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Pre 2000s Artists in the Top 500 on Spotify

On Spotify, around 4/5 artists in the top 500 started their careers past the year 2000, can you name the bands and artists that have started their careers before this time?
Based on number of listeners 3rd of October, 2022
Grayed out artists released music prior to the 2000s but not as an offical album
This is not taken from any official list, this is data directly taken from my own research. Numbers change daily on Spotify.
Quiz by UG332
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Last updated: October 5, 2022
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First submittedFebruary 25, 2021
Times taken29,918
Average score55.2%
Rating4.73
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Listeners
Song
Artist(s)
Ranking
57,876,483
Yellow
Coldplay
9
52,901,342
Till I Collapse
Eminem
13
52,593,764
Rocket Man
Elton John
15
48,524,060
Hips Don't Lie
Shakira
27
39,347,385
Bohemian Rhapsody
Queen
46
36,715,683
...Baby One More Time
Britney Spears
53
35,207,253
Pump It
Black Eyed Peas
59
31,683,124
Smooth Criminal
Michael Jackson
73
31,305,819
Empire State of Mind
Jay-Z
76
31,138,478
Drop It Like It's Hot
Snoop Dogg
77
28,241,620
Babooshka
Kate Bush
100
27,974,463
A Milli
Lil Wayne
104
25,833,866
Let It Be
The Beatles
114
25,765,694
Californication
Red Hot Chili Peppers
115
24,562,309
Sweet Child O' Mine
Guns N' Roses
120
24,459,938
In the End
Linkin Park
121
24,383,811
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Nirvana
122
24,224,242
Highway to Hell
AC/DC
123
23,273,382
Nothing Else Matters
Metallica
135
23,043,442
Dancing Queen
ABBA
138
22,373,805
Dreams
Fleetwood Mac
146
22,330,700
DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love
Usher
149
21,697,845
Livin' On a Prayer
Bon Jovi
157
21,492,559
Basket Case
Green Day
160
20,395,778
Like a Virgin
Madonna
183
20,334,050
Start Me Up
The Rolling Stones
187
19,771,184
I Will Always Love You
Whitney Houston
198
19,697,696
Let's Get Loud
Jennifer Lopez
202
19,493,201
All I Want for Christmas is You
Mariah Carey
208
19,256,162
Por Amarte
Enrique Iglesias
212
19,127,991
Every Breath You Take
The Police
216
19,054,664
California Love
2Pac
220
18,502,387
Fortunate Son
Creedence Clearwater Revival
230
18,427,224
Piano Man
Billy Joel
233
18,161,610
Stayin' Alive
Bee Gees
239
18,136,707
Genie in a Bottle
Christina Aguilera
237
17,896,776
Get Lucky
Daft Punk
242
17,805,807
Creep
Radiohead
244
17,393,004
The Next Episode
Dr. Dre
250
17,309,023
Big Poppa
The Notorious B.I.G.
251
17,182,339
Sweet Emotion
Aerosmith
253
17,051,313
Hotel California
The Eagles
254
17,022,688
Sunday Bloody Sunday
U2
255
16,699,582
Suspicious Minds
Elvis Presley
264
16,631,932
Stairway To Heaven
Led Zeppelin
268
16,614,145
Ms. Jackson
Outkast
271
16,343,342
Everlong
Foo Fighters
277
16,194,502
In The Air Tonight
Phil Collins
284
16,117,235
Starman
David Bowie
288
16,114,839
Wonderwall
Oasis
289
15,866,266
September
Earth, Wind & Fire
298
15,837,806
Summer of '69
Bryan Adams
300
15,793,679
Don't Stop Believin'
Journey
302
15,665,093
Superstition
Stevie Wonder
305
15,532,757
Another Brick In The Wall
Pink Floyd
310
14,628,837
Waiting On The World To Change
John Mayer
334
14,588,385
Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Tears For Fears
337
14,404,404
Africa
TOTO
343
14,160,574
Livin' la Vida Loca
Ricky Martin
349
14,075,744
Losing My Religion
R.E.M.
