100 Fun Facts About 2020s Music

Which Weeknd single did Billboard name the biggest Hot 100 song of all time in 2021?

Blinding Lights spent a full year in the Hot 100's top ten, yet it received no Grammy nominations at all, and the Weeknd responded by boycotting the awards.

Which Taylor Swift song was number one the week she became the first artist to fill the Hot 100's top 10?

Anti-Hero headed a top 10 made up entirely of Midnights songs; its video, written and directed by Swift, was later re-cut to drop a shot of a bathroom scale after viewers objected.

Which 2020 Taylor Swift album, made in lockdown and announced hours before release, won Album of the Year?

Folklore was built without its makers sharing a room: Swift, Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff sent tracks back and forth, and the win made her the first woman to take the prize three times.

Which ten-minute Taylor Swift track became the longest song ever to top the Hot 100, in 2021?

All Too Well (Taylor's Version) restores verses Swift improvised at a tour rehearsal when she was 21; the take survived only because her mother asked the sound engineer for a recording.

Which was the first re-recorded album ever to reach number one on the Billboard 200?

Fearless (Taylor's Version) was Swift's answer to the sale of her first six albums' master recordings: by re-recording them, she owns the new versions outright.

Which Olivia Rodrigo single debuted at number one in January 2021 and won Best Pop Solo Performance?

Drivers License made Rodrigo, then 17, the youngest artist to debut at number one, and within weeks Saturday Night Live had a sketch of grown men earnestly reciting its lyrics.

Which singer broke through in 2024 with "Espresso" after opening for Taylor Swift on tour?

Sabrina Carpenter's 'overnight' success came on her sixth album, a decade after she first found fame as a Disney Channel actor on Girl Meets World.

Whose single "Good Luck, Babe!" preceded a Best New Artist win at the 67th Grammys?

Chappell Roan had been dropped by her first label in 2020 and spent two years in odd jobs, including nannying and work as a production assistant, before her comeback.

Which 2023 Miley Cyrus song brought her first Grammy wins, including Record of the Year?

Flowers came out on the birthday of her ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth, timing fans spotted at once, and it spent eight weeks at number one.

Which Billie Eilish song from the Barbie soundtrack won her a second Academy Award?

What Was I Made For? ended a long spell of writer's block for Eilish and her brother Finneas, and at 22 it made her the youngest person ever to win two Oscars.

Which Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande duet from Chromatica topped the Hot 100?

Rain on Me was the first all-female collaboration to debut at number one, and the pair promoted it by presenting spoof forecasts on The Weather Channel.

Which 2020 album produced the hits "Don't Start Now" and "Levitating"?

Future Nostalgia came out a week early after the whole album leaked, a change an emotional Dua Lipa announced on a live stream as lockdowns began.

What was Harry Styles' first Billboard Hot 100 number one, in 2020?

Watermelon Sugar began on a day off in Nashville and borrows its title from a Richard Brautigan novel, In Watermelon Sugar, that the writers had to hand.

Which Harry Styles song spent 15 weeks atop the Hot 100 in 2022?

As It Was passed the British-act record Mark Ronson and Elton John had shared, and the tubular bells that close it were Styles's own idea, played by the singer himself.

Which Weeknd song reached number one in 2023, more than six years after its release?

Die for You, a track from 2016's Starboy, was revived when clips using it went viral, and a remix with Ariana Grande then carried it to the top.

What was SZA's first Hot 100 number one, from her album SOS?

Kill Bill, named after Quentin Tarantino's revenge films, sat at number two for eight weeks until a remix with Doja Cat lifted it to the top.

SZA's SOS album cover, alone on a diving board above the sea, recreates a famous photograph of whom?

Princess Diana was photographed alone on a yacht's diving board off Portofino in 1997; SZA said she loved how isolated Diana looked and wanted her cover to feel the same.

Who scored a first number one with "Bad Habit" and won Best Progressive R&B Album for Gemini Rights?

Steve Lacy made most of his first solo songs on an iPhone, plugging in his guitar and singing straight into the phone's built-in microphone.

Which Kendrick Lamar diss track won both Record and Song of the Year at the 67th Grammys?

Not Like Us swept all five of its Grammy nominations, and a week later Lamar performed it at the Super Bowl, first teasing the crowd with the line 'you know they love to sue'.

Which Nicki Minaj single was the first solo song by a female rapper to debut at number one since 1998?

Super Freaky Girl borrows the riff of Rick James's 'Super Freak', the hook MC Hammer sampled in 1990; the last solo debut at the top by a woman rapper was Lauryn Hill's 'Doo Wop (That Thing)'.

