Pop Culture in Review for the Years 2000 to 2009

The decade from 2000 to 2009 was full of iconic pop stars, fashion statements, trends, technology, unforgettable movies and music, and so much more. In short, it was the period when pop culture was on peak. And undoubtedly, there will not be any era as unique and fun as the 2000s. Want to relive the previous decade? Read on!

Hollywood/Gossips

There are quite a lot of news and gossips related to Hollywood, and we have tried our best to gather the top ones. check them below:

Brad Pitt & Jennifer Aniston Got a Divorce

Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston was a very hot and popular couple in Hollywood. They were two of the biggest Hollywood stars who joined their fates and became one soul. However, hearts across the world broke when they both got a divorce in 2005 after Brad’s affair with Angelina Jolie.

American Idol was on Peak

Kelly Clarkson.jpg

Getting discovered as an artist or a singer was quite hard in 2002 when there was no social media and YouTube. The only big platform in the USA to discover raw talents was American Idol, which was first aired in June of 2002. The first season’s winner was Kelly Clarkson. Moreover, other amazing artists that were discovered through this platform include Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, and Adam Lambert.

Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift

At the 2009 VMAs, Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech to announce the day’s lottery numbers. It was kind of weird and funny at the same time.

Following are some more highlights of the decade:

  • Damon Lindelof and J.J. Abram won an Emmy for their movie Lost.
  • Tony Bennett, Suzanne Farrell, Julie Harris, Robert Redford, and Tina Turner received honorsduring the 28th Annual Kennedy Center Honors.
  • Michael Jackson was arrested for ten felonies and four misdemeanor charges in the child-molestation case.
  • Jude Law was caught cheating on Sienna Miller with their children’s nanny.
  • Clint Eastwood received the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director for Million Dollar Baby.
  • Miley Cyrus Rose to Fame as Hannah Montana in 2006.

Music

2000 to 2009 – these nine years, we saw a rise in rap songs, music, and pop culture. This era is considered the best when it comes to music and beats. Check out the major highlights of the decade:

Eminem Wins an Oscar

Eminem, the rap god, won an Academy Award in 2003 for Best Original Song with “Lose Yourself” from his movie ‘8 Mile’. However, he wasn’t there to receive it. But he gave a surprise to the audience for his absence at the award ceremony back then by performing on his winning song at the 2020 Academy Awards.

Lady Gaga Enters the Industry

With this unknown artist releasing her song ‘Just Dance’ in her first album “The Fame” in 2008, no one could have anticipated what was there to come. She quickly took the music industry by storm with her surprising VMA performance of “Paparazzi.” She ended the performance hanging, covered in fake blood.

Oops!… I Did It Again

Britney Spears released her second studio album on May 16,2000, namely “Oops!… I Did It Again.”

Lady Marmalade

Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa, and Pink gave us this wonderful song, “Lady Marmalade” in 2001.

Dangerously in Love

Beyoncé released her debut solo album, namely ‘Dangerously in Love’ on June 23 of 2003.

Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady”

Eminem is one of the most popular hip-hop artists starting from the early 2000s till now.He released a single called “The Real Slim Shady” on April 18, 2000, along with Dr. Dre. This song became the first one to reach number four on Billboard’s top 100,

Tragic Death of Aaliyah Dana Haughton

Aaliyah Dana Haughton, American Model, singer, and actress,died along with eight crew members when her plane crashed inthe Bahamas in August 2001. She was only 22 years old when she died and left her fans and music lovers shocked.

Following are some more highlights of the decade:

  • In da Club, from the album Get Rich or Die Tryin’, was released in January 2003. It topped at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100.
  • Crazy in Love by Beyonce ft. Jay-Z was released in 2003. It was the album’s lead single, which was the combination of contemporary, R&B, and pop love. Moreover, the song was a huge hit in the USAand got declared the Greatest Song of the 21st Century.
  • Aly& AJ Released Their Debut Album in 2006.
  • Taylor Swift released her first album in 2006.

Film

The 2000s saw a rise in film making and technology used, including cameras, sets, and much more. This was the decade in which the film industry flourished and produced some great movies.

“102 Dalmatians” was released

Released on November 22, 2000, this one is an American movie based on the Dalmatian dogs, which is filled with comedy, adventure, and action. It was produced by Walt Disney’s producer Edward S. Feldman.