354
14,053,272
Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)
Train
357
13,921,759
Sultans of Swing
Dire Straits
361
13,850,935
All The Small Things
Blink-182
364
13,727,195
Three Little Birds
Bob Marley & The Wailers
369
13,555,758
I Want It That Way
Backstreet Boys
371
13,411,557
Boombastic
Shaggy
373
13,355,140
Dancing In the Dark
Bruce Springsteen
377
13,217,755
Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)
The Offspring
383
13,026,688
Oye Mi Amor
Mana
395
12,974,484
Rock And Roll All Nite
KISS
398
12,897,206
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Marvin Gaye
402
12,868,729
Toxicity
System Of A Down
403
12,853,424
Faith
George Michael
406
12,712,532
Take On Me
a-ha
411
12,530,965
Rockstar
Nickelback
421
12,383,464
Friday I'm In Love
The Cure
429
12,268,567
It Was A Good Day
Ice Cube
433
12,235,618
Sweet Home Alabama
Lynyrd Skynyrd
436
12,174,271
Uprising
Muse
439
12,118,249
Zombie
The Cranberries
442
11,929,440
Island In The Sun
Weezer
452
11,857,784
Walking on Broken Glass
Annie Lennox
455
11,753,979
Man! I Feel Like a Woman!
Shania Twain
461
11,718,770
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Cyndi Lauper
463
11,395,269
Fly Me To the Moon
Frank Sinatra
481
11,390,405
Rock You Like A Hurricane
Scorpions
482
11,263,747
Say My Name
Destiny's Child
491
11,241,101
Iris
The Goo Goo Dolls
492
11,229,257
You Make My Dreams Come True
Hall and Oates
493
11,129,875
My Heart Will Go On
Celine Dion
500
+6
Level 84
Sep 28, 2021
I like the quiz idea, but could use genres as an extra hint. Also, maybe go over the decades once more to check for typos? I can tell you that e.g. Metallica definitely had some albums in the 80's while the hint reads 90's. In fact, some people might even argue that they haven't released an album since the 80's...
+3
Level 77
Sep 28, 2021
Maybe a specific album would be better instead of genres
+16
Level 82
Nov 2, 2021
Some of the song choices seemed a bit obscure, but great fun quiz :)
+5
Level 80
Nov 2, 2021
The picture you've used for the quiz is of a statue at Liverpool's Albert Dock, and is of Liverpool musician Billy Fury, not Elvis as I assume you intended.
+4
Level ∞
Nov 2, 2021
That's funny. Changed it to an actual Elvis statue.
+2
Level 68
Nov 2, 2021
Omg really LOL
+2
Level 79
Nov 3, 2021
I don't think Uprising came until 2009.
+5
Level 68
Nov 3, 2021
Nor was Empire State of Mind, Rockstar or Drops of Jupiter. I wasn't trying to do songs just from before the 90s. I just tried picking something known from each artist.
+7
Level 74
Nov 3, 2021
How is Prince missing? Shocking
+3
Level 68
Nov 3, 2021
Yeah Prince is very close to the mark, just sitting around 9.68 million as of today
+1
Level 84
Nov 4, 2021
And also surprised Van Halen is as low as they are, even below the Scorpions?
+8
Level 64
Nov 12, 2021
Prince famously kept a lot of his music off of streaming platforms for a very long time, even posthumously.
+2
Level 55
Nov 14, 2021
How is Phil Collins on it but Genesis are not? Seriously?
+3
Level 24
Apr 27, 2022
In the Air Tonight is huge.
+4
Level 77
Nov 5, 2021
I can't find any lists that match your rankings. What's your source?
+1
Level 74
Nov 5, 2021
Spotify, probably. They show the listeners of each artist on their profile and the rankings of those in the top 500. Since the data was taken a month ago and the listener counts update daily, you won't be able to see the exact same numbers again, although it should (mostly) be pretty close.
+3
Level 68
Nov 7, 2021
Yeah there's no source I just have a sheet of names I will check every update. Since it changes everyday it's hard to keep track. Last time I checked only one artist was missing from the top 500 last time I checked.
+1
Level 77
Dec 28, 2023
Kudos on maintaining records. That’s probably a fair amount of work!
+5
Level 63
Nov 9, 2021
I'm surprised that Elton John is ranked #2 on this list. I know the movie Rocketman came out like 2 years ago and then there's the Lion King but still surprising, especially when I look at lower entries.
+8
Level 65
Nov 12, 2021
He's just released a new album and had a number 1 single in the UK (with Dua Lipa) so his new stuff has propelled him up the rankings.
