Music of 2002 Trivia Quiz

Answer:

A chart-topping single from American singer Usher, "U Got It Bad" was the second single from his album "8701" to reach the top. "U Remind Me" was the first. The album was meant to be released in 2000 using the title "All About U" however several tracks were leaked to the online music store Napster, leading to delays while replacement tracks were recorded.

The most successful rock song in the US during the year, "Blurry" is the second single off American rock band Puddle of Mudd's debut album "Come Clean" (2001). It topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock Track charts as well as their year-end listings. The song is a reworked version of the band's "Electron Moon".

There were only nine songs topping the Billboard Hot 100 in 2002 and "Dilemma" by American rapper Nelly was one, spending ten weeks at the top and displacing his single "Hot in Herre". "Dilemma" was the second single from his second album "Nellyville" (2002) and was also on his debut solo album "Simply Deep" (2002). "Dilemma" was fourth in the year-end Billboard Hot 100, one place below "Hot in Herre".

"Get the Party Started" came from American singer Pink's second album "Missundaztood" (2001) and was released as the lead single. A dance-pop song, it did well for Pink. Welsh singer Shirley Bassey did a somewhat different cover version for a spy-themed TV advertising campaign, which ended up on her 2007 album of the same name.

There were actually two "Hero" singles in the year-end chart. The one by Enrique Iglesias at number 22, and the one which was actually written for the 2002 movie "Spider-Man" by Chad Kroeger (featuring Josey Scott), which came in at number 25 in the year-end chart. Released on 3 September 2011, the Iglesias version was one of the few songs played in New York City in the aftermath of 9/11, remixed with audio from police and firefighters.

Sheryl Crow co-wrote "Soak Up the Sun" as a feel-good song. It was released as lead single from her fourth album "C'mon C'mon" (2002). The accompanying music video featuring surfing in Hawaii reinforced that feel-good idea.

"Heaven" is a 1983 song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams that reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985. The 2001 version by the Spanish DJ Sammy and German DJ Yanou (with vocals by Dutch singer Do) is a dance cover and was the first single released from DJ Sammy's album "Heaven" (2002). Bryan Adams has also performed this version with Do.

Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne released "Complicated" from her debut album "Let Go" (2002). Signed to Arista Records, it took a while to find something that worked for both of them. The genesis of what became "Complicated" was written by the production team trio called the Matrix. In fact of the five they co-wrote with Lavigne for that album, three were top ten singles in the Billboard Hot 100. The other two were "Sk8er Boi" and "I'm with You".

Another single from a debut album, "In the End" was the fourth single released from "Hybrid Theory" (2000) by American rock band Linkin Park. It became a sleeper hit and was the first nu-metal song to surpass a billion streams on Spotify.

Ashanti's name appears six times on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end listing for 2002. Both "Foolish" (which spent ten weeks at the top) and "Happy" (featuring Ja Rule) came from her debut album "Ashanti" (2002). "Baby" was another single from her debut album to appear in the top 100.

The events referenced in the quiz are the August 2002 floods affecting large parts of Europe in which 232 people died, the damaging drought mostly affecting the western half of the US in 2002 as well as parts of Canada, and the 934 tornadoes affecting the US. This was a below-average number for a tornado season although 55 people died as a result.

2002 also saw the Winter Olympics held at Salt Lake City in Utah, USA, the release of the Sami Rami-directed "Spider-Man" superhero film and a total solar eclipse (on Dec 4 but not viewable in the US).

Finally, there was a 73-metre (240 ft) asteroid (designated 2002 MN) that passed about 120,000 km (75,000 mi) away at its closest, or roughly a third of the distance to the moon. It was only seen after it passed Earth. If it had hit, it would have had a similar impact to the 1908 Tunguska event, which flattened over 2,100 sq km (800 sq mi) of trees in Siberia.