What was Doja Cat's first number-one single?

Say So took off when a fan's dance to it went viral; Doja Cat then put both the routine and its creator, Haley Sharpe, in the official video.

Which Megan Thee Stallion collaboration with Beyoncé won Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance?

Savage's remix united two Houston natives, who gave their proceeds from it to Bread of Life, a Houston charity, for COVID-19 relief.

Who became only the third woman to win Best Rap Album, for Alligator Bites Never Heal?

Doechii named the mixtape after learning that the people who survive alligator attacks are the ones who fight back; only Lauryn Hill, with the Fugees, and Cardi B had won before her.

Which 2022 Beyoncé album took her into house music and won Best Dance/Electronic Album?

Renaissance is dedicated to her late Uncle Jonny, who first played her the dance music it celebrates, and its wins made her the most-awarded artist in Grammy history.

Which number one single led Beyoncé's first country album, Cowboy Carter?

Texas Hold 'Em was released without warning during the Super Bowl, and it made Beyoncé the first Black woman to top Billboard's country songs chart.

Which 2024 Charli XCX album spawned the singles "Apple" and "Guess"?

Brat's plain cover was picked from about 500 shades of green to look deliberately off-putting, and 'brat' ended 2024 as Collins Dictionary's word of the year.

Which Lizzo single won Record of the Year at the 65th Grammys?

About Damn Time needed 14 weeks to reach number one, pushed along by a fan-made dance routine that Lizzo herself took up.

Which BTS song earned the first Grammy nomination for a Korean pop act, in November 2020?

Dynamite was BTS's first song sung entirely in English, written by two British songwriters over video calls at the start of lockdown.

Which Blackpink album was the first girl-group number one on the Billboard 200 since 2008?

Born Pink ended a 14-year wait since Danity Kane; one of its songs, Ready for Love, made its debut weeks earlier, performed by 3-D avatars of the group at a concert inside the game PUBG Mobile.

Which Japanese duo's "Idol" was the first Japanese-language song to top Billboard's global chart outside the US?

Yoasobi call themselves the band that turns novels into music: Idol, the opening theme of the anime Oshi no Ko, is based on a short story by the manga's author.

Which Italian band's Eurovision 2021 win with "Zitti e buoni" launched them worldwide?

Måneskin, whose name is Danish for 'moonlight', started out busking on the streets of Rome and were runners-up on Italy's X Factor in 2017.

Which band's "Heat Waves" reached number one on the Hot 100 in 2022 after a record 59-week climb?

Glass Animals saw the song spread from a football video game to viral clips and radio; it had already led the alternative airplay chart a year before it topped the Hot 100.

Whose Dangerous: The Double Album opened with four weeks at number one, a country first since 2003?

Morgan Wallen had been cut from The Voice in 2014, after spells on Usher's and Adam Levine's teams; Dangerous went on to spend ten weeks at number one.

Which American Idol finalist's debut "I Hope" topped Hot Country Songs in 2020?

Gabby Barrett put the song out herself after finishing third on Idol; Charlie Puth later messaged her on Instagram to offer a remix, and at first she doubted it was really him.

Which Hozier song gave him his first Hot 100 number one, in 2024?

Too Sweet was an outtake that missed the cut for his album Unreal Unearth, yet it made Hozier the first Irish act to top the Hot 100 since Sinéad O'Connor in 1990.

Which Encanto song became the soundtrack's breakout hit in 2022?

We Don't Talk About Bruno out-charted 'Let It Go', yet Disney had not even entered it for the Oscars, submitting the ballad 'Dos Oruguitas' instead.

Which Machine Gun Kelly album took pop-punk to number one on the Billboard 200 in 2020?

Tickets to My Downfall grew out of one studio session with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker that went so well Barker blocked off two months to make a whole album.

Which Paramore album, their first in six years, won Best Rock Album at the 66th Grammys?

This Is Why takes its name from the last song written for it: Hayley Williams was tired of writing lyrics, but guitarist Taylor York talked the band into trying one final idea.

Which trio's debut album The Record brought them three Grammys, including Best Alternative Music Album?

Boygenius took their name from an in-joke about men who are told from boyhood that their every idea is brilliant; The Record also topped the UK album chart.

Which AC/DC album hit number one in the US, UK and Australia in 2020?

Power Up is a tribute to co-founder Malcolm Young, who died in 2017: every track is credited to him and his brother Angus, built from riffs the pair had stockpiled.

Which band's 2023 album 72 Seasons ended a run of six straight US number one albums?

