What were the biggest hits when iTunes launched?

In between the release of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” and the debut of the iTunes store, she released another song, “Fighter.” Although the latter song performed well in sales and on the charts, “Beautiful” still remained incredibly popular throughout 2003, eventually peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning Grammy nominations for both Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, winning the later.

That’s right, 2003 featured two hit songs named “Beautiful.” While Aguilera’s was a pop tune, the other was a rap track by Snoop Dogg that featured Pharrell and Uncle Charlie Wilson. In addition to being a featured vocalist, Pharrell also co-produced and co-wrote the song with his counterpart from The Neptunes, Chad Hugo. “Beautiful” ended up being a sleeper hit, as it reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and even earned a Producer of the Year Grammy, in addition to two nominations for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. 

Not only was “Beer for My Horses” the highest-charting song of Toby Keith’s career at the time it was released, but it made Willie Nelson, then 70, the oldest artist to top the country charts. The track, from Keith’s seventh studio album, “Unleashed,” was also Willie’s first No. 1 since 1989, and was certified platinum by the RIAA.

“Bring Me to Life” was released on April 22, 2003 and was an instant hit among rock music fans. In fact, the nu-metal/rap-rock track was so popular that it had crossover appeal to fans of other genres as well and was praised for the dueling vocals of lead singer Amy Lee and guest musician Paul McCoy of 12 Stones. Although it failed to win Best Rock Song at the 2004 Grammys, “Bring Me to Life” earned Evanescence a win for Best Hard Rock Performance.

“Clocks” was already popular when the iTunes Store opened, as it was released as a single a month prior and on Coldplay’s incredibly successful second album, “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” in August 2002. However, nobody knew the piano-dominated song would eventually become one of the British band’s most iconic songs. “Clocks” went on to top the alternative charts, become gold-certified and win Record of the Year at the 2004 Grammys.

Although “Rock Your Body” was released a few weeks before the iTunes Store launched, Justin Timberlake was still getting an incredible amount of attention for his previous single, “Cry Me a River.” The latter song was released at the end of 2002, but its popularity carried through well into the next year with “Cry Me a River” eventually reaching No. 3 on the Hot 100 and earning Timberlake a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

2003 was a busy year for The Neptunes. In addition to writing and producing Snoop Dogg’s “Beautiful,” the duo also co-wrote and co-produced Jay-Z’s “Excuse Me Miss,” the third single from “The Blueprint 2: The Gift and The Curse.” Like “Beautiful,” “Excuse Me Miss” also featured Pharrell on vocals and earned a Best Rap Song nod.

Jamaican rapper Sean Paul spent most of 2003 telling folks to “shake that thing” in his hit single “Get Busy” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and eventually ranked No. 50 among all charting songs between 2000 and 2009. To date, “Get Busy” is still one of Sean Paul’s most successful singles.

“I know I can / Be what I wanna be / If I work hard at it / I'll be where I wanna be.” Although it has been 15 years since the release of “I Can” by Nas, few people can forget these lyrics even if the remainder of the song remains a blank. Unlike the rest of Nas’ “God’s Son” album, this track did not feature a parental advisory when released as a single because it was aimed at kids. However, adults also seemed to enjoy “I Can” plenty, as the song hit No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and still remains Nas’ highest charting single as a lead artist.

Pop-punk princess Avril Lavigne followed up her first two hits, “Complicated” and “Sk8er Boi,” with the surprisingly slow and soulful song “I’m with You.” Despite barely sounding like the Avril people were still getting to know, the song rocketed to the top of the charts, reached platinum status and earned two Grammy nominations.

For those wondering: R. Kelly did, in fact, record a song called “Ignition,” but the album on which it was set to appear on was leaked prior to its release, so the rapper decided to scrap the record and instead put together a different album featuring new material and remixes. The end of “Ignition” eventually became the intro to “Ignition (Remix)” which eventually became one of R. Kelly’s most popular and recognizable songs.

For most of 2003, it was impossible to avoid hearing 50 Cent’s “In da Club” especially in the club. When the iTunes Store launched, this track was the No. 1 song on Billboard’s Hot 100, a spot it held for nine weeks. At the 2004 Grammys, “In da Club” received nominations for both Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song, but failed to cash in on either.

Although it was actually released six months prior to the opening of the iTunes store, Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” was still one of the most popular downloads once the shop opened. Thanks to its inclusion in the film “8 Mile” (and also because it’s just a really good song), “Lose Yourself” ruled all of 2003 and eventually won Grammys for both Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song as well as an Oscar for Best Original Song.

Just three weeks before the iTunes store opened, Lil’ Kim released the soon-to-be incredibly popular hip-hop track “Magic Stick,” the second single from her third studio album, “La Bella Mafia.” Although a music video was never released for the platinum-certified song, it was wildly successful in the charts, reaching No. 2 on the Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip Hop songs charts and No. 1 for both Hot Rap Songs and Radio Songs.

Although Aaliyah tragically perished in an August 2001 plane crash, a posthumous compilation album, “I Care 4 U,” was gifted to the world the following year. The most popular song on the late artist’s final album was coincidentally called “Miss You,” and its video featured tributes to Aaliyah from various artists. Interestingly, the song was actually written by Ginuwine, but Aaliyah asked to re-record and release it, even though it didn’t make it onto her self-titled third album.

Although “Picture” was written and original recorded as a duet featuring Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow on the former’s album “Cocky,” Atlantic was unable to get the rights to the song as a single from Crow’s record label, so Rock re-recorded it with alt-country singer Allison Moorer. Both versions ended up being commercial successes with the single selling nearly a million copies.

“Seven Nation Army” came out 15 years ago, yet everyone still recognizes (and gets excited for) the first few notes every time it comes on in a car, bar, party, sporting event or anywhere else it plays. The song was released as the lead single from The White Stripes’ fourth studio album, “Elephant,” and eventually won Best Rock Song at the 46th Annual Grammys.

Linkin Park released the first single off of their second studio album, “Meteora,” on March 17, 2003, and it was already abundantly clear that the rock band was destined for greatness. “Somewhere I Belong” topped both the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts and, along with tracks like “Faint,” “Numb,” and “Breaking the Habit,” it helped “Meteora” sell 27 million copies worldwide and become the most successful album in the history of the Alternative Songs chart. RIP Chester.

For the six months prior to the debut of the iTunes Store, no rock song was more popular than “When I’m Gone” by 3 Doors Down. It didn’t match the success of the band’s debut single, “Kryptonite,” but came pretty close as it reached gold status and had not one, but two separate music videos. The more memorable version was set on the USS George Washington and featured a plethora of military personnel. 

John Mayer matched the success of his breakout hit, “No Such Thing,” with an equally popular song in early 2003: “Your Body is a Wonderland.” As most music fans will recall, although the song was ubiquitous, it was also very divisive. “Your Body is a Wonderland” won Mayer a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, but Blender magazine also named it No. 28 on the publication’s list of the 50 Worst Songs Ever.