Music of the 2000s

Genres

• Alternative Rap: Although Gangsta and Crunk were huge in the start of the decade, people surprisingly drifted towards more emotionally open and less hardcore forms of hip hop as the decade wore on. Pretty soon artists and groups like Outkast, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Gorillaz, and Lupe Fiasco managed to achieve popularity when they would've just been cult artists in any other decade.
• Crunk: This and southern rap exploded in this decade and became the most well-known form rap.
• Deathcore: A popular style of extreme metal that took Myspace by storm in the later half of the decade thanks to bands like Job for a Cowboy, Bring Me the Horizon, and Suicide Silence.
• Emo Music: Probably the most popular form of alternative rock for the decade. Emo bands that crossed over usually had elements of either Power Pop (e.g. Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Paramore, Jimmy Eat World) or Goth Rock and Metal (e.g. AFI, My Chemical Romance, Thursday, The Used), and usually wore eyeliner.
• Gangsta Rap: While it slowly faded and was replaced by Crunk and Alternative Rap, it still had some huge stars in the form of 50 Cent and DMX
• Garage Rock: Experienced a big revival and was the biggest form of indie rock for the decade due to The Strokes and The White Stripes hitting it big. It was more polished than the 60's version but it kept the same old school rock and roll feel and look.
• Metalcore: The most popular form of metal for the decade, built around screamed vocals and breakdowns. Also surprisingly extreme for a mainstream metal genre in comparison to Hair Metal and Nu Metal.
• Nu Metal: Popular for the first half of the decade before Emo and metalcore supplanted it in terms of popularity. Some of its biggest acts came out in this decade such as Linkin Park and Evanescence.
• Pop Punk: Pure Pop punk without any emo influence also took a turn for the huge after blink-182's self titled and (especially) Green Day's American Idiot took the genre into a more polished but also more ambitious direction. Bands like Good Charlotte, The All-American Rejects and Yellowcard had popularity with this variation of the sound.
• Post-Grunge: The mainstream rock of the decade, unlike Emo and Garage rock which was aimed at subcultures and alternative scenes, Post grunge appealed to your Average Joes of Middle America. Divided into two camps: One was the glossy and polished, stadium-oriented Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll version personified by bands like Nickelback and Hinder, the other was darker and more Nu Metal influenced mainly led by bands like Three Days Grace and Flyleaf.

Musicians

• 2NE1
• 3 Doors Down
  • Notable hits: "Kryptonite", "When I'm Gone", "Here Without You", "Let Me Go"
• 3 Inches Of Blood
• 3LW
  • Notable hit: "No More (Baby I'm-a Do Right)"
• 30 Seconds To Mars: Formed in 1998, but released their first album in 2002 and gained mainstream success with their second release in 2005, specifically the single "The Kill" and its accompanying music video.
  • 2009 - This Is War
  • Notable hits: "The Kill", "Kings and Queens"
• 50 Cent: Scored his first hit in 2003.
  • Notable hits: "In Da Club", "21 Questions", "Candy Shop"
• A-Teens
• Abominable Putridity
• Above the Law
• Abysmal Dawn
• Adele: Had her first top 40 hit in 2009, but only became a superstar two years later.
• Æon
• Aesop Rock
• After Forever
• The Age of Information
• The Agonist
• Christina Aguilera: Scored her first hit in 1999, but the bulk of her career was in this decade.
  • Notable hits: "What A Girl Wants", "I Turn To You", "Come On Over Baby", "Lady Marmalade", "Beautiful", "Ain't No Other Man", "Keeps Getting Better"
• Al B. Sure!
• Alestorm
• All That Remains
  • Notable hit: "Two Weeks"
• Aly & A.J.: They are two sisters who have been successful in both singing and acting.
• Amaranthe
• Amon Amarth
• Anaal Nathrakh: British Black Metal duo who released their first album in 2001, pushing both their genre and extreme metal in general to its limits.
• Angelspit
• Animal Collective
  • 2009 - Merriweather Post Pavilion
• The Antlers
  • 2009 - Hospice
• Anybody Killa
• Arctic Monkeys
  • 2006 - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
• Arcade Fire
  • 2004 - Funeral
• Ricardo Arjona
• Arsis
• Art of Dying: Have never scored a rock hit until 2011, but their song "Get Thru This" was already getting exposure through WWE programming.
• Axe Murder Boyz
• As I Lay Dying: American Metalcore/Melodic Death Metal/neo-Thrash Metal band formed in 2000.
• Avenged Sevenfold: Arguably most successful heavy metal group of the new decade.
  • 2005 - City of Evil
  • Notable hits: "Bat Country", "Almost Easy", "Afterlife"
• Sara Bareilles
  • Notable hit: "Love Song"
• B5
• Bat for Lashes
  • Fur and Gold (2006)
• Beach House
• Beastie Boys
  • Notable hit: "Ch-Check It Out"
• The Beatles: In 2006, the Cirque De Soleil show Love premiered, which featured remixed songs. There also was the rock musical movie Across the Universe in 2007.
