ARIA)
I wonder if the term MILF existed around the early 00's, this is essentially an anthem for that subculture as the lyrics of the song explicitly detail how the underage narrator was in love with an older woman (at least he acknowledges that this was a weird phenomenon he was having.) It was a surprise hit here in Australia likely due to us Aussies finding the situation hilarious to the point where we wound up loving it.
#89 for 2003
This is where the Willennium pun came from as Will Smith decided to cash in on the Y2K scare by releasing this track that became a success due to its meme status (or whatever we called a viral hit back then.) Naturally this was seen in poor taste for the rapper considering all of the stress people were going through due to Y2K back in the day.
#82 for 2000 (#77 for ARIA)
I did mention that this was a commercial disappointment earlier on this list, however that didn't mean this lead single to Meteora was a flop here in Australia given how it managed to rack up enough points to appear on this list of mine. Still, I don't remember hearing this much on the radio back in the day, certainly not compared to the other songs on the album especially their earlier entry.
#91 for 2003 (#80 for ARIA)
This will be the only song of Jet's to appear on this site given how the rest of their catalogue were too much of sleeper hits to qualify for these lists of mine, this one managed to crack the upper echelons of our charts this year due to its similarities to John Lennon's "Imagine" on a musical level despite the song having lyrics about a breakup rather than imagining a better world for tomorrow.
#91 for 2004
During the midpoint of the decade, INXS decided to host a competition on who would be their lead vocalist given how Jon Stevens (who replaced Michael Hutchence after his tragic death in 1997) left the group to pursue other interests. They landed on Canadian singer JD Fortune who scored a hit with the band with this track likely due to them turning the competition into a reality series around this time.
#81 for 2005
This was another female empowerment anthem to become a hit worldwide, this time it comes from Christina Aguilera and Lil Kim who collaborated with each other for the second time this decade after "Lady marmalade" from two years prior for a song that might not have been as successful, but still resonated with audiences worldwide due to them making an anthem for women for the ages.
#74 for 2003 (#78 for ARIA)
This was another two for one deal to make it big in Australia, this time it's the fourth and fifth singles from Vanessa Amorosi's debut album which were likely bundled together in order to give her a fourth consecutive hit from the album. The two songs are totally different from each other as "The power" is an upbeat track about living her life to the fullest whilst "Everytime I close my eyes" is a downtempo love song.
#76 for 2001 (#75 for ARIA)
Although this was always intended to be the second single from J-Lo's debut album, the fact that it was marketed as the theme song to the new millennium (despite needing to come out the following year for that to happen) likely helped it become a huge hit for her despite the mediocre reception of her album. Indeed, it looked like her popularity would come to an end after this dropped off the charts, however as we all know, it didn't.
#42 for 2000 (#40 for ARIA)
This was a hit here in Australia likely due to the similarities it had with "Halo" from earlier on this list as both songs were written and produced by Ryan Tedder which led to accusations of him recycling songs to give to artists. As this was the only time two songs of his sounded this similar to each other, these claims quickly went away as he continued to have success as a songwriter and occasionally with his band.
#79 for 2009
This is a song whose success caused controversy this year, mainly because Dean Geyer came in third place on the fourth season of Australian idol and yet was able to score a hit here over the runner up which was Jessica Mauboy. Of course, the controversy has long since died out due to her being way more successful than either artist from that season to appear on this list.
#75 for 2007 (#77 for ARIA)
There was a rise in emo culture beginning from this year, so much so that the longtime band AFI who had been active for fifteen years at this point managed to finally score a hit here and in their native America (although it wasn't nearly as successful on Billboard as it was here in Australia.) They would be a one hit wonder with this track that I'm guessing was meant to be an homage to Meat loaf based on the video.
#85 for 2006 ARIA
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.
#29 for 2009 (#27 for ARIA)
This was such a commercial disappointment for Beyonce here in Australia, I'm not sure why as this lead single to her second solo album used the same formula as "Crazy in love" right down to it having her future husband Jay-Z on as a guest rapper. I guess her fans wanted her to embrace her feminist side of her music as she would find more success with her feminist (and sometimes misandrist) anthems from here on out.
#79 for 2006
This served both as the theme song to the second Charlie's angels' film as well as the lead single to P!nk's third album Try this, neither project was well received at the time (despite the album being excellent in my opinion) which was a sign that her time in the spotlight was coming to an end. As bad as the film was, it's still infinitely better than the 2019 film as its at least cheesy fun that's unapologetic with what it is.
