Billboard charts 00's

I've decided to rank the biggest hits in America throughout the 00's, however doing so presented me a challenge given how there's no end of decade chart that extends beyond the top 100 like there is for the 80's and 90's. I've decided to rank these songs based on how long they lasted in the Billboard top ten to compensate for this. Again, I'll be recycling what I've said about each entry from an earlier post on this site until I have the inspiration necessary to come up with something new to say for each entry.

I'm not sure if this song would've been as big as it was were it not "presented" by Timbaland for OneRepublic, however it did become a massive worldwide hit for the band regardless as it was not only produced by him but was also included on his solo album for some reason. The band would have several spikes in popularity over the years given how slow their recording output has been.

Well, I did warn you that this song would be much lower on this list than you'd think, once again you can thank Sony for this blunder who not only delayed this song's release by a month, but also had the audacity to pull it from shelves two months after it did come out. I'll go into details with these songs that suffered this sort of fate when I get around to the NZ side of these lists.

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.

Considering this was the biggest hit of the decade over in America, you may be shocked to see how low this second single from Mariah Carey's comeback album the Emancipation of Mimi is on this list. Alas this isn't the result of its success being taken away due to illegal downloads, it just wasn't as inescapable here in Australia or indeed anywhere else in the world as it was on the Billboard charts.

It's easy to forget that this was the theme song to Step up 2, a dance flick that I'm sure many have forgotten about since the series was never a critical darling and seemed to serve as little more than a platform for Channing Tatum to become a Hollywood star. It appears we Aussies were a bit slow in making this a phenomenon like it was worldwide given how it wasn't even released until this year despite it already being a success the previous year internationally.

Although these guys had earlier singles and even albums in their native Canada, this was the song which introduced the world to what many regard as one of the worst bands to come from the new millennium. I personally feel these guys get too much hate as there's certainly worse bands and artists out there, although I can't help but notice how much quicker we Aussies were into making this a hit than the rest of the world.

For a little while, this second single from the Black-Eyed Peas was the biggest hit of all time not just in Australia but throughout the entire world, this is mainly due to its refusal to die on the charts which is an early sign of two things. First was of course the club boom which would explode going into the new decade, and the second was how the internet refused to allow songs to completely fall off the charts.

For whatever reason, Alicia Key's second album was a complete dud outside of her native America, I'm guessing this was due to the existence of the bootleg remix of "Karma" known as "Karmastition" which I vividly remember playing on the radio in lieu of anything from the album back in the day. Fortunately, her third album was able to spawn a massive hit with its lead single which restored her popularity worldwide.

Well, we've certainly come a long way from when this type of RNB was shunned by the Australian public haven't we? Here we have the one and only hit that Mario had outside of his native America as we have this tender ballad he made to the love of his life which touched the hearts of many a listener upon its initial release. Unfortunately for him, none of his other Billboard hits managed to connect with an international audience.

This was Fergie's biggest solo hit from her solo album, it's a song that showcases her talents as a vocalist which is perhaps why it remains her biggest hit despite it being far from the first song you think of when going over her catalogue. I guess if she had of released this as the lead single from the Dutchess then it would've not only been even bigger (if that was at all possible) but also a signature track in her catalogue.

This is another song that was way more popular back in the day here in Australia than its placement on this list otherwise suggests, again you can blame Sony of Australia for tampering with its release schedule to cater to the Australian idol masses of the year. This was the only song to come from Big Boi's side of the duo's album Speakerboxx, I'm guessing Andre 3000 wanted all of the singles from the album if this was the only song to be released from the album as a single not by him.

There didn't seem to be any signs of Usher's popularity slowing down here in Australia or anywhere else in the world as he scored the biggest hit of his career (at this point at least) I guess it was because RNB was at the height of its popularity and that Usher had fully matured into an adult by the time he released this and his album 8701. Of course, his biggest hits were still to come much later in his career.