“28 days” was released

28 Days, an American drama filmdirected by Betty Thomas, was released in 2000. It was written by Susannah Grant and produced by Jenno Topping. The film features the story of a New York Journalist played by Sandra Bullock. Everything bad happens when she ruins her sister’s wedding cake and crashes the bridal limousine.

Following are some more highlights of the decade:

  • Mission Impossible 2 was releasedon May 24,2000. The production budget for the movie was 125 million dollars.
  • Monster Inc., an animated film, was released on October 28, 2001. The movie jolted the box office under the banner of Disney, earning gross 577.4 million dollars. Although it won the academy award for the best original song, it lost it for the best-animated feature to Shrek.
  • The final part of Lord of the Ring, The Return of the King, was released in 2003. It was inspired by the third part of the novel and directed by Peter Jackson. When it was released, it broke all the records and became one of the top highest-grossing movies of the USA.
  • The Matrix Reloaded was released back in 2003 that had amazing action as well as humorous scenes.
  • Shrek 2 was released in 2004. It was directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon.
  • Spider-Man 2 was released in 2004. It was one of the best movies of all time.

Literature

Art and Literature have always been important in the 2000s. check out the important events happened between 2000 to 2009:

The Book Crossing was Launched

The practice of leaving your books that you don’t need to be picked up by the public is known as BookCrossing. This amazing and helpful scheme was launched in 2001.

Life of Pi was published

Life of Pi is a very popular 2001’s Canadian novel by Yann Martel. Hollywood made a film on this story with the same name and story.

Following are some more highlights of the decade:

  • Marilynne Robinson’s novel Gilead received the Pulitzer Prize award.
  • Siegel endured a symbolic fate due to pseudonymously overvaluing himself in the comments thread in one of his own blog posts.

Technology

Technology is always evolving. From everyone switching to Facebook from Myspace to releasing new devices such as iPod and Moto Razr, technology has come a long way.

Everyone Used Myspace

Before everything went up a notch and people had access to digital cameras; everyone had their mirror selfies as profile pictures on Myspace. Myspace, launched in 2003, was the first social media website, which became the no. 1 website on the internet in 2006. In 2007, it was valued at $12 billion at that time.

After Facebook hit the social media market, it was hard for Myspace to maintain its position as the #1, and it was eventually sold for $35 million only.

Motorola Razr Phones Were a Status Symbol

Before everyone had phones named after fruits (Apple or Blackberry), there was Motorola Razr. Launched in 2004, it was much more than just a cellphone. It was a status symbol for many people, including popular celebs, because of its unique design. Although Moto released a new Razr phone in February 2020, some things are better left in the past.

Apple Introduces the iPod

iPodApple iPod was released back in 2001. It was Steve Jobs who revolutionized the old school Mp3 players by targeting its flaws and introducing something much better and convenient. More than 220,000,000 iPods have been sold throughout the world until now, making it the highest-selling audio player.

Everyone Was on Aim Messenger

Now, we only know about DMs, iMessage, and Facebook Messenger as instant messengers, but this one by AOL was the first glimpse into what social media could become today.

The Death of the CD

About three decades ago, record stores dumped the old school records and replaced them with compact discs (CDs). But unfortunately, CD died too when digital music hit the market. Now, there are thousands of songs on a listener’s fingertips than they ever could in the past – thanks to iPods, USBs, and the latest smartphones.

The Love for Scooters

The best thing about stunt scooters is that they didn’t use gas, were easy to park, faster than walking, and cheap too. Suburban kids loved rolling on these collapsible skateboard/bicycle/in-line skate hybrids.

.com / DotBomb fallout

The dot.com fallout was between 1995 and 2000. During this crash, the value of equity markets grew exponentially. Due to this, the Nasdaq index rose from under 1,000 to more than 5,000.

Play Station 2 was Launched

2000 was an important year for gamers and the gaming industry as Sony Entertainment launched the second model of its PlayStation gaming console, namely Play Station 2. It had massive upgrades in graphics and gaming experience.

