- - 10 best songs of 2025, ranked

Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAYDecember 17, 2025 at 3:03 AM

0

So there was no official song of summer.

And a couple of holdovers from 2024 – Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die with a Smile” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” – returned to the No. 1 slot on the Billboard Hot 100 even after the new year rolled in.

But that doesn’t mean it was a dull year in music.

A glance at some of those chart-toppers in 2025, including Lamar and SZA’s “Luther,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” Huntrix’s “Golden” and Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia,” suggest a year of pop dominance (with “Luther” also commandeering the R&B/Hip-Hop chart and hitting the Dance Airplay chart).

It’s a fair assessment, but it doesn’t mean they resonated with everyone (hand raised).

So let’s move beyond the biggest hits and check out the 10 songs we kept coming back to this year.

10. Shinedown, ‘Three Six Five’

There is nothing extraordinary about a song that thumps with a basic four-on-the-floor beat and guitar notes reminiscent of Def Leppard’s “Hysteria.” But the veteran Florida band that has quietly amassed a string of No. 1 rock hits during its 22-year-existence frequently offers intuitive sentiments coupled with soaring choruses. Similar to 2023’s “A Symptom of Being Human,” “Three Six Five” turns inward – this time lamenting the loss of a friend – as it reminds us “a lot can happen in a year” and wonders, “where will be 12 months from now?” It’s a question most of us ask daily.

9. Cam, ‘Nevermine’

The singer-songwriter who has worked with Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé, Diplo and more is still primarily associated with country music since her 2015 hit, “Burning House.” But her stellar “All Things Light” album is a musical patchwork of Americana, soul and pop with some country shadings. In an emotion-soaked voice that evokes Shawn Colvin, Cam sings of self-protection and unlocks her upper range on the melancholy chorus: “Nothing I could say/could make you stay/nothing I could do/will get through to you.”

8. Laufey, ‘Snow White’

Laufey’s third album, “A Matter of Time,” nudged the Icelandic hybrid artist – call her pop-jazz-classical – into the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time (albeit at No. 91) with “Lover Girl.” But, much like her affecting “Letter to My 13 Year Old Self,” which was so beautifully rerecorded this year with Barbra Streisand, “Snow White” speaks to insecurities (“I don’t think I’m pretty/it’s not up for debate”) and trying to live up to impossible beauty standards (“Skinny always wins/and I don’t have enough of it”). The delicately plucked guitar and cinematic strings provide a pillow-y landing spot for Laufey’s emotions.

7. Bad Bunny, ‘Nuevayol’

The pride of Puerto Rico explores his identity over a dembow rhythm that is mesmerizing in its repetition. The song is a bit of a love letter to New York – evidenced in the title – as well as a subtle augmentation of Bad Bunny’s heritage given its sampling of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico’s 1975 song “Un Verano en Nueva York.” It’s a thoughtful song with a mesmerizing rhythm – and it’s going to be a blast if it lands on his Super Bowl setlist.

6. Miley Cyrus, ‘End of the World’

Cyrus embraces her affection for glossy ‘80s pop on what deserved to be as big a hit as her Grammy-winning “Flowers.” The breezy melodic backdrop full of disco swirls and strings complement the song’s point – that we aren’t promised any tomorrows, so best to dance through the apocalypse. Besides, we’d never miss a chance to praise a song that casually name drops Paul McCartney.

5. Doechii, ‘Denial is a River’

Those who witnessed Doechii’s performance at the 2025 Grammy Awards were undoubtedly awed with how she portrayed the song’s duality between herself and her alter ego on stage. Her bracing conversation about being cheated on, needing a “cleanse” from the madness of sudden success and admitting “I like day-drinkin’ and day parties and Hollywood” – all delivered in a loping flow – signaled the arrival of a mix tape maven poised for superstardom.

4. Lady Gaga, ‘Abracadabra’

Between a beat that both clip-clops and throbs and a chorus injected with Gaga’s most delicious nonsensical words (“amor-oo-na-na”) since she rolled her r’s through the refrain of “Bad Romance” (“roma-roma-ma”), “Abracadabra” seared as if the floor really were on fire. Gaga managed to channel the mysticism of Stevie Nicks while remaining true to her singular unconventionality as she sang of devils, angels, self-doubt, love, death and, essentially the meaning of life, in under four minutes.

3. Conan Gray, ‘This Song’

Gray’s “Wishbone” album is his fourth in five years, but consider it a wish granted for the California native. His biggest album since his 2020 debut “Kid Krow” also brought the swooping “Vodka Cranberry.” But “This Song” excels as a sweet, dreamy profession of yearning. There is nothing new about using music as a gateway to expression, but Gray makes you feel his pining in your bones.

2. Chappell Roan, ‘The Subway’

It didn’t come attached to a new album, but the standalone single from pop’s most charismatic enigma spotlights her lyrical potency. The music is a throwback to the ‘90s jangle-pop of The Cranberries and The Sundays and Roan’s voice aches with heartbreak about a moment that might – or might not have - been meant to be. We understand the desire to move to Saskatchewan.

1. Taylor Swift, ‘Opalite’

The queen of everything invited us to join her in pre-wedded bliss on her "The Life of a Showgirl" album. But this standout has everything that makes a Swift song classic – an unshakable melody, glorious chord changes, a patented Swiftian bridge and a title that sent us all scurrying to the dictionary. It’s also the favorite of her dad, Scott, and fiancé, Travis Kelce, as she told us at a screening of her “End of An Era” documentary. As Swift reminds us, "life is a song, it ends when it ends” so "don't you sweat it baby." Who are we to argue?

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 10 best songs of 2025, ranked

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”