I Just Learned That These '00s Musicians Are Still Releasing Music Today And I Am Freaking Out
The 2000s were a magical time for music, giving us hit, after hit, after hit.
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For some, the artists of that time are forever frozen in that time period, but others know that a lot of these musicians are still making music today!
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So let's take a look at all of our '00s faves who are still hitting the recording studio in 2022.
1.Mandy Moore — She finally found her voice again.
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Why you remember her: Mandy rocketed to fame in the late '90s/early '00s (known in some circles as the era of the pop princess). She hit the radio with hits like "Candy," "In My Pocket," and a little song from A Walk to Remember called "Cry." Nothing but hits, baby!
What she's up to now:
Ok, obviously Mandy is still a mega-star and we are well aware that she had an award-winning turn on This is Us. What a lot of people don't know is that the girl is still making music! After an almost decade-long hiatus from music (due in large part to her relationship with Ryan Adams, whom Moore claims was abusive and kept her from recording — Adams denied the accuracy of those claims but did issue a public apology) Mandy is back. She recently released two folksy albums (Silver Landings in 2020 and In Real Life earlier this year) and was all set to go on tour this summer, but had to postpone because she's got another lil bun in the oven and needed to take care of her health. We support you, girl, and we'll be at the next one!
Here's her latest single, "Four Moons":
2.Vanessa Carlton — Her mentor is Stevie Nicks!
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Why you remember her: I'm sorry, but I really don't think there is any other song in the history of forever that has a more recognizable opening than "A Thousand Miles." *dun-dun dun-dun-dun dun-dun* You heard it didn't you? You might also remember her from "Ordinary Day," "White Houses," or "Pretty Baby."
What she's up to now:
Vanessa has been consistently making music through the years, releasing several albums, EPs, and even some covers of popular songs like Robyn's "Call Your Girlfriend." She made her Broadway debut playing Carole King in the musical, Beautiful in 2019, and was the subject of a Vice documentary called A Thousand Miles, where she chronicles her rise to fame and the pressures that came along with it. The doc is even nominated for an Emmy this year! This fall, she's joining Stevie Nicks on tour as a special guest playing dates across North America. She and Nicks have had a mentor/mentee relationship over the years, with Nicks providing vocals on one of her tracks, and even officiating Vanessa's wedding! If she's alright by Stevie, she's alright by me! (And I will be going to see them perform together.)
Here's her latest single, "Die Dinosaur":
3.Jesse McCartney — He's been on tour almost his whole life.
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Why you remember him: This former teen heartthrob got his start in the boyband, Dream Street, before going solo and treating us all to hits like "Beautiful Soul," "Leavin'," and "Just So You Know." Major swoon vibes.
What he's up to now:
Our Dream Street bae is still pretty dreamy TBH, and he's basically been on tour since the year of our lord 2004. He was born to perform! And when he's not gracing our ears with his sweet, sweet melodies, he's been using his voice to keep us entertained in other ways, voicing the role of Nightwing in Young Justice and Roxas in all 200 entries of the Kingdom Hearts video game series. Outside of being a recent runner-up on The Masked Singer, he put out a new album, New Stage, last year which he is currently touring around North America! (I told you he's been touring non-stop.)
Here's his latest single, "Lemonade":
4.JoJo — After a decade of label HELL, she made a comeback on her own terms.
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Why you remember her: The ORIGINAL Jojo (no disrespect to Ms. Siwa) gave the girlies everything they wanted with unforgettable songs like "Leave (Get Out)," "Too Little Too Late," and "Baby It's You." An icon since day one.
What she's up to now:
We didn't hear a lot from Jojo from 2006–2016 and that is not because she didn't want to make music. Her label kept delaying the release of her music because of "money, greed, [and] ego" and eventually she filed a lawsuit against them citing "irreparable damages to her professional career." The case was settled out of court in early 2014, and she released the album Mad Love, as well as re-recordings of her first two albums, Jojo and The High Road. In 2020, she released another new album, good to know, and has been busy putting out new singles and touring. (I saw her in March, and let me tell you, it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. This woman is a PERFORMER and if you ever have the chance to see her live, you MUST GO!)
Here's her latest single, "Spiral SZN":
5.98 Degrees — They're not just that other boy band.
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Why you remember them: 98 Degrees had us all feeling hot and bothered in the late '90s/early aughts with croony numbers like, "The Hardest Thing," "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)," and "Thank God I Found You." I'm still burning up for some of these boys TBH.
