Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, And Gwen Stefani Had The Top Hits Of 2005

2005 was a year of comeback queens in the music world. After miscalculating the music scene in 2003 with American Life, Madonna returned to the dance floor with the top worldwide hit album Confessions on a Dance Floor. But the biggest comeback queen of 2005 was Mariah Carey, who was pretty much thrown out of the music industry in 2001 and 2002. Ms. Carey returned with a vengeance with The Emancipation of Mimi, which was the biggest selling album of 2005.

Lets take a look at the five biggest singles of 2005 as compiled by Billboard and reported on by Music Outfitters.

5. Ciara ft. Missy Elliot, “1, 2 Step”

“1, 2 Step” was the first single from Ciara’s debut album Goodies. An appearance by Missy Elliot helped the song climb the charts, where it stayed at No. 2 for seven weeks without ever hitting the pole position on Billboard‘s Hot 100.

4. Kelly Clarkson, “Since You Been Gone”

In 2005, many pop music stations were jokingly referred to as “Kelly Clarkson Radio.” Her album Breakaway, released in 2004, spawned several hit singles. Although “Because of You” remains the most popular song from the album, it’s actually “Since U Been Gone” that caused the most chart waves.

Kelly Clarkson’s top 2005 hit was written and produced by the hit-making team of Dr. Luke and Max Martin. Dr. Luke would later be accused of sexual assault by Kesha Rose.

3. Mario, “Let Me Love You”

“Let Me Love You,” from Mario’s second album Turning Point, was written by Ne-Yo, who would go on to pen some of the biggest hits of the 2000s. It spent nine weeks at No. 1 and was not only ranked as the No. 3 song of 2004, but the No. 8 song of the decade.

“Let Me Love You” gives off vibes from Tina Turner’s 1984 classic “What’s Love Got To Do With It.” In the song, Mario tries to convince a woman to leave her current man, who is bad for her. However, Mario will “show her the way love is supposed to be.” The song was covered by Nashville country star Chris Lane for his album Girl Problems this year.

2. Gwen Stefani, “Hollaback Girl”

“Hollaback Girl” proved that Gwen Stefani could make it as a solo star. It was the second release from her album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. and spent four weeks at No. 1 in 2005. This top hit by Gwen Stefani was one of the only non-R&B hits to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year.

According to Songfacts, “Hollaback Girl” is the first song to sell over a million downloads. The song and video has also become controversial now that the concept of “cultural appropriation” has become more mainstream. Neon Tommy is just one of the websites that has criticized the song.

“Don’t get me wrong; this song was my middle school anthem. But let’s not ignore the fact that Gwen got away with a few years of using four Asian women as accessories (even turning them into literal accessories). This video also does a weird thing where Gwen appropriates the Harajuku Girls appropriating black culture? It’s just a hot mess of cultural disrespect.”

1. Mariah Carey, “We Belong Together”

“We Belong Together” was the second release from Mariah’s album The Emancipation of Mimi and is known as one of the biggest comeback songs ever. It spent 14 weeks at No. 1 and was not only the most successful song of 2005, but it was the most successful song of the decade, according to Billboard.

According to Vogue, “We Belong Together” was co-written by Jermaine Dupri as a late edition to the album after it was determined that label boss L.A. Reid thought the album needed something extra. Mariah soon traveled to Atlanta to meet Dupri. Their collaboration led to one of the biggest hits in history.

[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]