• The Beautiful South
• Beck
  • Guero (2005)
• Nick Bertke
• Best Coast
• Beyoncé: Both Destiny's Child and her solo career peaked during this decade.
  • Notable hits: "Crazy in Love", "Baby Boy", "Naughty Girl", "Irreplaceable", "If I Were A Boy", "Single Ladies", "Halo"
• Bi-2: A Russian Alternative Rock band that was originally formed in 1988 but only became popular in the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s.
• Justin Bieber: Gained super-stardom at the beginning of 2010, but in 2007 he began posting videos on YouTube and in 2009 he made his musical debut.
  • Notable hit: "One Time"
• Big Big Train
• Big Sean
• The Birthday Massacre
• Between the Buried and Me
• Björk
  • 2001 - Vespertine
  • 2004 - Medúlla
• The Black Dahlia Murder: The biggest and most respected Melodic Death Metal band to come out of the US.
• Black Label Society
• The Black Keys: Released five albums this decade, yet their mainstream success is almost exclusively in The New '10s.
• The Black Eyed Peas: They scored their first hit in 2003, but finished the decade off with what is arguably its most successful song in "I Gotta Feeling".
  • Notable hits: "Where is the Love?", "Hey Mama", "Let's Get it Started", "Don't Phunk With My Heart", "My Humps", "Pump It", "Boom Boom Pow", "I Gotta Feeling", "Meet Me Halfway"
• Carsie Blanton
• Blaze Ya Dead Homie
• James Blunt: First came to fame in 2004 with "You're Beautiful".
  • Notable hit: "You're Beautiful"
• Blood Red Throne: A Death Metal band from Norway who released their first record in 2001, gradually developing a cult following over the course of the decade.
• Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
  • Notable hit: "I Tried"
• Boondox
• Bowling for Soup: Formed in the late 1990's, but their popularity peaked in 2003-2005 with the Grammy nomination of "Girl All the Bad Guys Want" and the release of "1985."
  • Notable hits: "Girl All the Bad Guys Want", "1985", "Almost"
• Michelle Branch
  • Notable hits: "Everywhere", "All You Wanted", "Are You Happy Now?"
• Breaking Benjamin
  • Notable hits: "So Cold", "The Diary of Jane", "Breath", "I Will Not Bow"
• Bring Me the Horizon
• Broke NCYDE
• Brotha Lynch Hung
• Bobby Brown
• Chris Brown: This young singer's career exploded in 2005 with the hit "Run It!".
  • Notable hits: "Run It!", "Kiss Kiss", "With You", "Forever"
• Michael Bublé: Canadian singer who became a successful crooner well after the traditional pop genre died out.
• Buckethead: He's been around since 1988 but shot to international fame in the 00's thanks to his stint in Guns N' Roses and the inclusion of his song "Jordan" in Guitar Hero II.
• Bullet for My Valentine: Welsh heavy metal band who became popular around the end of the decade.
  • Notable hit: "Tears Don't Fall"
• Mutya Buena
• Alexandra Burke: The winner of The X Factor in 2008.
• Busta Rhymes
• Armin Van Buuren: Released his first artist album, Shivers, in 2003.
• David Byrne
• Cage
• The Calling
• Colbie Caillat: Her song "Bubbly" became a surprise hit in late 2007, and she has had a few successful hits ever since.
  • Notable hit: "Bubbly"
• Captain Murphy
• Mariah Carey: Her career had suffered a noticeable decline since the late 1990's. But she returned to the spotlight in 2005 and managed several hits in this decade.
  • Notable hits: "We Belong Together", "Shake It Off", "Don't Forget About Us", "Touch My Body"
• Cascada: German dance group usually mistaken for a female singer. Had a big trance hit in 2006 with "Everytime We Touch" before going the electro-pop route with 2009's "Evacuate the Dancefloor."
  • Notable hits: "Everytime We Touch", "Evacuate the Dancefloor"
• Wendy Carlos
• Carnifex
• Caroline
• Cattle Decapitation
• Cheryl: Breakout member of Girls Aloud who released her debut solo record in 2009.
• Chickenfoot: Rock super-group fronted by Sammy Hagar.
• Chief Keef
• Children of Bodom
• Chthonic
• Gabriella Cilmi
• Kelly Clarkson: The very first winner of American Idol, she ruled the charts for most of the decade.
  • Notable hits: "A Moment Like This", "Miss Independent", "Breakaway", "Since U Been Gone", "Behind These Hazel Eyes", "Because of You", "Walk Away", "My Life Would Suck Without You", "Already Gone"
• Clazziquai Project
• cLOUDDEAD
• Joe Cocker
• Coheed and Cambria: Each album from this pop-punk-influenced Progressive Metal band follows a single concept, adapted into a comic series called "The Armoury Wars". They released their debut in 2002 and continue to go strong today.
