⇦ 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.

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

Of the 130 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)

The Avalanches - Since I Left You (2000)

Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (2000)

NSYNC - No Strings Attached (2000)

Patsy Cline - The Ultimate Collection (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)

Deftones - White Pony (2000)

Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun (2000)

System of a Down - Toxicity (2001)

Radiohead - Amnesiac (2001)

Pink - Missundaztood (2001)

The Shins - Oh, Inverted World (2001)

Alicia Keys - Songs in A Minor (2001)

ABBA - The Definitive Collection (2001)

Bob Dylan - Love And Theft (2001)

Shakira - Laundry Service (2001)

Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American (2001)

Muddy Waters - The Anthology: 1947-1972 (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)

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2001)

Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator) (2001)

Basement Jaxx - Rooty (2001)

The White Stripes - White Blood Cells (2001)

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

Manu Chao - Próxima Estación: Esperanza (2001)

Jay-Z - The Blueprint (2001)

Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It in People (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)

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)

The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee (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)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell (2003)

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

Alicia Keys - The Diary Of Alicia Keys (2003)

The Postal Service - Give Up (2003)

Four Tet - Rounds (2003)

Jay-Z - The Black Album (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)

Mastodon - Blood Mountain (2006)

Beyoncé - B'Day (2006)

Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006)

John Mayer - Continuum (2006)

Joanna Newsom - Ys (2006)

Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury (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)

Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2007)

Against Me! - New Wave (2007)

Burial - Untrue (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)

Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3 (2007)

The National - Boxer (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 ⇨