Billboard Names Gwen Stefani’s ‘Hollaback Girl’ 2005’s Top Female Song Over Mariah’s ‘We Belong Together,’ Mary’s ‘Be Without You,’ & Madonna’s ‘Hung Up’

While most millennials (us at TGJ included) are still grappling with the fact that 2005 was really 20 years ago, the good folks at Billboard decided to give us a painful reminder by compiling the “Top 100 Songs of 2005.”

Commemorating what they called one of the hugest years in popular music, the staff gave a nod to 2005’s most memorable movers and shakers on the Hot 100 across all genres including Rap, Pop, Rock, Country, and beyond.

Expectedly, massive hits like Mary J. Blige‘s ‘Be Without You,’ Mariah Carey‘s ‘We Belong Together,’ and Madonna‘s ‘Hung Up’ made the cut. However, their positioning on the critical tally was more than unexpected.

Look inside to see where your favorite ladies ranked on Billboard’s latest polarizing countdown.

While Billboard’s actual year-end chart for 2005 ranks Carey’s ‘We Belong Together’ as the year’s overall top song (rightfully so given its historic domination of the Hot 100), that list was based on commercial performance.

The mag’s new list, printed Tuesday (April 15) is based on critics’ choice and places the ‘Emancipation of Mimi’ smash at #2 among women.

Above Mariah’s megahit is Gwen Stefani‘s breakout solo single and signature song ‘HollaBack Girl.’

“Stefani established herself as the head cheerleader of pop music with this irresistible hip-hop-inspired hit, bringing the whole marching band along for the ride in the horn-heavy production (complete with bleacher-stomping backbeat) and in the high school-set music video, which finds her as both the drum major and a black-beanied bad girl,” they said about ‘Hollaback’ which spent four weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 in 2005. “With this Neptunes-produced song, she created a lane for herself that at once parlayed her cool-girl bona fides from No Doubt while breaking new pop ground.”

Look below to see where other memorable female favorites from the year landed on their countdown.

Billboard Staff’s Top Female Songs of 2005

1 – Gwen Stefani’s ‘Hollaback Girl’

2 – Mariah Carey’s ‘We Belong Together’

3 – Rihanna’s ‘Pon De Replay’

4 – Natasha Bedingfield’s ‘Unwritten’

5 – Madonna’s ‘Hung Up’

6 – Missy Elliot & Ciara’s ‘Lose Control’

7 – Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Behind These Hazel Eyes’

8 – Shakira’s ‘La Tortura’

9 – Imogen Heap’s ‘Hide & Seek’

10 – Amerie’s ‘1 Thing’

11 – Pussycat Dolls’ ‘Don’tcha’

12 – Mariah Carey’s ‘Shake It Off’

13 – Carrie Underwood’s ‘Jesus Take the Wheel’

14 – Ciara – ‘Oh’

15 – Mary J. Blige’s ‘Be Without You’

See the full list here.