The 2000s were one of the heydays of corny pop music. From boy bands to pop stars, the 2000s provided no shortage of catchy songs with which to sing along.
Videos by American Songwriter
Now, some 20 years later, those very same tracks continue to permeate pop culture. While some may be ashamed to get down to hits by *NSYNC, Gwen Stefani, Fergie, and Plain White T’s, there’s no reason to be demure about your love for the tracks. They were popular for a reason—they’re good!
Keep reading for four songs from the 2000s that should be unabashedly enjoyed.
“It’s Gonna Be Me” by *NSYNC (2000)
A lists about the early aughts without a boyband mention is a list not worth having. While there are plenty of iconic tracks that fit into that category, “It’s Gonna Be Me” started the decade off strong. In fact, it delivered *NSYNC’s sole No. 1 single, where it topped the charts for two weeks.
If there’s any doubt about the corniness of the lyrics, look no further than the music video to jog your memory. Featuring Justin Timberlake’s bleach-blond perm and dolls of each band member that miraculously come to life, it’s something to behold.
No one should give people too much grief for counting this track as an all-time hit. After all, it’s all over social media every year to remind you, “It’s gonna be May.”
“Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani (2005)
Gwen Stefani “ain’t no hollaback girl” and we’re not ashamed to remember that two decades later. The only No. 1 hit of her career, “Hollaback Girl” stayed at the top of the charts for four weeks.
Stefani wrote the song with Pharrell Williams, using her controversial break from No Doubt to record a solo album as inspiration for the track.
“We looked at each other when we wrote that song and we were like, ‘That’s it!’ It’s a song that says, you know, you don’t have to answer back,” Stefani once told MTV News. “To me, it is the freshest attitude song I’ve heard in so long.”
In many ways, this might be the most quintessential 2000s song on the list.
“Glamorous” by Fergie ft. Ludacris (2007)
We all know we have Fergie to thank for teaching us how to spell glamorous, but there are even more reasons to love the track. For many a millennial, it conjures up happy memories of pretending we are the ones flying first class up in the sky, not dealing with middle school drama.
Fergie and Ludacris’ hit topped the charts for two weeks, earning the former singer her second-ever No. 1 song after “London Bridge” debuted the year prior.
“Hey There Delilah” by Plain White T’s (2007)
Many teens in the 2000s imagined they were living in New York City with an admirer thinking about them a thousand miles away, and that’s all thanks to this Plain White T’s song. The band’s defining track filled many an iPod in 2007, as it topped the Billboard chart for two weeks that July.
The song stood the test of time, as listeners continued to connect with the romantic lyrics. That’s so true, in fact, that there was chatter about the track becoming the inspiration for a TV show in 2018, though no such series ever came to fruition.
Photo by JOE SCHILDHORN/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
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