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’

Billboard is causing quite the commotion with their usual music lists, as they've just named Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl 2005's Top Female Song.

Billboard opted to travel back twenty years to explore the music charts of yesteryear, and Gwen Stefani, who quiet as it's kept hasn't been able to recouperate the success of her solo debut Love, Angel, Music, Baby came out victorious.

She beat out songs such as Mary J. Blige‘s ‘Be Without You,’ Mariah Carey‘s ‘We Belong Together,’ and Madonna‘s ‘Hung Up.’

Even though 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 on Tuesday (April 15) is based on critics’ choice and places the ‘Emancipation of Mimi’ smash at #2 among women.

“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.”

Billboard'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.