• Leonard Cohen
• Cobra Starship: A punk-pop band formed in 2006 that contributed (fittingly) to the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack, but didn't have their first major hit ("Good Girls Go Bad") until 2009.
  • Notable hit: "Good Girls Go Bad"
• Cold187um
• Coldplay: Arguably the most successful rock band of the new century. Became household names after their song "Clocks" won the "Record of the Year" Grammy.
  • 2000 - Parachutes
  • 2002 - A Rush of Blood to the Head
  • Notable hits: "Yellow", "Clocks", "The Scientist", "Speed of Sound", "Fix You", "Viva la Vida"
• Cormorant: Genre-Busting independent Progressive Metal band.
• The Corrs: A band of siblings formed in The '90s, they achieved more mainstream success at the very beginning of the decade.
  • Notable hit: "Breathless"
• Ferry Corsten
• Creed: A heavily criticized rock band who scored four big hits from 2000 to 2002.
  • Notable hits: "Higher", "With Arms Wide Open", "My Sacrifice", "One Last Breath"
  • Alter Bridge: Scott Stapp was replaced by new singer Myles Kennedy. They have significantly better reception than Creed though nowhere near as much success.
    • Notable hits: "Open Your Eyes", "Rise Today"
• Melanie C
• Chimaira: Cleveland-based Metalcore band who made their debut in 2001.
• Ciara
• Crosby, Stills, Nash (And Young)
• Crazy Frog: First music video in mid-2004.
• The Crystalline Effect
• Cypress Hill
• Miley Cyrus: The daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus became a superstar through Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana," and she became a pop star on her own right.
• D
• Daft Punk
  • 2001 - Discovery
• The Darkness: A British band who helped spark a glam-rock revival in the middle of the decade. While they were quite big at home, they are best known in the States almost exclusively for their 2004 falsetto-ridden hit "I Believe In A Thing Called Love."
• Dark Lotus
• Dashboard Confessional
• Daughtry
• Dayton Family
• Deadlock: A German Melodic Death Metal band that started in the 2000's. They generally have vegan lyrics with a Clean vocalist and a harsh vocalist.
• Dead By April: Sweden-based band who became popular in 2009, known for their unusual blend of Pop and Melodic Death Metal.
• Death Cab for Cutie: Formed in '97, but most popular in the 2000's.
• Death From Above 1979
• Decapitated
• The Decemberists: Formed in 2000 and had a cult following throughout the entire decade, but never became big until 2011.
• Defeated Sanity
• Delain
• Del Tha Funkee Homosapien
• Demons & Wizards
• Despised Icon
• dEUS
  • 2005 - Pocket Revolution
• Device
• Devotchka
• Dice
• Die Antwoord
• Dir en grey: Japanese post-Visual Kei experimental metal/rock band, active since 1997, but started gaining international recognition in late 1999/early 2000.
• Dillon Dixon Band
• Disturbed: Nu-metal band from Chicago with a handful of major rock hits from three albums. Later shifted into a heavier Alternative Metal sound.
• Music/DJ Quik
• DMX
• Doctor Steel
• Doe Maar''
• Siobhan Donaghy
• DragonForce: A power-metal band with a dedicated fan following. In 2007, they gained mainstream exposure when their song "Through The Fire And Flames" was featured on Guitar Hero III.
• Drake: Canadian rapper who started releasing mix-tapes in 2006 and got his first Top 40 hit in 2009, although the bulk of his success took place in the next decade.
• Dr. Dre
• Dropkick Murphys
• Drowning Pool: A metal band who has scored many rock radio hits with three lead singers. Despite their success, they are primarily remembered for their first hit "Bodies."
• Bob Dylan: Started in the 1960's, still going strong in this decade.
  • 2009 - Christmas in the Heart
• Hilary Duff: American singer who used her starring role on the hit TV show Lizzie McGuire to propel herself to pop success.
• Editors
• Electric Six
• Eagles of Death Metal: A rock band fronted by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Ironically, they are neither an Eagles tribute band or a death metal group.
• Ego Likeness
• Eminem: White rapper who became the best selling artist of both the 2000's and his entire genre.
  • The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
  • The Eminem Show (2002)
• Ensiferum
• Epica
• EPMD
• Esham
• E.S. Posthumus
• Evanescence: The most successful female-fronted rock band this decade.
  • Fallen (2003)
• Evile
• Jade Ewen
• exist†trace: Japanese Visual Kei metal band, formed in 2003. Well-known for its all-female line-up, though no one will notice right away due to their androgynous looks.
• The Exploding Hearts
  • 2003 - Guitar Romantic
• Explosions In The Sky
• FallingUp
• The Fall of Troy
• Fallujah
• Fall Out Boy: Pop-punk band who were really big in the latter half of the decade. Surprisingly, their most recognizable member is their bassist and not their lead singer.
