Tracks turning twenty in 2024

2004 was a pretty eventful year.

We had the return of the ‘Summer Olympics’ to its original home of Greece, Geroge W Bush became President of the United States for his second term, after beating Democratic hopeful, John Kerry, and the two biggest films of the year were ‘Shrek 2’ and Mel Gibson’s biblical and epic ‘Passion of the Christ’.

It was also a huge year for music, with some of the most iconic tracks of the ‘noughties’ being released.

The charts were ruled by Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, and a new type of rock music – ‘emo’ – first reared its eye liner-covered face.

But that was then… and this is now.

So, let’s raise a glass to 2024, and say cheers to the music that will turn 20 this year.

Kelly Clarkson – ‘Since U Been Gone’

Fresh from her win on ‘American Idol’, Kelly Clarkson released her biggest hit, ‘SInce U Been Gone’.

The track was a huge global success, peaking in the top five in Austria, Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

It also peaked in the top ten in Norway, Germany, and Switzerland.

At the 48th Grammy Awards, ‘Since U Been Gone’, in the category of ‘Best Female Pop Vocal Performance’, and it was also nominated for ‘Best International Song’ at the Brit Awrads.

The Killers – ‘Mr Brightside’

‘Mr Brightside’ is arguably the most famous song released of the noughties, and it has been streamed nearly two billion times on streaming site, Spotify.

This was the Las Vegas band’s debut single. And while it was originally released in 2003 in the States, it failed to make an impact.

However, the song was re-released in 2004, and it peaked at number 10 in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

But, arguably, it is the song’s longevity that makes it a huge success, charting in the UK top 100 for 365 weeks – seven years! – and it is the most streamed track released prior to 2010.

Usher – ‘Yeah’

It was hard to escape this massive song by Usher, which spent an amazing 12 weeks at the top US charts, and in the UK, it was number one for two weeks and went platinum.

The song is, perhaps, more famous and iconic due to the feature from Atlanta-based rapper, Little John, who shouts, ‘yeah!’, after every line of the track.

This was Usher’s biggest single after he first came to prominence in the mid-nineties as a child star.

This classic solidified him as one of the world’s most popular pop stars, and led to the founding of his record label, which, it turns out, became a huge success, as he discovered a unknown YouTube singer named Justin Bieber.

Green Day – ‘American Idiot’

This song was the American pop-punk icon’s most successful track in the UK charts, peaking at number three in September.

Written as a protest against the war in Iraq, and the band’s anger at the-then President of the United States, George W Bush, the song has gone on to be a signature staple for the band, and was nominated for ‘Best International Song’ at the 2004 ‘Brit Awards’. It also won ‘Best Rock Performance’ at the Grammy Awards.

Eric Prydz – ‘Call On Me’

I think it is safe to say that ‘Call On Me’ is a classic in EDM, and one of the biggest songs released in the genre.

It reached number one in the UK charts in September, after the music video became a huge hit on MTV and other music channels.

The song was created through a sample of the 1980s song, ‘Valerie’, by Steve Winwood.

McFly – ‘Five Colours in Her Hair’

This was McFly’s debut single, and one of the band’s biggest hits to-date. Incidentally, it was also was the band’s first number one.

Written by Tom Fletcher, James Bourne, Danny Jones and Ben Sargeant, ‘Five Colours in Her Hair’ stayed at the top for two weeks, and it is especially well-known for its ‘do , doo, doo, doo, doo, doo!’ lyrics, played at its beginning and at ending.

…Feel old yet?