#83 for 2003 (#85 for ARIA)
This was arguably the final song to be released in the 90's that became a huge hit worldwide, mainly because this serves as both a Christmas song as well as an unofficial anthem for the turn of the millennium despite that not happening until the end of this year. It's also considered to be one of the worst songs of all time and a good reason as to why Cliff Richard hasn't had any more hits since.
#88 for 2000 (#88 for ARIA)
This was another song that was a bit late to the party here in Australia given how it was an RNB jam, although it was a hit here even if it wasn't as big as it was in NZ and Kandi's native America. This is a cheating anthem that she justifies by having her cheat due to her partner cheating on her, it tends to divide people on whether it's an empowerment anthem or something akin to Rupert Holme's "Escape."
#89 for 2001
This was one of only two hit singles this sister duo managed to achieve in Australia, although it's easy to see why this succeeded given how it's an affectionate track about how they'll always be there for each other. Unfortunately for them, their legacy has since been overshadowed by another duo from Australia comprising of twin sisters that since went on to have massive international success, that of course being the Veronicas.
#19 for 2000 (#13 for ARIA)
Named after the heritage he was a part of Panjabi MC initially broke through with this track throughout Europe the previous year given how popular Indian style music was becoming throughout the early 00's worldwide. This year, he recruited Jay-z to provide him a guest verse which allowed this to crossover here in Australia, although I get the feeling the true intent of this remix was to gain him an American audience.
#86 for 2003 (#89 for ARIA)
Well just look at that cover art, this was what was sold to us Aussies back in the day as the "censored" cover art was just the same girl in the same outfit but with her whole body on it and her face looking at the viewer. Thankfully the song isn't as egregious as it's a nu metal track about a girl the narrator has the hots for, I'm not even sure why the woman on the cover is dressed as a cop seeing as though she isn't literally one in the lyrics.
#92 for 2003 (#90 for ARIA)
I guess "When you're gone" was meant to be a calm before the storm for Avril's older fans as she released this third single from her album which confirmed that she was making music for the type of audience she was originally rallying against on her first two albums. I get that she wanted to change things up with her third album which worked out for her commercially, however fans cried betrayal at this change in direction.
#70 for 2008 (#79 for ARIA)
You may be forgiven into thinking that this is a song explicitly about 9/11 given how the music video depicts a relationship which ends where a guy ends up fighting in Iraq, however it was actually about Billie Joe Armstrong has to cope with the death of his father every year which happened in September when he was a child. I guess he didn't want to make the ballad too personal when he released it as a single, hence the video.
#78 for 2005 (#84 for ARIA)
Remember how I said in my 1985 list that "Dr Beat" would be more well known nowadays for a dance remix from the mid 00's? Well, here's that remix which was a massive hit worldwide for the British DJ Mylo who was part of a trend of reviving older songs for a (then) modern audience which no doubt helped younger generations discover the original track 21 years after its initial release.
#88 for 2005 (#88 for ARIA)
It looked like Pitbull was here to stay going into the new decade as this second single from his club boom phase was also a massive worldwide hit for him, there's honestly not much I can say about this track except that aside from this, "I know you want me" and his theme from Men in black III "Back in the time," all of his hits have had the assistance of someone else in the music industry.
#62 for 2009 (#59 for ARIA)
This was the only other hit from Sneaky sound system that managed to appear on this site given how both "Pictures" and "I love it" both were too much of sleeper hits to qualify for these lists. Here we have the lead single to the band's second album which I'm sure would've been bigger just the year prior given how the digital landscape had finally become mainstream and thus pushed these sorts of songs aside.
#78 for 2008 ARIA
Sandwiched between their two earlier entries on this list was this second single from Big Brovaz, it's a song that interpolates the song from the Sound of music and updates the lyrics to be about how much the female members are into expensive luxuries that their male counterparts could give them. It was an easy hit for them in Australia and their native UK, however the rest of the world was obviously turned off by this interpolation.
#85 for 2003 (#83 for ARIA)
Orianthi is an Australian guitarist and vocalist who was hired by MJ himself for his This is it tour, unfortunately she was unable to showcase her skills as a guitarist due to the tour being cancelled for obvious reasons. Still, that did give her enough buzz for her second album to spawn a huge hit with its lead single about how she doesn't care about what her ex thinks of her so long as her current partner thinks the opposite.