• Feist: Canadian singer who sings with indie group Broken Social Scene before having a surprise top 10 hit in 2007 with "1234".
• Fields Of The Nephilim
• The Fireman: Released their comeback album in 2008.
  • 2008 - Electric Arguments
• Fireaxe
  • 2003 - Food for the Gods
• Fleshgod Apocalypse: A Technical Death Metal band from Italy that incorporates Symphonic Elements to their music.
• FlamingLips: Psychedelic rock group who have been together since The '80s but found enormous commercial success in this decade.
  • 2002 - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
• Flobots: Rap-rock band whose 2008 song "Handlebars" cracked the top 40 that summer.
• Florence + the Machine: Indie-rock group fronted by redhead Florence Welch. They formed in 2007 yet never became popular in America until 2010.
• Flo Rida: This rapper burst onto the scene with "Low" (which was the biggest song of 2008) and survived into the 2010s.
• Flyleaf: Female-fronted rock band somewhere between Evanescence and Paramore although far less successful than either group. Their 2008 song "All Around Me" just made it into the US Top 40.
• Foo Fighters: Rock band fronted by ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. While they first became popular in the '90s (and some of their best known songs comes from that period), they had more success in the new decade.
• Forgive Durden
  • 2008 - Razia's Shadow
• Fort Minor^note See also Linkin Park: The hip-hop-oriented Solo Side Project of Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda. Released one album in 2005 and went on an indefinite hiatus afterwards.
  • The Rising Tied (2005)
• Jamie Foxx
• Fozzy: Pro wrestler Chris Jericho's heavy metal band released their first album in 2000.
• Franz Ferdinand: Scottish rock band whose 2004 song "Take Me Out" was very popular on the American iTunes at its peak.
  • 2004 - Franz Ferdinand
• Frou Frou
• FT Island
• Fucked Up
• Nelly Furtado: Canadian singer who had a pair of hits in 2001 before fading into obscurity, but managed to make a comeback in 2006.
• Gackt: Active since 1995 as vocalist of the Visual Kei band Malice Mizer, left in 1999 to pursue a solo career, eventually gaining popularity in the early 2000's and beyond. Very popular for his active participation in various J-culture scenes.
• Galneryus
• Gama Bomb
• The Game: Popular rapper who had many hits in the middle of the decade.
• Gang Starr: Disbanded in 2003.
• The Gazette: Japanese Visual Kei metal outfit, formed in 2002 and widely considered as contemporaries of Dir en grey. Currently one of the biggest names in Asian metal, for fairly obvious reasons.
• Geto Boys
• Girls Aloud: The co-winners of "Popstars: The Rivals" who went on to become the biggest British Girl Group of the decade.
• Girls' Generation: South Korean girl group that formed in 2007, consisting of nine Idol Singers. Considered the Distaff Counterpart of label-mates Super Junior
• Giulietta: Scored her first dance chart hit with "Dirty House Music" in 2008, although she's had more success in The New '10s.
• Glee
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Released Post-Rock's most defining work at the beginning of the decade.
  • 2000 - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
• Goldfrapp
• Selena Gomez: Although her popularity peaked in the 2010s, she first made a name for herself through Disney Channel in the later years of the decade.
• Delta Goodrem
• Gorillaz: Cartoon band formed by Damon Albarn of Blur.
  • 2001 - Gorillaz
  • 2004 - Demon Days
• Gojira: French Technical Death Metal that sounds like Meshuggah and Lamb of God turned Up to Eleven.
• Gogol Bordello
• Die Goldenen Zitronen
• Gravediggaz
• Green Day: Began in the 1990s; their popularity had begun to fade at the turn of the century, considering their 2000 release Warning was their most drastic style change and their biggest commercial failure. The release of politically-heavy American Idiot in 2004 brought them back to the forefront.
  • 2004 - American Idiot
  • 2009 - 21st Century Breakdown
• Grizzly Bear
• Hardline: Started in The '90s, sounded like The '80s, but they released most of their material in this decade
• Calvin Harris: Although his international success was almost exclusively The New '10s, he first burst onto the UK music scene in 2007.
• George Harrison: Died in 2001. His final album, Brainwashed, was released in 2002, completed by his son Dhani and Traveling Wilburys bandmate Jeff Lynne.
• PJ Harvey
  • 2000 - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
  • 2004 - Uh Huh Her
  • 2007 - White Chalk
• Darren Hayes
• Heaven Shall Burn
• Hed PE
• Hero
• Missy Higgins
• HIM: Formed in 1991, but did not release their debut album until 1997. International recognition followed a couple of years later.
• The Historian Himself
• The Hives: Formed in the 90's but became internationally known after the Turn of the Millennium
• Hollywood Undead
• Hopsin
• Hot Hot Heat
• Hour of Penance
• Whitney Houston
• Vanessa Hudgens
• Hurt
• Ice Cube
• Enrique Iglesias: Had huge success in the early 2000's before fading away for the rest of the decade and returning in the 2010s.
