Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth. In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.
We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 2004, the year I celebrated my 30th birthday. 22 of these songs remain familiar to me today, with just nine of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.
#92: Avril Lavigne – Don’t Tell Me
iTunes stats: 17 plays
The lead single from her sophomore effort, it peaked at #22 on the Hot 100.
#88: The Black Eyed Peas – Let’s Get It Started
iTunes stats: 45 plays
The fourth and final single from the group’s third studio album, it reached #21.
#87: Chingy featuring Ludacris and Snoop Dogg – Holidae In
iTunes stats: 11 plays
Making the year-end chart for the second straight year, the track went to #3.
#76: Jet – Are You Gonna Be My Girl
iTunes stats: 24 plays
The Australian group’s debut single, it topped out at #29.
#71: Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell – Drop It Like It’s Hot
iTunes stats: 27 plays
Spending the final three weeks of the year at #1, it was the first chart topping hit for both artists.
#70: Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz featuring Ying Yang Twins – Get Low
iTunes stats: N/A
Ranked as the 99th greatest song of hip-hop by VH1, it peaked at #2.
#54: Avril Lavigne – My Happy Ending
iTunes stats: 23 plays
Spending four weeks at #9, it became her fourth top ten hit.
#48: Britney Spears – Toxic
iTunes stats: 44 plays
Giving Spears the lone Grammy of her career, the song reached #9, her first top ten hit since 2000.
#45: Ludacris featuring Shawnna – Stand Up
iTunes stats: 17 plays
Topping the Hot 100 for a week in December of 2003, it makes the year-end chart for the second straight year.
#41: Kelis – Milkshake
iTunes stats: N/A
Her highest-charting single to this day, it topped out at #3 in December of 2003.
#39: Ashlee Simpson – Pieces of Me
iTunes stats: 24 plays
The debut single from Jessica Simpson’s sister, it went to #5, becoming her lone top ten hit.
#38: No Doubt – It’s My Life
iTunes stats: N/A
Recorded for their greatest hits package, this cover of the Talk Talk hit from 1984 spent 28 weeks on the chart, peaking at #10.
#28: Sheryl Crow – The First Cut Is the Deepest
iTunes stats: N/A
Recorded for her greatest hits package, it reached #14 and remains her final hit to breach the top 20.
#10: Terror Squad featuring Fat Joe and Remy Ma – Lean Back
iTunes stats: 36 plays
It spent seven weeks atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart and three weeks on top of the Hot 100.
#8: Outkast – Hey Ya!
iTunes stats: 26 plays
First written in 2000 by Andre 3000, it spent nine weeks at #1 between 2003 and 2004.
#6: Hoobastank – The Reason
iTunes stats: N/A
The title track of the group’s sophomore effort, it reached #2 while spending 38 weeks on the chart.
#1: Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris – Yeah!
iTunes stats: 34 plays
The longest running #1 hit of 2004, it spent twelve weeks atop the Hot 100.
