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It was a year that gave us unforgettable headlines, chart-topping anthems, and jaw-dropping live moments. Join us as we count down the most iconic musical moments of 2003! Our countdown includes Madonna's infamous VMA kiss, Beyoncé's explosive solo debut, Eminem's Oscar win, and so much more! Which 2003 music moment do you remember most? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 musical moments of 2003 that managed
00:06to stand out above all others.
00:16Number 10. The White Stripes Seven Nation Army Becomes an Anthem.
00:20While its cultural impact has only grown year by year, the White Stripes Seven Nation Army was still a big
00:25success for the band when they originally put it out.
00:34Led by that infectious riff, Jack and Meg White succeeded in crafting one of the most chanable songs of the
00:40last 50 years.
00:41The fact that the track is now synonymous with sporting culture is no surprise, but even beyond its reach, Seven
00:46Nation Army is a remarkably tight piece of rock songwriting.
00:57It peaked at number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100, but eventually went on to win the Grammy Award for
01:02Best Rock Song.
01:03To this day, it is by far and away Jack White's most famous composition, and you'd be hard-pressed to
01:08meet any budding guitarist who hasn't tried their hand at covering it one time or another.
01:12It's a song that has the type of relevance that only comes around a few times per generation.
01:24Number 9. 50 Cent Explodes Onto The Mainstream With In The Club
01:28Trust us, we could have very easily spoken about the Get Rich or Die Trying album overall, but the success
01:33of In The Club was truly what made 50 Cent the star he is.
01:44As far as hard-hitting hip-hop hits are concerned, In The Club was too good to resist.
01:49After years of underground notoriety and a shelved major label debut, Curtis Jackson was signed by Eminem and Dr. Dre,
01:56and released Get Rich or Die Trying through Shitty Records, Aftermath, and Interscope.
02:06When In The Club hit the airwaves, it eventually rose up to become a number one record in several different
02:11countries.
02:12It's a song that is filled to the brim with attitude, swagger, and the type of magnetism that made 50
02:18Cent a major breakout star in 2003.
02:20He would eventually go on to become one of the defining figures of 2000's hip-hop.
02:30Number 8. Nelson Mandela's 46664 Concert Unites Stars Against Aids
02:35When the world is faced with a major crisis, it can thankfully provide an opportunity for great musicians and artists
02:41to come together to create something special.
02:50On November 29th, 2003, Nelson Mandela hosted the first 46664 Concert at Cape Town's Greenpoint Stadium, using music to draw
02:59international attention to the HIV-AIDS crisis.
03:02The event brought together an extraordinary lineup of African and international artists, including Beyonce, Bono and the Edge, Peter Gabriel,
03:11Queen, Annie Lennox, Jimmy Cliff, Yusin Doerr, and many others.
03:22The show, which got its name from Mandela's prison number, was particularly focused on the devastating effect the disease was
03:29having on Africa.
03:30It was an event that highlighted the importance of recognizable faces, drawing attention to worthy causes, both within the arts
03:36and the world of politics.
03:38Beyond that, the musical performances made the show a unique and powerful piece of entertainment.
03:50Number 7. Paul McCartney Plays A Historic Concert In Moscow's Red Square
03:54After years of his music circulating behind the Iron Curtain, Paul McCartney and his band played a truly special concert
04:00in Moscow's Red Square in 2003.
04:03We have come here tonight to rock Red Square!
04:08Through his Beatles career and his solo endeavors, McCartney was musical royalty to the Russian public, and the reception to
04:14the show proved it.
04:15The concert attracted a huge crowd and represented the extraordinary transformation of Russia's relationship with Western popular culture since the
04:23Beatles' peak.
04:30McCartney performed Beatles classics alongside material from his solo career, giving thousands of Russian fans the chance to experience songs
04:37that had once been listened to unofficially or in secret.
04:40He had indeed performed a show in Moscow in 1998, but this particular concert felt like an entirely different type
04:46of special occasion.
04:47It remains one of the most important live shows of Macca's post-Beatles career.
04:56Number 6. Jay-Z Announces His Retirement And Releases The Black Album
05:00There's nothing quite like a retirement announcement to get people hyped up for an imminent album release, because the black
05:05album was indeed to be Jay-Z's last statement.
05:08It was going to be big.
05:16Coming after years of dominance, the announcement created enormous anticipation around the album's November release.
05:23The black album delivered some of Jay-Z's most recognizable songs, including 99 Problems, Durr Off Your Shoulder, and Change
05:29Clothes.
05:38It also had a certain feeling of finality to it that really tied the project together.
05:42It was, of course, a major hit, reaching the top spot on the Billboard charts.
05:47Jay-Z's retirement, as it turned out, was short-lived, and it didn't take too long for him to continue
05:51dropping albums.
05:52That said, this was still a landmark release for the genre, even if the retirement was not quite as concrete
05:57as it might have seemed.
