2021 Music
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50 free 2021 Music trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Music in 2021 was a year of returns. Stadiums and festival fields slowly refilled after the pandemic shutdown, long-silent legends came back with new records, and a teenager's bedroom ballad could go from a phone screen to the top of the charts in a week. This quiz covers the songs and albums that ruled the year, the Grammy night and the Eurovision final, viral crazes born on TikTok, re-recorded classics, film and TV soundtracks, courtroom headlines and the famous names the industry said goodbye to. It suits a pop fan testing their memory, a pub or party quiz host who needs a ready-made round, or anyone curious about what the world was listening to as live music found its feet again. Each answer comes with a short explanation, so a wrong guess still leaves you with a story.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which Disney series actress spent eight weeks at number one from January 2021 with her debut single Drivers License?
Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo wrote the ballad with producer Dan Nigro, and it broke Spotify's record for the most streams of a song in a single week. She was 17 when it came out.
Q 02Scottish postal worker Nathan Evans sparked a TikTok craze in early 2021 by singing which type of traditional song?
Sea shanties
Sea shanties spread so fast that the trend was nicknamed ShantyTok. His cover of Wellerman, a folk song about New Zealand whalers, went on to top the British singles chart.
Q 03Which sportswear giant sued over the Satan Shoes that Lil Nas X launched with his 2021 single Montero?
Nike
Nike never approved the 666 customised pairs of its Air Max 97, each said to contain a drop of human blood. A settlement let buyers return them for a refund.
Q 04Which Swedish pop group released Voyage in November 2021, its first album of new songs in forty years?
ABBA
ABBA's last studio album had been The Visitors, in 1981. The comeback led to a London concert residency starring digital avatars of the four members.
Q 05Which pop star's conservatorship, in place for nearly 14 years, was ended by a Los Angeles judge in November 2021?
Britney Spears
Britney Spears had lived under the arrangement since 2008, with her father controlling her finances for most of that time. The documentary Framing Britney Spears had put the case on television that February.
Q 06Which country legend sang a reworked version of Jolene while receiving the COVID vaccine she helped fund, in March 2021?
Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton had given $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, money that paid for early work on the Moderna vaccine. She had her own shot at Vanderbilt.
Q 07Which Canadian singer put $7 million of his own money into headlining the Super Bowl halftime show in February 2021?
The Weeknd
The Weeknd performed with no guest stars, a rarity for the show. His dancers wore red blazers like his, with their faces wrapped in bandages.
Q 08The man photographed as a swimming baby for which Nirvana album cover sued the band in August 2021?
Nevermind
Nevermind shows four-month-old Spencer Elden underwater, reaching for a dollar bill on a fishhook. He had recreated the photo several times as an adult before going to court.
Q 09Which British singer ended a six-year wait for a new album with 30, released in November 2021?
Adele
Adele wrote the record about her divorce and its effect on her young son. Lead single Easy on Me broke Spotify's record for the most streams of a song in one day.
Q 10Which French electronic duo ended a 28-year partnership in February 2021 with a farewell video titled Epilogue?
Daft Punk
Daft Punk said goodbye with a scene from their 2006 film Electroma, in which one robot explodes and the other walks away. Their publicist confirmed the split without giving a reason.
Q 11Which K-pop group topped the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks in summer 2021 with the English-language single Butter?
BTS
BTS broke a 23-year-old record held by Aerosmith for the longest-running number-one debut by a group. Butter was only the band's second single sung in English.
Q 12Which rock band won the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam in May 2021, months after winning Italy's Sanremo festival?
Måneskin
Måneskin started out busking on the streets of Rome. Their winning entry, Zitti e buoni, was the first rock song to take the Eurovision title in 15 years.
Q 13Which Taylor Swift song's ten-minute version became the longest track to top the Billboard Hot 100, in November 2021?
All Too Well
Q 21Which Dua Lipa hit was named Billboard's top Hot 100 song of 2021 despite never reaching number one on the weekly chart?
Levitating
Levitating peaked at number two and became her longest-running top ten hit. Only three earlier songs had led the year-end list without a week at number one, the last of them in 2001.
