Biggest hits of 2010 Australia

This list will go over what was popular in Australia this year, although my commentary comes from my ranking of the biggest hits of the 2010's so keep that in mind when reading through this list.

Well, the title of this song has become toxic to the music industry these days, hasn't it? Prior to being the name of a social media site that's forever going to be blamed for the decline in the music industry, it was the title of Kesha's debut single (as a lead artist that is) which was another example of how big the club boom was even in its infancy given how it was a huge hit during the transition from the 00's to the 2010's.

This was one of only two hits that Owl city had in most parts of the world, the other being with Carly Rae Jepsen who was also a one hit wonder on her own worldwide. Here we have a song about his mindset which was so fascinating to listeners that it not only became a massive hit for him, but also had him confirm that he was neuro divergent which should be obvious when reading the lyrics.

This was the lead single to Katy Perry's third album Teenage dream, it's a song that is all kinds of ridiculous thanks to its music video (which would appear on a weirdest videos list if I bothered to make one for this decade) as well as the Snoop Dogg feature which has him rattling off nonsense likely to compliment the mindless fun this song is supposed to be.

This was the second hit that British RNB singer Taio Cruz managed to achieve worldwide, it was a big hit for him likely due to it being considered the quintessential party jam during the height of the club boom era amongst a sea of stiff competition. He would have one more hit the year after this became inescapable for him before he forever faded into obscurity.

While this wasn't the lead single to Eminem's album Recovery, it was the song which showcased the rapper was back on his A-game after two albums where he failed to live up to his hype he established for himself a decade prior. Here he recruits Rihanna on the chorus of this track which is something he would repeat later in the decade as the two would collaborate again on "The monster" on his next album.

There were no signs of Lady Gaga slowing down exiting the 00's given how this lead single to her E.P The fame monster managed to be a huge success for her worldwide, it was a sign that she would be the biggest pop star of the 2010's much like her obvious influence Madonna was throughout the 80's and 90's.

There have been countless jokes made towards this big hit from Usher's breakup album Raymond v Raymond that I suggest looking up in your own time, suffice to say that having the G in this track stand for gosh rather than God was a surefire way for this song to enter meme territory upon its initial release. In any case, it did save the album from flopping given how the first two singles failed to become a hit for him.

This is one of my least favourite songs on this list (which is saying quite a bit if I'm being honest) this is because I've never liked Train as a band, and this might be their most annoying song in my opinion. It appears the rest of the world agrees as from what I can gather, this only became a hit purely through how much of a meme it was upon its initial release due to its bad lyrics.

This was the first hit that Bruno Mars had as a lead performer, sure he had hits with B.O.B and Travie McCoy prior to this ballad which shares its name and themes with a Billy Joel track from the 70's, however it was this ballad that made him a household name in the music scene.

This is another song that admittedly has some strange lyrics (what does she mean when she says, "I want you to love me like I'm a hot guy?") however, it's obvious that the appeal for this song was how opulent it sounds which does match the theme of the song as she wants this person to make her feel so special that no other woman in the world exists. It's a power fantasy sure, but one that's largely inoffensive.

This was the second of three hits that B.O.B had at the start of the decade, he was pipped for great things early on in his career but has since fallen into obscurity due to his questionable views on the world that I won't get into on this site. Here he recruits Hayley Williams of Paramore to provide him a chorus to connect his verses about him contemplating his place in the hip hop scene.

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.

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.

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.

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 is another song that's easy to make fun of due to how melodramatic the lyrics are, after all would anyone actually catch a grenade for someone regardless of the situation? This is the song I feel best represents why I don't like Bruno Mars (well almost as it's not like this is a throwback track to the twentieth century) as I've never particularly cared for him as a vocalist or as a musician overall.

I guess the success of this song was proof that the world was ready to move on from an infamous incident that Chris Brown had involving his ex-girlfriend Rihanna (this will be the only time I mention it on this site, I promise) given how this managed to be a massive success for the RNB singer as if no time had passed between his last big hit "Forever" and this becoming a success.

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 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.

This guy was a one hit wonder twice in most parts of the world, the first time was with his group Gnarls Barkley and the second was with this song that took a while to take off in his native America due to him needing to record a clean version of the song for it to play on radios. Naturally he suffered no such setback here as we Aussies have never incorporated airplay onto our charts to determine what is popular.