• Icon for Hire: Active 2007-present. Released first EPs in 2007
• Ikue Asazaki
• Isis
• India.Arie
• Insane Clown Posse: Started in 1991, but increased their popularity in the 2000's.
• J Dilla - Continued releasing music until his death in 2006.
  • 2001 - Welcome 2 Detroit
  • 2006 - Donuts
• Michael Jackson: Continued his career up until his death in 2009.
  • 2001 - Invincible
• Miyavi
• Cosmo Jarvis
• Jay Rock
• Jay-Z: One of the most successful rappers of all time, this was easily his biggest decade.
• J Cole
• Jesu
• Jimmy Eat World: Moderately-popular emo-punk band who scored a surprise hit in 2002 before quickly fading away.
• The Jonas Brothers: The most successful teen heartthrobs of the decade (excluding artists whose popularity crossed over from 1999 or continued into 2010).
• Jojo
• Jumpsteady
• Kana/Moon Kana: Japanese Idol Singer known for her involvement in the Visual Kei and Lolita subcultures.
• Kaya
• Kesha: Although her success was mostly in the 2010's, her breakthrough hit took of right at the end of the decade, plus she had an Early-Bird Cameo on a Flo Rida hit before.
• Alicia Keys: The big female R&B phenomenon known for her hit ballads.
• Killswitch Engage
• The Killers: Las Vegas rock band with new wave and indie influences. They became a big new band of the mid to late 2000's, and unlike Fall Out Boy, successfully retained their core rock audience.
• Kings of Leon: Rock band who had a brief wave of super-stardom the late 2000's.
• KISS
  • Sonic Boom (2009)
• Kool Keith
• Kool Moe Dee
• Korpiklaani
• KRS-One
• LMFAO: Although their real breakthrough did not come until 2011, they did get first noticed in 2009.
• Lacuna Coil
• Lady Antebellum
• Lady Gaga: Unquestionably the biggest new star of 2009, quickly becoming the most popular star of the early 2010s before she started to fade away.
• Ladytron: one of the first bands that started the synthpop-revival
• Kendrick Lamar: One of rap's most promising young artists, and one of the very few mainstream rappers respected by hip hop fans. Although he started his career in the 2000's, he never got a mainstream audience until 2012.
• Lamb of God: The leaders of modern-day metal music, who followed in Pantera's footsteps by taking Groove Metal to the next level.
• Avril Lavigne: Canadian pop-punk songstress whose rise to stardom in 2002 led to the wiping out of the bubblegum-pop wave of music dominant at the time.
• Ricki Lee
• Tendon Levey: A reclusive outsider/avant-pop artist who recorded 70 albums between 2007 and 2011.
• Leona Lewis: R&B singer who won the British X Factor in 2006 and became the show's biggest success story internationally up until 2012.
• The Libertines
• Lich King
• Life Never Lost
• Lightning Bolt. Debuted in 1999, released four albums during this decade.
• Lil B
• Lil Jon
• Lil Kim
• Lil Wayne: A popular rapper from New Orleans who spent most of the decade as a cult act before ascending super-stardom in 2008.
• Linkin Park^note See also Fort Minor: Started in 1996, but achieved mainstream popularity in 2000, they were quite possibly the biggest rock band of the decade, especially during the early part of it.
  • 2000 - Hybrid Theory
  • 2003 - Meteora
  • 2007 - Minutes to Midnight
• LL Cool J
• Lindsay Lohan
• Jennifer Lopez: Started at the very end of The '90s, she became a prominent figure during the early part of this decade.
• Lordi
• Lucifer Luscious Violenoue
• Arjen Anthony Lucassen
  • 2000/2004/2008 - Ayreon (released another four records in this eight part series, which started in 1995)
• Ludacris
• John McLaughlin
• Porcupine Tree: Started in the 1990's, but didn't become known until their shift to Progressive Metal in 2002.
• Pixie Lott
• Demi Lovato: Actress/singer who first burst onto the scene in the summer of 2008.
• Lupe Fiasco: A rapper who had one big hit, quickly faded away, and made a comeback in the 2010's.
• Macklemore: Released his debut album The Language of My World in 2005, though he spent the entire decade as a completely unknown underground rapper before ascending to stardom in 2012.
• Madonna
  • 2000 - Music
  • 2003 - American Life
  • 2005 - Confessions on a Dance Floor
• M.I.A.
  • 2005 - Arular
  • 2007 - Kala
• Mac Miller
• Matchbox Twenty: Although never as popular as in the 90's, Rob Thomas and his friends continued to have success in the new decade.
• Mastodon
• Machinae Supremacy
• Malice Mizer: Continued until their break-up in 2001.
• Mammoth City Messengers
• Marianas Trench released their first album in 2006, but they were just as successful (if not more so) in the next decade.
