Labor Day weekend has come and gone, which must mean that the final word is in on the Songs of the Summer.
Billboard‘s official Song of the Summer listing closed with the chart dated Sept. 6, and unsurprisingly, tops is the song that topped the chart every week of the season: Alex Warren‘s 10-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 megaballad “Ordinary.” Behind it comes three straight Morgan Wallen-led smashes — “What I Want” (feat. Tate McRae, No. 2), “Just in Case” (No. 3) and “I’m the Problem” (No. 4) — with Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” rounding out the top five. A little lower on the chart, this week’s Hot 100 No. 1 — HUNTR/X’s “Golden” — finishes at No. 7.
What does Billboard‘s chart-determined Song of the Summer tell us about the state of Songs of the Summer? And which of the top 10 best defined our own summer? Billboard staffers answer these questions and more below.
1. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” is officially our Song of the Summer. What do you think the song’s summertime success tells us, if anything, about what listeners want from a summer song in 2025?
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Katie Atkinson: To my mind, this one has little to nothing to do with summer. I really love when a Song of the Summer sounds like summer feels (upbeat, sunshiny lyrics), but I think “Ordinary” just reached its peak at the exact right moment, first topping the Hot 100 on the chart dated June 7, and filled a spot at radio that’s been filled over the past year-plus with mellow hits by Benson Boone, Teddy Swims or Hozier and rode that wave (ooh, surfing reference — that feels summery!) to the top spot.
Christopher Claxton: Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” being Song of the Summer shows that people in 2025 want more than just a party anthem for the season. The track is vulnerable, emotional and relatable, it’s not about chasing the typical “turn-up” movement, but about tapping into feelings that a lot of people connect with right now. I think it proves that a summer hit doesn’t always have to be high-energy; sometimes listeners just want something real, something that mirrors what they’re going through while still being catchy enough to sing along to all season.
Kyle Denis: I don’t think “Ordinary” tells us anything markedly new or different about what listeners want from summer song, specifically. I think it peaked at the right time of the year (which also happened to be relatively quiet), but its sound only fortifies what we’ve learned from last year’s hits like “Beautiful Things,” “Lose Control” and “Too Sweet.” If anything, I think that the conversation “Ordinary”-as-song-of-the-summer has sparked is a bit more interesting. Clearly the numbers are there, but the passion is lacking. It feels like this year’s summer songs were best felt on a regional level with smaller hits like “Boots on the Ground,” “Shake It to the Max” and “Whim Whamiee.”
Jason Lipshutz: Instead of serving as a beach-party soundtrack, the song of the summer has become a signifier of contemporary pop trends over the past decade; it’s why we’ve had a Spanish-language SOTS (Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” in 2017), a K-pop champ (BTS’s “Butter” in 2021) and a couple of country victors (Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” in 2023, and Wallen and Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help” last year). Alex Warren represents the current spate of big-voiced male singer-songwriters scoring inescapable anthems, riding the 2024 wave of Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control,” Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” and Hozier’s “Too Sweet” to dominate 2025. In this way, the summer timing of “Ordinary” is incidental — it’s not what listeners want from a summer song, but it’s what listeners want right now, period.
Andrew Unterberger: I think the main thing “Ordinary” tells us about Songs of the Summer is that they really need a Spring runway first. With more and more songs hanging around the top of the Hot 100 for durations that would’ve been unthinkable a decade ago — and taking time to get their streaming and radio peaks synched up — it’s going to be very hard for a song to debut in summer (or even shortly before) and actually become our official Song of the Summer as long as those trends persist.
2. Songs No. 2 through 4 on the chart — “What I Want,” “Just in Case,” “I’m the Problem” — all belong to Morgan Wallen, who also appeared on the Song of the Summer last year with the Post Malone-led “I Had Some Help” and owned it solo in 2023 with “Last Night.” Is Morgan Wallen now the 2020s’ unquestioned summertime king?
Katie Atkinson: Kind of hard to deny when you look at the last three years like that. I also think there’s something inherently summery about country music, even the ballads. The genre just feels warm and breezy, and fits like a hand in an oven mitt at summer staples like barbecues, baseball games and pool parties. But I will say that 2024’s “I Had Some Help” – with its firework-filled music video and Post Malone in his best summer jorts – felt like a better match for the sunny season than this year’s mid-tempo trio.
Christopher Claxton: One time might be an accident, two times a coincidence, but three times? That’s a pattern. Morgan Wallen hasn’t just shown up on the list three summers in a row, this year, he’s got three songs on it. At this point, it’s safe to call him the summertime king. But every king can be dethroned, and it’ll be interesting to see who’s ready to challenge him next.
Kyle Denis: Sure? A three-summer run of this magnitude is certainly impressive. Nonetheless, I can’t help but feel like it shouldn’t be this easy to avoid songs that are ruling entire seasons. Songs like “A Bar Song” and “Not Like Us” and “Espresso” felt like they penetrated every silo of the contemporary pop scene. I’d say “Last Night” and “I Had Some Help” err on that side a lot more than these I’m The Problem tracks, at least from what I experienced day-to-day this summer.
Jason Lipshutz: Absolutely. No artist this decade has been a more consistent presence on the Song of the Summer chart, and after releasing back-to-back champs in 2023 and 2024, Wallen got darn close to a three-peat — but had to settle from three songs in the top five of the 2025 chart. Wallen is doing what Drake accomplished during some of his more dominant chart runs — scoring big hits in bunches, and making his presence on the charts unavoidable.
Andrew Unterberger: Certainly seems undeniable. And while the Drake comparison is a good one, it’s also worth noting that since Drake went frosty in this discussion, no other rapper has really stepped up to fill that void; Kendrick is the closest, but he can’t really expected to prioritize this every year like Drizzy once did.