Leona Lewis was the winner of the 2005 season of X factor UK, although her debut album failed to make any waves outside of the UK likely due to international audiences finding it too dull to have any merit to it (that's how I feel about her entire discography I'm afraid, but I digress.) She won a massive international audience with the lead single to her second album, heck it even became a Billboard chart topper for her.

There were a lot of post grunge songs to become hits this year, one of the more prominent tracks comes to us from Lifehouse who managed to have the biggest hit of the year in their native America despite this failing to reach number one on Billboard. This is the second time this has happened as the previous year had "Breathe" by Faith Hill claim the top spot despite that also failing to reach number one.

Although "Breakaway" was the first song from Kelly Clarkson to showcase a more personal side of her, that was also the theme to the second Princess diaries flick which obviously didn't convince anyone that she was anything more than the winner of a reality series. Those preconceptions were shattered when she released the second single from the album of the same name which has become an anthem for breakups.

This was the lead single to BEP's third album with Fergie, it's a song that's meant to get the party started given how it was one of the first songs to make it big during the club boom of the late 00's and throughout the 2010's. I guess it succeeded as this was a massive hit for the quartet, although it was heavily criticised for being little more than scraps of other songs thrown together by the band.

This was one of only two hits that Kanye West had as a lead artist here in Australia, the other would be "Stronger" from two years later which had him sampling Daft Punk of all people for a self-empowerment anthem. Here he recruits Jamie Foxx who was fresh off his Oscar winning performance as Ray Charles to provide him a chorus to connect his verses about a woman who's only into him for his wealth.

This was not only the second single from Nelly's sophomore album Nellyville, but also confusingly the lead single to Kelly Rowland's solo debut Simply deep which is weird because she doesn't contribute much to the song as it's mainly from Nelly's perspective. The dilemma in question is that Nelly is in love with Kelly, but Kelly is currently in a relationship even though she also has feelings for him.

This was the only hit that Mary J Blige had here in Australia, although had the digital charts been incorporated into the main charts sooner than they were, she would've also had a hit later in the decade with her cover of "One" with U2. I'm not sure why it took her nine years to find success here in Australia as it's not like her brand of RNB was that different from the tracks that made it big here in the 90's.

If you want to know why this song wasn't as successful here in Australia as it was internationally, that's likely because it was released roughly around the same time as T.I's earlier entry on this list which quickly overshadowed this lead single to his album Paper trails down under. It could also be a very late entry into the "thugs need love too" troupe (minus the chorus from a female vocalist) given how it's him rapping about being the perfect gentleman.

It looks like Faith Hill had a second hit here in Australia after all, admittedly this is mainly due to how inescapable it was in her native America (it was the biggest hit of 2000 according to Billboard despite failing to top their charts) however I am surprised that it was only a sleeper hit down under back in the day. This would be the last time we Aussies cared for the country singer as it was all downhill from here for her.

This may seem a bit low to my readers, however rest assured that Alicia Keys wasn't as inescapable here in Australia as she was internationally given that her debut single was only a moderate success here compared to how well it did internationally. Admittedly it was still a huge hit here considering that it was an RNB piano ballad which still didn't have much appeal in our music scene even going into the new millennium.

This will be the only entry that will have new commentary from me given how both versions of this song are appearing together, I don't know which version is ultimately more popular than the other but I'm assuming that the original version was what entered the charts here and the remix is what boosted its popularity in early 2002.

This is where it all began for Lady Gaga, given how she would explode in the music scene with how quirky and some would say bizarre her music and especially videos would get, this debut of hers seems rather tame and ordinary compared to what was to come. This took its sweet time in finding success in her native America as her earlier entry had already topped the charts worldwide before this made it on Billboard.

I've featured several entries on this site where Lil Wayne was the featured rapper on someone else's song, I guess it's about time that we look at one of his own songs where he's the lead artist which just so happens to be his one and only Billboard chart topper as the lead artist from his critically acclaimed album Tha carter III. I'm guessing it was a hit in his homeland and in NZ due to it being a song comparing sex to candy.