Metallica took the title from the first 18 years of life, 72 seasons that James Hetfield says form our 'true or false selves'; the album entered the chart at number two.

What was the title of the 2023 track billed as "the final Beatles record"?

Now and Then was shelved in 1995 because the demo was too rough to use; software built for Peter Jackson's Get Back documentary finally lifted Lennon's voice clear of the piano.

Which Coldplay tour, launched in 2022, became the most-attended in history?

Music of the Spheres let fans help power the show by dancing on kinetic floors and pedalling stationary bikes, part of a plan to cut the tour's emissions by half.

Which Bad Bunny album was the first Spanish-language Grammy nominee for Album of the Year?

Un Verano Sin Ti, 'A Summer Without You', carries a protest too: the video for its track 'El Apagón' turns into a short documentary about power cuts and displacement in Puerto Rico.

Which Brazilian singer's "Envolver" made her the first solo Latin artist to top Spotify's global chart?

Anitta directed the video herself, and its floor-level dance move became a viral challenge that carried the song to number one, a feat Guinness World Records recognised.

Whose "Calm Down" was the first African artist-led track to pass a billion Spotify streams?

Rema says the song began at a party, where he tried to talk to a girl whose friends kept getting in the way; Selena Gomez joined later, for the remix.

In 2020, vinyl records out-earned which format in the US for the first time since the 1980s?

Compact discs had out-earned vinyl in America since the 1980s; in early 2020 records made up 62 percent of physical music revenue, though only 4 percent of the industry's total.

Which app got its own Billboard chart in September 2023 to track viral audio?

TikTok had already shown its pull in 2020, when one man's skateboarding clip sent Fleetwood Mac's 43-year-old 'Dreams' back into the Hot 100.

Which Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding single spent eight weeks at UK number one in 2023?

Miracle reached Goulding as a text out of the blue: Harris had set out to recreate the trance of his teens, and said only her voice could carry it.

Which Rosalía album was the best-reviewed and most-discussed album of 2022 on Metacritic?

Motomami honours Rosalía's mother, who used to carry her around town on a motorcycle; the word was already the name of the singer's management company.

Which Netflix series sent Kate Bush's 1985 single "Running Up That Hill" to UK number one in 2022?

Stranger Things got the song only because Kate Bush, who rarely licenses her songs, was a fan of the series. The 37 years it took to reach number one was a UK chart record.

Which Pinkfong children's song was the first YouTube video to pass 10 billion views, in January 2022?

Baby Shark had already overtaken Luis Fonsi's Despacito as the most viewed video on YouTube in November 2020, four years after it was uploaded.

Which company's website crashed in the 2022 presale for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, prompting a Senate hearing?

Ticketmaster still made 2.4 million sales that day, the most ever for one artist in a single day, while many fans sat logged out or stuck in a frozen queue.

Which Britpop band announced a 2025 reunion tour, ending a long split between two feuding brothers?

Oasis broke the news with the line "The guns have fallen silent", almost fifteen years to the day after the band fell apart before a festival show near Paris.

Which metal singer sang from a throne at his 2025 farewell concert in Birmingham?

Ozzy Osbourne staged the show at Villa Park, close to where Black Sabbath formed in 1968, and it reunited the band's original line-up for the first time since 2005.

Which pop star's conservatorship of nearly 14 years was ended by a Los Angeles judge in November 2021?

Britney Spears had told the court that June, "I just want my life back", in testimony streamed to the public as the #FreeBritney movement drew worldwide attention.

Which country star's $1 million gift in 2020 helped fund research behind the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine?

Dolly Parton celebrated her own jab the next year by singing rewritten "vaccine" lyrics to the tune of Jolene. Her gift went to researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Which video game hosted Travis Scott's "Astronomical" concert in April 2020, drawing over 27 million players?

Fortnite ran the show five times across three days, a record crowd for one of its events, and sold Travis Scott outfits for players' avatars alongside it.

Which singer won a 2023 trial over claims "Thinking Out Loud" copied Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On"?

Ed Sheeran argued the two songs share only common chord "building blocks" found in many pop hits, and the New York jury sided with him.

Which 200-year-old instrument, once owned by President James Madison, did Lizzo play on stage in 2022?

A crystal flute by Paris craftsman Claude Laurent was sent to Madison to mark his second inauguration. The Library of Congress, which now keeps it, invited Lizzo to see its flute collection.

Which singer performed the Super Bowl halftime show in February 2023 while pregnant with her second child?

