60 Fun Facts About 2010s Music

On 21 December 2012, which song's video became the first on YouTube to reach one billion views?

Psy's horse-dance hit had only been out since July of that year; the counter briefly 'broke' when it later passed 2.1 billion.

In 2019, 'Old Town Road' set a record with how many consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

Billboard had earlier removed the song from its Hot Country chart for not embracing 'enough elements of today's country music', which only fuelled the Billy Ray Cyrus remix.

'Despacito' was the first mostly Spanish-language Hot 100 number one since which 1996 hit?

Its 16 weeks at number one tied the longest run in the chart's history at the time, and it topped the charts in 47 countries.

'Despacito' spent 16 weeks at #1 in 2017, tying which Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men ballad for the longest Hot 100 run?

The 1995 duet had held the record alone for 21 years; both were finally passed by 'Old Town Road' in 2019.

Gotye's guest vocalist on 'Somebody That I Used to Know' came from which country?

Kimbra's verse was the reply half of the break-up duet; the song sold 11.8 million copies that year and sat at number one in the US for eight weeks.

Pharrell Williams's 'Happy' was written for the soundtrack of which animated film?

Its promotion included 24hoursofhappy.com, billed as the world's first 24-hour music video, and it lost the Oscar to 'Let It Go'.

Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky' featured Pharrell Williams and which veteran Chic guitarist?

The single led Random Access Memories, Daft Punk's fourth and final studio album, and won Record of the Year at the 2014 Grammys.

With 'Royals' in 2013, Lorde became the youngest woman to top the Hot 100 since which 1980s teen star?

Lorde was 16 years and 11 months old; the song went on to win Song of the Year at the Grammys.

In 2015 a jury found Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' infringed which Marvin Gaye song?

Thicke and Pharrell Williams, but not T.I., were held liable; the $7.4 million award was later cut to $5.3 million and Gaye was added as a songwriter.

Which producer was credited on 'Uptown Funk', the 2015 hit featuring Bruno Mars?

It was the lead single from his album Uptown Special and won Record of the Year at the 2016 Grammys.

Which 17-year-old ended the record run of 'Old Town Road' at number one in 2019 with 'Bad Guy'?

She was the first artist born in the 2000s to top the Hot 100; the song, written with her brother and producer Finneas, took Record and Song of the Year at the 2020 Grammys.

Which 2017 album became the first work outside classical and jazz to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music?

The Pulitzer board called it 'a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity'; it was Lamar's fourth studio album.

Who sang 'Let It Go' in Frozen (2013) and performed it at the Oscars, where it won Best Song?

The song was written by the husband-and-wife team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez; Demi Lovato sang the pop version over the end credits.

Which country is 'Call Me Maybe' singer Carly Rae Jepsen from?

Bieber called it 'possibly the catchiest song I've ever heard', and Jepsen was signed to his manager's Schoolboy Records.

Whose 1994 hit was the first independently released Hot 100 No.1, before Macklemore's 'Thrift Shop'?

Loeb's 'Stay (I Missed You)' from the Reality Bites soundtrack made her the first artist to reach number one without a record deal.

Which Imagine Dragons song set a record by spending 87 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100?

It also holds the record for the slowest climb into the top five; the record for total weeks stood for more than seven years.

Which soul singer provided the uncredited vocals on Avicii's 2013 hit 'Wake Me Up'?

Mike Einziger of Incubus co-wrote the song and played the acoustic guitar that upset EDM purists when it debuted at Ultra Music Festival.

One Direction were formed in 2010 on which television show?

They finished third behind Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson; Zayn Malik left in March 2015 and the band went on hiatus in January 2016.

'See You Again' by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth was a Paul Walker tribute for which 2015 film?

Its video briefly became the most-viewed on YouTube in July 2017, before 'Despacito' overtook it a few weeks later.

'This Is America', the first rap song to win Record and Song of the Year, was released under which stage name?

