Twenty Years of Summer (1996-2016)

2002

The summer of 2002 is one to remember but not just for its dance tunes - it was a summer of talent show winners, no-name artists and football.

So, first of all, did you know that three years before Rihanna emerged there was an English R'N'B singer called Rhianna? Well, neither did I. She scored her first-and-last UK Top 20 hit Oh Baby in the summer of 2002.

And have you ever heard about Darius Campbell? He appeared in the talent show Pop Idol in 2002, turned down Simon Cowell's record deal, signed with Steve Lillywhite rather and then hit the UK number one with Colourblind.

Also connected to the talent show Pop Idol, both 2002's winner Will Young and runner-up Gareth Gates had a number one song that summer.

Finally, do you remember who sang the Football World Cup anthem? Well it was Anastacia and the song was called Boom.

But where are the hits? Oasis, Kylie Minogue, Holly Vallance, Vanessa Carlton, Will Smith, Missy Elliott, Christina Milian, Nelly, Ashanti and Eminem all had some Top 10 or Top 40 songs. On one hand let me highlight Beauty On Fire by Natalie Imbruglia because it has been so underrated, on the other hand Boys (with Pharell) has probably been Britney Spears' best tune.

Dancefloor Charts all over the world included songs like Point Of View by DB Boulevard, I Begin To Wonder by JCA, Gambareh by Sash!, Southern Sun by Paul Oakenfold, Just The Way You Are by Milky, Lazy by X-Press 2, At Night by Shakedown, Like A Prayer by MadHouse, Ramp! by Scooter, Pure Hooney by Studio 45 and It Just Won't Do by Tim Deluxe feat. Sam Obernik.

One must also mention Chad Kroeger's Hero, The Calling's Wherever You Will Go, Truth Hurts' Addictive, Tiziano Ferro's Perdono, Coldplay's In My Place, Liberty X's Just A Little and Believe In Me by Lenny Kravitz.

Furthermore 'NSYNC had their last hit with Girlfriend and Sophie-Ellis Bextor had two hits at the same time: Get Over You in the UK and Murder On The Dancefloor in the rest of Europe.

However, there are ten more musical pieces of art that marked the summer of 2002:

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