The PlayStation 2 served as Sony’s entry for the sixth generation of video game consoles, which included Nintendo GameCube, the Microsoft Xbox, and the Sega Dreamcast. The PS2 would go on to become the best-selling video game console of all time, as Sony sold more than 155 million units of the PS2 worldwide. It also had one of the longest life spans of any gaming console, as it was discontinued after 13 years of production in 2013. Interestingly, 2013 was also the year when the PlayStation 4 was released, so the PS2 was still being produced while Sony already had the PS3 as its flagship console. To know more about the PlayStation brand, read The Interesting History of the Sony PlayStation.

Windows 2000 was Launched

Microsoft launches Windows 2000, an Operating System designed for business purposes.It was launched on February 7,2000, and had four editions; server edition,professional edition, advanced server edition, and datacenter server edition.

Microsoft XP was Launched

The bestselling window, Microsoft XP, was launched in August 2001. It was the most widely used Desktop operating system until August 2010. Interestingly, Microsoft ran a marketing campaign of 1 billion USD to promote Windows XP.

Sony Walkman Circ. was Released

This was another hallmark in the music industry. Right after Apple’s iPod, Sony released its Walkman Circ. It had 70 hours of battery life and an amazing storage capacity of 256 MB, 512 MB, and 1GB. However, music lovers found the iPod more convenient and easy to use compared to Sony Walkman Circ.

Apple Store Opening

Apple Inc. opened two stores; one in southern California and the other in Virginia. These stores had 7,700 customers in the first two days,with gross sales worth $599,000. Moreover, iTunes was launched to facilitate Mac-IPod data transfer.

Following are some more highlights of the decade:

  • Microsoft launched Xbox in November 2001. In addition to that, XBOX Live was launched in 2002. This breakthrough enabled online streaming and opened new paths for gamers.
  • Michael Jackson was rushed to a hospital in an emergency when he suddenly stopped breathing on June 25, 2009. He was pronounced dead later in the afternoon.
  • Introduced in 2000, Blu-Ray discs were made available in 2006.
  • The first iPhone was released in 2007 by Apple CEO, Steve Jobs.

News

The news from this decade was as hot as the decade itself.

9/11

The September 11 attacks, also called 9/11, were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. About 3,000 people died, with about 25,000 people injured.

Also, George W. Bush went live on TRL to break this heart-wrenching news.

Hillary becomes a US Senator of New York

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton was elected as a senator in New York, defeating Rick Lazio by 831,580 votes.

Television

There were so many TV shows that made this decade the BEST!

The Simple Life

The first episode of this American reality TV series was aired on December 2, 2003.

Mean Girls

Mean Girls was released back then on April 30, 2004.

Gossip Girl 

The ever-famous TV show, “Gossip Girl,” was released on September 19.

A Crossover of “The Office” and “Scrubs”

“The Office” and “Scrubs” made a crossover episode in which JD treated Jim and Pam for gunshot wounds after a murder-suicide attempt.

Anime

This was the decade when Japanese cartoons, or anime, became huge in America. Pokemon and Dragonball were two of the most popular cartoons that kids loved watching all day long. Also, these were the most searched words on the internet. The popularity of the Pokemon video games and TV show during the 2000s enabled its publisher, Nintendo, to license a trading card game. The Pokémon Trading Card Game, also known as Pokémon TCG, was first published in October 1996 in Japan by Media Factory, a company known for publishing Japanese magazines. If you want to know more about the Pokemon TCG, please read our Top Pop Culture Toys of the 2000s article.

Following are some more highlights of the decade:

  • Friends, one of the most popular and most-watched TV sitcoms was ended on May 6, 2004.
  • Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire,” a reality TV showbroadcasted on the FOX Network, was released on February 15,2000. Mike Fleiss directed it. According to the show, whoever won the game gets to marry a millionaire.
  • National Geographic channel aired for the first time in the USA in 2001.
  • Stuart Little animated TV series debuted in 2003 on the HBO family channel.
  • The famous reality TV show, The Bachelorette, was aired in 2003.
  • The first and the only season of Tarzan was aired in 2003 on The WB.
  • The all-time famous medical drama show House MD debuted in 2004.
  • The controversial show of the year, He’s a Lady, debuted in 2004.
  • The Hills Premiered on MTV in 2006.

Radio

Following are some highlights of this decade related to radio:

  • NBC News Radio was debuted on March 31, 2003.
  • Skratch ‘N Sniff, a national American radio program, debuted in San Diego on March 3, 2003.