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.

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.

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."

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 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.

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.

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.

There were no signs of David Guetta slowing down entering the decade as he managed to score a third hit in a row from his breakthrough album, this time he recruits Kid Cudi who was fresh off the success he had with his own breakthrough "Day n night" from 2009 which is perhaps how he managed to maintain his winning streak across the world.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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."

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.

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 is a song that really tells you everything you need to know from the cover alone, normally I'd advise against judging a book (or music in this case) by its cover, however you'll likely get exactly what you expected with this entry if you've somehow never heard this second single from Kesha. Even back then, it was panned by critics and audiences for being annoying and obnoxious, although it was enjoyed ironically as well.

Here we are with a song that trapped Mike Posner in the one hit wonder bin for six years before his earlier entry on this list got him out of it, it's a song about him calling out this person he's trying to hit on after they shot him down. It's another song on this list that's been widely mocked for its lyrics, in fact I get the feeling a lot of these songs were popular because of the internet's negative reaction to them.

Even though this was a hit through Triple J here in Australia, it's worth noting that this somehow managed to become a success throughout Europe for the Australian duo Yolanda be cool (what is with that name?) which no doubt helped it sustain an audience despite how clearly bizarre this track is. Not since "Doop" from 1994 have we had a song be a success by making a parody of the swing music of the 20's.

You know that both artists on this track were inescapable when this collaboration manages to become a hit despite only being a bonus track from a deluxe reissue of one of their albums and said album not doing anything to boost the main albums popularity at the time.

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 one of the more successful victory singles to come from Australian idol, likely due to the controversy where although he was born in Australia, Stan Walker managed to win the series despite him being a NZ resident which allowed this to crossover to his homeland following his victory over fan favourite Hayley Warner. This controversy caused the show to be cancelled going into the 2010's.

This was the fourth and final hit that David Guetta had on his breakthrough album worldwide, it was a collaboration with fellow DJ Chris Willis and featured the vocals of Fergie and LMFAO, the latter of which scoring their first big hit anywhere in the world given how this was released around the time their debut album flopped.

This was originally released in 2009 to deafening silence for Taio Cruz here in Australia, this is despite it being a massive hit in his native UK likely due to the Brits wanting him to take the crown of RNB prince from Chris Brown with this track. It was given a second chance worldwide by having a guest verse from Ludacris which allowed this to crossover to Australia at the start of the decade.

This will be the only appearance from one of Michael Bublé's singles on this site, although I do remember hearing this on the radio more so than any of his other songs, so I have no problem believing this was a hit when the likes of "Sway" or "Everything" weren't. Naturally his audience was more inclined to buy his albums which is perhaps why even in the age of digital downloads, he hasn't had any other hits.

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.

This was a massive hit for Rihanna, and one that suggested that she was fine being with a bad boy (or rude boy as she puts it) given how she likes the unpredictability of that type of relationship. Naturally the rude boy in question is Drake who she started dating during the album's production and has had an on again off again relationship with him over the years.

This is a posse cut comprising of two DJ's (Canadian Richard Vission and American Static Revenger) as well as a singer no one's heard of prior to or since this collaboration, it was a massive hit here in Australia and a minor hit in NZ despite it failing to chart anywhere else in the world.

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.

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.

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 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."

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.

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 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 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.

Kesha was on a roll from the start of the decade as she released this third single from her debut album, it's a typical track about comparing one's love to a drug addiction that popularised this trope throughout the decade. Kesha has one more song to appear on this list, and it's a song that's nothing like anything else I've featured on here so far.

It looked like Uncle Kracker would be a one hit wonder in most parts of the world back in 2001 when he scored a massive hit with "Follow me," however here in Australia at least, he managed to escape that bin with this track about how the person he's singing to brings him joy and happiness to his life that obviously made us Aussies smile whenever we heard it on the radio.

This was originally written by P!nk for her Funhouse album, although she didn't have anywhere to fit this track on said album which led to her not including it on there. She donated it to Adam Lambert who was looking for material for his own album which I'm guessing was how the runner up of the 2009 season of American idol managed to score a massive worldwide hit with said album.

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.

Were it not for his duet with his ex-fiancé Delta Goodrem, this would've been the biggest hit from Brian McFadden here in Australia given how none of his work with Westlife was as popular as his solo material down under. This also has an appearance from Kevin Rudolf which technically allowed the "Let it rock" guitarist to escape the one hit wonder bin here with this Australian exclusive.