This was the first of only two hit singles that Timbaland achieved as a lead artist here in Australia, the other was with Katy Perry at the start of the new decade which seems to be the opposite of this track with Keri Hilson as that song is about a post breakup while this was about two people hooking up with each other. This was Keri's only hit here, although she had much more success over in NZ and her native America.

This took its sweet time in finding success here in Australia, this is because it wasn't promoted on our digital stores until the start of this year despite coming from an album that was released in 2005 (much like the previous entry.) In any case, we have this second single from the Fray which is about the narrator coming to grips with him losing a friend to depression and how he could've prevented that from happening.

While on the surface this is a song about how Sara Bareilles isn't going to write a love song about the relationship she's in, it's actually her standing up to her label who wanted her to write a generic love song even though she didn't have any experience with love while making her debut album from earlier in the decade. It turns out they were happy for this to be the lead single for her second album.

If you're a bit concerned that this song is a bit too low for this list, I'd hate to see your reaction when we finally get to "Yeah" and its placement (don't worry, it's still to come.) Anyways, we have the second single from Usher's Confessions album which was about how failed relationship with Chilli from TLC and how he admits to screwing up the relationship shortly prior to making the album.

You thought I forgot about this track, didn't you? It turns out we Aussies were slow in making this a success for DeAndre Way AKA Soulja boy likely due to it being arguably the song that started the trend of allowing a meme to become a massive worldwide hit on the music charts that wasn't made by a music exec (that is, a viral hit not from the likes of Crazy frog and its countless knockoffs) only to allow this phenomenon to happen this year on our charts.

For a little while, this was my favourite hip hop track, this didn't last long as I quickly discovered the Eminem show shortly after, but I feel that if you found Eminem too problematic with his subject matter, then Nelly was a decent alternative as he was a good rapper without coming off as corny. Audiences worldwide agreed as this lead single to Nellyville was a massive hit for him due to being a club banger.

I think this is the first song to become a hit by sampling an internet meme, in this case we have T.I sample "Dragostea din teï" from O-zone while also bringing Rihanna along to make sure the song doesn't sound too ridiculous to mainstream audiences of the day. It was a massive hit for the rapper likely due to the lyrics being about staying true to who you are which is an increasingly common theme in music.

This is often cited as the song where fans of No doubt officially gave up on Gwen Stefani, I'm guessing because it remains her biggest hit in her native America even though there are plenty of other contenders for that honour throughout the rest of the world. It may also be because this is a diss track towards Coutney Love of all people who called her a cheerleader, I guess her revenge was to act like one on this track and video.

For the longest time, this was Lady Gaga's biggest hit given how it remains her most iconic work to this day. Of course, her biggest hit is now "Shallow" from a decade later, but that was more due to it rebounding on the charts due to it winning an Oscar for the pop star. There's an urban legend that the chorus actually goes "fu fu f**k her face" as opposed to "po po poker face" which perhaps is why this remains her most iconic work to this day.

This was one of only two hits that 3 Doors down managed to achieve in Australia, the other was "Here without you" three years later which was a much more serious ballad compared to this pop rock classic which is all about the camp factor as evidence by the stupidly amazing video. It had a bit of a delay to its success here as it was already a moderate success in NZ the previous year for the band.

Well, this certainly took its sweet time in finding success here in Australia, heck even in NZ it was a hit upon its initial release the previous year due to it being among the last rock tracks to top the Billboard charts. I guess the consolation for its tardy success was that it was arguably bigger here than it was anywhere else in the world, after all it's the kind of Christian rock that while cheesy, can still comfort audiences.

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 technically a hit twice in Australia, the first time was upon its initial release which was inevitable as this was during the height of Katy Perry's worldwide popularity. The second time was when the reality show MasterChef premiered early in 2009 which chose this as its theme song and thus kept it on the charts longer than it otherwise would've been.

