DavesMusicDatabase.com is devoted to ranking, rating, and reviewing music of all genres and eras. The DMDB blog serves up album and song reviews, best-of lists, music history snapshots, and music-related essays.
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 | Dave’s Music Database:Top 50 Songs of 2025 |
These are the top 50 songs for the year based on their overall performance in Dave’s Music Database, which is determined by combining chart data, sales figures, streaming, video views, and aggregates from year-end lists and charts. Check out “Top Songs and Albums of the Year” lists here.
DMDB Top 2%:
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First posted 1/21/2026. |
 | Dave’s Faves:Songs of the Year, 1900-2024 |
These are my personal favorite songs for each year from 1900 to present. Click here to see other Dave’s Faves song lists.
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Last updated 1/1/2025. |
 | AbracadabraLady Gaga |
Writer(s): Lady Gaga, Andrew Watt, Henry Walter, Susan Janet Ballion, Peter Edward Clarke, Steven Severin,John McGeoch (see lyrics here) Released: February 3, 2025 First Charted: February 12, 2025 Peak: 13 BB, 27 AC, 6 A40, 3 UK, 12 CN, 12 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.6 UK, 0.83 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 268.70 video, 693.33 streaming |
Awards:Click on award for more details.
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About the Song:Billboard magazine proclaimed that Lady Gaga has “one of the strongest pop catalogs of the last 15 years.” BB’25 It really stretches back a bit farther to 2009 when she established herself as a new dance-pop star with “Just Dance” and “Poker Face.” She also gifted the music world with “Bad Romance,” “Born This Way,” “Shallow,” and “Die with a Smile.” Even amongst such gems, however, 2025’s “Abracadabra” is “one of Gaga’s best-ever singles.” PF Rolling Stone called it “2025’s most inescapable earworm.” RS’25 The “gothic fantasia” BB’25 of this “sleazy, slinky club banger” BB’25 is “a psychedelically weird acid-techno rager that’s so nasty, so potent, that it makes ‘Bad Romance’ sound like Kidz Bop.” PF “The synthesizers fade in and out like a slow-strobing disco light on a foggy dance floor.” RS’25 “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.” US She told Rolling Stone “I wanted to traverse old ground while breaking new ground, which I think is hard to do… Maybe the last four or so albums I’ve made, I moved away from that and tried some different things, but this was a return to those Gothic dreams.”RS’25 She told Elle magazine that the song was about “facing the challenge of life and the challenge of the night and finding the magic in it all.” SF She also said, “the song is about dealing with that challenge to yourself and very often the world around us can reflect it back to us as well. I wanted to explore the question, ‘What does it feel like to thrive and not just be surviving all the time?’” SF The song received Grammy nominations for Song and Record of the Year. Resources:
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First posted 1/19/2026. |
 | Die with a SmileLady Gaga & Bruno Mars |
Writer(s): Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Dernst Emile II, James Fauntleroy, Andrew Watt (see lyrics here) Released: August 16, 2024 First Charted: August 28, 2024 Peak: 15 BB, 18 BA, 12 DG, 13 ST, 12 RR, 2 AC, 110 A40, 2 UK 16 CN, 2 AU, 24 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 1.2 UK, 3.91 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2601.43 streaming |
Awards:Click on award for more details.
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About the Song:With thirteen #1 Hot 100 hits between them since 2008, a collaboration between Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars was a no brainer. The “soft rock-leaning” WK “Die with a Smile” didn’t disappoint; it gave Gaga her sixth chart-topper and was the ninth for Mars. Interestingly though, it took 20 weeks to reach the top in an era when songs often debut in the pole position. The song is about “a powerful longing to be with a loved one, highlighting the urgency and depth of their love in the face of uncertainty and potential endings.” WK Mars invited Gaga to the studio where he had started the track. She said she was blown away by what she heard. The duo finished writing and recording it the same day. WK Gaga said they were inspired by collaborations between Carole King and James Taylor, wanting harmonies that had a ‘70s vibe to them. WK Clash magazine’s Robin Murray said the song displays “undoubted chemistry” and “simple exuberant fun.” WK Rolling Stone’s Brittany Spanos said it “puts the duo’s soaing vocals on full display.” WK Songfacts.com says “the two bounce off each other’s vocals with all the chemistry of a well-matched tennis pair.” SF “Smile” became the longest-reigning daily number-one song (2oo non-consecutive days) in the history of Spotify WK and was the fastest song in Spotify history to reach both one billion (96 days) and two billion streams. WK It topped the charts in over 30 countries, including the United States and Canada. WK It was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year and won for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Resources:Related Links:
First posted 6/15/2025. |
 | Billboard:
The Greatest Pop Stars |
Billboard announced in August that it would unveil the artists they considered “the 25 most important and impactful pop stars of the last 25 years” over the next four months. They started with 25 honorable mentions (bottom of page) before moving on to count down the top 25. They completed the countdown on December 3. Click on an act’s name to go to the Billboard article. |
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First posted 8/14/2024; last updated 12/3/2024. |
