It had been a while since Lady Gaga last had a genuine hit single anywhere in the world, so to see her back at the top of the charts with this track from the A star is born soundtrack was a bit of a surprise to say the least. The song's popularity came in two waves, the first was upon its initial release to promote the film and the second was when it won best original song at the Academy awards.
The last time George Ezra had any success on the charts was four years prior to when this became a huge runaway success for him with his debut album, although admittedly he did take his sweet time in following up that album as he didn't release any new music in those four years. This is a song whose popularity was a result of it being featured in every commercial you can think of.
It looked like Five seconds of summer were yesterday's news given how they hadn't troubled the charts anywhere in the world since their second album back in 2015, however their popularity was restored when they released the lead single to their third album which became an inescapable success everywhere in the world. Were it not for Tones and I's earlier entry, this would be the biggest hit from an Australian artist of all time.
This is a song that was infamous upon its initial release, so much so that people were urging others to listen to "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC instead given how that song achieves what this song is trying to and was released nearly thirty years prior. Although Imagine dragons were never critical darlings, this was the song where their reputation sunk to the levels of Nickelback and Creed before them.
This song was released on the same day as "Castle on the hill," meaning that audiences chose this song about Ed Sheeran objectifying the person in this song over his heartfelt track about missing his childhood friends into making an inescapable hit from his third album. This should tell you the culture we've been a part of since the start of the decade as the internet tends to make hits out of songs meant to be divisive.
Given how we're in an era where every song on an album is guaranteed to chart once said album is released, I guess the way to have follow ups from it once it comes out is to take a track and modify it in a way where it stands out from the rest of the track listing. This was the mindset for this ballad which got turned into a duet with Beyonce despite the original being about how Ed feels that the love of his life was perfect the way they were.
I guess it's good to know that it's only been recently that Australians have been struggling to make it big even in our local charts, this was such a massive hit for Dean Lewis that it even managed to be a huge international success for the indie folk singer at a time where it was becoming increasingly hard for indie artists to make it big in an increasingly coporatised market.
This seems like one of those songs that was created specifically to draw out comments from people that will offend their readers, as such I won't say anything about this track other than it being the one and only hit from American singer Ava Max likely because of the reason I just described.
There have been several successful showtunes to make it big in the mainstream throughout the decade, one of the bigger tracks was this song from the Greatest showman which comes from Keala Settle who plays the bearded lady in the film. This was the song that she sings during the film's emotional lowpoint as she did so to convince her peers that she wasn't going to be ashamed of herself regardless of what society thinks of her.
Well, this was the biggest hit of all time for a little while given how it was the theme song to Spiderman into the spider verse, OK it was the favourite song of the lead character Miles Morales which in turn made it the new favourite song of audiences who enjoyed the film. Not bad for two rappers who by this point were divisive at best in the hip hop game.
This was originally an album track from Maroon 5's album Red pill blues, it was given the remix treatment when the band decided to turn it into a female empowerment anthem by having the video had Adam Levine dance with some of the most powerful women in the world as well as having a guest verse from Cardi B which (in my opinion) might just be the only thing remotely empowering about the track.
This song feels like a lie due to it crediting Bebe Rexha as the lead artist when really it should be Florida Georgia Line (man what a stupid band name) as they have far more presence on here than the pop star. The song is rather innocuous on its own, however it caused massive controversy for breaking the record for the most weeks at number one on the Billboard country charts, a set of charts I think we can all agree has little value.
It had been a while since Panic! at the disco troubled the charts anywhere in the world, indeed this has the same criticisms as what people have for Maroon 5 as if feels more like a solo joint from Brendan Urie rather than a comeback for the band. In any case, this revived Brendan's popularity enough for him to have a duet with Taylor Swift about how awesome it was to be her just before the decade came to an end.
Following her departure from Fifth harmony, Camila Cabello launched a solo career which began with this song about how she was in love with the city of Havana (which just happens to be where she was born.) It was a massive hit for her likely due to it being released when the Latin craze of the late 2010's took off thanks to "Despacito" from earlier on this list.
