⇦ 1990s 2010s ⇨

The Defining Artists of the 2000s

The following artists released some of the best music of the 2000s. Hall of Famers are highlighted in orange.

Interpol   John Mayer   Matchbox Twenty   Usher   Sheryl Crow   Animal Collective   Blink-182   No Doubt   T.I.   My Morning Jacket   Missy Elliott   Alison Krauss   Nas   Muse   Yeah Yeah Yeahs   Lily Allen   The Flaming Lips   Coldplay   System of a Down   Weezer   Lady Gaga   The Chemical Brothers   Phoenix   TV on the Radio   Robyn   Alice In Chains   Sleater-Kinney   Daft Punk   Black Eyed Peas   Kings of Leon   Justin Timberlake   Destiny's Child   Taylor Swift   Linkin Park   Counting Crows   The Strokes   Norah Jones   Lenny Kravitz   Panic At The Disco   Fall Out Boy   Kylie Minogue   Green Day   The Killers   Queens of the Stone Age   Aaliyah   Dave Matthews Band   The Libertines   Bob Dylan   Björk   Warren Zevon   Basement Jaxx   Drive-By Truckers   Feist   Avril Lavigne   Ryan Adams   Eminem   Iron Maiden   Moby   Wilco   The Roots   Air   Gwen Stefani   Audioslave   D'Angelo   Tool   Garbage   Florence and The Machine   Adele   50 Cent   Kelly Clarkson   Nelly Furtado   Wu-Tang Clan   Pink   Oasis   Beyoncé   Jennifer Lopez   Arcade Fire   Dream Theater   Mary J. Blige   Shakira   PJ Harvey   MGMT   The Shins   U2   Janet Jackson   Red Hot Chili Peppers   Jay-Z   Brandi Carlile   Arctic Monkeys   Radiohead   LCD Soundsystem   Madonna   Maroon 5   Spoon   Death Cab for Cutie   Ludacris   M.I.A.   Nelly   Kanye West   Lil Wayne   Sufjan Stevens   Mariah Carey   Jack Johnson   Katy Perry   Nine Inch Nails   Gorillaz   The xx   Pearl Jam   Johnny Cash   The Black Keys   Franz Ferdinand   Miranda Lambert   Rihanna   My Chemical Romance   Carrie Underwood   Britney Spears   Outkast   NSYNC   Amy Winehouse   The White Stripes   Modest Mouse   Beck   Mastodon   The Chicks   Foo Fighters   Christina Aguilera   Bright Eyes   Alicia Keys  

Of the 128 artists listed above, 18% have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

⇦ 1990s 2010s ⇨

The Defining Albums of the 2000s

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)

At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command (2000)

Patsy Cline - The Ultimate Collection (2000)

The Avalanches - Since I Left You (2000)

Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (2000)

NSYNC - No Strings Attached (2000)

Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)

Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R (2000)

PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (2000)

OutKast - Stankonia (2000)

The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic (2000)

Radiohead - Kid A (2000)

Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica (2000)

U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)

Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (2000)

Common - Like Water For Chocolate (2000)

D'Angelo - Voodoo (2000)

Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele (2000)

Madonna - Music (2000)

Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun (2000)

Deftones - White Pony (2000)

System of a Down - Toxicity (2001)

Radiohead - Amnesiac (2001)

ABBA - The Definitive Collection (2001)

Pink - Missundaztood (2001)

Alicia Keys - Songs in A Minor (2001)

The Shins - Oh, Inverted World (2001)

Bob Dylan - Love And Theft (2001)

Shakira - Laundry Service (2001)

Muddy Waters - The Anthology: 1947-1972 (2001)

Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American (2001)

Daft Punk - Discovery (2001)

Aaliyah - Aaliyah (2001)

Destiny's Child - Survivor (2001)

The Strokes - Is This It (2001)

Björk - Vespertine (2001)

Drive-By Truckers - Southern Rock Opera (2001)

Manu Chao - Próxima Estación: Esperanza (2001)

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2001)

