Variety's music writers pick 2025's best songs, from Lily Allen, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Dean, Dijon, Hayley Williams, Taylor Swift and more.

From a song by a certified superstar that came out in the very first week of January to breakthroughs from lesser-known indie acts, here are selections from NPR Music's list of the best songs of 2025.

The best Christmas song to blast your eardrums out to. "Carol of the Bells" is the most epic — and maybe kinda creepy? — ...

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 ...

The longest Amplifier playlist of the year is finally here: five hours, 90 tracks, each of which was chosen as a 2025 ...

It's that time of year again... When every person you follow on Instagram is sharing their Spotify wrapped or Apple Music Replay lists for all to see, and as a music lover, I actually enjoy seeing ...

From Clipse to Metro Boomin and Cardi B, the year was full of memorable rap songs that expanded and experimented with the ...

Long before there was Spotify or YouTube, Johnny Cash sat down and made a list of the 100 most essential country music songs. The list was intended not for fans, nor as part of his own storied career ...

Though music is proven to speak to all of us, according to experts, there are two different types of listeners: those who ...

With so many Christmas songs out there, there were sure to be a few weird ones but these are the most strange of them all.

Christmas music is a sacred holiday tradition and these songs defile that tradition by being so incredibly bad.