I guess her previous album was a commercial disappointment for Avril Lavigne, so it makes sense that she would go in the complete opposite direction with her third album by appealing to a more mainstream audience like she does with this lead single. Naturally this was a success given that it was released during a time where high school drama was all the rage in the mainstream, and this would be the perfect soundtrack to those situations.

This was always meant to be the lead single to Destiny's child's third album Survivor, however it came out as such an empowering feminist anthem that it was selected as the theme to the theatrical adaptation of Charlie's angels which has received a mix reception over the years due to some praising it for its female empowerment while others feel that it's a campy remake of a property made at the height of misogyny in pop culture.

Even though she had a bunch of hits with Ja Rule of all people (curious because she was going out with Nelly during the height of her career) this was her only hit as a lead artist here in Australia likely because of her voice juxtaposing nicely with the production in a way that really stood out from the competition back in the day. It was an even bigger hit in her native America where it topped the Billboard charts.

This is one of those ironic songs where the melody is upbeat and happy, but the lyrics are actually about a relationship being on its last legs as Andre 3000 sings about the woes of his love life. It was the lead single to the duo's double album which actually comprises of two solo albums where the duo eased fans into the fact that they were thinking of splitting up which is what happened later in the decade.

Given how Eminem was at the height of his popularity this year, it only seems fitting that a protegee of his would find massive success worldwide which was the case for Curtis Jackson AKA 50 cent. Here we have his club banger which became a massive success for the east coast rapper (despite it being produced by Dr Dre) which led to him having massive success from the album it came from.

This was too minor of a hit to appear on the Australian side of my site; indeed, it only manages to appear on this side of my site due to it becoming a hit twice in NZ as it rebounded on their charts when Ciara released her second single "1 2 step" with Missy Elliot for some reason. This song has become infamous for the production, specifically due to it sounding like a screeching siren throughout its runtime.

While it was a little late to the party in the southern hemisphere, this debut single from Chris Brown was a massive success in Australia and NZ and ushered in one of the most divisive RNB singers of all time. This was even prior to his string of controversies as a person as even from the beginning, people felt he was little more than an Usher wannabe and later on would refer to him as a Justin Bieber of colour.

So, Nelly Furtado's second album was a huge critical and commercial disaster from 2003, so much so that she felt the need to go in a completely new direction with her third album by enlisting the help of Timbaland to be its executive producer. The results were an album which had her shifting towards an early prototype of the club boom starting with this lead single which had the producer/rapper provide a guest verse for her.

This was the other Billboard chart topper that Savage Garden had, although it's worth noting that this wasn't a number one hit in Australia likely due to how inescapable the album itself was upon its initial release. Another fun fact about this song concerning the American charts is that it was the final chart topper for a while for anyone who wasn't from North America or Jamaica as the next person to top the Billboard chart outside these demographics was James Blunt with "You're beautiful" in 2006.

Here's that hit that Fat Joe had with Terror squad that I mentioned when we revisited his one and only solo hit from a few lists back, it's a posse cut he made with the other members of the group and a female rapper by the name of Remy who scored her one and only notable hit with this entry. Apparently, he was credited as Joey Crack on this track, a name that I feel is very inappropriate even for gangster hip hop.

I guess Snoop Dogg had return to what made him a household name a decade prior on this track given how he presented himself as a pimp that was in charge of the club scene on this track, although he brought back Pharrell from "Beautiful" to ease his new fanbase into the type of music his core fanbase loved him for. It was a much bigger hit worldwide for the rapper likely due to us Aussies not being into club music at the time.

This was one of two hits that Sean Paul had in Australia as a lead artist, this is impressive considering how he only ever had a hit as a featured artist over in NZ which is bizarre considering the kiwis would've loved this guy throughout the 90's if he had released his catalogue back then. Another surprise is that he was massive over in the UK given how the Brits also didn't have much love for reggae over the years.