• Marilyn Manson
  • 2000 - Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)
• The Mars Volta
• Maroon5: A funk-rock band whose surprise pop success led to them adapting an increasingly commercial sound. Frontman Adam Levine gained further recognition the next decade with The Voice and his group re-establishing itself as a core pop act.
• Massacration
• Master P
• Jessica Mauboy
• Maxïmo Park
• Brian May
• Imelda May launched her recording career in 2003.
• Paul McCartney
• Stephanie Mcintosh
• Mc Fly
• MC Frontalot
• Nellie McKay: Released her first album in 2004.
• Nephew: Active since 1996, but released their first album in 2000.
• Mega Colossus: Formed 2005, first album 2008.
• The Megas
• Meek Mill
• Kylie Minogue
• Melt-Banana
• Merzbow: Remains active as an Industrial/noise artist ever since his successful breakthrough into the international Electronic Music scene in The '80s.
• Jeremy Messersmith
• Mew: Released their first album in 1997.
• MGMT
  • Oracular Spectacular (2008)
• MF DOOM
  • Madvillainy (2004) [As Madvillain, with Madlib]
• George Michael
  • Patience (2004)
• The Microphones
  • The Glow Pt. 2 (2001)
• Nicki Minaj: First started recording music in the 2000's but didn't took off until 2010.
• Mis Teeq
• Missy Elliott
• Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer
• Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire
• Janelle Monáe: Although best remembered for her verse on fun.'s "We Are Young," she first started her career in the 2000's.
• Jason Mraz: Pop-rock singer who spent most of the decade as a one-hit wonder before a surprise comeback hit brought him his best success ever.
• Muse: British rock group who became a hugely successful act in the 2000's and eventually became stars across the pond as well.
• Mudvayne
• Municipal Waste
• Mandy Moore
• Modest Mouse
  • 2007 - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
• My Chemical Romance: One of the biggest successes of the emo-punk explosion of the late 2000's.
  • 2006 - The Black Parade
• Myzery
• Natas
• Natasja
• Necro
• Nelly
• Joanna Newsom
• Ne-Yo scored his first hit in 2006 and remained a mainstay on pop and R&B radio ever since.
• Nickelback: Popular yet widely disliked Hard Rock band who made it big in the early 2000's, later becoming the most consistent rock crossover act on radio.
• Nine Inch Nails: Fell off the radar after lukewarm reception to The Fragile at the end of The '90s, but returned halfway through the decade with With Teeth and went on to continued success.
  • 2007 - Year Zero
• NOW That's What I Call Music! released albums throughout the 2000's.
• *NSYNC: Formed in 1995, popularity lasting through 2003, battling the Backstreet Boys for boy-band domination. Launched Justin Timberlake's career.
• Nujabes
• Sinéad O'Connor
• Oceano
• OFWGKTA
• Owl City: Electronic music producer who had one of 2009's most surprising hits in "Fireflies," before disappearing faster than he came. A brief comeback in 2012 didn't help him very much.
• Opeth
• Papa Roach: While formed in the previous decade, this is where they achieved success.
• Katy Perry: Former Christian-rock singer whose unexpected 2008 hit "I Kissed A Girl" led her to becoming the biggest female pop star of the 2010's.
• P!nk: Popular female singer/songwriter who took off in 2000, faded away in 2003, and came back big time in 2007.
• Pink Floyd: Reunited briefly in 2005 for Live 8. Syd Barrett died in 2006, and Richard Wright died in 2008.
• Pitbull: Cuban-American rapper whose moderately successful career throughout the 2000's paid off when "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" shot him to super-stardom.
• Joel Plaskett
• Poets of the Fall: Finnish Alternative Rockers with an especial knack for Surprisingly Good English, Breakaway Pop Hits and winning at Genre Roulette. Otherwise notable for their videogame soundtrack contributions, particularly as the fictional personas from the Alan Wake games, Heavy Mithril band Old Gods of Asgard.
• The Polyphonic Spree
• The Postal Service: The band only ever released one album, in 2003.
• Professor Elemental
• The Protomen
• Protest the Hero
• Psycho le Cému: Japanese Visual Kei group born in 1999 that uses Cosplay as their main aesthetics and famous during this decade even outside Japan.
• Psychopathic Rydas
• Pussycat Dolls: The most successful American girl group of the latter half of the decade.
• Queen Adreena
• Queen Latifah
• Queens of the Stone Age: Rock band whose affiliations to Foo Fighters led to their own career taking off.
  • 2002 - Songs for the Deaf
• Radiohead: Although still more associated with the 1990's, Radiohead continued to have good success and huge critical acclaim.
  • 2000 - Kid A
  • 2001 - Amnesiac
  • 2003 - Hail to the Thief
  • 2007 - In Rainbows
• Gerry Rafferty
• Bonnie Raitt
• Joey Ramone
  • Don't Worry About Me (2002)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers: One of the most popular rock groups of the 1990's continued to have huge success in the 2000's.