#73 for 2009 (#72 for ARIA)
This was a random hit that Nelly had this year about grillz, for the uninitiated, those are the fake teeth that rappers and other celebrities tended to wear throughout the decade, meaning Nelly made a song specifically about how he finds women wearing the mouthpieces to be sexy. I guess enough people also found the mouth gear to be sexy which is why it was a massive hit for him worldwide.
#77 for 2006 (#65 for ARIA)
This was the first single that Rihanna released after a very dark period in her life, I won't mention what it is because I want this site to be a safe space for everyone, but I feel that I don't have to regardless because it's so ingrained in pop culture that it would be redundant for me to do so. One thing I will say is that it appears that she didn't want people getting the wrong idea that she was suddenly turned off by sex with this track.
#72 for 2009 (#73 for ARIA)
Given how Nicole Scherzinger was able to revive Diddy's popularity the previous year, it only makes sense that he was score a second hit from around this time with the assistance of Christina Aguilera who was also as the height of her popularity thanks to the success of her album Back to basics.
#82 for 2007 (#86 for ARIA)
This was the fourth hit to come from Mariah Carey's comeback album, although like the other entries from the album, it was far more successful in her native America as the rest of the world was likely still sceptical at the time that she had recovered from her erratic behaviour from earlier in the decade which she clearly had by this point in her career. It could also be that love ballads weren't doing so well in the mainstream at the time internationally.
#76 for 2006 (#79 for ARIA)
So Simple Plan were still a thing during their third album, it may surprise you to learn that though it was a commercial disappointment for them, they would bounce back with their fourth album in the 2010's which spawned two big hits for them down under, proving that yes, we Aussies did love these guys for a while.
#77 for 2008 (#76 for ARIA)
Rob Thomas was on a roll here in Australia as he managed to score a second hit with his solo debut, this is a complete contrast with his earlier entry as while that was about him wanting to be with someone, here he's complaining about how his heart was broken by someone he fell in love with too quickly which creates a narrative between the two songs. This narrative didn't continue with the third single which is perhaps why if flopped here.
#89 for 2005
You know that Nicole Scherzinger was inescapable this year when she was able to revive the popularity of Diddy after four years of him not having a hit anywhere in the world, here they are with that song which is a sex jam about how much they're both into each other which naturally titillated audiences this year.
#75 for 2006
This was the final hit that Young divas achieved here in Australia, this being a cover of the Loverboy track from 1981 and had Ricki Lee replaced in the group with Jessica Mauboy given how the former had a massive hit this year with her earlier entry on this list.
#84 for 2007
I guess this was the song that confirmed that Chris Brown wasn't going to be a flash in the pan as it managed to become a worldwide hit for the RNB singer, it wasn't exactly the biggest hit anywhere in the world, however it did promise him a ton of success that he would of course achieve later in the decade.
#80 for 2006 (#83 for ARIA)
This was the final hit single that Celine Dion was able to score in her career in most parts of the world, mainly due to it being the perfect book end to a highly successful decade as this serves as the lead single to her pseudo greatest hits package All the way a decade of song that also has enough new tracks to qualify for a studio album. I guess she could've had more success if she didn't embarrass herself at Vegas in 2002.
#89 for 2000
I think this was meant to be the "Lose yourself" of 50 cent's autobiographical film Get rich or die trying, it was a hit worldwide likely due to the film being a box office success (even though it was panned by critics for being a rip-off of his mentor's film) but it didn't receive any accolades to my knowledge nor did it reach the dizzying heights of Eminem's Oscar winning ballad from earlier in the decade.
#82 for 2006 (#76 for ARIA)
This was the other big hit that Lindsay Lohan had here in Australia, with this being a song she wrote about her estranged relationship with her father who had been exploiting her fame since she joined Disney almost a decade prior to this coming out. Even though she was panned by critics for not being a good vocalist in their eyes (I personally disagree with that assessment) it still resonates with fans to this day thanks to its honest lyrics.
#83 for 2006 (#77 for ARIA)
This was commissioned for the fifi world cup this year; it combines the works of Queen with the popularity of the Crazy frog which explains its success even if I know many Queen fans are screaming at this entry as they read it. If it's any consolation for those people, this was the song which killed the Crazy frog phenomenon as it didn't have any more hits after this.
#84 for 2006 ARIA
This is the final hit single that Robbie Williams had anywhere in the world as this likely became a hit as a last hurrah for his career given that it was released during the final weeks of the decade.
#80 for 2009 ARIA
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