Basement Jaxx - Rooty (2001)

Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator) (2001)

The White Stripes - White Blood Cells (2001)

Missy Elliott - Miss E... So Addictive (2001)

Jay-Z - The Blueprint (2001)

The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee (2002)

Neko Case - Blacklisted (2002)

Beck - Sea Change (2002)

The Libertines - Up The Bracket (2002)

Missy Elliott - Under Construction (2002)

Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002)

Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People (2002)

The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002)

Spoon - Kill the Moonlight (2002)

Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights (2002)

Bruce Springsteen - The Rising (2002)

Avril Lavigne - Let Go (2002)

50 Cent - Get Rich Or Die Tryin' (2003)

OutKast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)

The White Stripes - Elephant (2003)

Sam Cooke - Portrait of a Legend: 1951-1964 (2003)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell (2003)

Alicia Keys - The Diary Of Alicia Keys (2003)

The Postal Service - Give Up (2003)

Jay-Z - The Black Album (2003)

Four Tet - Rounds (2003)

Brian Wilson - SMiLE (2004)

Mastodon - Leviathan (2004)

My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004)

Usher - Confessions (2004)

Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004)

Daddy Yankee - Barrio fino (2004)

Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand (2004)

Green Day - American Idiot (2004)

Madvillain - Madvillainy (2004)

The Killers - Hot Fuss (2004)

Feist - Let It Die (2004)

Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse (2004)

Kanye West - The College Dropout (2004)

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (2005)

M.I.A. - Arular (2005)

Gorillaz - Demon Days (2005)

Kanye West - Late Registration (2005)

The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday (2005)

Fall Out Boy - From Under the Cork Tree (2005)

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter II (2005)

Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi (2005)

Sleater-Kinney - The Woods (2005)

Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine (2005)

My Morning Jacket - Z (2005)

Paul McCartney - Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005)

Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (2006)

Beyoncé - B'Day (2006)

Mastodon - Blood Mountain (2006)

Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006)

Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury (2006)

John Mayer - Continuum (2006)

Joanna Newsom - Ys (2006)

My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade (2006)

TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (2006)

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006)

J Dilla - Donuts (2006)

Bob Dylan - Modern Times (2006)

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium (2006)

Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (2006)

Burial - Untrue (2007)

Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2007)

LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver (2007)

M.I.A. - Kala (2007)

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (2007)

Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)

Kanye West - Graduation (2007)

Paramore - Riot! (2007)

Britney Spears - Blackout (2007)

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)

The National - Boxer (2007)

Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3 (2007)

TV on the Radio - Dear Science (2008)

The Roots - Rising Down (2008)

Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark (2008)

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III (2008)

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (2008)

Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak (2008)

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)

The xx - xx (2009)

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009)

Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster (2009)

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (2009)

Maxwell - BLACKsummers'night (2009)

⇦ 1990s 2010s ⇨

The Defining Songs of the 2000s

Missy Elliott - Work It (2000)

Coldplay - Yellow (2000)

Eminem - Stan (2000)

OutKast - Ms. Jackson (2000)

D'Angelo - Untitled (How Does it Feel) (2000)

Radiohead - Idioteque (2000)

The Strokes - Last Nite (2001)

Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott - Get Ur Freak On (2001)

Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer (2001)

50 Cent - In Da Club (2002)

Eminem - Lose Yourself (2002)

Jay-Z - 99 Problems (2003)

The Killers - Mr. Brightside (2003)

OutKast - Hey Ya! (2003)

The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (2003)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps (2003)

Britney Spears - Toxic (2003)

Beyoncé - Crazy in Love (2003)

Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone (2004)

Coldplay - Fix You (2005)

My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade (2006)

Gnarls Barkley - Crazy (2006)

Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (2006)

M.I.A. - Paper Planes (2007)

LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends (2007)

The Veronicas - Untouched (2007)

Kanye West - Stronger (2007)

Rihanna - Umbrella (2007)

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance (2009)

⇦ 1990s 2010s ⇨