Rihanna had not performed live for five years, and the show drew more than 121 million viewers, overtaking the halftime record Katy Perry had held since 2015.

Which pop group released Voyage in 2021, their first album of new songs in forty years?

ABBA followed the album with a London concert residency performed by digital avatars of the four members, nicknamed ABBAtars and based on how they looked in the late 1970s.

Which singer's 2023 session with producer Bizarrap took aim at her ex-partner, footballer Gerard Piqué?

Shakira sang that he had traded a Rolex for a Casio, and both Casio and Renault, whose products are named in the lyrics, began trending worldwide.

Which British singer got Spotify to stop shuffling albums by default when she released 30 in 2021?

Adele argued that "our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended", and Spotify removed the shuffle button from albums for its premium users.

Which veteran star's 2021 duet with Dua Lipa, "Cold Heart", gave him a UK number one after a 16-year wait?

Elton John became the first solo artist with a UK top 10 single in six different decades, a run stretching from the 1970s to the 2020s.

Which Bronx rapper teamed with Megan Thee Stallion on "WAP", which debuted at number one in August 2020?

Cardi B and Megan drew 93 million streams in the first week, then the biggest opening week Billboard had recorded, in the first female rap collaboration to debut on top.

Which rapper promoted his 2021 chart-topper "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" with 666 pairs of "Satan Shoes"?

Lil Nas X made the modified Air Max 97s with the art collective MSCHF, and Nike, which had no part in them, sued the collective for trademark infringement.

Which Canadian singer closed the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony by singing from the Eiffel Tower?

Celine Dion sang Édith Piaf's Hymne à l'amour, two years after she cancelled a world tour over a diagnosis of the rare neurological disease stiff-person syndrome.

Which actor sang the early hits himself as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann's 2022 biopic Elvis?

Austin Butler beat Harry Styles, Miles Teller and Aaron Taylor-Johnson to the part after sending Luhrmann a tape of himself singing Unchained Melody.

Which rock band opened the Sphere in Las Vegas in September 2023 with a 40-show residency?

U2 built every night around a full performance of the 1991 album Achtung Baby, and announced the run in a television advert during the Super Bowl.

Whose 1988 song "Fast Car" became a country number one in 2023 through a cover by Luke Combs?

Tracy Chapman became the first Black songwriter to win the Country Music Association's Song of the Year, then joined Combs to sing it at the 2024 Grammys.

Which singer's 1958 recording "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" first topped the Hot 100 in December 2023?

Brenda Lee was 13 when she recorded it and 78 when it reached number one, after a 65-year climb that no earlier Hot 100 chart-topper had needed.

Which seafaring folk song became a 2021 hit after Scottish postman Nathan Evans sang it in a viral video?

Wellerman takes its name from the supply ships of the Weller brothers, traders who were among the earliest European settlers of Otago in New Zealand.

Which Fleetwood Mac song charted again in 2020 after a viral clip of a skateboarder sipping juice?

Dreams was the soundtrack as Idaho's Nathan Apodaca rolled to work after his truck broke down, and the 1977 single went on to top Billboard's Rock Digital Song Sales chart.

Which rock band returned in September 2024 with new co-vocalist Emily Armstrong after a seven-year hiatus?

Linkin Park had been on hiatus since the death of singer Chester Bennington in July 2017, and came back with an eighth album called From Zero.

Which band's drummer Taylor Hawkins died in Bogotá in March 2022, hours before a festival show?

Foo Fighters honoured him that September with tribute concerts at Wembley Stadium in London and the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.

Which French electronic duo announced their split in February 2021 with a video titled "Epilogue"?

Daft Punk said goodbye with a scene from their 2006 film Electroma, in which one robot explodes and the other walks away into the sunset, 28 years after they formed.

Which 2023 Rolling Stones album was their first of original songs since 2005 and since Charlie Watts died?

Hackney Diamonds is London slang for the glittering shards burglars leave behind after smashing a window; Keith Richards linked it to a Saturday night gone bad.

Which Canadian rocker pulled his songs from Spotify in January 2022 in protest at Joe Rogan's podcast?

Neil Young accused the show of spreading COVID-19 misinformation and gave Spotify an ultimatum in an open letter; his catalogue came down two days later.

Which rapper bought Death Row Records, the label that launched his career, in February 2022?

Snoop Dogg announced the deal days before he performed in the Super Bowl halftime show, and soon added the rights to his 1993 debut album Doggystyle.

Which retro-soul duo's "Leave the Door Open" won both Record and Song of the Year at the 2022 Grammys?

