Now I should point out that Taylor Swift is among my least favourite artists of all time, however I'm probably one of the few non Swifties to actually enjoy this anthem against the hater simply for how catchy it is (if only she took her own advice on this track.) I'm guessing this is why it was a huge hit for her given how it successfully transitioned her from a pop country chick to a pop diva still going strong to this day.
Although this song has the producer credited as the lead artist, it's really a Bruno Mars track given how it has all of the ingredients to his catalogue throughout the decade. It's a throwback to soul music from the twentieth century delivered by him in a way that makes him wish he was a part of the times.
This ballad from Ed Sheeran was the first hit of hits to bring him into the big leagues given how everything he released prior wasn't as big as his more recent material. It's also one of the last songs of his to be a soulful acoustic ballad as his subsequent releases would see him adapting to the trends of the moment rather than him staying true to his roots.
This was a song that was a complete flop upon its initial release, likely because indie music really needs that marketing edge if it wants to have any chance of it crossing over to the mainstream. That came when this song started finding itself in movie trailers and TV commercials due to its theme of meeting the love of the narrator's life while on the dancefloor which still connects with audiences to this day.
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.
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.
This was released in early 2014 to deafening silence for the Irish singer/songwriter Hozier, likely because of how overdramatic it is despite it being an attack on the religious community for all of its atrocities it committed over the years (particularly towards the LGBT community if the video is anything to go by.) It was given a second chance when it was nominated for several Grammies which allowed it to become a massive success during the awards season.
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.
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.)
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.
This is another song from Taylor Swift I personally don't mind, I'm guessing because it's a rare example of her displaying self-awareness which I've come to appreciate compared to the rest of her catalogue. It appears the rest of the general public agrees with this sentiment as it remains one of her biggest hits to date despite it being the first single she released after (temporarily) pulling all of her catalogue from Spotify.
Although he had huge international success with his theme to 50 shades of grey (which won't be appearing on this list) this was the song which made Abel Tesfay AKA the Weeknd a household name here in Australia likely due to it being a throwback track to the 80's era of MJ from its bombastic production to the visuals in the video. It was a solid introduction to a man who would shake up the music industry.
This was originally released in 2012 to deafening silence for the Jamaican singer Omi, likely because it was a little bit ahead of its time when it came to the tropical house EDM of the decade. It was given a new life when it was remixed by Felix Jaehn three years later where it became a massive hit for him, although I get the feeling the original mix would've been a huge hit that year given how the times changed in its favour.
This remains as the biggest hit to come from the Hilltop hoods, I guess it became so big due to it being released around the same time that Bill Cosby got convicted of his multiple sexual harassment allegations and that this was meant to be an ironic take on the actor's legacy rather than a sincere one.
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 is the only hit that Wiz Khalifa was able to achieve as a lead artist outside of his native America, sure he had other hits with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Maroon 5; however, he was playing second fiddle to those acts. Here he recruits Charlie Puth who was previously known for his work with famous YouTubers before stepping into the big leagues thanks to the chorus he provides on this track.
This came out around the same time as "Where are u now" which was a hit that Diplo from Major Lazer had with Skrillex and Justin Bieber, although I think it's safe to say that this was the song that introduced the world to his work given how much bigger it was then that track. The video for this song caused minor controversy due to depicting the singer MØ in an Indian outfit which led people to accusing her of cultural appropriation.
Here we have a collaboration which by no accounts makes any sense, it comprises of Kanye West and Rihanna singing a duet with Paul McCartney providing the instrumentation for them to sing over. It was a surprise hit for the trio given how it was the first time that Paul touched the singles chart in over thirty years as his last hit was back in 1984 with "No more lonely nights."
I guess this was meant to be the track where Meghan Trainor displays her down to earth side as she recruits John Legend of all people to collaborate with her on a track about how the two were in love with each other, it was a surprise hit for them here in Australia months prior to it crossing over in their native America.
To think that this remains Ellie Goulding's biggest hit in her career, I'm guessing this was due to it being one of the two themes from the 50 shades of grey film which appears to be from the perspective of its female lead Anastasia Steele. With that in mind, I'm guessing "Earned it" by the Weeknd was from the perspective of its male lead Christian Grey, which explains why that song wasn't as big as this was.
This was 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.
While I stand by that the Dave Stewart and Barbra Gaskin cover of Lesley Gore's "It's my party" completely misses the point of the original, this cover of Lesley's other iconic hit from Grace Sewell manages to recapture the feminist spirit of the original which I and many others feel does the original justice for a modern audience. Apparently, there's a version of this track with G-Eazy on it, although I'm unfamiliar with this version.
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.
