Click to return to Dave’s Music Database home page.

This list is an aggregate that consolidates more than 60 lists focused on the best songs of the 2000-2009 decade. Sources include Billboard, New Musical Express (NME), NPR, Pitchfork.com, Rolling Stone and USA Today. See complete list of sources here.

Also figured in to the mix are chart data, sales figures, and awards received. The resulting list should be a nice composite of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed songs of the decade.

After the top 100 are songs given Honorable Mention status. These songs formerly made the top 100 list but have been bumped.



The DMDB Top 100 Songs of the 1st Century


  1. OutKast – Hey Ya! (2003)
  2. Mariah Carey – We Belong Together (2005)
  3. Rihanna with Jay-Z – Umbrella (2007)
  4. Eminem – Lose Yourself (2002)
  5. Beyoncι with Jay-Z Crazy in Love (2003)
  6. Usher with Lil’ Jon & Ludacris – Yeah! (2004)
  7. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy (2006)
  8. Lee Ann Womack – I Hope You Dance (2000)
  9. Lady Antebellum – Need You Now (2009)
  10. Kanye West with Jamie Foxx – Gold Digger (2005)

  11. Coldplay – Viva La Vida (2008)
  12. Kylie Minogue – Can’t Get You Out of My Head (2001)
  13. Alicia Keys – Fallin’ (2001)
  14. U2 – Beautiful Day (2000)
  15. Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling (2009)
  16. Alicia Keys – No One (2007)
  17. The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army (2003)
  18. Jason Mraz – I’m Yours (2008)
  19. Beyoncι – Irreplaceable (2006)
  20. Beyoncι – Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) (2008)

  21. Lady Gaga – Poker Face (2009)
  22. Flo Rida with T-Pain – Low (2007)
  23. 50 Cent – In Da Club (2002)
  24. Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow (2009)
  25. James Blunt – You’re Beautiful (2005)
  26. Shakira with Wyclef Jean – Hips Don’t Lie (2006)
  27. Eminem with Dido – Stan (2000)
  28. Ke$ha – Tik Tok (2009)
  29. Eminem with Rihanna – Love the Way You Like (2010)
  30. Coldplay – Clocks (2002)

  31. Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love (2007)
  32. One Republic with Timbaland – Apologize (2007)
  33. Kings of Leon – Use Somebody (2008)
  34. Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams (2004)
  35. Taylor Swift – Love Story (2008)
  36. Nelly – Hot in Herre (2002)
  37. Lady Gaga with Colby O’Donis – Just Dance (2008)
  38. Nelly with Kelly Rowland – Dilemma (2002)
  39. Daniel Powter – Bad Day (2005)
  40. Amy Winehouse – Rehab (2006)

  41. Madonna – Music (2000)
  42. Nickelback – How You Remind Me (2001)
  43. Train – Hey, Soul Sister (2009)
  44. Avril Lavigne – Complicated (2002)
  45. Missy Elliott – Get Ur Freak On (2001)
  46. Kelly Clarkson – Since U Been Gone (2004)
  47. Taylor Swift – You Belong with Me (2008)
  48. Lil’ Wayne with Static Major – Lollipop (2008)
  49. OutKast – Ms. Jackson (2000)
  50. Madonna – Hung Up (2005)

  51. Coldplay – Yellow (2000)
  52. Tim McGraw – Live Like You Were Dying (2005)
  53. Britney Spears – Toxic (2004)
  54. Justin Timberlake – SexyBack (2006)
  55. Natash Bedingfield – Unwritten (2004)
  56. Mary J. Blige – Be Without You (2005)
  57. Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out (2004)
  58. Jay-Z with Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind (2009)
  59. Carrie Underwood – Before He Cheats (2006)
  60. The Killers – Mr. Brightside (2004)

  61. Cee-Lo Green – Fuck You (aka “Forget You”) (2010)
  62. Alan Jackson – Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning (2001)
  63. Nelly Furtado with Timbaland – Promiscuous (2006)
  64. Lady Gaga – Bad Romance (2009)
  65. Katy Perry – I Kissed a Girl (2008)
  66. Plain White T’s – Hey There Delilah (2007)
  67. Fergie – Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal) (2007)
  68. Sara Bareilles – Love Song (2007)
  69. Katy Perry with Snoop Dogg – California Gurls (2010)
  70. Shakira – Whenever, Wherever (2001)

  71. Johnny Cash – Hurt (2003)
  72. Maroon 5 – This Love (2004)
  73. Soulja Boy Tell’Em – Crank That (Soulja Boy) (2007)
  74. Colbie Caillat – Bubbly (2007)
  75. Black Eyed Peas with Justin Timberlake – Where Is the Love? (2003)
  76. Hoobastank – The Reason (2004)
  77. Kanye West – Stronger (2007)
  78. Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why (2002)
  79. Rihanna – Disturbia (2008)
  80. Vanessa Carlton – A Thousand Miles (2002)

  81. Eminem – Without Me (2002)
  82. M.I.A. – Paper Planes (2008)
  83. Destiny’s Child – Independent Women (2000)
  84. Train – Drops of Jupiter (2001)
  85. Christina Aguilera – Beautiful (2002)
  86. Katy Perry – Hot N Cold (2008)
  87. Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl (2005)
  88. Nelly Furatdo – Say It Right (2006)
  89. Pink – Get the Party Started (2001)
  90. Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars (2006)

  91. The Fray – How to Save a Life (2006)
  92. Ashanti with Ja Rule – Foolish (2002)
  93. Missy Elliott – Work It (2002)
  94. Usher with will.i.am – OMG (2010)
  95. Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend (2007)
  96. Evanescence with Paul McCoy – Bring Me to Life (2003)
  97. Linkin Park – In the End (2001)
  98. Santana with the Product G & B – Maria Maria (2000)
  99. Kelly Clarkson – Because of You (2005)
  100. Gorillaz with De La Soul – Feel Good Inc. (2005)
Honorable Mentions:
  • Black Eyed Peas – My Humps (2005)
  • Mary J. Blige – Family Affair (2001)
  • Dido – Thank You (2000)
  • Green Day – American Idiot (2004)
  • R. Kelly – Ignition (remix) (2002)
  • Maroon 5 – She Will Be Loved (2004)
  • Pink – So What (2008)
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California (2006)
  • Britney Spears – Oops!...I Did It Again (2000)
  • 3 Doors Down – Kryptonite (2000)
  • T.I. with Rihanna – Live Your Life (2008)
  • U2 – Vertigo (2004)
This page last updated July 24, 2011.