The Chainsmokers were already considered a household name by the time they released this third big hit they had in 2016, however the inclusion of one Halsey ensured that they would have one of the biggest hits of the new millennium so far given how it's a story about how her and Drew Taggart grew apart and how she wants him back, but he's moved on.
Thankfully Drake doesn't have as many entries on this list of mine as you'd think as we Aussies were a bit slow in allowing the Canadian child star turned rapper to dominate our charts like he did on Billboard earlier in the decade. Here he has his biggest hit, which was the lead single to his album Views, the song made news back in the day by becoming the first to be streamed a billion times on Spotify.
This is to date the final hit single that Justin Timberlake has able to achieve in most parts of the world, although "Say something" from his most recent album (at the time of writing) was a minor success in certain parts of the world two years after this came out. This was the theme to the Dreamworks film Trolls which saw him in a lead role (albeit as a voice actor as the film is animated.)
This was the first of two big hits that the Weeknd had with Daft punk, the other being the only other song from the album of the same name "I feel it coming" which has a completely different subject matter to the one on here. This is about him dealing with his fame in ways I won't describe on this list as they can potentially be triggering to certain people reading this.
It may surprise you to learn that Justin Bieber had yet to have that huge inescapable hit in Australia prior to the success of this lead single from his fourth album Purpose, then again that might be due to him being the laughingstock of the music industry during the first half of the decade for various reasons I won't be getting into on this list.
Evidently this was a song originally meant for Taylor Swift as this was written back when her and Calvin Harris were dating, it appears she wasn't too pleased with him giving the song to Rihanna shortly after they broke up as she created quite the drama when this song became a hit for the two of them when it did. This drama was one of the factors that led to her backlash in 2016 throughout the music industry.
Well, no one ever said that Macklemore wasn't a corny guy, here he is with the only hit he had with his second and final album with Ryan Lewis which is about him wanting to own a moped. Not a motorcycle mind you as that would've been at least cool, but a moped. Even though this was a massive hit for him due to the charm he brings to the track, he wouldn't have another hit until his first solo album later in the decade.
Well, this is just mature, isn't it? It seems weird this was written by Ed Sheeran considering the whole song hinges on a single joke (and a cringy one at that in my opinion) however he gave it to JB presumably because he felt he would do better justice to the song which at least on a commercial level was the case. Still, I'll take this over Halsey's cover who doesn't even hide how immature this song is.
It looked like this guy was going to be a one hit wonder with "Impossible" from earlier in the decade following some problematic statements he made which suggested that he was homophobic, he was able to get back in the good graces of the general public by the time he released this ballad which saw him crossing over to America for his one and only hit on Billboard.
This was released a mere month after Daya's hit single "Hide away" became a worldwide hit for her, I'm guessing the Chainsmokers were looking to cash in off her sudden rise in popularity with this collaboration which to be fair was a gambit that paid off as it was a massive success for the duo upon its initial release. Much like their earlier entry, this is a song where the woman is being submissive towards the duo.
Although the lyrics are explicably about JB's relationship with someone, this song was obviously meant to be his apology towards his actions during the first half of the decade given how much of a general nuisance he was throughout the world during his late teenage years. The world forgave him for those actions given how this was an immediate hit for the Canadian singer.
There have been plenty of reality show winners to make it big over the years, here we have the rare loser from a show (in this case the 2015 season of Britain's got talent) Calum Scott who scored a massive hit with this acoustic cover of Robyn's track from the start of the decade. All I'll say is that this is certainly a different take on the Swedish pop star's track given how that was a dance pop track.
This was the lead single to Adele's third album 25, a song that seems to be a continuation of "Rolling in the deep" from her previous album as it once again showcases her feeling remorseful towards her ex that she trashed throughout 21. It was a huge hit for her as was the album it came from, although she certainly took her time in following this album up as it's only come out recently (as of this writing.)
This was the first of two hits that Anne Marie had as a featured artist for a popular EDM track, here she speaks up for single mothers who have to raise a child on their own which no doubt connected with many single women at the time of its release. It also allowed Clean bandit to escape the one hit wonder bin in most parts of the world given how "Rather be" almost trapped them there two years prior.
This was the only hit that the Danish band Lukas Graham (named after their lead vocalist) managed to achieve outside of Europe, although in Australia they could've had a second hit later in the decade had the Spotify charts not taken over our charts as "Love someone" was a huge hit here sales wise. This song has been widely mocked for how arrogant the narrator comes off in the lyrics, not helped by it being an autobiographical track from the lead artist.
