Our staff's favorite songs from the past year of hits and deeper cuts. On the charts, 2025 was a year that often felt like flipping TV channels to find a new episode to watch and coming across nothing ...

What were rock radio's most played songs of 2025? Using the Mediabase chart for Active Rock's year-to-date tracking of radio spins running from Jan. 2025 to present, it's been determined that Papa ...

From tear-jerkers to mic-drops, NPR's music critics share the 2025 lyrics that made them laugh, cry and hit replay. Right about now, music critics are sharing their favorite albums of the year or ...

Looking back at the year in music, it was very much a “Golden” age. But, demon hunting aside, did it also count as golden with a small G? As we dived through our favorite music of 2025 to consider ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. “Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years.” That’s what LL Cool J famously declared on his hit "Mama Said Knock You Out.” ...

Rap in 2025 was all about experimentation. From the year’s first runaway hit, NBA player-turned-musician Gelo’s single “Tweaker,” to the maximalist ecclesiastics of Playboi Carti’s Music, or even in ...

In 2025, the Nigerian music industry was supercharged with a collection of hit songs that tell the story of ambition and hold the power of superstardom. In Afrobeats, hit records are the vehicle that ...

Stories behind tracks by Fontaines D.C., Beyoncé, Nina Simone and more. By Lindsay Zoladz Today’s playlist — our first of 2026 — is all about you. As I do each December, I asked you to tell me about a ...

NPR Music critics reflect on the lyrics that captured the year's mood, sparked emotions and stayed with them long after the music stopped. Lyrics of a song can reach us in ways that no other speech ...