What they're up to now:
Sure, sure, you know that Nick Lachey has been a busy little bee hosting Love is Blind and The Ultimatum, but you might not have realized that he and his bandmates Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons, and Justin Jeffre are still going strong together. Through the years they've gone on tour with fellow boy bands like Boyz II Men, New Kids on the Block, and O-Town (who are also still a band, lol), and were even part of a wildly fun holiday special last year called A Very Boy Band Holiday. And just this year, they put out a new single, "Ain't the Same," which was a collaboration with country singer, Brett Kissel. Keep the music comin' boys!
Here's their latest single, "Where Do You Wanna Go?":
6.Brandy — It's time we all give this woman the respect she DESERVES.
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Why you remember her: If you didn't know her from starring in Moesha and the ICONIC Cinderella with Whitney Houston, then you definitely knew her from her hits like "The Boy Is Mine," "Sittin' Up In My Room," and "What About Us?" We owe this woman everything.
What she's up to now:
We've got another one here who really hasn't stopped working, and I just don't understand why we aren't talking about her more. Since her "heyday," Brandy has performed on Broadway, taking on the role of Roxie Hart in Chicago, returned to TV on the shows Zoe Ever After and Queens, and was a mentor on last year's season of The Voice (can you imagine being mentored by BRANDY?! I'd simply pass away). In 2020, she released her seventh studio album, B7, and just this summer she signed a new deal with Motown Records where she's working on album number eight. Also, she recently released a duet with her daughter, Sy'Rai, called "Nothing Without You," and it's about the cutest thing that's ever happened.
Here's her latest single, "Rather Be":
7.Aly & AJ — These sisters are using their voices for a cause.
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Why you remember them: If you don't remember them from getting their start on the Disney Channel and starring in the 2006 classic, Cow Belles, then you probably remember their songs "Potential Breakup Song," "Like Woah," and "Chemicals React." BRB, going to listen to "PBS" rn.
What they're up to now:
These two sisters are so precious and I'd give them the world! They really transitioned from teen pop princesses to alt-rock queens quite effortlessly, and I think that's because their music has always had a little extra spice to it. Last year they put out a new album titled A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun (a beautiful mouthful) and they re-recorded their fan favorite "Potential Breakup Song" but this time with an explicit rating to bring the song into their new era. The pair have become increasingly involved in political activism, phone banking for Jon Ossoff and Joe Biden, raising money for charities like The Trevor Project and Color For Change, as well as being fierce mental health advocates. If you wanna catch up with these ladies, you can see them on tour right now in North America.
Here's their latest single, "Dead on the Beach":
8.Mya — She took her career into her own hands.
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Why you remember her: "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir," anyone? You know this girl as one of THEE ladies marmalade, and from her own songs like "It's All About Me," "My Love Is Like... Wo," and "Case of the Ex."
What she's up to now:
Ok, this woman is kind of amazing. Partway through her career she left a major label and created her own independent label called Planet 9 so she could create her music on her own terms. Iconic behavior. Under her new label, she released four albums, three EPs, and a couple dozen singles. She said, "You are gonna hear me SING!" Outside of music, Mya continues to have a thriving acting career and is slated to star in the movie, Holiday Twist this holiday season. Earlier this year, she reunited with Christina Aguilera at LA Pride to perform "Lady Marmalade" (I was there. Look it up, it's amazing) and is currently on a world tour, so make sure you get tickets to see her because I can attest that she is back and sounding better than ever.
Here's her latest single, "Worth It":
9.Enrique Iglesias — He's literally the top Latin artist of all time.
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Why you remember him: Enrique sang his way into our hearts in the late '90s and had us all feeling a little *hot & sweaty emoji* well into the 2000s. His biggest songs here in the states were "Bailamos," "Hero," and "Don't Turn Off the Lights."
What he's up to now:
Now, it should be said that just because some of us here in the US didn't realize he was still making music, doesn't mean that the rest of the world wasn't. In fact, in 2020, Enrique was named the top Latin artist of all time, with a total of 27 number one singles on Billboard's Hot Latin chart. That is seriously impressive! Last year he went on tour with Ricky Martin, (honestly, I'm so upset I missed this) and he released the first part of his two-volume album, Final, which is expected to be his last. In a video chat posted on Instagram, he said, "I'm never going to stop writing songs because I love writing songs, but I'm going to do it in a different way, meaning they don't necessarily have to be packaged as an album, so this project to me is important." It'll certainly be the end of an era. We love you, king, and look forward to Final Pt. II!
Here's his latest single, "Espacio en Tu Corazón":
10.Regina Spektor — She still has the sound that everybody wants.
