'N Sync is the most popular band of 2000, according to searches by Lycos users.
Welcome to day one of the Lycos 50's Web's Most Wanted awards. For the next two weeks we'll present nine lists of the year's most-searched-for people, places and things, culminating with the overall Lycos Top 50 for 2000.
Our first list: The Web's Top Music Groups. 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys tussled all year for the title of biggest boy band and biggest band on the internet, and in the end 'N Sync topped their rivals by a healthy margin. 'N Sync had a higher place than the Backstreet Boys on the Lycos 50 each week from February 8 through December 4.
THE TOP 20 (last year's rank in parentheses):
1. 'N Sync (2)
2. Backstreet Boys (1)
3. Korn (3)
4. Metallica (5)
5. Blink-182 (7)
6. Limp Bizkit (-)
7. The Beatles (8)
8. Slipknot (-)
9. Destiny's Child (-)
10. Nirvana (12)
11. Creed (-)
12. Pearl Jam (11)
13. Dave Matthews Band (10)
14. S Club 7 (-)
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers (-)
16. Pink Floyd (14)
17. Westlife (-)
18. Oasis (-)
19. Bloodhound Gang (-)
20. Green Day (-)
TWILIGHT OF THE BOY BANDS: Compared to 1999, 'N Sync and Westlife were the only boy bands to see search growth. While the Lycos 50 has kept track of the 'N Sync-Backstreet battle, most other boy bands have seen a significant fall in interest, including 98 Degrees (down 65%), LFO (down 38%), 5ive (down 33%), and Hanson (down 21%).
BRITISH INVASION: Either a lot of Brits are using Lycos, or British pop is more popular than we think - check the appearances by Westlife, Oasis, and S Club 7.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Slipknot. This underground metal band exploded on the internet, if not on radio.
COMEBACK OF THE YEAR: Bon Jovi (#24)
HOT IN 1999, NOT SO HOT IN 2000: Spice Girls, TLC, 98 Degrees
STRANGELY ABSENT: They sell tons of records, they are critical darlings, and they made news when their singer quit a few weeks ago, but Rage Against The Machine is only #27. And, once again, no country band makes the Top 20. The Dixie Chicks come closest, at #34.
ONES TO WATCH 2001: With new albums Bizaar and Bizzar, white-rap duo Insane Clown Posse seems to be emerging from underground status? The art-metal band Tool has a new album and tour planned in 2001? Rap duo Outkast is riding a wave of popularity from their latest record Stankonia.
ONES TO WATCH 2000: With last year's predictions we were both on-target (Creed) and mistaken (LFO). We also predicted stardom for the Baltimore R&B group Dru Hill; when group member Sisqo became ubiquitous with his solo hit "Thong Song," we were proven one-quarter correct.
Tomorrow we'll feature our second list, The Web's Top Men of 2000. Join us, won't you?
Note: These rankings reflect all terms entered into the Lycos search engine by users between January 1 and November 30, 2000. Individuals (Ricky Martin, Britney Spears) are not included in this ranking of bands. All spellings and search variations are included in these totals: for instance, searches for Backstreet Boyz and Backstreet Boys pics are counted as searches for the Backstreet Boys. For more details about how we create these lists, please see our Lycos 50 FAQ.
