A while back, I made a list of the biggest hits in Australia throughout the 00’s. Unlike what I did for the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, I used someone else’s ranking which means I didn’t specify how well a song did on each respective chart. My reasoning was because the AMR have been unofficial since 1999 given that’s when David Kent stopped publishing them, however I then reminded myself that my rankings throughout this side of my site have been based on those charts rather than the ARIA charts as I feel the former is more reliable than the latter. And so, I present to you the biggest hits of the decade with both charts combined.
It seems strange that the first international hit that Fall out boy has would be a song about them being unhappy with being seen as an emo band, although many people (me included) dislike this song more for it being the type of emo rock that would appeal to the Emos of the day which makes this song all the more ironic given how that was likely the crowd that made this a massive success for the band.
#26 for 2007
This was the lead single from Delta's third album, it was equally as successful as the songs from her first two albums even though the public had really begun to turn on her as a person due to her relationship with Brian McFadden who was considered a massive public nuisance while he was with her. They eventually came around for her once they broke off their engagement.
#27 for 2007
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.
#26 for 2009
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#19 for 2002
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#14 for 2000
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#14 for 2004
This originally came from Kate Miller's second album Curiouser from the previous year, however it was chosen as the bumper music to this year's season of Neighbours which allowed it to become a massive surprise hit for the quirky singer. In fact, this song was so big that the album was given a second wind as it was only a minor success for the singer upon its initial release and became a massive success this year.
#27 for 2009
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#17 for 2001
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#20 for 2002
#19 for 2003
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#20 for 2003
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#27 for 2009
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.
#28 for 2009
This was a hit twice here in Australia for Mumford and sons, the first time was upon its initial release due to us Aussies being intrigued by their fusion of folk and country complete with using a banjo as their main instrument. The second time was when it was crowned the best song of 2009 according to listeners of Triple J which is what allowed it to become a mainstream success here and eventually worldwide.
#29 for 2009
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#28 for 2009
Although Nelly had already demonstrated his desires to be a country artist from the start of the decade with songs such as "Ride wit me" and "Country grammar," it was this collaboration with Tim McGraw that finally won him over with the country scene in his native America given how immensely popular this was on the Billboard country charts. It was also a massive international hit for the otherwise inner-city rapper.
#11 for 2005
This had a bit of a slow rise to its peak in popularity here in Australia, I'm guessing this was due to it being huge in the indie sphere which had exploded in popularity around this time due to most of the digital downloads coming from that sector of the music industry down under. Once it did find its way to the mainstream, this proved to be one of the biggest hits of the decade for the NZ band.
#24 for 2006
#28 for 2007
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#31 for 2007
It looked like that Fall out boy finally managed to take the international charts by storm this year given how this and their earlier entry were both massive hits for the band despite them failing to dent the charts outside of their native America with their earlier material from the decade. To this day, I have no idea why they decided to name this song with all of the vowels taken out of the title.
#29 for 2007
It looked like that Pete Murray's debut album would only be a moderate success when it was released the previous year, however it become an overnight success this year thanks to the second single becoming a massive surprise hit for the Australian folk singer this year. I'm willing to bet if digital sales were legal this year, it would've easily been the biggest hit of the year given its ubiquity on the radio.
#14 for 2004
This is a song that's more well known nowadays for the behind the scenes drama it caused as two of the original members of Destiny's child only found out they were fired and replaced from the band when the music video was unveiled this year, I guess that explains why it took them so long to release a second single from their sophomore album given that "Bills bills bills" was a Billboard chart topper for the quartet.
#16 for 2000
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#18 for 2001
#21 for 2002
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#22 for 2002
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#29 for 2009
This was the theme song to the show of the same name, technically it's existed since 1998 when the show premiered, however it was only released as a single in 2000 when the show became one of the most popular children's programs of (then) recent memory. I'm guessing the show didn't become as popular here in Australia until this year (I was too busy watching Cartoon network to notice) which explains its popularity this year down under.
