Billboard Hot 100’s Top Songs of 2005: Nos. 100 to 1

The track’s Hot 100 high didn’t quite mirror its title, but it did rise to a still-impressive No. 19 in April 2005. Six Ludacris songs peaked on the chart that year, with all reaching the top 20, including three top 10s.

After Linkin Park’s original “Numb” hit No. 11 on the Hot 100 in 2004, “Numb/Encore” reached No. 20 in February 2005. The latter also topped the then-new Digital Song Sales chart for two weeks.

The single brought Legend to the Hot 100’s top 40 for the first time, reaching No. 24 in March 2005. It climbed to No. 4 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, becoming his first of seven top 10s.

The ballad rose to No. 19 on the Hot 100 in January 2005. It also hit No. 1 on Adult Pop Airplay.

The song became the actor and singer-songwriter’s first Hot 100 hit, reaching No. 16 in February 2005. In May 2008, he notched his first top 10, “Leavin’.” That song rose to No. 10 – as he bookended the top 10 as a writer: he co-penned Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love,” which was amid a four-week No. 1 run.

American Idol winners rank consecutively at Nos. 73, 72 and 71. Fantasia, the competition’s 2004 queen, took “Truth Is” to No. 21 on the Hot 100 in March 2005.

The anthem reached No. 18 on the Hot 100 in July 2005 and remains the group’s highest-charting hit. It’s also one of the band’s 14 No. 1s on Mainstream Rock Airplay and 12 leaders on Alternative Airplay. “To me, the challenge was always trying to craft a song that was simple in a way that people would connect to it emotionally,” Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl told Billboard in 2018. “Even just a melody … that’s a funny thing. A lyric is one thing, but there’s something that a melody can do … just the sound of a minor scale, or a major scale rising in a chorus. The notes will twist your heart. That’s the Rubik’s Cube, trying to find a melody and lyric will braid together and create four minutes of memory that you’ll have for the rest of your life.”

The track hit No. 15 on the Hot 100 in June 2005, marking one of the tandem’s six top 40 entries earned in 2003-06.

The smash, which hit No. 23 on the Hot 100 in September 2005, ran up a then-record 25 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart. As of 2025, while the song holds the fifth-longest domination – Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber, leads with 56 weeks on top in 2017-18 – “La Tortura” remains the longest-leading No. 1 by a woman artist.

The song became the band’s first of five Hot 100 top 10s, debuting at its No. 8 high in May 2005. It also paced Adult Alternative Airplay for nine weeks.

The collab between the hip-hop and country stars became the 10th of Nelly’s 14 career Hot 100 top 10s, reaching a No. 3 peak in December 2004. It’s the highest-charting of three top 10s for McGraw, who has collected 56 top 10s, including 26 No. 1s, on Hot Country Songs.

2005 represents Green Day’s most prolific period on the Hot 100, as the band notched its two career top 10s that year: this song (No. 6, that October, just after September ended) and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” still ahead on this countdown.

The virtual band’s hit rose to No. 14 on the Hot 100 in August 2005. It also ruled Alternative Airplay for eight weeks.

The track became the second of Frankie J’s two Hot 100 top 10s, and brought him to the tier as a lead artist, reaching No. 3 in April 2005. In 2003, he hit No. 7 as featured on Baby Bash’s “Suga Suga.” (“Damn, how time flies! 🤣” Frankie J recently captioned a throwback photo.)

The track became the most recent of Destiny’s Child’s 10 career Hot 100 top 10s, reaching No. 3 in February 2005.

Snoop Dogg scored the first of his three Hot 100 No. 1s with the song, and his lone chart-topper as a lead artist. It reigned for three weeks in December 2004 and remained on the list through April 2005.

On the June 11, 2005, Hot 100, “Pon De Replay” entered at No. 97, marking Rihanna’s first appearance on the chart. That July, it reached the top 10, peaking at No. 2, becoming her first of 32 career top 10s – the fifth-best total in the chart’s history. Billboard noted in print that week, “Reggae songstress makes her chart debut, getting strong airplay at various formats in major markets like New York, Boston and Philadelphia.”

The single hit No. 3 on the Hot 100 in September 2005, becoming one of Elliott’s 10 career top 10s tallied between 1997 and 2007.

The classic hit No. 6 on the Hot 100 and spent 46 weeks on the chart, tying previous single “Breakaway” for her longest stay. It also sparked Clarkson’s longest reign on the Pop Airplay chart: seven weeks at No. 1, beginning in April 2005. Her other commands: “Miss Independent” (six weeks, 2003); “Because of You” (four, 2005); and “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” (four, 2012).

While “‘We Belong Together’ became Carey’s first hit to top a year-end Hot 100 retrospective, she had logged six prior annual top 10s, as noted in the 2005 year-end Billboard issue. Her previous such lofty finishes: “One Sweet Day,” with Boyz II Men, No. 2, 1996; “Always Be My Baby,” No. 5, 1996; “Fantasy,” No. 7, 1995; “Hero,” No. 5, 1994; “Dreamlover,” No. 8, 1993; and “Vision of Love,” No. 6, 1990.

In Billboard’s interview with Carey that week, she was asked how she planned to follow her dominant 2005. “Just live life and keep growing creatively,” she said. “The more you survive, the more you’re able to not let the hurt turn into hate. I mean, there’ll always be some element of sadness at the core of who I am, because I’ve had a lot of difficulties and things to overcome. I think people tend to think I floated out of my mother’s womb in a sequin gown. The great thing is it’s not about topping this, it’s about living in the moment. I prayed to get through everything I got through, and I prayed for this record to be really good and really strong and for me to be proud of it, and God always answers my prayers. I’m just thankful.”