Donald Glover dropped it on 6 May 2018 while hosting Saturday Night Live; the video's choreography and violence were dissected for weeks.

In 1998, which female rapper became the first to top the Hot 100 with a solo song, 19 years before Cardi B?

Hill's 'Doo Wop (That Thing)' had done it 19 years earlier; 'Bodak Yellow' held the top spot for three weeks.

Which Ed Sheeran single became the first song to reach two billion streams on Spotify, in 2018?

Released as a double lead single from ÷ in January 2017, it topped the Hot 100 for 12 non-consecutive weeks and passed three billion streams in December 2021.

Adele's 'Hello' (2015) was the first track to do what in a single week in the United States?

It led her album 25, whose first-week US sales set a record that still stands for the Nielsen era.

Which song from Adele's 21 won Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2012 Grammys?

Produced by Paul Epworth, it also took Best Short Form Music Video; the album remains the best-selling of the 21st century.

Taylor Swift's 2014 album 1989, marketed as her first 'official pop' record, is named after what?

She framed the title as a symbolic rebirth from country to pop; the album won Album of the Year at the 2016 Grammys.

Which album first sent five singles to Hot 100 number one, a feat Katy Perry's Teenage Dream matched?

Michael Jackson's 1987 record set the mark; Perry matched it with California Gurls, Teenage Dream, Firework, E.T. and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).

Lady Gaga performed the Oscar-winning 'Shallow' with which actor-director?

It led the soundtrack of the 2018 remake of A Star Is Born, in which Cooper also made his directorial debut.

Fun.'s 'We Are Young', Grammy Song of the Year for 2012, featured which guest singer?

A Glee cover produced a 1,650% jump in sales, and a Chevrolet Super Bowl commercial in February 2012 sent it to number one.

Beyoncé's Lemonade was surprise-released in April 2016 exclusively on which streaming service?

Her sixth studio album arrived with an hour-long HBO film and stayed off rival services for three years, until April 2019.

Which songwriter won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature for 'new poetic expressions' in the American song tradition?

He skipped the December ceremony, citing prior commitments, and delivered his Nobel lecture months later.

David Bowie's final album, Blackstar, was released on 8 January 2016. What made the date significant?

He died two days later after a private 18-month battle with liver cancer, and the album was widely reread as a farewell.

The video for Sia's 'Chandelier' (2014) made a star of which young dancer, then known from Dance Moms?

Ziegler, then 11, wore Sia's trademark blonde wig and went on to front several more of the Australian singer's videos.

The Chainsmokers' 'Closer', which topped the Hot 100 for twelve weeks in 2016, featured which singer?

Released in July 2016, it was the duo's first number one and stayed there until the year was nearly out.

Hozier, whose debut single was 'Take Me to Church', was raised in which faith?

The song grew out of his frustration with the Catholic Church's grip on Irish social and political life, seen from outside it.

Sam Smith's 'Stay with Me' earned Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne a co-writing credit for its likeness to which song?

They took a 12.5% share; the song still won Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the same year's Grammys.

Which K-pop group first topped the US Billboard 200 in May 2018 with Love Yourself: Tear?

The album moved 135,000 album-equivalent units in its first week and was the highest-charting album by any Asian act to that point.

In which US state did Kanye West record most of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)?

He worked at Avex Studios in Honolulu after the 2009 VMAs backlash; the cover painting is by artist George Condo.

Camila Cabello's 'Havana', her first solo number one in January 2018, featured which rapper?

The former Fifth Harmony member's hit spent seven non-consecutive weeks at number two before finally reaching the top for one week.

The video for LMFAO's 'Party Rock Anthem' parodies which zombie film?

The song, featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock, spent six weeks at number one and popularised the Melbourne Shuffle.

Bon Iver took its name from a French greeting used on which 1990s TV series?