3. Landing at No. 7 on the chart is HUNTR/X’s (EJAE, Rei Ami & Audrey Nuna) “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters, which has proven the single to beat on the Hot 100 at summer’s end. Which do you think will ultimately define the summer of 2025 more, “Golden” or “Ordinary”?
Katie Atkinson: “Golden.” The way KPop Demon Hunters burst onto the scene just before the Fourth of July and kept building and building (and still seems to have ground to gain, somehow) means that its life cycle thus far has all been contained in the summer. I can tell you that this movie and these songs are the most-talked-about pop-culture phenomenon as kids return to school, with this mom spotting no less than four HUNTR/X shirts on elementary-age kids at my kindergartener’s first-day assembly. There’s an entire generation that will remember the Summer of 2025 as the Summer of KPop Demon Hunters.
Chris Claxton: “Ordinary” might be losing momentum on the charts, but that actually works in its favor when it comes to defining Summer 2025. People have lived with it longer, it dropped back in February, didn’t hit the Hot 100 until April, and still managed to stick around through TV appearances, a No. 1 in the U.K., and months of heavy rotation. “Golden” is fresh and definitely a force, but if you take away the recency bias, “Ordinary” is the track that truly soundtracked this summer. Nearly a year later, people are still pressing play.
Kyle Denis: Probably “Golden” when it’s all said and done. It’s a more memorable song, the narrative is far more interesting, and it’ll get an extended shelf life through film awards season later this year (and top of next), as well as a rumored sequel.
Jason Lipshutz: “Ordinary” as a smash hit, KPop Demon Hunters as a phenomenon. I don’t want to undersell the ubiquity of a 10-week No. 1 hit like “Ordinary,” which may very well end the year as its biggest song. Yet the entirety of the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack — which includes an astonishing four top 10 Hot 100 hits — will define the season as the most interesting and unexpected pop culture takeover. And while “Golden” is the biggest hit from that soundtrack, the entirety of the KPDH experience needs to be factored in when considering the music from this summer that will endure.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s “Golden,” which goes back to the original point about Songs of the Summer — ones actually released within the summer months will always feel more intuitively like proper SotS contenders, but they’re already behind the 8-ball when it comes to the official chart race.
4. Of the non-“Golden” or “Ordinary” songs in the top 10, which comes the closest to defining your own summer 2025?
Katie Atkinson: I have to go with “Manchild,” which has all the touchstones of a song of the summer, with its bouncy beat and sing-along chorus. (This also marks back-to-back summers of Carpenter soundtracking my summers, as I name-checked “Espresso” as my personal SoS last year too.) And even though I’ve only had four days with Man’s Best Friend, it might be my album of the summer too — so perhaps I’m biased.
Christopher Claxton: For me, it’s a mix of Ravyn Lenae’s “Love Me Not” at No. 10 and Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” at No. 5. “Love Me Not” has been everywhere, on my own playlist, blasting from cars, playing in stores around NYC, even showing up in commercials. Meanwhile, “Luther” has been a steady favorite since its 2024 release. It’s wild to see it still holding strong and making this year’s Song of the Summer list. I’ve been hearing it heavy in the streets and on my playlists too, just not quite as much as “Love Me Not.”
Kyle Denis: “Love Me Not” by Ravyn Lenae. There was seldom a day where I didn’t hear that hook blasting through a car window or in a grocery store or through someone else’s headphones.
Jason Lipshutz: “Manchild,” a song that I’ve grown to embrace as an oddball, goofily charming sing-along. Sabrina Carpenter waited until the end of the summer to reveal her latest collection of pop eccentricities and innuendos with Man’s Best Friend, but its lead single was on repeat during the dog days, soundtracking the next step in her meteoric ascent over the past three years.
Andrew Unterberger: “Manchild” is a real grower, as I’ve discovered pretty much every time I’ve heard it out this summer and wondered to myself why I wasn’t more excited about the song initially.
5. Make a way-way-way-too-early prediction about the Songs of the Summer chart for next year.
Katie Atkinson: Well, if Sabrina Carpenter keeps up this prolific album-a-year pace, she would very easily get my Song of the Summer vote three years’ running – but let’s say that 2026 is the year that she wins over everyone else and finally lands at No. 1 on the seasonal chart.
Christopher Claxton: I think next year’s list will be a mix of R&B, pop, and country. Taylor Swift feels like a lock, The Life of a Showgirl is already breaking Spotify records weeks before release, and with her fanbase, it’s hard to imagine her not owning part of the summer conversation. On the R&B side, I’d love to see Tinashe come back with another banger like “Nasty,” which was my personal Song of the Summer in 2024. Country is going to stay strong too, Morgan Wallen has set the standard the past three years, so the question is whether he keeps his streak alive or someone else steps up to challenge him. Either way, 2026 feels like it could end up beingone of the most competitive summers we’ve had in a while.
Kyle Denis: Maybe something Beyoncé’s Act III or a late-era single from Taylor’s Life of a Showgirl album? Or maybe Ariana has something up her sleeve ahead of next year’s Eternal Sunshine Tour. What are the odds we get the Kpop Demon Hunters sequel soundtrack by then?
Jason Lipshutz: Morgan Wallen will be heavily involved. That’s not a sexy prediction, but after the past few summer, it’s certainly a safe one! When he drops a 53-song album next June, the world will be helpless to resist, and Wallen will once again stick around the top of the Song of the Summer tally.
Andrew Unterberger: The No. 1 will belong to a country song — but this time, Morgan Wallen won’t be involved.
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