Top Songs of 2021

The musical landscape of 2021

Short-form video, global fan communities and streaming made hit cycles less predictable. New releases competed with older songs returning through media exposure and viral trends.

Olivia Rodrigo appears 3 times in the Top 20, making the artist one of the clearest recurring presences in this year’s list.

What to listen for

Notice how contemporary records freely combine influences from country, dance, hip-hop, R&B and earlier pop eras.

This list contains 16 different credited artists. The number gives a quick indication of whether the year was concentrated among repeat hitmakers or spread across a wider field.

Billboard Year-End Top 20 songs of 2021

Build a 2021 playlist

Start with “Levitating” by Dua Lipa, then alternate familiar high-ranking records with contrasting selections from the lower half of the list.

Open the playlist builder

How this page should be used

Year-End charts summarize performance across an extended chart year. They are not simply a list of songs that reached number one, and historical methodology has changed. Treat this page as a guided listening resource and compact chart-history reference rather than a mathematical comparison with other eras.