DJ Snake is a French DJ who scored three hits this decade, this was his third and final hit which seems fitting given that it was a collaboration he made with Justin Bieber who seems to have killed a lot of careers throughout his time in the music industry given how many people have failed to score another hit after working with the Canadian pop star. It could also be that the production is recycled from "Lean on" from the year prior.
Flume had moderate success here in Australia prior to this becoming a surprise international success, however it was his collaboration with Canadian singer Kai that put him on the same level as the likes of the Chainsmokers and Major Lazer when it came to unconventional EDM. This led to him scoring a second hit shortly after this before he retreated back to the indie sphere.
Even though he wouldn't release another album until 2020, that didn't prevent Justin Bieber from being one of the biggest artists of the second half of the 2010's given how he was the featured vocalist for just about every EDM act that was popular throughout the decade. Here he collaborates with Major Lazer which started another trend I noticed of him being the death touch for a collaborator's popularity.
Before there was Tik Tok, there was Vine which was a similar music app where young creatives would release their music in the hopes of being discovered by a major label. By far its biggest success story was Shawn Mendes who was discovered by Teddy Geiger who gave the Canadian folk singer mainstream success which arguably peaked with this track about Shawn (or possibly Teddy) being badly wounded in a relationship.
This was another instant hit for Bruno Mars given how it's another throwback to when soul music reigned supreme in the American mainstream, although I've always felt that the bass on this track was too overbearing which is perhaps why it wasn't quite as inescapable as the second single from the album of the same name on Billboard. Even so, this still remains popular in the mainstream as of this writing.
Well, this is a song that's bound to resonate with anyone who entered the real world throughout the 2010's, here we have the duo Twenty Øne Piløts scoring the first of three massive worldwide hits with a song about them regretting the fact they grew up too fast and how they want a do over with their childhoods due to how stressful it is in the real world. It took a while to take off, however once it did, it was critically acclaimed.
Well, here's the nice guy anthem to end all nice guy anthems, never mind how widely ridiculed this song is for the performance that Shawn gives on the track, the fact that it's written the way it is (by a then closeted trans woman mind you) was enough to make people think twice about the intention's others have when telling them that they're in a bad relationship. It was a hit, but one that did far more harm than good.
I always found Fifth harmony to be the 2010's equivalent of the Pussycat dolls, a group of attractive young women (although in this case we're talking about teenage girls) being as sexually provocative as possible in order to titillate their audience who find them attractive. Here they go the extra mile by having them imagine themselves in a relationship with them and convincing them to quit their job to make out with them.
It puzzles me when people say that the second live action Alice in wonderland was a box office flop when it was still among the 50 most profitable films of 2016, then again, the first film was the second biggest film of 2010 so perhaps that's what they mean that it was a flop. It was certainly panned by critics for its incoherent plot and bad acting, with this theme song from P!nk being the only praise it received.
This was the other big hit that Flume had in the mainstream worldwide, this time he recruits Tove Lo who is best known for her hit "Stay high" (which is still to come on this list) which likely boosted this song's popularity for the Australian DJ.
It had been a while since Mike Posner had a hit anywhere in the world given how "Cooler than me" threatened to trap him in the one hit wonder bin from the start of the decade (that's still to come on this list) indeed the original version of this track was another flop for the American singer/songwriter and required a remix from someone named Seeb in order for it to finally take over around the world.
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.
This is yet another song that made it big this decade that was widely mocked by the general public, in this case it was due to Charlie Puth comparing himself to superman in a song that was about how he would always be there for the person he's singing to. I guess enough people found this romantic to make it a genuine hit, however it's largely known these days as a "nice guy" anthem.
This was a massive hit for the British DJ Duke Dumont during the midpoint of the decade, mainly because it was rather unique compared to everything else coming out at the time despite it fitting in comfortably in the EDM genre that was dominating the mainstream at the time. He's sadly a one hit wonder with this track here in Australia, although he had more success in his native UK.
Illy was one of the more popular rappers from Australia throughout this decade, this was his biggest hit which featured the vocals of fellow Aussie Vera Blue who was quite popular in our indie sphere even though this was the closest thing to a hit she was able to achieve in our mainstream.