#18 for 2001
This is the first song that Shakira recorded in English given how her earlier entry on this list was originally recorded in Spanish before it was translated into English to sell to an English-speaking market. As such, the lyrics on here are more coherent as they weren't translated from Spanish, I'm guessing this is how it managed to become her second consecutive chart topper in most parts of the world.
#19 for 2002
This is one of those songs like "Sweet dreams" from the Eurythmics that's meant to be hypnotic in its sound to make up for how repetitive it is when you look at it objectively, while it doesn't have that magic with me, it does with most people as it was not only a massive hit for the British group Starsailor back in the day, but also remains a critical darling in the music scene to this day.
#15 for 2004
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#15 for 2000
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#19 for 2001
#23 for 2002
This was the first of two collaborations that Baby Bash made with the RNB singer Frankie J, the other would be on "Obsession" where the two roles would be reversed as Frankie would be the lead artist whilst the rapper was the featured artist. This is another song that was heavily delayed a release in Australia as it was meant to come out last year like it did internationally, thankfully it didn't affect its success here.
#16 for 2004
It had been a while since Vanessa Amorosi had a hit here in Australia, in fact it was at the very start of the decade when she scored her final hit "The power" before she faded into obscurity for reasons I can't seem to ascertain. She was able to gain buzz the previous year with "Take your mama" which became a minor hit down under, however it was this ballad that helped her regain the dizzying success she had from her debut album.
#26 for 2008
This is the last hit that Shaggy was able to achieve anywhere in the world, mainly because there's two versions of the song floating around which helped it become a hit here albeit slowly as the remix was released much later than the original version. Both versions have Brian and Tony Gold handling the chorus while Shaggy himself raps about how the woman in question turns him on.
#20 for 2002
#18 for 2003
You know I was once a naive young child who thought this song was literally about making milkshakes, yeah it turns out this song is much raunchier than that the video would have you believe. All I'll say is that the clue comes from where milk tends to come from and the line "I can teach you, but I'd have to charge" and let my readers figure out the rest from there. It was a massive hit here in Australia likely due to us Aussies instantly figuring out the true meaning of the song and feeling titillated by it.
#17 for 2004
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#12 for 2005
This is one of those songs that many people feel is one of the worst of the decade, I can't say I disagree mainly because I don't have a lot of patience for songs that are about forced positivity which this song exemplifies. Still, enough people back in the day were touched by Daniel's reassurance that things will get better that it was a massive worldwide hit for him, heck it even topped the Billboard charts the following year.
#12 for 2005
This is a song that I don't have much to say about, or at least I don't have much to say that wouldn't be offensive to my readers as I'm pretty sure this was only a hit through name recognition as well as how it addresses her recent controversies in the media.
#27 for 2008
I feel like Newton Faulkner was the world's warm up to Ed Sheeran given how this was similar to what his ginger haired counterpart would release from his debut album going into the new decade, it explains why the likes of "The a team" and "Lego house" was a success worldwide given how this would fit right in with those songs were they all to appear on an album together.
#28 for 2008
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#16 for 2000
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#13 for 2005
This was originally a solo track from the Pussycat dolls on their album, I'm guessing because they felt this track was sexy enough on their own and felt they didn't need a rapper of colour to validate their attractiveness. Their label obviously disagreed as they pulled in Snoop Dogg to put in a feature for them which is perhaps why this managed to be a slightly bigger hit than the second and third singles on the album.
#25 for 2006
Following the massive success of Rob Thomas's solo album from two years prior, he rejoined Matchbox 20 who released this song from their greatest hits album which proved to be their biggest hit here in Australia likely due to it being explicitly about how far they had come in their career since their initial breakthrough. Sure, you can argue that it's about a relationship, however that's my interpretation of the song.
#30 for 2007
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.
#29 for 2008
The legends are true people, there was a remix of the Beverly Hills cop theme that was a massive hit during the midpoint of the 00's from a CGI frog (although it looks more like an alien to me) complete with a video that even acknowledges how annoying this song is by having it be chased down by robots looking to destroy him. I guess if you're into memes from early YouTube videos then this is the song and video for you.