This would've easily been much higher on this list were it not for all of the Spotify payola pushing songs like this out of the mainstream, even so, its placement on this list should be telling of how popular indie singer Amy Shark was during the second half of the decade as this was able to be a massive hit for her in a way that many of her contemporaries failed to achieve.
This is a song I don't want to talk about, OK I guess I can because it's the video that makes me angry whenever this comes up in conversation (look it up to see where I'm coming from.) I guess this was able to get Bastille out of the one hit wonder bin that "Pompeii" threatened to trap them in earlier in the decade (stay tuned for that further down this list) however that's about the only positive I have for this track.
This is the last hit that Conrad Sewell has had to date in his career, although he is an indie artist, so perhaps if we ever have data to songs that got big outside of Spotify's monopoly of the music industry, then perhaps I can feature other songs of his on this site. This has nothing to do with the Elton John song of the same name even though the two have a similar subject matter to each other.
To date, this is the final hit for everyone involved with this track, mainly because it's a song about how we're living in good times released during a time where that couldn't be further from the truth (don't even get me started on how the world's been in recent memory.) The song's intentions are good of course, which is perhaps why it was a hit even if you can definitely say it was released at a bad time.
Given how he caused quite a stir with his previous two singles in the music industry (which we'll get to later on this list) it seems fitting that this bonus track from the one-year anniversary of Shawn Mendes's second album would restore him in people's good graces even if nowadays people feel that it's little more than an obvious choice of a song to soundtrack a car commercial.
Post Malone had moderate success prior to this song about how he wished he was a rock star rather than a rapper (although I hesitate to call him a rapper if I'm being honest) however it was this track that finally made him transition from a meme that "White Iverson" made him earlier in the decade to a household name likely because of the subject matter.
There haven't been many Canadian artists in recent years, sure Justin Bieber is going to stick around for the rest of time and we shouldn't be surprised if Shawn Mendes suddenly reappears on the charts, however, there haven't been many other artists to make it big from the far north. One of the more recent success stories comes from this duo who scored a massive hit with this EDM track worldwide.
This was originally from Post Malone's debut album Stoney; it was a mere album track which contained the type of misogyny you'd expect from someone who doesn't understand that women were people and thus was largely dismissed as a dud from the album initially. It gained traction a year after the album came out due to a live performance of the song which was so well received that it was pushed as a single.
We looked at the biggest hit from Halsey's career earlier on this list, now let's look at her biggest hit to date which has her as the lead artist (as of this writing of course.) It's a song about how she felt she was responsible for G-Eazy's fame (despite him finding success much earlier than she did, let alone when they met) and how he was going to have a hard time living without her now that they were through as a couple.
This was supposed to be an even bigger hit for P!nk but wasn't because she hasn't bought into the Spotify payola like Drake or Ed Sheeran has, even so, its placement on this list should give you an idea of how well loved she remains even to this day in Australia if she can still compete with those guys with such a disadvantage in the mainstream. Speaking of disadvantage, this song is meant to provide a voice for those affected by the political climate of the moment.
There seems to be a rising interest for the year 2002 in recent memory, so much so that Anne Marie wrote a song about how great that year was despite only being eleven years old at the time. I'd say she must have a very good memory, however that becomes questionable when she references "99 problems" by Jay Z which wasn't released until 2004, hey we all misremember things from time to time.
Following the success of his collaboration with Dua Lipa (which we'll get to in a bit) Calvin Harris decided to return to his roots of collaborating with strictly British artists which is perhaps why he decided to have Sam Smith be his next collaboration as they were among the most popular artists of the decade regardless of where in the world you're from. I should clarify that this was the last hit that they had before they revealed their identity.
There have been many jokes made about how this wasn't the "revival" that Eminem needed for his career; however, I feel this song's backlash was blown out of proportion given how it was just an (admittedly bizarre) collaboration between Eminem and Ed Sheeran of all people likely due recreate the success of his two collaborations with Rihanna earlier in the decade. In that regard, the song succeeded.
