“SexyBack” radically reinvented Justin Timberlake’s sound, introducing a darker, industrial production style. It helped pave the way for the futuristic R&B that would dominate the late 2000s and early 2010s.
| Rank | Artist(s) | Song | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 1 | Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z | "Crazy in Love" | | 2 | OutKast | "Hey Ya!" | | 3 | Lady Gaga | "Poker Face" | | 4 | Eminem | "Lose Yourself" | | 5 | Kelly Clarkson | "Since U Been Gone" | | 6 | Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx | "Gold Digger" | | 7 | Justin Timberlake feat. Timbaland | "SexyBack" | | 8 | Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys | "Empire State of Mind" | | 9 | Mariah Carey | "We Belong Together" | | 10 | 50 Cent | "In Da Club" | | 11 | Rihanna feat. Jay-Z | "Umbrella" | | 12 | Black Eyed Peas | "I Gotta Feeling" | | 13 | Green Day | "American Idiot" | | 14 | Gnarls Barkley | "Crazy" | | 15 | U2 | "Beautiful Day" | | 16 | Beyoncé | "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" | | 17 | Coldplay | "Clocks" | | 18 | Christina Aguilera | "Beautiful" | | 19 | Destiny's Child | "Bootylicious" | | 20 | Britney Spears | "Toxic" | | 21 | Jay-Z | "99 Problems" | | 22 | Alicia Keys | "Fallin'" | | 23 | P!nk | "Get the Party Started" | | 24 | Missy Elliott | "Get Ur Freak On" | | 25 | Nelly | "Hot in Herre" | | 26 | The White Stripes | "Seven Nation Army" | | 27 | Usher feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris | "Yeah!" | | 28 | Madonna | "Music" | | 29 | Foo Fighters | "The Best of You" | | 30 | Gwen Stefani | "Hollaback Girl" | | 31 | Amy Winehouse | "Rehab" | | 32 | Maroon 5 | "This Love" | | 33 | Johnny Cash | "Hurt" | | 34 | Janet Jackson | "All for You" | | 35 | John Mayer | "Daughters" | | 36 | *NSYNC | "Bye Bye Bye" | | 37 | Britney Spears | "Oops!... I Did It Again" | | 38 | Miley Cyrus | "Party in the U.S.A." | | 39 | Adele | "Chasing Pavements" | | 40 | Fall Out Boy | "Sugar, We're Goin Down" | | 41 | R. Kelly | "Trapped in the Closet" | | 42 | Train | "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" | | 43 | Katy Perry | "I Kissed a Girl" | | 44 | Red Hot Chili Peppers | "Californication" | | 45 | Eve feat. Gwen Stefani | "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" | | 46 | Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow | "Picture" | | 47 | Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya, Pink | "Lady Marmalade" | | 48 | Kings of Leon | "Sex on Fire" | | 49 | Lady Gaga | "Bad Romance" | | 50 | Taylor Swift | "You Belong With Me" | | 51 | Natasha Bedingfield | "Pocketful of Sunshine" | | 52 | Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean | "Hips Don't Lie" | | 53 | Blink-182 | "All the Small Things" | | 54 | Norah Jones | "Don't Know Why" | | 55 | The Killers | "Mr. Brightside" | | 56 | DMX | "Party Up (Up in Here)" | | 57 | Mary J. Blige | "Family Affair" | | 58 | Jason Mraz | "I'm Yours" | | 59 | Justin Timberlake | "Cry Me a River" | | 60 | Ke$ha | "Tik Tok" | | 61 | Kelis | "Milkshake" | | 62 | Avril Lavigne | "Complicated" | | 63 | Andrew W.K. | "Party Hard" | | 64 | Jennifer Lopez feat. Ja Rule | "I'm Real (Murder Remix)" | | 65 | Aaliyah | "Try Again" | | 66 | Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell | "Drop It Like It's Hot" | | 67 | Leona Lewis | "Bleeding Love" | | 68 | Ludacris feat. Shawnna | "Stand Up" | | 69 | Evanescence | "Bring Me to Life" | | 70 | Chris Brown feat. Juelz Santana | "Run It!" | | 71 | Colbie Caillat | "Bubbly" | | 72 | Jet | "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" | | 73 | Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland | "Promiscuous" | | 74 | Chamillionaire feat. Krayzie Bone | "Ridin'" | | 75 | Gavin DeGraw | "I Don't Want to Be" | | 76 | T.I. feat. Rihanna | "Live Your Life" | | 77 | Nickelback | "How You Remind Me" | | 78 | Plain White T's | "Hey There Delilah" | | 79 | Enrique Iglesias | "Hero" | | 80 | Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz feat. Ying Yang Twins | "Get Low" | | 81 | Bruce Springsteen | "The Rising" | | 82 | Matchbox Twenty | "Unwell" | | 83 | D'Angelo | "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" | | 84 | Linkin Park | "In the End" | | 85 | Macy Gray | "I Try" | | 86 | Aerosmith | "Jaded" | | 87 | The Darkness | "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" | | 88 | Fountains of Wayne | "Stacy's Mom" | | 89 | M.I.A. | "Paper Planes" | | 90 | Mystikal | "Shake Ya Ass" | | 91 | Creed | "With Arms Wide Open" | | 92 | Flo Rida feat. T-Pain | "Low" | | 93 | OK Go | "Here It Goes Again" | | 94 | Daughtry | "It's Not Over" | | 95 | James Blunt | "You're Beautiful" | | 96 | The Pussycat Dolls feat. Busta Rhymes | "Don't Cha" | | 97 | Shaggy | "It Wasn't Me" | | 98 | 3 Doors Down | "Kryptonite" | | 99 | Carrie Underwood | "Before He Cheats" | | 100 | Sisqó | "Thong Song" |
The songs on this list span the entire decade, from the CD‑burning era of the early 2000s to the rise of the iPod and the first stirrings of streaming. The list captures how the music industry changed from “Oops!… I Did It Again” to “I Gotta Feeling” in less than a decade. vh1 100 greatest songs of the 2000s upd
The peak of the countdown features culture-shifting hits that defined the sonic landscape of the entire decade. Song Title Release Year "Crazy In Love" Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z 2 3 "Poker Face" 4 "Lose Yourself" 5 "Since U Been Gone" Kelly Clarkson 6 "Gold Digger" Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx 7 "SexyBack" Justin Timberlake feat. Timbaland 8 "Empire State Of Mind" Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys 9 "We Belong Together" Mariah Carey 10 "In Da Club" Key Takeaways and Defining Trends
Timberlake and Timbaland redefined pop production with this minimalist, gritty dance track. Jay-Z | "Crazy in Love" | | 2 | OutKast | "Hey Ya
We’ve argued, we’ve debated, and we’ve updated the list.
Despite their cultural impact, several iconic tracks landed further down the list: , "Rehab" – #31 Johnny Cash , "Hurt" – #33 The Killers , "Mr. Brightside" – #52 M.I.A. , "Paper Planes" – #89 Linkin Park , "In the End" – #84 Alicia Keys | "Empire State of Mind" |
200 Most-Streamed Songs from the 2000s - Playlist - Apple Music
The most striking aspect of the list is its aggressive genre-hopping. The 2000s were defined by a refusal to stay in one's lane. You couldn't have a countdown without acknowledging that the charts were dominated by a battle between teen pop, nu-metal, and the sudden, explosive rise of hip-hop.
: The list rounds out with iconic oddities such as OK Go's treadmill-fueled video track "Here It Goes Again" (#93) and M.I.A.'s genre-shattering gunshot anthem "Paper Planes" (#89).
One music critic described VH1’s choices as an “alternate canon,” and noted that it was “refreshing to see someone trying to invent an alternate canon of this stuff instead of reminding us once again that Radiohead are the greatest thing ever. But this alternate canon? This alternate canon is weird!”. He praised the populist angle but questioned many placements, such as having “Crazy in Love” at No. 1 while criticizing OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” at No. 2. He argued that OutKast’s “B.O.B.” was “the better song in every conceivable way”.