(Mostly) Featuring the 2010s Trivia Quiz

Answer: California Gurls

'California Gurls' was first released in June 2010 and became Katy Perry's second US Billboard Hot 100 number one single. It was co-written by Perry (whose real name is Kathryn Hudson) and Snoop Dogg (whose real name is Calvin Broadus) and appeared on Perry's album 'Teenage Dream'. It proved to be a popular hit worldwide and also reached number one in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It was widely described as a "summer hit", although clearly its release fell in the winter in the southern hemisphere.

The incorrect options are all Katy Perry songs that reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. 'I Kissed a Girl' was released in 2008, 'E.T.' (featuring Kanye West) in 2011 and 'Roar' in 2013.

Answer: Calvin Harris

Known for its catchy repeated chorus line "We found love in a hopeless place", 'We Found Love' was written by Calvin Harris. This collaboration between the unlikely pairing of a Scottish DJ from the town of Dumfries and a glamorous singer from the Caribbean island of Barbados came after Harris was selected as one of the support acts for Rihanna's 2011 'Loud' tour. In total, the song spent 10 weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 as well as topping the charts in 24 other countries around the globe.

The incorrect options are all Scottish singers, even the distinctly Italian-sounding Paolo Nutini. Susan Boyle shot to fame on the reality TV show 'Britain's Got Talent' in 2009, while Lulu is known for winning the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest and singing the theme song to the Bond film 'The Man with the Golden Gun'.

Answer: Troublemaker

Olly Murs' music career was kickstarted when he finished as the runner-up on the UK version of 'The X-Factor' in 2009. 'Troublemaker' was his fourth UK number one single, but the first to break into the Top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (it reached a peak of 25 in 2013). US rapper Flo Rida's contribution to the track was met with cynicism from some critics, who suggested that his inclusion had simply been a ploy to improve the song's appeal to the US market.

The incorrect options are all Flo Rida UK number one hits, but as the main artist rather than just a featured one.

Answer: Blurred Lines

'Blurred Lines' gained diamond certification in the USA after selling in excess of ten million copies across the country after its release in April 2013. However, it gained a different sort of notoriety a few months later when the family of the late singer Marvin Gaye made a legal claim that the song infringed the copyright of Gaye's 1977 hit 'Got To Give It Up'. The legal tussle between the family, Williams and Thicke (and to a lesser extent the rapper T.I.) lasted for several years, but ended in favour of the claim made on Gaye's behalf with a percentage of the royalties granted to his estate and Gaye added to the list of people given credit for writing the song. 'Blurred Lines' also provoked negative publicity for some of its lyrics that some people claimed promoted sexual assault on women, despite the writers' statements that the song was actually about female empowerment.

The incorrect options are all other hits of 2013 - 'The Monster' was by Eminem featuring Rihanna; 'Can't Hold Us' and 'Thrift Shop' were by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, featuring Ray Dalton and Wanz respectively.

Answer: Bruno Mars

'Just the Way You Are' and 'Grenade' were both hit songs for Bruno Mars in 2010. 'Uptown Funk', his collaboration with the British musician, DJ and record producer Mark Ronson, was released in November 2014 and gradually climbed up the US Billboard Hot 100 through the remainder of the year. It hit the number one spot in January 2015 and stayed there for a total of 14 consecutive weeks - a feat that placed it among the longest running number one singles in the history of the chart. The song was also successful on the UK Singles Chart, where it hit number one in December 2014 and narrowly missed out on the coveted Christmas number one spot.

Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainor and John Legend are all US singer-songwriters who had hit songs in 2014 - but none of them were associated with 'Uptown Funk'.

Answer: Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father, Marvin Gay Sr., on April 1, 1984 after a string of family arguments. He achieved success in the music industry in the early 1960s, but it took until the release of 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' in 1968 for him to achieve a number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 (although previous singles had reached number one on the US Hot R&B chart). Later number one hits included 'Let's Get It On' in 1973 and 'Got to Give it Up (Part One)' in 1977.

Charlie Puth's song 'Marvin Gaye', featuring Meghan Trainor, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in 2015, but failed to break in to the top 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The singer's name features strongly in the lyrics, with regular repeats of the line "Let's Marvin Gaye and get in on".

John Lennon was killed in 1980, Rusty Day in 1982 and Peter Tosh (of the band The Wailers) in 1987. All of them were also killed by gunshot wounds.

Answer: Drake (featuring Wizkid and Kyla)

'One Dance' - which, somewhat unsurprisingly given its title, is a dance track - was performed by the Canadian rapper Drake alongside Wizkid (a Nigerian singer-songwriter) and the British house singer Kyla. The song has Jamaican and African influences and held the record for the most streamed song on Spotify for nearly a year (it was ousted by Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You' in September 2017). It held the top spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 for ten (non-consecutive) weeks.

The incorrect answers are all other hits from 2016 that included a performance by at least one featured artist.

Answer: Spanish

Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee (Ramon Rodriguez) are both from Puerto Rico, an American territory in the Caribbean where the main language spoken is Spanish. 'Despacito' is mainly sung in Spanish (with the exception of the odd "yeah", "no", "go", "baby" and "Daddy") and the title can be translated into English as 'Slowly'.

The song was originally released in January 2017 without Justin Bieber's contribution, but it wasn't until the remix featuring him came out a few months later that it became a hit and climbed to the top of the music charts in nearly 50 countries around the world, including the US Billboard Hot 100 where it reigned for 16 weeks.

Answer: Maroon 5

'Red Pill Blues' is the sixth studio album produced by the US band, Maroon 5. The band's lead vocalist Adam Levine was one of the co-writers of 'Girls Like You' and Cardi B was added to the list for the extended single version. The song made it to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Maroon 5's fourth number one on that chart and Cardi B's (whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar) third, and earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Duo or Group Performance.

It also reached number one on charts from several countries around the world, including Canada, New Zealand and France.

Answer: A Star is Born

'Shallow' was a major song from the 2018 musical 'A Star Is Born', appearing in various places throughout the film. Bradley Cooper played a troubled musician who became both the mentor and lover of a successful young singer played by Lady Gaga. The film was a remake of previous versions from 1937, 1954 and 1976, but 'Shallow' was written by Lady Gaga (and others) for the new release. The song was originally released in 2018 but made it to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 after it claimed the Best Original Song Oscar at the 91st Academy Awards ceremony held in February 2019.

The incorrect options were the three films that had previously taken home the Oscar for Best Original Song. 'Remember Me' from 'Coco' won in 2018, 'City of Stars' from 'La La Land' won in 2017 and 'Writing's On the Wall' from 'Spectre' won in 2016.