You should know that I'm only featuring the songs that were big from Meghan Trainor on this list for prosperity as I really don't like talking about her or her music, here she is with her second single which showcases her calling out her partner for cheating based on the most circumstantial of evidence, I guess Beyonce had a hit or two in her career where she did just that, so why not Meghan with this track?
This was the final hit to come from 1989, it's among her better received songs even though the video did receive criticism for glorifying colonialism as it was filmed in Africa and set during the 50's and featured few if any African people in the video. I'm not going to talk about if this is cultural appropriation or not as this isn't the place for it, however it's clear that the video had little impact on the song's success.
There we no signs of Calvin Harris slowing down as he released this song once the album cycle to Motion was complete, it was a carry over to his next album which would see him using tropical house production hence why this is more in line with what was popular in EDM during the midpoint of the decade.
There were a lot of tracks to become popular from the deluxe editions of albums in recent years, here's another one which comes to us from Vance Joy who managed to achieve a massive hit with this ballad around the same time his earlier entry was making it big throughout the rest of the world. Had Spotify not taken over the second half of the decade in the music industry, he would've had two more hits from his second album.
This was the only hit from the Belgian DJ Lost frequencies, although at least it was a massive hit for him worldwide given how the EDM track managed to make a huge splash on the dance floors upon its initial release. There's not much more I can say about this track as it was a hit that people liked from a one hit wonder.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Not only did Lunchmoney Lewis score a massive hit from earlier on this list worldwide, but he also managed to score a second hit here in Australia with another comedic track which showcases that he was a likable guy worthy of keeping around in the mainstream. I'm not sure why he only had two hits in Australia other than perhaps him failing to have one hit in his native America.
This was a collaboration between two artists that were huge on Triple J during the midpoint of the decade, that being British singer Marcus Marr and Australian singer Chet Faker who managed to score a huge success here thanks to how much love Triple J gave it upon its initial release and sadly nowhere else in the world.
I feel that I should put out there that this is my least favourite song I'll be featuring on this site, it's not because it's offensive or anything (offensively bad perhaps but not problematic) but because it embodies everything I personally hate about music. I guess these qualities were enjoyed ironically back in the day which would explain its success.
This was a remix of a track from 1989 that Taylor Swift commissioned to have it be the anthem for her own female empowerment anthem, even though the song is actually about her beef with Katy Perry and how she feels she can no longer forgive her for ending their friendship the way they did (they made up later in the decade for the record.) The female empowerment angle was purely in the video as it introduced the world to her squad of female friends.
This was another big hit from David Guetta's album Listen, this is mainly due to the controversy it caused due to Nicki Minaj delivering a verse that portrays her as submissive in a relationship. Now I'm no fan of Nicki, however even I can tell that she was being sarcastic with this verse as she's among the last women I would expect to be submissive to anyone in a relationship.
Nelly is back on this list for a third and final time, this time he recruits Jeremih who gaining buzz in his native America with songs such as "Don't tell em" and "Somebody" with Natalie Rose (the latter is still to come on this list) which helped Nelly's popularity stretch just a little further in most parts of the world.
This was the third single to come from Taylor Swift's 1989 album, this one is directed at her ex-boyfriend Harry Styles who she briefly dated back in 2012 and was the subject matter of "I knew you were trouble" from much earlier on this list. Suffice to say, people prefer this track to her other song if only because there isn't any dubstep to be found on this track and for also being much more mature.
This was a collaboration project between Skrillex and Diplo from Major Lazer that they called Jack Ü, although I'm willing to bet most people see this as a Justin Bieber track given how it was the song that revived his career following a string of bad decisions that led to him getting cancelled numerous times since his 2012 album Believe. This would be the projects only hit as JB would be the biggest benefactor of this song's success.
This was the penultimate hit that One direction had worldwide, in fact it feels like they only made their fifth album out of contractual obligations as they didn't do much to promote it from what I remember back in the day. Admittedly I wasn't paying much attention as I had more important things to do with my life than track down the storyline of what caused them to go their separate ways.
This was the last hit that Ellie Goulding had in most parts of the world, mainly because it was a response track to Ed Sheeran's "Don't" where she admits that she messed up the relationship but didn't appreciate him airing out their dirty laundry the way he did on that track. Though it was a hit for her, it proved to be her last due to audiences siding with Ed which resulted in them turning their back on her.
Given he had appeared on a track with Kygo (which is still to come on this list) as well as his sister Grace finding massive success with her cover of "You don't own me" from earlier on this list, it makes sense that Conrad Sewell would achieve a massive hit of his own during the midpoint of the decade with this track here in Australia.
Technically this was the song to get Silento out of the one hit wonder bin (we'll be getting to him in a bit) here he plays second fiddle to a singer known as Dawin (which is apparently his real name) who made it big this year mainly for the chipmunk vocals which was becoming an increasingly common trend in the American music scene.
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