Silk Sonic got its name from funk veteran Bootsy Collins, who also narrates the pair's album An Evening with Silk Sonic as its host.

Which Netflix series' viral 2022 dance scene turned Lady Gaga's 2011 track "Bloody Mary" into a belated hit?

Wednesday star Jenna Ortega really danced to the Cramps' Goo Goo Muck; fans swapped in a sped-up Bloody Mary, which then went to radio as a single eleven years after its album.

Which song from the 2025 Netflix film KPop Demon Hunters topped charts in more than 30 countries?

Golden is sung in the film by the fictional girl group Huntrix, and it became the first K-pop song to win a Grammy and the first to win an Academy Award.

Which country won Eurovision 2022 with "Stefania", helped by a record 439 points from the public vote?

Ukraine could not stage the next contest because of the Russian invasion, so the BBC hosted it in Liverpool on the winning broadcaster's behalf.

Which 2022 album made Taylor Swift the first artist to win the Album of the Year Grammy four times?

Midnights is a concept album about late-night ruminations, and she announced it on stage while accepting Video of the Year at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.

Which 2023 film's last scene sent Sophie Ellis-Bextor's "Murder on the Dancefloor" back into the UK top ten?

Saltburn ends with its lead dancing naked through a mansion to the 2001 single, which climbed to number two in January 2024, her first top-ten hit since 2007.

Which former Late Show bandleader won Album of the Year at the 2022 Grammys for We Are?

Jon Batiste had already shared an Oscar for co-composing the score of Pixar's Soul, and led the house band on Stephen Colbert's show from 2015 to 2022.

Which singer's Mañana Será Bonito was the first all-Spanish album by a woman to top the Billboard 200?

Karol G took the title, meaning "tomorrow will be beautiful", from a phrase she repeated to herself in hard times; the album won Album of the Year at the Latin Grammys.

Which singer's "Water" won the first Grammy for Best African Music Performance, in 2024?

Tyla was the first South African soloist to enter the Hot 100 in more than 55 years, following Hugh Masekela's Grazing in the Grass in 1968.

Which BTS member's "Like Crazy" was the first single by a South Korean soloist to debut atop the Hot 100?

Jimin went one better than Psy, whose Gangnam Style had peaked at number two in 2012; the song came from his solo debut album, Face.

Which Hungarian-born conductor's record of 31 Grammy wins did Beyoncé surpass at the 2023 ceremony?

Georg Solti, long-serving music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, won his Grammys between 1963 and 1998; Beyoncé first tied his total and then passed it.

Which blues-rock veteran's "Just Like That" was the upset Song of the Year winner at the 2023 Grammys?

Bonnie Raitt wrote it after seeing a news story about a mother meeting the man who had received her late son's heart in a transplant.

Which singer's 2023 duet "Ella Baila Sola" was the first regional Mexican song to reach the Hot 100 top ten?

Peso Pluma recorded the song with the American group Eslabon Armado, and it climbed as high as number four on the chart.

Which singer won a record six Brit Awards in one night in 2024, including Song of the Year for "Escapism"?

Raye had parted ways with her major label to work as an independent artist, then released her debut album My 21st Century Blues on her own terms.

Which Swedish singer's 2023 victory with "Tattoo" made her the first woman to win Eurovision twice?

Loreen had first won in 2012 with Euphoria, and only Ireland's Johnny Logan had taken the title twice before her.

Which Nigerian star was the first African artist to sell out a US stadium, New York's Citi Field?

Burna Boy had already won the Grammy for Best Global Music Album with Twice as Tall, and three straight BET Awards for Best International Act.

Which Bleachers frontman won the Producer of the Year Grammy three years running, from 2022 to 2024?

Jack Antonoff has produced and co-written songs with Taylor Swift, Lorde and Lana Del Rey, having first won Grammys as guitarist of the pop band Fun.

Which Navy veteran topped the Hot 100 in 2023 with "I Remember Everything", a duet with Kacey Musgraves?

Zach Bryan spent eight years in the US Navy after enlisting at 17, and the song led the pop, country and rock charts at the same time.

Which Indian film's "Naatu Naatu" was the first song from an Asian film to win the Best Original Song Oscar?

RRR's choreographer devised 110 moves for the song's hook step, which went viral on social media after the film's two lead actors danced it.

Which Australian star's 2023 comeback hit "Padam Padam" won the first Grammy for Best Pop Dance Recording?

Kylie Minogue's hit takes its title from an onomatopoeia for a heartbeat, and a fan backlash pushed BBC Radio 1 to playlist her for the first time since 2010.