The biggest radio hit the year you graduated high school: 2000s edition
If you graduated high school between 2000 and 2011, the song at the top of the Billboard year-end chart says something specific about the decade you grew up in. Not the song you remember most. The one that accumulated the most airplay and sales points across the entire year.
Find your graduation year below.
Class of 2000: “Breathe” by Faith Hill
Faith Hill’s “Breathe” never reached the weekly number one position but accumulated enough combined airplay and sales across 53 weeks to top the chart for 2000. It remains one of the most successful crossover country singles in chart history. The class of 2000 graduated into a pop landscape that still had room for a country ballad to define the year.
Class of 2001: “Hanging by a moment” by Lifehouse
Lifehouse’s rock ballad never reached number one on the weekly Hot 100 either, but according to Billboard’s year-end archive, it spent 54 weeks on the chart and accumulated enough total points to top the year-end list. It remains the only year-end number one in chart history that never reached the weekly peak position.
Class of 2002: “How you remind me” by Nickelback
Wikipedia confirms it topped 2002 despite spending only four weeks at number one. That same year, Nelly’s “Dilemma” and Ashanti’s “Foolish” each spent ten weeks at the weekly peak but accumulated fewer total points.
Class of 2003: “In da club” by 50 Cent
50 Cent’s debut single spent nine weeks at number one in 2003. Three other tracks from the same album made the year-end top 30.
Class of 2004: “Yeah!” by Usher
Twelve weeks at number one, confirmed by Billboard as the year-end number one for 2004. It remained on the Hot 100 for 45 weeks.
Class of 2005: “We belong together” by Mariah Carey
Billboard says this song spent 14 weeks at number one and 43 weeks on the chart, making it the best-performing Hot 100 single of the entire decade.
Class of 2006: “Bad day” by Daniel Powter
Powter’s only Hot 100 entry topped 2006 after American Idol used it to accompany every eliminated contestant that season. He never had another charting single.
Class of 2007: “Irreplaceable” by Beyoncé
Ten consecutive weeks at number one and year-end No. 1. The song debuted in November 2006 but spent most of its chart life in 2007, illustrating how the year-end chart and the weekly chart produce different answers.
Class of 2008: “Low” by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain
“Low” peaked in January 2008 and spent 40 weeks on the chart. Billboard confirms it as the year-end number one for 2008.
Class of 2009: “Boom boom pow” by The Black Eyed Peas
Twelve weeks at number one, tying the record for the longest-running rap chart-topper at the time. Billboard confirms it as the year-end number one for 2009.
Class of 2010: “TiK ToK” by Ke$ha
Ke$ha’s debut single spent nine weeks at number one and was Billboard’s 2010 top. It made Ke$ha one of the most commercially dominant new voices of the early 2010s within months of her debut.
Class of 2011: “Rolling in the deep” by Adele
“Rolling in the Deep” debuted in November 2010 and spent the following year accumulating enough points to top 2011’s chart. Adele had been largely unknown in the United States two years before.
The bottom line
Twelve graduation years, twelve songs. From Faith Hill to Adele, the year-end chart is a more accurate record of what America was actually listening to than any critical best-of list. Do you agree?
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Related:
- The song that defined your birth year: Boomer edition. Do you agree?
- The most controversial songs of the ’60s: Do you agree?
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