06:04Number 5. Johnny Cash's Hurt Cover Delivers A Haunting Musical Farewell
06:08Few artists in music history have managed to cap off their career on the type of high that the legendary
06:14Johnny Cash did.
06:20We're sure the idea of the iconic country singer covering industrial rock giant's Nine Inch Nails sounded odd to everyone
06:26back in the early 2000s.
06:27However, one listen to his take on Tread Reznor's Hurt was enough to prove that Cash had struck gold.
06:33What was once a far more angsty track became something entirely new when The Man in Black sang it.
06:38I will let you down
06:43I will make you hurt
06:46Accompanied by a truly powerful music video, the piece almost serves as an extraordinary intimate self-portrait as his life
06:53drew to a close.
06:54He was already an American musical icon, but Hurt introduced his work to a new generation and earned him one
07:00last burst of widespread critical acclaim.
07:02In the end, the video's imagery became inseparable from the song, particularly after Cash's death in September 2003, just a
07:09few months after its release.
07:16Number 4. Outkast Turns Hey Yeah Into A Pop Culture Phenomenon
07:20Southern hip-hop legends Outkast were always known for pushing the limits of their genre.
07:24However, after the mainstream success of their previous LP, Stankonia, the question on everyone's mind was what they could do
07:31next.
07:32The resulting album, Speaker Box slash The Love Below, was packaged basically as two solo albums from members Big Boy
07:45and Andre 3000.
07:47For as much as the first half was impressive, it was Andre's hit single, Hey Yeah, that truly stood out.
07:58This infectious pop song sounded nothing like anything that the rapper had done before, showing a remarkable level of craftsmanship
08:04from start to finish, earning it rave reviews in the process.
08:08It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 2003, and stayed there for nine weeks, carrying its
08:14dominance into early 2004.
08:16Its success proved that adventurous, genre-defying hip-hop could become enormous mainstream pop, a legendary hit from the rap
08:23icons.
08:31Number 3. Eminem Makes Academy Award History
08:33The days of hip-hop being on the fringes of the mainstream world were officially coming to a close in
08:38the early 2000s.
08:39He's nervous, but on the surface, he looks calm and ready to drop palms, but he keeps on forgetting.
08:44The idea of a rapper winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song probably seemed like a crazy notion ten
08:50years prior.
08:51However, when Eminem put out Lose Yourself on the soundtrack to his film 8 Mile, it was nothing short of
08:56a sensation.
08:57The song had already become a massive commercial and cultural success, topping charts around the world, and giving 8 Mile
09:03a musical identity that extended well beyond the film.
09:11Eminem's victory was particularly notable because he did not attend the ceremony, reportedly choosing to stay home and watch cartoons
09:18with his daughter, after believing he would lose to the more traditional nominees.
09:22His collaborator, Luis Resto, accepted the award on his behalf, and as soon-to-be-pleasantly surprised Eminem was supposedly
09:28asleep when his victory was declared.
09:34Number 2. Beyoncé Launches a Solo Career with Crazy in Love
09:38If the release of Beyoncé's studio debut Dangerous in Love proved anything, it was that she had star potential from
09:44the very earliest days of her solo career.
09:53Sure, she had made her name as part of Destiny's Child, but when Beyoncé arrived as a solo act, she
09:58was immediately coming out swinging.
10:00Lead's single, Crazy in Love, which featured her future husband Jay-Z, was just about as explosive an introduction as
10:06can be.
10:13The song combined a blaring horn sample from The Shy Lights' Are You My Woman? Tell Me So, with Beyoncé's
10:19commanding vocals and Jay-Z's guest verse, creating one of the defining pop R&B records of the decade.
10:25It stuck around at the top of the Billboard charts for 8 consecutive weeks.
10:28To say that she went on to deliver on that initial hype would be the understatement of the century.
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11:07Number 1. Madonna Kisses Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the VMAs.
11:11Few pop artists have managed to successfully court controversy, quite as well as Madonna over the years.
11:23Her history of using award shows to make some form of statement did not slow down at all as the
11:282000s got underway.
11:30Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera opened this particular performance by covering Madonna's legendary hit, Like a Virgin, before the Queen
11:37of Pop joined them for the song, Hollywood.
11:45In one memorable moment, Madonna kissed both of her co-performers mid-song, catching the entire world off guard in
11:51the process.
11:52MTV's cameras famously focused on Justin Timberlake's reaction after the Spears kiss, adding another layer of tabloid drama, given their
11:58past relationship.
11:59The performance became a defining snapshot of early 2000s celebrity culture, when MTV, pop music, and gossip media were deeply
12:07intertwined.
12:08It was provocative, deliberately theatrical, and seemingly designed to dominate the next day's headlines.
12:13In other words, it was vintage Madonna.
12:23But what 2003 moment from the world of music sticks out in your memory?
12:26Let us know in the comments down below.