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.

It looks like Jessica Mauboy was really trying to find an international audience given how big her second album was at the end of the 00's, here she recruits Ludacris to give her a guest verse for the lead single to her third album which had several features from international artists as opposed to just the one from her previous album which served as its lead single.

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.

This is the only other hit that Jay Sean has been able to achieve outside his native UK, this time he recruits Sean Paul and Lil Jon to recapture the magic he had with Lil Wayne on his first international hit from earlier on this list. I guess in the realms of having a British prince of RNB, the crown was taken from him by Taio Cruz who would have much more success shortly after this dropped off the charts.

This was the second and final hit that Kevin Rudolf had here in Australia, it was a reunion with Lil Wayne following their collaboration with "Let it rock" as well as featuring rapper Birdman and singer Jay Sean. 

You'd be forgiven into thinking that this was a song originally meant for Taylor Swift's second album Fearless, after all it has the same lyrical themes as the songs on that album about being a Disney princess in the real world. Alas it was written for the film Valentine's Day which she had a minor role in, largely because it also had Taylor Lautner in it which she was dating at the time.

These guys were on a roll worldwide given how they were finally able to make it big over in America with their big breakthrough in Australia at the start of the decade, here they are with the lead single to their second album which continued their winning streak throughout the world as it led to the album also becoming a massive success for them.

Sandwiched between two of the biggest hits that Enrique Iglesias had at the start of the decade was this collaboration he made with Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussycat dolls, this was when the group called it quits and she attempted to embark on a solo career which actually was a decent success given how she had a few hits of her own as a lead artist.

Does anyone remember those awful parody songs that used to permeate on YouTube back in the day? This was one of those songs which somehow managed to become a massive hit for the British trio Midnight beast likely due to how inescapably popular the Kesha song was that they were parodying.

Given how "Blah blah blah" from earlier on this list was a massive worldwide smash for 3oh!3 and Kesha, it only makes sense that they would do it again but with their roles reversed as it's the duo who is the main artist on this track whilst Kesha is playing second fiddle to them. I consider this the precursor to their other collaboration as it would make sense why she's telling them to shut up on that song if this is the conversation that took place.

This is another EDM track from the start of the decade to make it big throughout Europe and not the artists' native America, although this might be because the fellow Americans of Duck sauce didn't see the appeal of a track that only contained the title of the song as its lyrics said sporadically throughout the song. I'm not sure many people even knew who she was by this time this was released as a single.

The hits kept on coming for BEP going into the new decade as this fourth single from the E.N.D (Energy never dies for the uninitiated) was a massive worldwide hit for the quartet. Evidently this was stitched together with "Imma be" in their native America due to its video serving as a continuation to that video, it would explain why that track was the third Billboard chart topper for them on the album.

Even though this was considered to be the first part of BEP's previous entry on this list, it was released as the fifth single from their album the E.N.D likely because we Aussies didn't particularly care for the storyline of their singles like their fellow Americans did. As a result, it was far less successful here than in their native America, although it could also be due to most of us finding the song irritating with its stuttering vocals.

This was the final hit that Sean Kingston was able to achieve anywhere in the world, although this feels more like a Justin Bieber track given how he overshadows the older singer on this track. The song is infamous for two reasons, the first is that it's the first time that Bieber raps on a song (and certainly won't be the last) and the second is that it's built around the playground chant of the same name lyrically.

This was the other big hit that Chiddy bang managed to achieve here in Australia, it was also their big international hit likely due to it sampling MGMT's "Kids" which many fans of the indie band were upset with given how that song was only a sleeper hit at best throughout the world in 2008. The video was also criticised due to it having creepy versions of the duo's heads that people found off-putting.

This was the final hit that Vanessa Amorosi was able to achieve in her career (at least for now, I wouldn't rule out a comeback just yet) although in case you were wondering, no this wasn't the track I was thinking of from her album Hazardous even though this does feature Seany B who had a massive hit with TV rock on "Flaunt it" (the track is "Gossip" for the record.)

This was the one and only hit to come from Zoe Badwi, an Australian pop star who was looking to cash in off the success of Kesha which she briefly got with this song at the start of the decade due to it sounding like something her American counterpart would make at the time.