Both the Greatest showman and P!nk were inescapable forces here in Australia during the last stretch of the decade, so it only makes sense that having the latter cover a song from the former would be a massive success on our digital charts despite never receiving an official single.
*I had to improvise for album art with his entry as this wasn't released as a single from the album*
This is one of the grooviest songs to come out of the decade, it comes to us from a band that had been active for over a decade by the time they scored their one and only hit in the music industry (as of this writing of course.) As with most indie bands, this managed to become a success due to ad execs somehow discovering the track and including it in their ads, that and it being a favourite on Triple J here in Australia.
Given how Keith Urban has become one of the most popular country artists of the decade here in Australia, it only makes sense that there would be a younger version of him finding success here even if that success only came from our digital charts during the last stretch of the decade. Who knows how much more successful Morgan Evans would've been had he broken out sooner in the decade.
Just a fair warning that Imagine Dragons thrived on the digital charts during the last stretch of the decade, as such this will be the first of two new entries from the band on this list even if this was a mere collaboration with Kygo. It appears we Aussies appreciated this collaboration the most in the real world as this easily would've been the Norwegian DJ's biggest hit down under were it not for streaming services.
Here's the other big hit that Zedd had as a lead artist, it's also the second hit he had with the American duo Grey following the success the three DJ's had with Hailee Steinfeld from two years prior (that collaboration is still to come on this list.) The only new name on this track is Marren Morris who is a country singer who scored her big crossover hit worldwide with this collaboration.
This was a collaboration with two of the biggest names in British music during the last stretch of the decade, after all Calvin Harris was still a household name in the EDM scene whilst Dua Lipa was coming off the success of her debut album taking off over in America. Here the two score another worldwide hit with this collaboration proving that their respective popularities were as strong as ever.
This was the lead single to Shawn Mendes's third album, an album that was much better recieved than his earlier work likely due to there being a maturity that he and songwriter Teddy Geiger went through during its process following the backlash to songs such as "Stiches" and especially "Treat you better" from earlier on this list. It was their only hit from this album as they would part ways after its production was complete.
Although this was plenty successful as a single, the bulk of this song's success comes from the music video which is a montage of Benny Blanco's life up until this point which tugged at the heartstrings of viewers around the world. The song recruits both Khalid and Halsey to narrate his life experience which also contributed to the song's overall popularity.
This was the second single to come from the soundtrack to A star is born, it was more of a hit on digital services as was her top entry on this list, proving that Lady Gaga's comeback would've been even more substantial were it not for the soundtrack having to compete on streaming services with some of the big names on this list from the second half of the decade.
This was one of two big hits that Ariana Grande had this decade where she clearly wanted to move on from her previous turmoil's, we already looked at the other song earlier on this list, so let's instead focus on why this connected with audiences when it did. She was nearly cancelled earlier in the decade for her bad behaviour, but was spared from this fate when she became the victim of a terrorist attack at one of her concerts which this song indirectly addresses.
Given how popular Khalid was here in Australia thanks to how well beloved he was on Triple J (what's happened to him I wonder?) it seems fitting that he would be the one to introduce Marshmello to the world with this collaboration he made with the American DJ. His gimmick is that he wears a helmet that's meant to suggest that he's an anthropomorphic marshmallow making music for the masses.
I was surprised that this was only a hit through digital downloads considering how much attention this cover received back in the day, granted it was negative attention as this came out around the time Dolores O'Reidon from the Cranberries tragically passed way, leading to fans of the originally creating theories about this cover that I won't repeat on this site.
This is the only hit to date to come from Scottish singer/songwriter Tom Walker, it's a song about how he'll always be there for a friend of his who is suffering from a drug problem whenever that person needs kinship in their lives. It touched the hearts of many listeners in the real world which allowed it to become a massive success here in Australia albeit only on our digital charts.
This was the song that helped Sheppard escape the one hit wonder bin here in Australia that their earlier entry threatened to trap them in four years prior, although once again, this was only due to strong digital sales which nonetheless accurately reflect on how popular this song was upon its initial release given how it too has been used in every commercial you can think of.
