2025 has been a year full of surprises, controversies and remarkable individual accomplishments in the global music arena. As the year slowly wraps up, it is time to look back at some of the biggest names who gave us some unforgettable songs and stole headlines with their incredible achievements all through the year.
Bad Bunny
He had a massive year with the release of his latest album Debí Tirar Más Fotos and his Super Bowl halftime show announcement. Confirmed the headliner for the Super Bowl LX halftime show in February 2026, it marks a huge moment for Latin music on the global stage, although it also sparked MAGA outrage and rumours of his selection being cancelled. The Puerto Rican rapper will perform at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, and has stated the role is a historic moment for Latino culture, and the first Super Bowl halftime to be entirely in Spanish.
The announcement came toward the tail end of another successful year for Bad Bunny, who always does things his own way. His decision to do a 31-day residency on his home country Puerto Rico following the blockbuster success of his chart-busting album Debí Tirar Más Fotos instead of launching a billion-dollar concert tour, has rewritten the rules of prevailing pop music conventions and won hearts. Bad Bunny finished off the year with another milestone under his belt, as Spotify Wrapped’s top global artiste of 2025.
Taylor Swift
Arguably the most successful pop artiste of her generation, Taylor made major headlines this year not just for her new music, but also for reclaiming ownership of her first six master recordings in a landmark music industry deal. With reports valuing the deal at hundreds of millions of dollars, the megastar’s regaining control of her early music catalogue was a move hailed as a huge win for artiste ownership.
Released in October, her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, a themed record exploring her inner life during the Eras Tour, has hit songs like the viral track Wood, which became Google’s most searched song of the year. Her high-profile engagement to American football star Travis Kelce in August, marked by a custom-designed ring and a romantic proposal, broke the Internet, with fans engaged in endless online speculations, fuelling cultural moments.
Merging her releases and personal life into global cultural events, Taylor proved her status not just as a pop star but also as a savvy entrepreneur and a powerful brand architect.
Katseye
Throughout the year, global girl group Katseye stayed in the news for just the right reasons. In June, they released their second extended play, Beautiful Chaos, a global commercial success with smash hits like Gnarly, Gabriela and Mean Girls, with Gnarly going on to become the group’s first entry on the prestigious US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Katseye celebrated their album success by embarking on their first concert tour in November, the Beautiful Chaos Tour, in which they surprise-debuted the new song, Internet Girl. Katseye also performed at prominent music festivals, including a record-breaking set at Lollapalooza 2025 in Chicago and earned Grammy 2026 nominations for Best New Artiste and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their song Gabriela.
During Pride Month 2025, member Megan publicly identified as bisexual, making her the second openly queer member after Lara Raj had done the same in March. Katseye also starred in an impactful Gap ad campaign highlighting the brand’s Fall denim line, while dancing to a re-recorded 2003 hit Milkshake. Blending nostalgia and fun with diversity and inclusiveness, the campaign connected with Gen Z, helping the classic brand feel relevant and fresh. The group also drew attention for their candid discussions on the challenges of fame, including online toxicity and identity debates.
Sabrina Carpenter
From Disney actress to pop superstar, Sabrina Carpenter’s evolution has been phenomenal. Her recent albums prove that she is more than a former child star — she is an artiste crafting her own success story. 2025 saw Sabrina Carpenter transition from a rising star to an established pop superstar, leveraging massive singles, critically acclaimed albums and commanding live performances to solidify her pop powerhouse status.
She earned two major Grammy wins this year for Best Pop Vocal Album for Short n’ Sweet and Best Pop Solo Performance for Espresso, also delivering a memorable performance at the awards ceremony. Short n’ Sweet and Espresso continued to dominate charts and pop culture, widening her influence. Released in August, her album Man’s Best Friend was praised for its sharp lyrics and effortless energy. She followed up her album success with a global Man’s Best Friend tour, expanding her reach. Her viral performances, including at the Grammys and BRIT Awards, especially her racy mashup at the BRITs, kept her in the spotlight. Sabrina kept the momentum going with tracks like Manchild topping charts, building on the success of her previous viral hits Espresso and Please Please Please.