#13 for 2005
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#25 for 2006
#32 for 2007
Although his earlier song outranked this when it comes to their respective chart runs, this second single from Hot shot was actually the biggest hit of Shaggy's career in Australia likely due to it sampling both "Angel of the morning" (specifically Juice Newton's cover from 1981) and "The joker" from Steve Miller. It's also the second hit that he had with Rayvon who previously collaborated with him on his cover of "In the summertime."
#19 for 2001
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#21 for 2003
This was the debut single from the Veronicas, one of the very few Australian artists to ever have the chance to work with the likes of Max Martin and Dr Luke which of course led to their eventual international fame with their second album. People seem divided on them as their fans (which includes me) praise them for the same reason their detractors despise them, that being their gimmick of singing in unison as if they were one person.
#14 for 2005
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#33 for 2007
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#28 for 2008
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.
#17 for 2000
#20 for 2001
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.
#21 for 2001
It feels weird that Kelly Rowland was the first member of Destiny's child to release a solo album given how she's long since faded into obscurity since the demise of the girl group, here she is with her first solo single which is an ode to her fallen friends she lost during her teenage years that she felt she should've been there for. It remains a highly poignant track from her to this day and was a guaranteed hit for her back then.
#19 for 2003
This was the third entry from Delta's debut album, this time it's the title track from said album which is a reflection of how far she came from when she began her long journey as a musician which obviously connected with audiences who likely initially felt she was the Australian equivalent of the likes of Mariah Carey or P!nk. It was her third chart topper in a row, although like the rest of her catalogue, audiences have since come around for this track.
#20 for 2003
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#15 for 2004
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#14 for 2005
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#17 for 2000
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#20 for 2001
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#16 for 2004
"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.
#15 for 2005
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#17 for 2004
Following the demise of No doubt, Gwen Stefani decided to embark on a solo career which began with this track which is about taking chances in life. I'm guessing this was chosen as her solo debut as a plea towards the fans of her band to give her solo direction a chance which they obviously headed as her solo album proved to be a huge success for her largely due to the success of this lead single.
#18 for 2004
#16 for 2005
Even though the album cycle for Evanescence's debut album was well and truly done by the time Amy Lee collaborated with the south African band Seether, that didn't mean that the world was tired of her music as she was able to make this a worldwide smash for the band largely thanks to her presence as well as the song feeling like it belongs on her album.
#19 for 2004
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#30 for 2009
It looked like the Counting crows would only be known for their debut album from 1993, however their fortunes changed when this cover of the Joni Mitchell classic was chosen to be the theme to the rom com Two weeks' notice which stars Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant. The film isn't very good as it hinges on the premise that they'll end up together despite him being a thorn in her side.
#21 for 2003
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#34 for 2007
These guys already had massive success in their native America throughout the decade, however it was this lead single to their third album which finally allowed them to have a hit internationally largely due to this type of emo rock still being very popular in the mainstream when it was initially released. It did take a while for this to become a hit here in Australia, however once it did it was a massive success.
#30 for 2009
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#18 for 2000
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#22 for 2003
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#15 for 2005
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#29 for 2008
This was the first official single from Jessica Mauboy given that the only songs she released prior to this were the ones she sung on the fourth season of Australian idol, here she somehow manages to recruit Flo Rida to give her a guest verse which no doubt helped this song to become a massive hit here in Australia upon its initial release. I'm guessing it was meant for an international market who sadly didn't take to this.
#30 for 2008
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#21 for 2001
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#18 for 2004
It feels weird that this song is Jessica Simpson's biggest hit here in Australia, mainly because it was tied to her reality show the Newlyweds where her and her (then) husband Nick Lachey were filmed in their day to day lives similar to what the Kardashians would be on Keeping up with the Kardashians. It also serves to present her as who she really is which people have criticised for it failing to do.