Fashion

Every Woman had a Velour Tracksuit

The trendy go-to look for women back in the 2000 swasvelour tracksuits. Although it is not much popular today, this look set a new standard for leggings and athleisure.

Neckties

Avril Lavigne inspired thousands of American businesswomen to wear neckties.

Following are some more highlights of the decade:

  • Victoria’s Secret fashion show was broadcasted on TV in 2001 for the first time. It attracted more than 12.4 million viewers.
  • Lace-up pants and trousers, cropped tops, and hoop earrings from Adina Eden were in fashion in 2003.
  • Ugg boots, which people call ugly, were all trendy back in the 2000s. No matter what the outfit was, it remained incomplete without these shoes.
  • Girls loved wearing miniskirts because there were trendy.
  • Tie-Dye was a fashion for all in 2006.

Games

GTA III was released

Grand Theft Auto III was 2001’s top-selling video game, providing the players a 3D area wherein the player could ram pedestrians, shoot cops, steal cars, and do much more.

Books/Novels

The Final Part of Harry Potter Was Released

With a bumpy start in her career, J.K Rowling published her first novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,in 1997. The novel changed her life and of the readers. The story for the book was born from her imagination. After ten years, in 2007, she released her last installment of Harry Potter, namely Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

In only ten years, she became a billionaire because of her novels and movie installments of those books.

Sports

Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong Bracelets

You might remember the yellow, silicone bracelets, which were released by Lance Armstrong’s cancer-fighting charity in 2004. Each band was $1 to raise $25.1 million for cancer patients. The famous celebs who adorned the bracelets on their wrist include Matt Damon, Betsey Johnson, and John Kerry.

However, all this quickly saw a fall when the reports of Armstrong’s doping was released. Because of this, Armstrong and Livestrong parted ways.

The New York Yankees beat the New York Mets

This one was one of the historical matches of 2000, in fact, the decade. Although the Yankees were low on points, they still somehow managed to beat the Mets in 5 games, scoring enough points to win the 26th World Series.

Following are some more highlights of the decade:

  • In 2001, Los Angeles Takers defended their title successfully in the NBA finale against the Philadelphia 76ers by games 4 to 1.
  • San Antonio Spurs won the NBA Finals by defeating the New Jersey Nets in 2003.
  • UConn Huskies won the College NCCA Women’s Basketball Championship from the Tennessee Lady Vols. in 2003.
  • In 2003, the largest crowd was seen in sports history in Ford Field to watch Kentucky vs. Michigan State. Kentucky won the match.
  • In 2003, the Men’s Professional US Open Tournament took place at Olympia Fields. Jim Furyk won his first major their by three shots.

Toys

The Rubik’s Cube Craze Was Revived

In the early 2000s, the craze for the Rubik’s Cube was revived, mainly due to the growing interest for the puzzle, as well as the improved accessibility of the puzzle toy during the said era. The Rubik’s Cube craze began in 1981, which was one year after the worldwide release of the Rubik’s Cube. From 1981 to 1983, the popularity of the puzzle toy was at an all-time high, and the top-selling books during that time were actually books that helped people solve the Rubik’s Cube.

By the end of 1983, the craze for the Rubik’s Cube died down, but it was revived in the 2000s, specifically when the patent for the cube puzzle expired in 2000. From there, many toy companies were able to create cheaper and more accessible versions of the Rubik’s Cube. It was there when the puzzle toy gained popularity once again, although the Rubik’s Cube also gained competitors in the market. To know more, check out The Fascinating History of the Rubik’s Cube.

The ZhuZhu Pets Craze

During the Christmas season of 2009, the ZhuZhu Pets craze occurred, where many people are buying many products from the ZhuZhu Pets toy line that was released earlier in the said year. ZhuZhu Pets is a line of robotic hamster toys that have a furry exterior and mechanical interior parts that enable them to move on their own.

These ZhuZhu Pets toys can be set in either two play modes, the first is “Nurturing Mode” and the second is “Adventure Mode.” Nurturing Mode makes the ZhuZhu Pet toy make purring or cooing sounds, while Adventure Mode allows the toy to move around and respond to hitting walls or objects on the floor. To know more about ZhuZhu Pets, you can take a look at The Most Popular Retro Stuffed Toys.

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