Beyonce, Santana, And Faith Hill Had The Top Hits Of 2000

2000 was the year of the “Dot Com” burst. It was also the year of the “hanging chad.” It was a transitional year for politics as George W. Bush was elected president. It was also a transitional year for music. Let’s take a look at the top five songs of 2000 as compiled by Billboard and reported on by Music Outfitters.

5. Vertical Horizon, “Everything You Want”

“Everything You Want” hit No. 1 in July of 2000 and was one of the only songs that year to spend one week at No. 1.

“I was basically in love with this beautifully complex and crazy person who could see everything around her except for the thing that could actually help her,” songwriter Matt Scannell is quoted as saying by Songfacts.

Scannell adds that he just thought of a tormented, glass-half-empty person who was in pain but always looked to the wrong places to find solace and help.

4. Joe, “I Wanna Know”

“I Wanna Know” is often considered one of the hottest R&B songs of the 2000s. Ironically, the song never hit No. 1. Actually, it only made it to No. 4, but stayed on the charts far longer than a lot of songs that hit No. 1 do.

“I Wanna Know” was different from many other love songs in the 2000s in that the lyrics were cheerful and upbeat. In the song, the main character is telling a girl how much she’s worth and not to believe anything her ex said about her.

3. Destiny’s Child, “Say My Name”

Beyonce and her group Destiny’s Child scored a musical lottery with “Say My Name,” a song that spent three weeks at No. 1 in the spring of 2000. It was the first of what would be many No. 1 songs Beyonce would be part of, both with Destiny’s Child and by herself.

According to Songfacts,”Say My Name” is about a woman who wants to hear her boyfriend speak affectionately to her because she thinks he is with another woman. In 2001, “Say My Name” won Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance by a Duo Or Group.

2. “Smooth” by Santana and Rob Thomas

“Smooth” is likely the biggest hit out of all the songs in 1999 and 2000. Because of the timing of its chart run, it earned many of its points for the year 1999, when it became the No. 19 song of the year. The song extended its reign through so much of 2000 and ended up at No. 2 for the year.

MTV‘s Sasha Geffen recently wrote an article on the song’s enduring impact.

“Santana’s 1999 song ‘Smooth’ has been a monster pop hit, a sturdy radio staple, a joke, a meme, and, most recently, a measuring stick for U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky’s astounding Olympic victory.”

The article adds that “Smooth” went on to win three Grammy awards and was certified triple platinum in sales. “Smooth” is also a song Billboard considers as one of the biggest hits of all time.

1. Faith Hill, “Breathe”

Faith Hill released “Breathe” in September of 1999 and it spent six weeks at No. 1 that year. Because Billboard compiles their end of the year charts from one November to the next, Hill ended up with the No. 1 song of 2000. To Hill’s credit, “Breathe” did spend several weeks on the charts in 2000 and is a song that still receives recurrent airplay until this day.

Faith Hill is one of the most successful country crossover acts ever. Her success led the way for future crossover acts such as Carrie Underwood. Hill would go on to sing future hit songs such as “There You’ll Be” from the Pearl Harbor soundtrack (2001), “Stronger” (2002), and “Like We Never Loved at All” (2004).

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