"Goodies" wasn't that big of a success here in Australia due to its obvious absence on my previous list, however that didn't mean that Ciara was a no show in our music scene as her second single managed to be a huge success for her here. Admittedly this might be due to the presence of Missy Elliott as the two would collaborate twice this year, the second time being on "Lose control" which is still to come on this list.

This was the only other hit that Sean Paul had here in Australia, likely because it also managed to top the Billboard charts just like "Get busy" did three years prior. He interestingly did very well over in the UK considering that the Brits didn't seem to have much love for reggae until he came alone this decade.

It looked like Matchbox 20's third album would be a commercial disappointment for them worldwide given how its lead single "Disease" failed to become a hit anywhere in the world the previous year. Fortunately, this second single from the album proved to be a massive success here in Australia and the band's native America, likely due to the video which compliments the lyrics about Rob Thomas dealing with mental health issues.

This was another song that was heavily delayed here in Australia to allow Australian idol to take over the charts, as such it proved to be less successful here than if it had of been released on time like it was everywhere else in the world towards the end of the previous year. I guess its delay allowed this to out chart "Kryptonite" here even if that song was more successful down under than this ballad.

This was the only hit that T pain had here in Australia throughout the 00's, it would've been his only hit were it not for the fact he scored a surprise hit in 2012 with "Turn all the lights on." Both of these were sleeper hits for the rappers, suggesting we Aussies only paid attention to them due to their success in America.

Given how well-loved Nelly was from around this time, it only seems fitting that Chingy would follow suit into being an overnight sensation from the mid-west which began with his debut single which contains the infamous line "give me what you got for a porkchop." The song regularly appears on worst of the 00's lists for the line in question as well as people believing that Chingy isn't a good rapper.

There were no signs of Akon slowing down even here in Australia where he was considerably less successful than the rest of the world, heck this lead single to his second album proved to be more successful here than in most parts of the world likely due to the presence of Eminem who reduced himself to the odd guest verse during his hiatus from recording a new album throughout the second half of the decade.

This was one of two collaborations that Eve had with Gwen Stefani, the other would come later in the decade when the latter released her solo debut to establish herself away from No doubt. In the meantime, we have this sex jam where both of them feel confident in being the love of the listeners lives and how irresistible they feel they are, audiences naturally agreed as it was a huge hit for them.

Time to look at what I believe is the most over hated song of the decade, yes, this lead single from Nickelback's third album All the right reasons does have strange lyrics about reminiscing on the good times, however there are far worse songs on this list alone and even from Nickelback that I don't understand why this is often considered to be one of the worst songs of the decade by the internet.

This was originally a massive hit for Colbie Caillat worldwide the previous year, although for whatever reason, we Aussies weren't interested in this ballad about how much in love she was upon its initial release. We gave it a second chance this year where it became a massive success, much like Soulja boy from earlier on this list, it appears we were simply slow in allowing internet songs to make it big here.

It looked like Beyonce's second solo album would be a huge flop for her worldwide given how the singles on the standard edition failed to become hits for her, she obviously had other plans as this bonus track from the deluxe edition managed to become a huge hit for her which restored the popularity of the album shortly after its release. The song is best known for the lines "to the left to the left" which she repeats throughout the track.

This was the theme to Eminem's autobiographical film about his rise to the height of his popularity, it was released during the album cycle of his biggest and (in my opinion) best album the Eminem show where it dominated the charts worldwide due to how big it became in the rap scene. It was also the first hip hop number to win an academy award due to how it resonated with audiences back in the day.

We looked at Kelly Rowland's solo debut from earlier on this list, now let's look at the song that introduced Beyonce as a solo artist which comes complete with a guest verse with her future husband Jay z who she's obviously crazy in love with on this track. It feels weird that this wasn't among the bigger hits of the year in Australia, mainly because I remember this being overplayed to hell and back.

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.

