2000

Big changes were made in 1999. Billboard allowed songs that did not have commercial singles available, as most of them didn’t by this point, to chart on the Hot 100. If that weren’t enough, the Hot 100 also became an all-format chart. Whether they were getting played at pop, R&B, country, rock, easy listening or Latin stations, these were the most played and biggest selling songs in the country. This was great for an all around music enthusiast like me because I could see, for example, how the #1 Country song compared with the #1 Modern Rock song in terms of all around popularity.

On the weekly chart, the top country song was usually somewhere in the 20’s or 30’s and the top 15 or so country songs would be on the chart somewhere. On the year-end chart, country songs start to trickle in in the 80’s. When you get past 100, every other song is country.

Another way this list is different from the lists I’ve posted so far is that Billboard was no longer using playlists and bestsellers submitted by radio stations and record stores to make the Hot 100. Bar code scanners enabled them to have actual unit counts of singles sold, and a company called Broadcast Data Systems could monitor radio airplay 24 hours a day. This gave us a much more accurate chart. It also means that when Billboard assembled their year-end charts, they got to use the collected monitored airplay and sales data from throughout the year, and not just the weekly charts themselves. So for the songs that had their entire chart runs within the chart year, no matter what my point scale says, Billboard is right. I’m only using the scale as a guide to determine where I should position songs with added points from the year before or the year after. And of course, from about #111-150, I’m on my own.

I’m not going to post point totals by the song titles for these later years. The points can be all over the map and wouldn’t make a lot of sense (I will say that #1, named by Billboard in 2008 as the second biggest Hot 100 hit ever, was 298 points ahead of #2. I think “I Gotta Feeling” may have topped it since then). I’ve made the list as accurate as I can, and short of working for Billboard magazine and having access to the information they have, that’s the best I can do. I like to think that any song is only going to be off by a few places at most.

There was a trend at the start of the ‘00’s for a song to be a hit on country radio, fall off the Hot 100 for a few months, then come back at pop radio with a remix. I treat the different versions as different songs. So #s 13, 102 and 108 will be seen here again in other years.