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 was the introduction to two artists that deserved so much better in the mainstream, the first was Zara Larsson who scored a second hit after this with "Lush life" as well as a hit with Clean bandit before fading into obscurity. The second was MNEK who remained a one hit wonder with this collaboration even in his native UK until he was featured on the Joel Corry track "Head and heart" five years after its release.
This was the second collaboration that Rihanna had with Drake in 2016, the first being "Work" (which is still to come on this list) and here we have them feeling that they're both too good for each other which is a strange way to reminisce on their relationship they had from the start of the decade.
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 was already a moderate success for Peking Duk when it was initial released, however it received a boost in popularity when it placed high on the Triple J year end list for 2016 due to it coming out relatively late in the year. They would have one more hit after this with their E.P Reprisal before they faded into obscurity.
This was the first of four big hits that British DJ Jonas Blue had here in Australia, although it might be his most divisive track as it's an EDM cover of Tracy Chapman's definitive hit from the late 80's. This is a cover that seemed to be tailor made to be divisive as EDM fans have praised it for making the original more lighthearted whilst Tracy Chapman fans have condemned it for ruining the point of the original.
Hailee Steinfeld first got big at the start of the decade for her Oscar nominated performance in the Coen brothers flick True grit, here we are six years later with her breakthrough single which was a collaboration with not one but three producers as it has German DJ Zedd and the American EDM duo Grey as credited artists. This wasn't the last time the two acts would collaborate as we've seen with their earlier appearance.
This is the last hit that Sia has had to date, mainly because she went to work on her directorial debut after this became a hit for her for a film that the less I say about it the better. Here we have a self-empowerment anthem complete with a guest verse from Kendrick Lamar that allowed it to become a massive hit for her worldwide.
Following the success of their breakthrough album Blurryface, Twenty Øne Piløts were commissioned by the makers of Suicide squad to make a theme song for their critically divided film about the comic book antihero squad. The song was a massive success as was the film despite critics finding it to be a meandering mess, although this would be the last hit that the duo would have in the mainstream.
This was another easy hit for the Hilltop hoods this decade, mainly because it comes from a classical reissue of their two most recent albums (at the time of release of course) which went on to be a massive success for the trio. Here they recruit singers Montaigne and Tom Thum to provide them a chorus to connect their verses together.
This was originally written for Rihanna for her (at the time of writing) final album Anti, she passed this up in favour of "Work" of all things (why I have no idea) which led to Sia recording the song herself where it became her biggest hit over in America. Obviously, it wasn't her biggest hit here in Australia given her earlier entries on this list, however it was still massive due to the obvious Rihanna comparison.
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 feels like something that Ashanti would've made back in the early 00's, I think that was the point of this track given how we have a British duo recruiting American singer Tinashe for a song that was a hit throughout most parts of the world. This is also one of the few songs on this list to have Chance the rapper on it, I bring that up because he didn't have much success worldwide despite his buzz in America.
This is to date the final hit single from Flo Rida, mainly because it feels more like a car commercial than anything which of course makes it prime fodder for those sorts of ads throughout the decade. The song also had its success delayed here for some reason, although like most songs that were delayed here, it wound up being for the best as it was more successful down under than in most parts of the world.
This is the biggest hit to come from Little mix, in fact it's second only to the Spice girls "Wannabe" as the biggest hit of all time from a British girl group which should give you an idea of how inescapable this song was in their native UK. As you'd expect, this is a song dedicated to all of the boys that the members of the group had dated, one of them being Zayn which makes this another song about a 1D member being a bad boyfriend.
Here's another entry for my hypothetical weird video list as Maroon 5 decided to cash in on the Pokémon go craze (remember when that was a thing?) by dressing up as the monsters from the franchise (side note, still team Digimon here.) I guess Kendrick Lamar wasn't willing to stoop to that level of flagellation as he doesn't appear in the music video, although he wasn't too cool for the band overall.
When Zayn left One direction, he claimed he did so due to him wanting to retire from music, I guess he meant making boy band music as he returned a year later with this solo single which is the complete opposite of what he was making during his time with the group. It was an immediate success for him despite being panned by critics and audiences alike for being a desperate attempt to change his image.
Here we are with my personal favourite track from Jonas Blue, he may have soured on me and many others with his Tracy Chapman cover from earlier, however he quickly resorted his good will with this follow up thanks to finding a great vocalist by the name of J.P Cooper to provide vocals for this tropical house track that was a massive worldwide success for him.