#20 for 2004
It may surprise you to learn that "Everytime we touch" wasn't a hit for Cascada here in Australia, heck it was a hit in America which should tell you how popular that track was and still remains to this day. Fortunately, the German band were able to score a massive hit here three years later with this track due to it being among the earlier songs to cash in on the club boom that would explode around this time.
#31 for 2009
This was one of only two hits that Ne-Yo had in Australia throughout the 00's, the other was "Closer" from two years later which was more upbeat than this track which is a slow RNB ballad about his complicated feelings he has in a relationship he's in. He was much more popular in NZ and especially his native America where he scored multiple other hits in both countries in addition to these two.
#26 for 2006
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#35 for 2007
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#30 for 2008
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#19 for 2000
#22 for 2001
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.
#22 for 2001
#21 for 2002
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#31 for 2008
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#31 for 2009
This was the only other hit that Atomic Kitten managed to achieve in Australia, I'm guessing because they interpolate the Blondie classic of the same name in the chorus while they provide their own verses which makes the song their own. Like many British groups of the late 90's and early 00's, they were much more popular in NZ likely due to the kiwis following the British charts as opposed to the American charts like we were.
#22 for 2002
#22 for 2003
Given how two of the members had released highly successful albums between the trio's third and fourth album, the fact this was able to pick up where the singles from Survivor left off three years prior is impressive as you'd think fans would've gravitated away from the group by this point. Indeed, Destiny fulfilled was their final album as a unit as they would go their separate ways after its album cycle was done.
#21 for 2004
#17 for 2005
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#19 for 2004
#16 for 2005
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#17 for 2005
This was a fantastic year for Lily Allen here in Australia as she not only managed to score two big hits from her second album, but the album itself was a massive success proving how much we Aussies loved her coming out of the 00's. Here she is with the third single from that album which is a song about how she feels her partner is being too mean to her which audiences related to worldwide.
#32 for 2009
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#20 for 2000
This was another RNB track that was released fairly late here in Australia compared to the rest of the world, again it was for the best as it proved to be a bigger hit here for Debelah Morgan than even her native America likely due to it having Latin elements to the track that appeased those who wanted more of the Latin craze down under. She's a one hit wonder with this track which is a shame because she was a good singer.
#23 for 2001
Oh, do I not like Simple Plan, this is coming from someone who feels that the likes of Good Charlotte and Nickelback receive too much flak from the internet which means I don't dislike them simply because the internet tells me to. Here we have their biggest hit, which was the lead single to their second album, an album that many have mocked over the years for how highly immature it is even for emo rock.
#22 for 2004
#18 for 2005
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#26 for 2006
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#21 for 2000
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#22 for 2000
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#23 for 2000
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#24 for 2002
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#20 for 2004
#18 for 2005
This was the lead single to BEP's (that's Black Eyed Peas for short) second album with Fergie, and it seems that she had more creative control over this project as we have her providing a chorus to how each of the original members would treat her which is further emphasised with the music video of them being in a reality show where she was the prize the members was trying to win.
#19 for 2005
It seems weird that BEP wouldn't have any success with their first two albums without Fergie considering that everything they released while she was part of the group was a massive success, this is the latest example which was the fourth and final single from Monkey business which was likely a hit due to the sample of that scene from Pulp fiction (later parodied in Space jam) they used to open the track.
#27 for 2006
This is another deeply personal ballad that came from Delta Goodrem's debut album, this time it's about her complicated feelings towards her partner which seems to go against "Lost without you" from earlier on this list which showcases the range of emotions she has throughout the album. It was her fourth consecutive chart topper, which meant that she already broke the record for most chart toppers from a single album in Australia with this entry.
#23 for 2003
This was the first song that Akon had a hit with outside of his native America, I'm guessing due to the countless jokes that have been made that involve him duetting with Alvin and the Chipmunks as that's what it sounds like to most people whenever they listen to this ballad. The chorus is a sped-up version of "Mr. lonely" from Bobby Vinton released forty years prior to when this became a huge international chart topper.
#20 for 2005
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#25 for 2002