  • 2002 - By the Way
  • 2006 - Stadium Arcadium
• Relient K
• R.E.M.: After Bill Berry's departure in 1997, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, and Mike Mills kept going as a three-man ensemble.
• The Residents
• Rihanna: Barbadian R&B singer who rose to super-stardom in 2005 and racked up so many hits in so little time.
• Rilo Kiley: Formed in 1998, but released their debut in 2001.
• The Rippingtons
• Rise Against
• Robyn
• ROC
• The Rolling Stones: Had some of their biggest tours in this decade.
  • 2005 - A Bigger Bang
• Rick Ross: A very popular Miami-based rapper. He's known for his big size and beard as much as for his rapping.
• Kelly Rowland: Former member of the band Destiny's Child, she achieved her first successful single, "Dilemma" with Nelly in 2002.
• Sabaton: Formed in 1999, but broke out with the release of Primo Victoria in 2005. Their Signature Song "Ghost Division" came out on their fourth album, The Art of War, released 2008.
• Santana: Continued to remain active during this decade. Shaman, listed below, is his most successful record of the new millennium.
  • 2002 - Shaman
• The Saturdays
• Savatage
  • 2001 - Poets and Madmen
• Scarface
• Scar Symmetry
• Scars On Broadway
• Markus Schulz: He began DJing in 1990, but found stronger international success in this decade, releasing his first artist album, Without You Near, in 2005.
• Schwarz Stein
• Scissor Sisters
• The Script: They had a big hit in 2008 with "Breakeven" (although the song's American peak occurred early in the next decade).
• Guy Sebastian
• Seether: South African Post-Grunge band respected by rock fans, but savaged by critics. Some of their songs have a metal tinge to them.
• Shakira: Colombian singer whose international popularity was unusually disproportionate to her American popularity. Otherwise, she became the face of Latin music in the new millennium.
  • 2006 - Hips Don't Lie
• Ravi Shankar
• She & Him
• Shiina Ringo
  • Shōso Strip
  • Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana
• Akiko Shikata: Started her musical career in 2001 with the mini-album Midori No Mori De Nemuru Tori.
• SHINee
• Showbread
• Shiv-r
• Sia: Australian singer who had a cult following in the 2000's despite no chart success until the next decade.
• Sikth
• Silverchair
• Simple Minds: Started in 1977 and peaked in the '80s. Still popular in Europe.
• Simple Plan: Canadian pop-punk band who became one of the most frequent visitors below the border.
• Ashlee Simpson: Broke out of sister Jessica's shadow in 2004 only to see a disastrous Saturday Night Live performance kill her career overnight.
• Sirenia
• Skelteria
• Skindred
• Slipknot: One of the most successful metal bands ever, who have become the genre's public face and serve as a Gateway Series to many.
• Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
• Will Smith's final album Lost and Found (which produced the Top 10 hit "Switch") was released in 2005.
• Smoking Popes
• Snoop Dogg: Popular rapper of the 1990's who continued to thrive in the 2000's.
• Sonata Arctica
• Soulwax
• St Germain
• Schnuffel
  • 2000 - Tourist
• Suicide Silence
• Sum 41: Signed to Island Records in 1999, but released their first EP in 2000. They exploded into popularity in 2001 with their debut album All Killer No Filler, and gained even more notoriety when the lead singer Deryck Whibley married Avril Lavigne in 2005.
• Trey Songz: R&B singer whose popularity peaked in 2010, but had his fair share of success in the previous decade.
• Soulja Boy: Teenage rapper whose song "Crank That" spawned a national dance craze and made him one of the first artists to gain popularity through the Internet.
• Sound Horizon
• Space
• Sparks: An art pop duo who were one-hit wonders during the Glam Rock period of the 1970's, but had a major critical renaissance during the beginning of the century.
  • 2002 - Lil' Beethoven
• Britney Spears: One of the most successful female singers of the 2000's and unquestionably the most famous celebrity-wise.
• Regina Spektor: A quirky Russian-American singer-songwriter, known for her interesting lyrics. Got her first "major" hit with "Fidelity" in 2006.
  • 2004 - Soviet Kitsch
• The Stagehands
  • 2009 - The Silent City
• Ringo Starr
• Sufjan Stevens
• Joss Stone
• Stone Temple Pilots: Founded in the late 80s and achieved mainstream success in the early-to-mid 90s, they'd separated in 2002 before reuniting in 2008.
• The Strokes
  • 2001 - Is This It
• Sugababes
• Sugar Ray had their biggest hits in the '90s, but they released a few albums in this decade.
• The Sugarhill Gang
• Tammin Sursok
• Taylor Swift: Female country singer who achieved a level of success that nobody in her genre has had since Garth Brooks, and super-stardom usually reserved only for pop musicians.
• System Divide
• System of a Down: First album came out in 1998, but 2001's Toxicity skyrocketed them to popularity. Their 2005 albums Mezmerize/Hypnotize both debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200.
