After the Lighters Went Out: 10 Post-2000 Power Ballads with Terrie Carr

2026-02-09

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Power ballads didn’t disappear when the lighters went away — they just continued to evolve.This week, I’m joined by Terrie Carr of Carr Stereo to explore 10 power ballads released after 2000 — songs that still build slow, hit hard, and aim straight for the chest, even if the glow in the crowd looks a little different now.From massive choruses to emotional gut-punches, these are the songs that prove the power ballad never lost its place — it just traded Bic lighters for phone screens

Power ballads didn’t disappear when the lighters went away — they just continued to evolve.

This week, I’m joined by Terrie Carr of Carr Stereo to explore 10 power ballads released after 2000 — songs that still build slow, hit hard, and aim straight for the chest, even if the glow in the crowd looks a little different now.

From massive choruses to emotional gut-punches, these are the songs that prove the power ballad never lost its place — it just traded Bic lighters for phone screens and kept going. No era restrictions, no genre snobbery — just big feelings, bigger hooks, and the kind of songs that demand you turn them up a little louder than you probably should.