2002

In “2002,” Anne-Marie reminisces about falling in love as an 11-year-old and all the songs that soundtracked that romance. She had some help from Ed Sheeran to write this track.

During the song’s chorus, she references six songs released in the late 1990s and early 2000s, like Jay-Z’s “99 Problems,” Nelly’s “Ride wit Me,” NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” and Britney Spears' “…Baby One More Time.”

The “99 Problems” reference is actually a misnomer, however, as Jay-Z didn’t write that song until 2003.

“It is all about that year, when I was that age just listening to that music that I loved at that time. You know, Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliott All of these songs. Yeah, it just takes me back to that time.“

– Anne-Marie for Luvpop

When asked about the inspiration for the song:

“I guess childhood. I think it’s just a really different song from other songs. I love to talk about heartbreak and bad, sad times and this song is really different and just makes me reminisce about being a kid and I loved being a kid.“

“I went to the studio with Ed and basically, just went from there to recording it in his room, and then went to Steve Mack’s studio and recorded it again. And then Steve produced it up and I love to get really involved in the production because, you know, I think that’s as much of a part of it as the lyrics are. And even though I can’t just go on the computer and do my whole thing on my own yet, I love to get really involved, which might be a little bit annoying for Steve. But he knows that if I hear something, I have to say it. So we worked on this for quite a while, just the production and getting it right and just making it kind of sound like the rest of my album.“

"2002" was a commercial success, becoming one of Anne-Marie's most successful singles worldwide. It peaked at number three on the UK singles chart, becoming Anne-Marie's fourth top-ten single at the time. The song has also reached the top ten in seven countries, including Australia, where it reached number four, Scotland where it peaked at number 3 and Ireland were it peaked at number 2. It was a massive success in South Korea, topping the country's year-end chart in 2019.