This was obviously meant to be a self-empowerment anthem from Meghan Trainor given how she no doubt felt that everyone wanted to be just like her (not gonna comment about that) instead the song was widely mocked online for how narcissistic everyone (me included) finds not just the song but Meghan herself which resulted in her popularity falling off a cliff after this became a success.
This was the first hit that DJ Snake had as the sole DJ on the track, bearing in mind he did score a massive hit with Major Lazer prior to this with "Lean on" which no doubt led people to grow curious with what else he had to offer. Here he recruits British singer Bipolar sunshine (I don't know about that stage name) to sing on the track that's now best known for its strange drop.
This was the only hit to come from American indie singer Kiiara, mainly due to the rather unique (if not irritating in my opinion) way the song is structured where the chorus is comprised of different parts of the song spliced together whilst the verses tell as story out of order like it's a Quentin Tarantino flick. It was artistic to say the least, although it was a choice that the internet certainly didn't appreciate.
Many people believed this to be a track from RNB singer Future when it first came out, Future being an artist who was inescapable in his native America despite only having one hit internationally with "Mask off" in 2017 (for my non-American readers who don't know who he is.) Evidently this was a hit due to Kanye West discovering the track and sampling it for the track "PT 2" on his life of Pablo album.
It feels weird that this was the debut single from Anne Marie and not her collaboration with Clean bandit from earlier on this list, mainly because this feels like something Kesha would've released around the time it came out which goes to show that we Aussies really did love her earlier work from the start of the decade.
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.
Bet you didn't know that the daughter of Rob Schneider had a music career, did you? Well, she does even though it took forever in a day for her debut single to make it big likely due to her father's connections preventing audiences from taking it seriously. Admittedly it is a raunchy number where she brags about being such a player with men throughout the track, however people eventually realised there was nothing wrong with that.
This will be the final appearance of Zara Larsson on this list, it's a shame because all of her entries on here are bangers which showcases the Swedish teenage pop star's vocals in a way that makes her a better artist (in my opinion) than many of her American contemporaries. Apparently, she had a hit throughout Europe that caused controversy which is why we haven't heard much from her over the years.
This was the last hit that Galantis had here in Australia, although there's still one more entry to come from the Swedish duo proving how much we Aussies love their music. I have to talk about their horrifying album art, why did they feel the need to have it be a cat with what appears to be its face being peeled off to reveal art on it?
Does anyone remember the mannequin challenge? If you don't, it was a viral meme where people would film themselves being as perfectly still as possible while this song plays in the background. The meme allowed Rae sremmurd (Ear drummers flipped and reversed) to score a hit single despite gaining infamy on the internet prior to this becoming a hit with songs such as "No type" and "No flex zone."
These guys began their career in 2014 with their novelty track "#selfie," a song that was supposed to be a parody of vapid teenagers who spend all of their time on social media but instead seemed more like a genuine anthem thanks to the video having a bunch of cameos from social media stars in it. Fast forward two years and the duo have a genuine hit to their name with this track named after the featured vocalist.
This was the third hit in a row for Charlie Puth, here he recruits Selena Gomez for this duet about how the pair still have feelings for each other but think that the other doesn't which leads to them wondering if they should talk to each other to see if that's true or not. Now I think we've all been in the situation that happens in this song (even if it's a mere friendship for some people) which is why most people could relate to the song.
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.
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.
We won't be looking at any of Nick Jonas's solo material on this list, however his brother Joe managed to score a hit with his side project DNCE (supposedly meant to be Dunce) with this track about having cake by the ocean. Obviously, this is meant to be a sex jam, however many people didn't find the song sexy which is perhaps why it needed several attempts to make it big in the mainstream.
This will be the most recent entry from Adele on this site, yes, I know her latest album is making waves (as of this writing) however I'm not going to be covering the 2020's due to how unhappy I am with how the music industry has turned out this decade so far. This was a huge success for Adele given how it was the third single from her album 25, although most people feel "When we were young" should've been the big hit from the album.
Given the commercial disappointment of the lead single to Dangerous woman, it was a bit of a surprise to see this second single from the album be a huge success for Ariana Grande as this was less than a year after she was almost cancelled for her bad behaviour in that doughnut shop. I guess when you're as talented as she is, there's very little that can hinder your career as we've already seen on this list.
