The idea that each year produces a few unofficial "songs of the summer" has been rattling around for ages. And, though it's an inexact science, the concept has generally existed as a form of cultural carbon dating: If you're thinking about the summer of 2012, for example, you can imagine Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" or Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" emanating from the nearest loudspeaker. There's no title or trophy that goes with releasing the song of the summer, but it's meaningful to have imprinted on the history of a given year. It's also, not for nothing, lucrative to have staked a claim to future nostalgia — the more joyful, wistful and/or infectious the better.
Each week, we use this column to break down major takeaways from the latest Billboard albums and singles charts. But it seems like a good week to break down a larger question about the charts circa August 2025: Do we have a true "song of the summer" this year? (For a few abbreviated takeaways from this week's charts, keep scrolling.)
Billboard didn't launch a Songs of the Summer chart until 2010. Since then, it's been easy to determine, using data, which tracks can rightfully claim song-of-the-summer status. Take the music-rich summer of 2024, when two country songs — Post Malone's "I Had Some Help (feat. Morgan Wallen)" and Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" — triumphed over pop bangers (Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso" and "Please Please Please"), hip-hop titans (Kendrick Lamar's eventual Grammy-winner "Not Like Us"), left-field hits (Tommy Richman's "Million Dollar Baby") and the entirety of Charli xcx's Brat. Though nothing from Brat made the cut, Billboard's final Songs of the Summer chart for 2024 rounded up a solidly inclusive cross-section of superstars and newcomers that cut across multiple genres, while truly representing much of what you'd hear if you were to flip on a commercial radio station or pop into a store last summer.
But what about this summer? Well, as the latest Songs of the Summer chart will tell you… it's pretty grim.
At No. 1, of course, is Alex Warren's "Ordinary," which combines the hooky persistence of Imagine Dragons, the choir-adorned uplift of Coldplay and the fervent devotion of praise music; it's topped the Billboard Hot 100 for nine of the last 10 weeks and appears unlikely to loosen its grip as the summer wears on. "Ordinary" is the Song of the Summer based on raw chart numbers, but it's hardly a windows-down beach banger like, say, "Espresso." It follows the letter, but not the spirit, of the song-of-the-summer law.
Then, at Nos. 2, 3 and 5, you've got three Morgan Wallen songs, all from his latest overstuffed mega-album, I'm the Problem. "What I Want (feat. Tate McRae)" has been I'm the Problem's biggest hit, as well as the current Wallen single with the easiest claim to song-of-the-summer status: It dresses the singer's sullen vocal in trap beats, tosses in a few of McRae's frothy vocal flourishes and calls it a day. And, since Wallen's name headlines two massive recent-vintage songs of the summer — 2024's "I Had Some Help" and 2023's "Last Night" — it certainly doesn't sound out of place in a song-of-the-summer conversation. "What I Want" just isn't terribly eventful, and it's not having half as much fun as Wallen and Post Malone were having at this time a year ago.
Back on the Songs of the Summer chart, Kendrick Lamar's "Luther (feat. SZA)" is No. 4 but has resided on the Hot 100 for 36 weeks; Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' "Die With a Smile" sits at No. 6 after 50 weeks; and Chappell Roan's "Pink Pony Club" holds on at No. 7 after 59 weeks. Songs are only eligible for the Songs of the Summer chart if they haven't hit that particular chart in a prior summer — that's why "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" and Teddy Swims' "Lose Control" miss out on this year's Songs of the Summer chart, even though they remain in the Hot 100's top 10 — but that doesn't make "Luther," "Die With a Smile" or "Pink Pony Club" feel particularly tied to the summer of 2025.
All of which speaks to a big part of what makes this summer's hit songs feel so stale: Thanks in large part to streaming algorithms — and radio programmers who often take their cues from what's getting played on streaming services — the biggest songs loll around on the charts for what feels like an eternity. "Lose Control" is currently in its 71st week in the top 10, amid 101 weeks on the Hot 100; both of those numbers obliterate the previous all-time records. The song still sits, motionless in more ways than one, at No. 7.
But there's another issue at work here: For a variety of reasons, many of the biggest A-list stars in pop, hip-hop and R&B have sat out 2025 so far — or, in the case of Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar, timed their latest albums in such a way that their largest impact had already faded by the time summer rolled around. Some contenders have underperformed commercially compared to expectations (Miley Cyrus, Lorde) or failed to ascend as rapidly as expected (Haim, Addison Rae), while others decided to wait until late summer (Sabrina Carpenter) or early fall (Drake) to release new albums. It's all added up to an uncharacteristically sleepy summer.
Billboard's Songs of the Summer chart has its own structural flaws when it comes to conferring song-of-the-summer status, starting with the fact that it weighs each summer week equally. That set-up makes it virtually impossible for late-breaking hits to compete with songs that have been charting for months. (It also helps explain the absence of tracks from KPop Demon Hunters, which has blown up entirely within the last six weeks.)
Still, a few songs have surged on the Songs of the Summer chart in recent weeks, and those belong in the song-of-the-summer discussion. Sabrina Carpenter's "Manchild," at No. 8, provides a worthy reminder that Carpenter has more summery anthems in her as her new album (Man's Best Friend) approaches later this month. And Ravyn Lenae's "Love Me Not," at No. 9, is everything a song of the summer should be: frothy and fun, with a hint of nostalgia. And, though it hasn't cracked the Songs of the Summer chart — it's only been on the Hot 100 for three weeks now — Justin Bieber's "Daisies" feels like a late-breaking smash. Elevated by the distinctive guitar sound of rising star Mk.gee, the track ought to stick around long enough to enter the song-of-the-summer conversation in hindsight.
Whether it's "Manchild," "Love Me Not," "Daisies" or HUNTR/X's "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters, it's hard not to root for a new song to dominate the charts while the weather's still hot. It'd be nice, after all, to hear a song of the summer that's anything but "Ordinary."
TOP ALBUMS
Last week, Tyler, The Creator's Don't Tap the Glass debuted at No. 1, making it the rapper's fourth consecutive record to top the Billboard 200 albums chart. This week, Don't Tap the Glass drops to No. 4, clearing the way for the return of Morgan Wallen's streaming blockbuster I'm the Problem, which now spends a ninth nonconsecutive week atop the chart. It's still solidly ahead of the album at No. 2: the soundtrack to KPop Demon Hunters, which continues to close the gap by a little bit each week.
Elsewhere, three new albums debut in the top 10: the K-pop group Tomorrow X Together lands at No. 3 with The Star Chapter: TOGETHER; the rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again scores his 16th top 10 album with MASA at No. 6; and singer-songwriter Tyler Childers hits a new career high as Snipe Hunter bows at No. 7. Also worth noting: The 2003 compilation The Essential Ozzy Osbourne remains in the top 10 for a second week in the aftermath of the rock legend's death.
TOP SONGS
For a ninth nonconsecutive week, Alex Warren's "Ordinary" sits atop the Billboard Hot 100, thanks largely to massive airplay on commercial radio stations. But KPop Demon Hunters continues to pile up milestones. Now, both of the soundtrack's fictional bands — HUNTR/X, a girl group voiced by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI, and Saja Boys, a boy band voiced by Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo and samUIL Lee — have landed songs in the top 10. HUNTR/X's "Golden" holds at No. 2, while Saja Boys' "Your Idol" climbs to No. 9.
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