+7
Level 59
Nov 12, 2021
Nice quiz, I would accept SOAD for System of a Down though
+2
Level 72
Nov 13, 2021
Seconded
+1
Level 70
Nov 26, 2021
Same remark here :)
+1
Level 88
Nov 12, 2021
So like me...I got one only 28 % get (Toxicity), but missed one 85% guess (All I want for Christmas...). ;)
+2
Level 80
Nov 12, 2021
I'm going to use this list for some music listening today. There's some really good songs there.
+1
Level 72
Nov 12, 2021
If the song is Islands in the Stream, then you should also accept Kenny Rogers, since the song is actually a duet.
+1
Level 68
Nov 13, 2021
As much as I love Roger's music, that would defeat the purpose. Besides this is probably the most famous song that Dolly was in besides maybe Jolene.
+3
Level 32
Nov 13, 2021
I actually got Dolly from typing it as the answer to I Will Always Love You. XD
+1
Level 88
Mar 21, 2022
Same lol
+3
Level 76
Nov 13, 2021
instructions are a little confusing - it says 'decade is based on what decade the album came out...' but there's no reference in the quiz itself to decade, i'm guessing this was removed? in which case please change the hint to explain how the song was chosen for each artist. and i'm still unclear on why some are already filled in.

(also please accept eurhythmics, given you accept eurythmics?)

+3
Level 72
Nov 13, 2021
But Eurythmics is the band name and Eurhythmics is not/ could still be added as a common typo I suppose.
+1
Level 49
Nov 14, 2021
Nice quiz! Easy 5 points for me
+2
Level 57
Nov 15, 2021
Surprised not to see Daft Punk on here
+1
Level 63
Nov 16, 2021
I feel like now that they've split up people will listen to their old stuff a lot because it's kind of nostalgic. I've seen a video about their usage of samples recently and I'm impressed.
+1
Level 78
Jun 26, 2023
And they're back!
+1
Level 56
Nov 17, 2021
Can you please also put in the date they were made, if you can?
+1
Level 68
Nov 17, 2021
Are you asking when they entered the top 500 or what date I compiled the data from?
+2
Level 55
Jun 15, 2022
I kept retyping TLC for Creep thinking I was someone misspelling 3 letters. Oh, Radiohead, duh. 🤣
+4
Level 67
Jun 22, 2022
Might have to add the legend Kate Bush now. Haha
+2
Level 68
Jun 23, 2022
Holy crap, she definitely might make it once I revisit it again in October
+3
Level 90
Jul 28, 2022
NGL, absolutely floored about the love for Nickelback.
+1
Level 66
Oct 6, 2022
I love torturing my wife with playing and singing Photograph. I think it's so bad that it is good, but she disagrees.
+6
Level 79
Oct 6, 2022
The band is not "The Eagles". It is just "Eagles". They made this official for legal or tax reasons.
+2
Level 68
Oct 6, 2022
And nobody really cares
+2
Level 65
Oct 7, 2022
Nice one.Thank you.
+1
Level 68
Oct 8, 2022
Thank you :)
+4
Level 83
Oct 13, 2022
In some cases, the song listed might account for most if not all of the plays
+3
Level 38
Apr 20, 2023
Disappointed that Rick Astley wasn't on this list
+1
Level 78
Jun 26, 2023
If it was total internet streams he'd surely be up there haha
+2
Level 49
May 27, 2023
This is such a great quiz!!! I was kicking myself at the end, I can hum the tunes of almost all of these to memory but I guess I have no mind for artists!
+1
Level 76
Jul 29, 2023
I'm surprised Nickleback wasn't one of your highlighted rows.
+1
Level 62
Nov 15, 2023
Their first album, Curb, came out in 1996. They didn't blow up until 2000-2001 though.
+1
Level 46
Sep 17, 2023
Accept Beyonce for Destiny's Child?
+1
Level 19
Jan 3, 2024
I had forgotten that there was a remake of Africa so I was growing increasingly frustrated that it would not accept my answer.
+1
Level 44
Jan 19, 2024
67/87. And I'm 17
+2
Level 60
Jan 20, 2024
limp bizkit started before 2000 and has more than 13M listeners on spotify
+1
Level 68
Jan 20, 2024
I remember them not making the list and as of today's date, they are not in the top 500 but your numbers are correct