This was the only hit that indie teenage singer Daya has been able to achieve in her career, mainly due to people mocking it for being a song about why she can't seem to find the boy of her dreams despite bringing up "the chase" (a term were someone, usually a girl or woman, plays hard to get with the person they're interested in) which led people to believe that she has high standards for "Mr. right."
This is yet another song on this list that seemed to be tailor made to work up the internet as the song consists of Rihanna repeating its title over and over again throughout the chorus in a way that suggests she was struggling to stay awake. It was a massive Billboard chart topper for her likely because of the internet's fury of this track, after all this was when YouTube views were incorporated to their ranking system.
This was meant to be released as the twentieth anniversary of "Return of the Mack" by Mark Morrison, it was a little bit late as it became a hit in late 2016 as opposed to early 2016 which would've been the actually twentieth anniversary of the track, however that didn't prevent it from being a hit for the EDM group Nevada worldwide.
To date, this is the final hit from the Veronicas as they took so long in releasing their fourth album that fans move on from them in favour of newer artists such as Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo. It could also be that they were trend chasing with this track as this is a tropical house track which was different from their pop punk from their 00's material.
This was the last hit that the Chainsmokers had from their E.P Collage, this time the female vocalist was Pheobe Ryan who didn't have a solo hit to her name this decade unlike Daya and Halsey. The subject matter is the same as the other two hits from the E.P which led people to criticise it as little more than a revenge fantasy from the duo they had towards the women who rejected them when they were younger.
This is another song from Meghan Trainor to be universally panned by the internet as people feel it to be a worse version of P!nk's "U + ur hand" given the similar subject matter of both tracks, it also sparked criticism for it trying to pander to 90's nostalgia with the production as she's often known for incorporating doo wop into her music which must have alienated fans with this track,
This is the last hit that Calvin has had to date where he's the vocalist on one of his tracks, it was another hit from the tropical house genre which he would continue to have success with on his next album where he would work with American artists such as Katy Perry and Pharell.
Even though both Illy and Anne Marie scored a massive hit here in Australia in 2016, it's still surprising to see the both of them on a track together given how he's an Australian rapper from a tiny indie label whilst she was a rising star in her native UK looking to make it big with the likes of Little mix and Jessie J. Even so, the two somehow new each other (we'll she somehow knew him) and got together on this track.
Even though Disturbed had massive success with their albums during their first run together, it wasn't until they reunited in 2015 and released this cover of the Simon and Garfunkel classic that they finally managed to score a huge hit on the charts worldwide. The cover has divided people as while most can appreciate them bringing attention to the Simon and Garfunkel classic for modern audiences, others found it to be a dismal cover from the band.
There were no signs of Selena Gomez slowing down in the music scene now that she was no longer affiliated with Disney, here she scored her second hit after leaving the company with a song that caused minor controversy for the line "can't keep my hands to myself, I mean I could by why would I want to," which led to it being unfavourably compared to "Blurred lines" but from a female perspective.
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.
Martin Garrix already had minor success from earlier in the decade with his breakthrough single "Animals," however his first major hit was with this collaboration with Bebe Rexha which is named after the U2 track from 1984 that likely connected with audiences upon its initial release. It's since been criticised for the strange drop at the end of each chorus, specifically how many people (me included) find it annoying.
This is the second single from Shawn Mende's sophomore album, it wasn't as widely mocked as the lead single from earlier on this list, however it was still panned by everyone not in his fanbase for similar reasons that his other early songs were heavily disliked by critics and audiences alike.
This was one of the first songs to suffer in this ranking due to being pushed aside by the Spotify charts given how streaming had been incorporated to the Australian charts by the time it was released as a single, in this case it was an EDM track from Swedish producer Mike Perry (no relation to Katy) who was able to ride the tropical house trends of the moment for an instant smash hit.
Given the success she had with two of Major Lazer's entries on this list, it only makes sense that Danish pop star MØ would have a hit of her own even if said hit was more of a sleeper success here in Australia and in certain parts of the world. It really is a shame that she had to play second fiddle to the American trio and Snakehips throughout the decade given how talented of a vocalist she is.
This is a song that likely would've appeared much higher on this list had it not been pushed aside with some of the earliest hits to become a such thanks to streaming here in Australia, after all it was a collaboration between two of the biggest names in music this decade even though on the surface, Little mix and Jason Derulo seem to have nothing in common with each other. Audiences obviously found the connection on this track which explains its success.
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