Top 100 Songs of 2005: The Year-End Chart

“We Belong Together” by Mariah Carey was the biggest hit of 2005, finishing at No. 1 on the year-end Top 100 ahead of “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani and “Let Me Love You” by Mario. The year-end chart ranks the songs that performed best across the whole year, not just in a single week.

16 acts placed more than one song on the list, led by Kelly Clarkson (4), 50 Cent (4), Mariah Carey (3), Gwen Stefani (3), Green Day (3). 6 of the 100 were holdovers from the 2004 list, so 94 songs were new to the year-end chart.

The 2000s: the sound of the era

Hip-hop and R&B ruled the 2000s year-end charts, with Usher, Beyoncé, Eminem and 50 Cent among the biggest acts, while pop-punk, post-grunge rock and the first digital-download hits added variety. Paid downloads began counting toward the pop chart in 2005.

Born in 1987? This was the year you turned 18. Tune the mixer to your year, or try today’s Name That Year game.

The full 2005 year-end Top 100

Source: Billboard’s year-end singles chart, as compiled on Wikipedia. Hey DJ 4U is an independent site, not affiliated with Billboard. ▶ plays the song in Hey DJ 4U; ♪ searches for it on Apple Music. Spotted an error? Tell us.