We haven't looked at a Coldplay song on this site since "Yellow" on my 2001 list, this is because they didn't have much success with their singles here in Australia during the first half of the decade likely due to them being the victims of digital piracy throughout the decade. Fortunately, that was a thing of the past by the time they released their fourth album this year which allowed this Billboard chart topper to be a success down under.

Here we have another song from Taylor Swift that seems inoffensive enough, sure you can say the lyrics are problematic, however there's been plenty of songs with this premise over the years and I've found that people have taken everything in media way too seriously as of late. It was a massive hit for her likely due to the video which depicts the situation she describes in the lyrics.

This is the only other entry that Kanye West will be making as a lead artist on the Australian side of my site, although he'll certainly have more of a presence on the NZ side and he did admittedly rack up a bunch of hits here as a featured artist on other people's songs. Here he scores his biggest hit down under likely due to the song sampling Daft punk's "Harder better faster stronger" for his empowerment anthem.

Although the kiwis were quick in making Missy Elliott a household name in the late 90's, we Aussies didn't give the female rapper a chance until she released what would be her biggest hit in her native America, even then it had a slow rise to its success as it was released towards the end of the previous year down under. This is Missy's signature track as it is the perfect example of her displaying her sexual nature despite being aware she's not conventionally attractive.

This was the last big hit that Miley Cyrus had during her Hannah Montana days, sure she tried to mature into her new sound the following year with her album Can't be tamed, however no one was buying it given how Disney imposed restrictions on her with how risqué she could present herself on that album. I guess if you went from this to the title track of that album, "We can't stop" isn't that far of a leap in her evolution.

This was the first of three collaborations that Ja Rule made with Ashanti throughout the decade, each of them were for a "thugs need love too" ballad where she would provide him a catchy chorus while he spits bars about how much of a player and gangster he is. It appeared to connect with audiences back in the day as the formula did spawn three big hits for the duo not just in Australia but throughout the world.

This by all accounts should be much higher on the list given how inescapable it was on the radio in Australia back in the day, however it was unfortunately pulled from shelves as were the other singles from Avril's debut album to encourage album sales which I guess worked out as the album was a massive success for her. Still, it drives me insane that this song is much lower than it should be on this list, but rules are rules.

This seems like it was made for the club boom about twelve months prior to when it officially launched by the end of the decade, as such it wasn't as big a hit for Usher here in Australia as it was internationally where this became almost as big as his earlier entries from the decade.

If you're wondering why this song only appears on this list and not the previous list, that's because it wasn't released as a single here in Australia until this year despite it being a massive worldwide success for Hinder the previous year. This is another song that's gone down in infamy as one of the worst songs of the decade due to how melodramatic the situation is in the lyrics, although I don't agree with this sentiment.

Given how his British counterpart Craig David was scoring massive worldwide success with his debut album this year, it only seems fitting that Usher would follow suit in his success when he released his own album this year which kicked off the cycle with this ballad about how the person he's singing to reminds him of an ex he used to go out with. I think we've all been in the situation he describes in the song which explains its success.

This was the first of two new entries to come from the deluxe edition of Good girl gone bad, an album that was already successful by this point but continued to be as such due to these two songs. Here we have Rihanna sing about how she was the fool in the relationship she was in and that her partner should "take a bow" at how they treated her, somehow, I get the feeling this song resonated more with her the following year.

This is one of those songs that people mistake the meaning of what appears to be a song about lying to cover up getting caught cheating turns out to be a song denouncing these types of tracks in the third verse. The complaint people have about this track nowadays is that they consider it false advertising, after all, the featured artist Rikrok has far more presence on here than Shaggy does.

This is one of those breakup anthems that's impossible to take seriously, I mean she goes about getting over this guy in the most over the top way that I don't anyone would even care that she's essentially getting even on him cheating on her by robbing him blind and leaving him homeless. Audiences obviously got the humour of this track worldwide as it was a massive hit for the American RNB singer.