Q 22Which Australian rapper and singer joined Justin Bieber on Stay, a number one in more than 20 countries in 2021?
The Kid Laroi
The Kid Laroi spent 14 straight weeks at number one in Australia with the song, the longest run of 2021 there. It was his first Hot 100 chart-topper and his duet partner's eighth.
Q 23Which mathematical symbol titles the Ed Sheeran album released in October 2021, home to Bad Habits and Shivers?
Equals
All Too Well took the record from Don McLean's American Pie, which had held it since 1972. The version on the original 2012 album ran under five and a half minutes.
Q 14Drummer Charlie Watts, who died in August 2021, had played with which British rock band since 1963?
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones kept him behind the kit for 58 years, and he also helped design their tour stages. Away from rock he led his own jazz quintet.
Q 15Which pop star sang the national anthem at Joe Biden's January 2021 inauguration in a Schiaparelli gown and brooch?
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga shared the ceremony with Jennifer Lopez and with Garth Brooks, who sang Amazing Grace and asked the public to join him for the final verse.
Q 16Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the songs for which Disney film about a magical Colombian family, released in November 2021?
Encanto
Encanto produced We Don't Talk About Bruno, only the second song from a Disney animated film to top the Billboard Hot 100. The first was A Whole New World, from Aladdin, in 1993.
Q 17Which film director restored 1969 studio footage into The Beatles: Get Back, a three-part series from November 2021?
Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson persuaded Disney to leave the band's swearing in, with a warning before each episode. His cut builds to the full 42-minute rooftop concert.
Q 18Which singer's four wins at the Grammy Awards in March 2021 made her the most-awarded woman in the ceremony's history?
Beyoncé
Beyoncé reached 28 career Grammys that night, passing the bluegrass star Alison Krauss. Her nine-year-old daughter Blue Ivy shared one of the wins, for Best Music Video.
Q 19Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak topped the Hot 100 in 2021 with Leave the Door Open under which duo name?
Silk Sonic
Silk Sonic got its name from funk veteran Bootsy Collins, who also acts as guest host on the duo's album. The pair had become friends on tour in 2017.
Q 20Which veteran director remade West Side Story in 2021, casting newcomer Rachel Zegler as María?
Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg dedicated the film to his father, who died during production aged 103. Rita Moreno, who played Anita in the 1961 film, returned in a new role.
Equals continued his run of arithmetic album titles, which had begun with Plus a decade earlier. Lead single Bad Habits reached number one in Britain and number two in America.
Q 24Kanye West named which 2021 album after his late mother, previewing it at stadium listening parties in Atlanta?
Donda
Donda took so long to finish that he moved into a locker room at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and turned it into a studio. He had also named his creative company after her.
Q 25Which Drake album from September 2021 produced a then-record nine Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles?
Certified Lover Boy
Certified Lover Boy wore a Damien Hirst cover made of twelve pregnant-woman emojis. Its lead single, Way 2 Sexy, gave the rapper his ninth American number one.
Q 26Jennifer Hudson played which music legend in the 2021 biopic Respect, a project the singer herself helped develop?
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin stayed involved in planning the film until her death in 2018. It had been stuck in development for years while a suitable lead was sought.
Q 27Which rock star sold his recordings and songwriting rights to Sony in December 2021 for a reported $500 million?
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen handed over his master recordings and his publishing in a single deal. In 2024 Forbes estimated his fortune at $1.1 billion.
Q 28Which Puerto Rican star was Spotify's most-streamed artist worldwide in 2021, for the second year in a row?
Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny had become the first act who does not record in English to top the list a year earlier. He led it again in 2022.
Q 29Which veteran star scored his first British number one in 16 years in 2021 with Cold Heart, a duet with Dua Lipa?
Elton John
Elton John became the first solo artist with a British top ten single in six different decades. The remix stitches together four of his older songs, including Rocket Man and Sacrifice.
Q 30Ariana Grande headlined the Rift Tour, a virtual concert staged five times in August 2021 inside which online game?
Fortnite
Fortnite had hosted concerts before, but hers was the first to tie in to several parts of the game itself. The show ran over three days.