1. Smooth – Santana feat. Rob Thomas
2. Breathe – Faith Hill
3. Kryptonite – 3 Doors Down
4. Maria Maria – Santana feat. The Product G&B
5. With Arms Wide Open – Creed
6. I Wanna Know – Joe
7. Everything You Want – Vertical Horizon
8. I Knew I Loved You – Savage Garden
9. Bent – Matchbox Twenty
10. Back at One – Brian McKnight
11. I Need to Know – Marc Anthony
12. Say My Name – Destiny’s Child
13. Amazed (pop mix) – Lonestar
14. He Wasn’t Man Enough – Toni Braxton
15. Higher – Creed
16. Try Again – Aaliyah
17. Jumpin’ Jumpin’ – Destiny’s Child
18. Music – Madonna
19. My Love Is Your Love – Whitney Houston
20. Thong Song – Sisqo
21. There You Go – Pink
22. Doesn’t Really Matter – Janet Jackson
23. What a Girl Wants – Christina Aguilera
24. Bye Bye Bye – *NSYNC
25. You Sang to Me – Marc Anthony
26. Get It On Tonight – Montell Jordan
27. Incomplete – Sisqo
28. Bring It All to Me – Blaque
29. Most Girls – Pink
30. I Try – Macy Gray
31. It’s Gonna Be Me – *NSYNC
32. (Hot S**t) Country Grammar – Nelly
33. That’s the Way It Is – Celine Dion
34. Hot Boyz – Missy Elliott
35. Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely – Backstreet Boys
36. Back Here – BBMak
37. Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You) – Christina Aguilera
38. It Feels So Good – Sonique
39. No More – Ruff Endz
40. Absolutely (Story of a Girl) – Nine Days
41. U Know What’s Up – Donell Jones
42. Gotta Tell You – Samantha Mumba
43. Be With You – Enrique Iglesias
44. I Wanna Love You Forever – Jessica Simpson
45. All the Small Things – Blink-182
46. I Turn to You – Christina Aguilera
47. Then the Morning Comes – Smashmouth
48. Never Let You Go – Third Eye Blind
49. I Need You – LeAnn Rimes
50. Thank God I Found You – Mariah Carey feat. Joe and 98 Degrees
51. Let’s Get Married – Jagged Edge
52. Waiting for Tonight – Jennifer Lopez
53. Blue (Da Ba Dee) – Eiffel 65
54. Desert Rose – Sting
55. The Real Slim Shady – Eminem
56. Wifey – Next
57. Meet Virginia – Train
58. Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche) – 98 Degrees
59. Shape of My Heart – Backstreet Boys
60. Wonderful – Everclear
61. Bag Lady – Erykah Badu
62. Oops!... I Did It Again – Britney Spears
63. Don’t Think I’m Not – Kandi
64. Between You and Me – Ja Rule feat. Christina Milian
65. Shake Ya Ass – Mystikal
66. Pinch Me – Barenaked Ladies
67. Take a Picture – Filter
68. Otherside – Red Hot Chili Peppers
69. Big Pimpin’ – Jay-Z feat. UGK
70. Faded – SoulDecision
71. Purest of Pain (A Puro Dolor) – Son by Four
72. He Can’t Love U – Jagged Edge
73. Separated – Avant
74. Learn to Fly – Foo Fighters
75. You’re a God – Vertical Horizon
76. I Wish – Carl Thomas
77. 24/7 – Kevon Edmonds
78. Only God Knows Why – Kid Rock
79. Party Up (Up in Here) – DMX
80. She Bangs – Ricky Martin
81. Girl on TV – LFO
82. Best of Intentions – Travis Tritt
83. Bounce with Me – Lil Bow Wow feat. Xscape
84. Big Deal – LeAnne Rimes
85. Forgot About Dre – Dr. Dre and Eminem
86. That’s the Way – Jo Dee Messina
87. Swear It Again – Westlife
88. Liar – Profyle
89. The Next Episode – Dr. Dre feat Snoop Dogg
90. From the Bottom of My Broken Heart – Britney Spears
91. Crash and Burn – Savage Garden
92. Yes! – Chad Brock
93. Hanginaround – Counting Crows
94. The Best Day – George Strait
95. Where I Wanna Be – Donell Jones
96. My Best Friend – Tim McGraw
97. How Do You Like Me Now ?! – Toby Keith
98. Broadway – Goo Goo Dolls
99. Cowboy Take Me Away – Dixie Chicks
100. Stay the Night – IMx
101. What’chu Like – Da Brat feat. Tyrese
102. I Hope You Dance (country version) – Lee Ann Womack
103. Better Off Alone – Alice Deejay
104. What About Now – Lonestar
105. I Like It – Sammie
106. It’s My Life – Bon Jovi
107. He Didn’t Have to Be – Brad Paisley
108. The Way You Love Me (country version) – Faith Hill
109. I Don’t Wanna – Aaliyah
110. Got Your Money – Ol’ Dirty Bastard feat. Kelis
111. Shackles (Praise You) – Mary Mary
112. When I Said I Do – Clint Black
113. Falls Apart – Sugar Ray
114. The Little Girl – John Michael Montgomery
115. If You Love Me – Mint Condition
116. Just Be a Man About It – Toni Braxton
117. What Do You Say – Reba McEntire
118. It Must Be Love – Alan Jackson
119. Untitled (How Does It Feel) – D’Angelo
120. Just Another Day in Paradise – Phil Vassar
121. Prayin’ for Daylight – Rascal Flatts
122. Smile – Lonestar
123. She’s More – Andy Griggs
124. I Think I’m in Love with You – Jessica Simpson
125. Go On – George Strait
126. Shake Your Bon-Bon - Ricky Martin
127. Wobble Wobble – 504 Boys
128. Got to Get It – Sisqo feat. Make It Hot
129. Couldn’t Last a Moment – Collin Raye
130. Back at One – Mark Wills
131. Love Is the Only House – Martina McBride
132. I Will…But – SheDaisy
133. Buy Me a Rose – Kenny Rogers with Alison Krauss
134. Who Let the Dogs Out – Baha Men
135. The Chain of Love – Clay Walker
136. Lessons Learned – Tracy Lawrence
137. Dance Tonight – Lucy Pearl
138. 911 – Wyclef Jean feat. Mary J. Blige
139. Been There – Clint Black with Steve Wariner
140. Sexual (Li Da Di) – Amber
141. Kiss This – Aaron Tippin
142. Last Resort – Papa Roach
143. Goodbye Earl – Dixie Chicks
144. I Wanna Be with You – Mandy Moore
145. Open My Heart – Yolanda Adams
146. Carlene – Phil Vassar
147. Unconditional – Clay Davidson
148. One Voice – Billy Gilman
149. Feels Like Love – Vince Gill
150. The Light – Common