This was one of only three hits that Jordin Sparks had here in Australia, although here she required the assistance of Chris Brown of all people to have a huge hit despite her already being successful with her victory single from American idol here (which is still to come on this list.) She was one of the rare contestants on American idol to find international success among the likes of Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert.

This is often considered as one of the worst songs of the decade, mainly for how repetitive it is as well as how awful the lyrics are. Basically, it's a song that serves more as a warmup to Fergie's solo album as it can be considered the predecessor for that album's single "Fergalicious" which also has her and Will I am gawking at how attractive she is.

This was one of the rare RNB ballads that Chris Brown has in his catalogue, even back then, it feels like a black sheep compared to the rest of his catalogue which is more upbeat and showcases a tougher side of his image. This song's released was heavily delayed here as was his earlier collaboration with Jordin Sparks due to how long it took for "Kiss kiss" to become a hit here (which is still to come on this list.)

This is the other big hit that Kanye West had from his breakup album 808's and heartbreaks that failed to appear on the Australian side of my site, indeed this took a while to take off in NZ likely due to the kiwis being confused with listening to a second song from him in a row where he sounds like a robot but were eventually won over likely due to the animated music video.

Following the success of their first single on this list, Destiny's child released this female empowerment anthem about them having fun which is a bit of a contradiction to "Say my name" as that song is about them getting annoyed that their partner isn't spending enough time with them. Naturally these two songs aren't meant to be part of the same narrative, which is perhaps why they were both a massive success.

It may surprise you to learn that Beyonce had quite a few love ballads in her career prior to becoming the feminist icon that she's been since her third solo album I am Sasha fierce, this was one of them and arguably her biggest hit where she's not putting down a member of the male population as she teams up with Sean Paul of all people on this ballad about how much they're in love with each other.

I debated about including this entry as the original version of this track was a huge flop here in Australia and the remix is what I would consider to be a "fan single," I guess I allowed both versions to appear on here as one entry given how I've since combined both versions of "I'm real" for these lists and felt it was necessary to do the same here.

In case you were wondering, this is indeed a remix of a track from R Kelly's album Chocolate factory that he released due to the song having some of the stranger lyrics in his catalogue. Somehow, the troubled RNB singer (I won't go into why that is on this site) is a two-hit wonder here in Australia with this remix and one other song on this list as none of his other songs managed to become a hit like they did internationally.

To date, this is P!nk's biggest hit largely thanks to how bombastic it remains in her catalogue which many fans (me included) feel is where she's at her best. It was the lead single to her breakup album Funhouse which she made while she was separated with her husband, although the two managed to patch things up during its production which I guess makes it the opposite to an album like Rumours from Fleetwood mac.

This was the first of two singles to be released from the deluxe edition of Chris Brown's second album Exclusive, an album that already did quite well here in Australia (a rarity for an RNB album here) but received a boost in popularity with this edition. It was also one of the last hits he had before he would have his public persona drastically altered due to an incident involving his then girlfriend Rihanna.

This was Aaliyah's only hit here in Australia, although much like her big hit in NZ from two years prior, this was also a song featured from a film which in this case was a film she also starred in. That film is of course Romeo must die which was panned by critics for its clunky story but praised for the performances from Aaliyah and her co-star Jet Li, suggesting she was also a talented actress as well as a singer.

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 is another song that arrived a little late to the party here in Australia, I'm guessing because T-Pain wasn't a big deal here in Australia until this year where this and Flo Rida's track from the start of the list made him an overnight sensation despite both tracks having him without autotune. As for this song in particular, this was the lead single to Chris Brown's second album which also remains his most popular in his career.

This is another contender for the worst song of the decade according to the internet (no arguments from me) largely thanks to the lyrics being much creepier than you would otherwise expect as well as James Blunt's performance being highly irritating to many listeners. It was also the first Billboard chart topper to not come from an American, Canadian or Jamaican artist since Savage Garden from the start of the decade.