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Why you remember her: You probably remember hearing one of her songs in various TV shows and movies, or having that one certified cool girl in high school telling you to listen to "Fidelity," "On the Radio," or "Samson."
What she's up to now:
Ok, I was that girl in high school, except I wasn't cool at all and I never really stopped listening to Regina. She has continued to not only create her own music, releasing multiple albums and singles, she also continues to be a highly sought-after artist to make music for various creative projects, like writing the theme song for Orange is the New Black, performing on The Hamilton Mixtape, and even writing a song for the animated film Kubo and the Two Strings. This summer she put out her eighth studio album, Home, before and after, in which she performed a song at the beginning of the month in an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and will be touring in North America starting in October.
Here's her latest single, "One Man's Prayer":
11.Jonas Brothers — They thought they'd never get back together, but thank god they did.
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Why you remember them: Another sibling group from the Disney Channel (some might say Aly & AJ paved the way, lol), these Camp Rock hotties had an iron grip on our hearts with songs like "Year 3000," "Burnin' Up," and "S.O.S." (Honestly it was hard to stop listing songs.)
What they're up to now:
Oh, our sweet Jo Bros. While they've never really left popular culture, the band did officially break up in 2013, and Nick and Joe pursued solo careers while Kevin had a short-lived reality show called Married to Jonas. After going their separate ways for six years, the trio of brothers announced their reunion at the beginning of 2019, and we fans collectively lost our damn minds. Even the Jonas Brothers themselves thought it was over for good. In the last two years they have been thriving, putting out a new album (Happiness Begins), going on tour, being the subject of a Netflix roast, and wrapping up a Las Vegas residency earlier this summer. May they never break up again!
Here's their latest single, "Who's In Your Head":
12.Keke Palmer — "I'm an incomparable talent." No lies detected.
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Why you remember her: I mean, this woman is a legend so I don't feel like I really need to remind you, but I love to talk about Keke Palmer, so let's do it. You might have first heard her sing "It's My Turn Now" in the DCOM Jump in!, or one of her own hits like "Bottoms Up" and "Keep It Movin."
What she's up to now:
How to describe Ms. Keke and her amazing career? Well, I'll let her tell you in her own words: "I’m the youngest talk show host ever. The first Black woman to star in her own show on Nickelodeon, & the youngest & first Black Cinderella on broadway. I’m an incomparable talent." I could not agree more. But she's not even touching on her music career here. In between staring in summer blockbusters like Nope and hosting the gameshow Password, she found the time to release two EPs, Virgo Tendencies Pt. I and Pt. II. She also recorded a re-release of one of her hit songs, calling it "Bottoms Up 2.0" and performed it on HBO Max's Legendary, on which she also serves as a judge! She. Does. It. All. Incomparable indeed!
Here's her latest single, "Bottoms Up 2.0":
13.Kate Nash — Outspoken then, outspoken now.
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Why you remember her: Remember that cool girl who listened to Regina Spektor? Well, she was also listening to Kate Nash. She probably made you listen to "Foundations," "Merry Happy," and "Pumpkin Soup."
What she's up to now:
Kate burst onto the music scene with a strong voice and something to say, and that has not changed a bit over the years. In fact, I think she's only gotten more outspoken and leaned into her punk influences even more. Outside of music, she dipped a toe in the world of acting, becoming a fan favorite on the Netflix series GLOW (I can barely talk about this show because I'm still so mad at Netflix for canceling the series after the final season was already FILMING). She's also been an outspoken supporter of the LGBT community and politically active surrounding elections in her home country of England. Over the last year, she's released a handful of singles and is actively working on her fifth studio album, which I personally cannot wait for.
Here's her latest single, "Horsie":
14.Avril Lavigne — Back and literally better than ever.
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Why you remember her: You remember her because she invented teen angst, lol. Are you really gonna make me do this? Ok, fine! You remember her songs "Sk8r Boi," "Complicated," and "Girlfriend." Are you happy now? (I've still got this teen angst thing down!)
What she's up to now:
Ok, first and foremost, Avril was not replaced by a body double and I need to make that clear. We good? Good. Avril made her start as a pop-punk princess, but she never let that keep her in a box. She's been consistently evolving as an artist and is never too concerned by what people think about her, which is why we love her. Her image may change, but her spirit remains the same. Just this year, she put out a new album titled Love Sux and it is her most critically acclaimed album yet, proving she's still at the top of her game, saying it was "effortless" to write. She's currently touring the album around the world, with stops in the US, South America, Japan, and the UK. (Ok, but I'm about to get tickets.)