Justin Vernon watched the show while recovering in his father's Wisconsin cabin; 'bon hiver' means 'good winter'.

Whose album Morning Phase beat Beyoncé to Album of the Year at the 2015 Grammys?

It also beat Pharrell's G I R L, Sam Smith's In the Lonely Hour and Ed Sheeran's x, and prompted a much-replayed Kanye West stage feint.

Arcade Fire's The Suburbs won Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammys. The band is based in which city?

Much of the album was recorded in Win Butler and Régine Chassagne's own home; the win prompted the 'Who is Arcade Fire?' meme.

Which 2014 debut single spent eight weeks at number one, the year's longest run for a female artist?

Meghan Trainor had written it as a songwriter for hire before recording it herself; its doo-wop bounce made it inescapable.

Justin Bieber's 2010 hit 'Baby' featured which rapper?

Its video was YouTube's most-viewed for more than two years and, as of 2025, remains the platform's most-disliked music video.

'Pumped Up Kicks' was pulled from some radio stations in 2012 because its lyrics are from whose perspective?

Stations dropped it after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting; the contrast between the whistled hook and the subject matter was the point.

Which Scottish DJ produced and featured on Rihanna's 2011 hit 'We Found Love'?

It led her album Talk That Talk and overtook 'Umbrella' as her biggest chart run.

Drake's 'Hotline Bling' samples 'Why Can't We Live Together', a 1972 song by which singer?

The song won Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Performance at the 2017 Grammys, though Drake pointed out he does not rap on it.

Besides Mean Girls, Bring It On and Legally Blonde, which film did 'Thank U, Next' recreate?

The surprise-released song was her first US number one, and Kris Jenner cameoed as the mom filming the talent show.

Which November 2019 release went on to spend a record 57 weeks in the Hot 100's top ten?

The Weeknd's After Hours single later replaced Chubby Checker's 'The Twist' as Billboard's number one song of all time.

CeeLo Green's Grammy-winning 2010 single 'Forget You' came from which album?

He performed the profane original at the 2011 ceremony alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and a troupe of Jim Henson Company puppets.

The Tupac 'hologram' at Coachella 2012 used a modern version of which Victorian stage illusion?

Dr. Dre had asked Tupac's mother Afeni for permission; the Musion Eyeliner system reflects a projection off an angled foil onto the stage.

Spotify, which reshaped the decade's music economy, launched in the United States in which year?

Founded in Stockholm in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, it had been live in Europe since October 2008 and offered new US users a six-month ad-supported free trial.

How many Grammys did Amy Winehouse's Back to Black win on a single night in 2008?

Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for 'Rehab', plus Best Pop Vocal Album and Best New Artist.

Nicki Minaj's 'Super Bass', a top-three hit in 2011, came from the deluxe edition of which debut album?

Taylor Swift rapped it on radio and eight-year-old Sophia Grace's viral cover landed her a duet with Minaj on Ellen.

Roughly how many copies did Adele's 25 sell in its record-setting first US sales week?

The previous record was NSYNC's 2.4 million for No Strings Attached in 2000; 25 also topped the year-end charts for 2015 despite arriving in late November.

Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling!" (2016) was the lead single from the soundtrack of which film?

Timberlake voiced Branch and was the film's executive music producer; he first performed the song live at Eurovision 2016.

Which Miley Cyrus single set a Hot 100 record for the largest gap between two stints at number one?

It hit the top after its controversial video, then returned to number one nine weeks later.

Which Drake single of 2018 was the most-streamed song of the year on both Spotify and Apple Music?

It debuted at number one, only the 29th song ever to do so, and topped the charts in fourteen countries.

Which rapper features on Post Malone's 2017 chart-topper "Rockstar"?

It was the first US number one for both artists and earned Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Performance nominations.

Which songwriter co-wrote and played piano on Adele's "Someone like You"?

After a Brit Awards performance the ballad became Adele's first UK number one, spending five weeks on top.