Only six of the top 20 songs of 2025 so far are from this year
Most of the biggest songs of 2025 aren’t from 2025.
Look, we get it, sometimes trying to keep up with the biggest songs of the moment feels like fighting a losing battle. As the pool of music grows wider and every other discussion about the hottest band or artist gives you the impression that you must have missed yet another invitation to the cultural conversation du jour, sometimes leaning into previous favorites feels like the safest option.
In fact, it seems we collectively reached for something a little more familiar: most of 2025’s biggest songs weren’t actually released this year, according to Luminate and Billboard data through November 20.
If your Spotify listening age made you feel a little less relevant than you’d once thought yourself, maybe recognizing some of the year’s biggest songs, a handful of which were also some of last year’s biggest songs, might put a bit of pep in your step.
Indeed, more than 50% of the year’s top 20 chart hits so far weren’t released in 2025, while only three of the top 10 songs of 2025 are from this year. For instance, “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims, the sixth-biggest song of 2025, came out in June 2023 — meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar’s “Luther,” currently in the second spot and thought by some to be in the running for Song of the Year at the 2026 Grammys, was released last November.
But what’s behind the lag?
2024, a fine vintage
As well as vaguer explanations about “nostalgia and escapism,” there are a couple of factors at play, per Variety. For starters, streaming has fragmented our listening, meaning monoculture megahits are rarer now. Playlists on different platforms often resurface songs from previous years, and there’s been a lack of megastar albums this year.
Many of these songs also came out in November or December 2024, giving them time to find their feet more fully this year. Speaking to Variety, Jaime Marconette, Luminate’s VP for Music Insights and Industry Relations, said that last year was just something of a bumper year for pop — with standout hits from the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, and Chappell Roan — and some of the biggest songs of the year have had a big influence on this year’s chart looking a little throwback-ish.