Although it was mostly seen as a disaster, JT's fourth album solo album Man of the woods did spawn at least one genuine hit in the form of this second single which is a duet between country star Chris Stapleton albeit on our digital charts here in Australia. It remains the final hit of the former teen heartthrob's career given how he was all but cancelled in 2018 due to a terrible Superbowl performance.
This is the only collaboration that Marshmello has made where he doesn't have the main credit on the song as he gave that to Selena Gomez for some reason, I guess because she was inescapably popular during the second half of the decade which is strange considering she only started having hits once she made a clean getaway from Disney as well as long after she broke up with Justin Bieber.
To date, this is the final hit that Jonas Blue has been able to achieve anywhere in the world, likely because he chose to collaborate with a duo known as Jack and Jack who don't exactly live up to the hype set up by his other collaborators this decade with their vocals. We've got two more hits to look at from the British DJ which were much better than the two songs we've looked at so far.
This was Drake's lead single to his album Scorpion, an album that managed to dominate the charts worldwide due to its monopoly on Spotify upon its initial release. Here he chalks up his success to being God's plan, there have been plenty of jokes made about this song for that alone which ironically is likely why it was such a huge success for him.
This was meant to be Ariana Grande's way of addressing the criticism she received for her questionable behaviour throughout the decade, it was a compelling enough song that people have long since forgotten her many controversies (although I get the feeling that Manchester concert also helped out with this.) The song is also known for its video which is stuffed with references to popular teen movies.
This was the last official single that was released from Beerbongs and Bentleys before the album dropped, it was exactly as successful as the previous entry (its placement on this list was down to the wire) despite both songs having completely different subject matter as the former was about moving on from a toxic relationship whilst this was about how he felt he was a psycho.
It looked like Camila Cabello was the real driving force of Fifth harmony's success throughout the decade as she was effortlessly able to score a second hit on her own whilst the band had by this point faded into obscurity, here she further moves away from their sound by moving in a more adult contemporary direction which many people found irritating due to her vocals clashing with the production.
This is to date the final hit that Clean bandit has been able to achieve throughout the world, I guess because it was their second collaboration with an American pop star (following "I miss you" with Julia Michaels which was only a sleeper hit at best here) that being Demi Lovato fresh off her success with her earlier entry on this list.
This was the third and final big hit to come from Scorpion, this was because Drake attached a challenge to it where one has to film someone dancing to the song whilst driving in a car (at least all of the videos I've seen have this happening.) It was a predictable hit from the Canadian rapper and one that extended his good will into the 2020's even with how much overexposure he's gotten over the years.
This was the first song to become a success through digital sales that seemed like a flop here in Australia ("Dark horse" doesn't count because that should've been a hit here but was ineligible for ARIA's main charts.) It was the second single and title track from P!nk's seventh album which I remember being quite big back in the day due to its lush production and admittedly bizarre video.
This was the Weeknd's final hit of the decade worldwide, although he would begin the 2020's with the biggest hit not just of his career but of all time (at least for a brief spell it was) proving that this was a mere holdover to when he released his fourth album that year.
This is literally a friendzone anthem, it's bad enough when one is friend zoned as it means that the person they have feelings for and/or is attracted to doesn't feel the same way about them but cares enough that they want their company, but to have that awkward situation glamourised in this song is problematic to say the least. That's ignoring the fact that this person Anne Marie is friend zoning likely needs a restraining order.
This wasn't meant to be a single from Dua Lipa's debut album, however it became one following the surprise success of her earlier entry on this list in America where said album wasn't released when it crossed over. If you didn't already know, the song is an acronym for "I don't give a f**k" which is perhaps why it wasn't chosen as the single as naturally the radio has to edit out the last word when playing it.
This is a duet between Liam Payne and Rita Ora for the final film in the 50 Shades franchise, it wasn't as successful as the duet between Zayn and Taylor Swift from earlier on this list (even taking digital sales into account) however it was better received as a theme song than the earlier entry likely due to Liam and Rita having better chemistry on here than Zayn and Taylor (and indeed the two leads in the films.)
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