Kneecap
Irish rap trio Kneecap made some of the biggest music headlines in 2025. The year saw the group reach new heights in mainstream fame and artistic recognition while simultaneously facing significant political backlash and legal challenges due to their vocal activism for Palestine and for their fight for free speech in the music industry. Spotify Wrapped 2025 has showed them surpassing The Beatles in streams in Ireland, highlighting their massive listenership.
In a major boost to their profile, their semi-fictionalised self-titled film had also won a BAFTA in February. At the Coachella Music Festival in April, their anti-Israel messages sparked outrage and criticism while a Glastonbury Festival performance in June also drew scrutiny. Then, band member Mo Chara faced a terrorism-related charge in the UK over alleged pro-Hamas slogans at a past gig, leading to defence arguments and a court appearance in June. A Canada tour ban on the grounds of supporting terrorism led to Kneecap calling it an attempt to silence dissent. Kneecap has announced that they will pursue all legal challenges and declared that if they win, they will donate the money to children affected by the genocide in Gaza.
K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack
The soundtrack of the Netflix film K-Pop Demon Hunters took the world by storm. Representing K-pop’s experimental edge, the movie went completely viral, creating a soundtrack that has consistently been on the global charts since its release. It shattered records and topped Billboard US charts with four songs — Golden, Your Idol, Soda Pop and How It’s Done — in the top 10 songs simultaneously. The song Golden was YouTube Korea’s most-viewed song of the year. The songs also earned Grammy nods and major awards (Music Visionary of the Year award at the 2025 Mnet Asian Music Awards and Hollywood Music in Media Awards for Golden in Song — Animated Film category). The songs sung by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami as HUNTR/X, the fictional K-Pop group from the movie, drove huge cultural impact, especially among Gen Z, and sparked tremendous global interest in Korean culture, food and tourism, cementing its status as a cultural phenomenon with historic global chart dominance for its K-Pop music.
Arijit Singh
Bollywood’s most sought-after male vocalist Arijit Singh’s emotional delivery defines modern Indian pop. His romantic ballads dominate playlists and streaming charts across India and all around the world. The music icon significantly added to his stardom in 2025 through a major global recognition when he became the most-followed artiste on Spotify worldwide in July 2025, a historic achievement as the first non-English-singing artiste to surpass stars like Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran.
In January, he was conferred the Padma Shri for the impact of his music. His collaboration with Ed Sheeran on the single Sapphire gained massive international attention and helped broaden his global appeal. Further connecting with his massive fanbase, Singh continued with his extensive live concert tours, including a multi-city India Tour along with some international stops, also making history in September by becoming the first Indian singer to headline a solo UK stadium concert at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, that quickly turned into a sold-out event for nearly 50,000 fans.
Chappell Roan
2025 started with a big bang for Chappell Roan. A rising pop sensation and a prominent figure who is seen as a leading voice for queer artistes and a cultural icon for her unapologetic style, she gained significant buzz when she was awarded Best New Artiste at the Grammy Awards this year, and decided to use that platform for an arguably risky statement. Her words sparked controversy as she called out record labels for exploiting artistes, demanding liveable wages and healthcare. Since then, throughout the year, artistes were seen pulling back the curtain on the realities of living and surviving as an artiste in 2025 because of threats from AI, corporate interests clashing with artistes’ freedom, difficulties of touring and so on. Her statement also brought fans into the fold and generated awareness on artistes’ welfare and the ethical consumption of music, a positive development for the music industry in the long run.
The 27-year-old pop star is closing out the year with another brand new feather in her cap — selected as the newest global ambassador for MAC Cosmetics, she will star in the brand’s campaigns worldwide that begin in 2026.
Bruno Mars
In a year of powerful collaborations that became instant classics, Bruno Mars has sealed his place as an expert, blending his sound with others to create chart-topping, diverse musical experiences. His versatile, retro-infused style with pop, funk, R&B, and exceptional songwriting/production skills, ability to craft catchy hits, impressive vocal range, strong work ethic and broad audience appeal have established his reputation as a valuable partner, showcasing Mars’s chart-topping success with different artistes.
Mars had two massive winning collaborations in 2025 — with Rosé for APT, which dominated Apple Music and won Mnet Asian Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards. His collab with Lady Gaga for Die with a Smile was YouTube’s top song and won major awards including Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, an MTV Video Music Award for Best Collaboration, and an American Music Award for Favourite Music Video.