• Them Crooked Vultures
• Thrice
• T-Pain: Rapper/R&B singer who became the public face of the Auto-Tune movement of the late 2000's.
• Taking Back Sunday
• Tara Ella
• t.A.T.u.
• Tech N9ne
• Teddy Geiger
• Tegan & Sara
• Rob Thomas — Matchbox Twenty's front-man started the decade with an enormously successful hit single with Santana and later a few pop hits of his own.
• Tech N9ne
• Vienna Teng
• Tenacious D
• Teräsbetoni
• Three Days Grace
• Three Six Mafia
• Justin Timberlake: Former **NSYNC member. Released first solo album in 2002 and became the biggest boy-band breakout star since Michael Jackson.
• Christopher Tin
  • 2009 - Calling All Dawns
• Tonedeff
• Tool - Tied with Dream Theater as the most popular band in Progressive Metal; they started in the 1990's, but released Lateralus in 2001.
• Too $hort
• Torae
• Touhou
  • ZUN's Music Collection: The first album, Dolls in Pseudo-Paradise, released in 2002, and the last of the decade, Magical Astronomy, released in 2009.
• Trans-Siberian Orchestra
  • 2000 - Beethoven's Last Night
• Tristania
• Trivium
• KT Tunstall: Released her first album Eye to the Telescope in 2004, released 2 other albums in 2006 and 2007
• TV on the Radio
  • 2006 - Return to Cookie Mountain
• Twiztid: Started in 1997, but increased their popularity during the 2000's.
• Devin Townsend
• Uffie
• UGK
• Uncle Bonsai: Reunited for the first time since '89.
• Carrie Underwood: American Idol winner who rivals Kelly Clarkson as the show's most successful alumni.
• Urban Dance Squad: Briefly reunited in 2006.
• Usher: R&B singer who started the decade shedding his teen idol image, had an exceptionally massive year in 2004 (having the two biggest songs of the year) and launched the career of Justin Bieber at the very end of the decade.
• Utada Hikaru: Voted by The Japan Times as the most influential Japanese artist of the decade. Her second album Distance was the best-selling Japanese album of the 21st century.
  • Distance (2001)
  • Deep River (2002)
  • Exodus (2004)
  • Ultra Blue (2006)
  • Heart Station (2008)
• Vektor: Progressive Thrash Metal band that released their first album at the end of the decade.
• Vernian Process
• The Veronicas
• Versailles: Neoclassical metal band formed in 2007 by five established Visual Kei artists, best known for invoking Viewer Gender Confusion among metal fans.
• The Vines
• Andrew W.K.: Rock singer famous for his party anthem "Party Hard" and infamous for his work with Cartoon Network.
• Rufus Wainwright: Started in 1998, got more popular during the 2000's thanks to ''Film/{{Shrek'}}'.
• Tom Waits
  • Alice (2002)
  • Blood Money (2002)
  • Real Gone (2004)
  • Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (2006)
• Waka Locka Flame
• Kanon Wakeshima: Female Visual Kei/GothLoli Idol Singer who started in 2008, her first two albums, overall sound and image courtesy of Mana.
• Stan Walker
• Watashi No Koko: Started in 2007 under the name Kesson Shoujo, changed names in 2009.
• Muddy Waters
  • 2001 - The Anthology 1947-1972 ^note It is a double album with the most essential recordings this blues legend made between 1947 and 1972
• Warbringer
• Chris Webby
• Nikki Webster
• Weezer: Formed in the mid-90's, reunited in 2000. This rebirth sky-rocketed their popularity and effectively proved that their former Old Shame, the Pinkerton album, was simply ahead of its time.
• Kanye West: One of the most successful rappers of the 2000's, he first made his name as a producer. His career nearly ended in the last few months of 2009.
• Westlife
• The White Stripes: Arguably the most influential and critically-acclaimed rock band of the 2000's.
  • 2001 - White Blood Cells
  • 2003 - Elephant
• The Wiggles
• Gin Wigmore
• Wilco
  • 2002 - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
• Wild Beasts
• Brian Wilson
  • 2004 - Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE
• Hank Williams
  • 2005 - Turn Back the Years: The Essential Hank Williams Collection
• Amy Winehouse: R&B singer whose global success kicked off a third British invasion stateside and led to a rise in female performers on both sides of the Atlantic, such as Adele and Lady Gaga. She sadly passed away in 2011 after releasing just two albums in her lifetime.
  • 2003 - Frank (album)
  • 2006 - Back to Black
• Wintersun
• Patrick Wolf
• Wolfmother
• Wonder Girls
• Woven Hand
• "Weird Al" Yankovic
  • Poodle Hat (2003)
  • Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)
• Xzibit
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Yeasayer
• Yousei Teikoku: Formed in the late 1990's and became popular in the Anime scene since the early 2000's. Fronted by voice actress Yui Itsuki.
• John Zorn
• ZZ Ward

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