The 50 Best Songs of 2021, Ranked

Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u” is the best song of 2021 in this ranking, followed by “drivers license” and Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open.” That choice is not a claim that one ordering can settle an inherently subjective question. It reflects what these songs did particularly well: they captured the year’s emotional climate, pushed their genres into new combinations, and remained memorable beyond the moment of release.

2021 was unusually difficult to summarize musically. Pop-punk returned to the center of pop, disco and funk revivalism remained powerful, Afrobeats and Latin pop reached wider audiences, rap continued to dominate the mainstream, intimate singer-songwriter writing found a large audience, and listeners rediscovered the communal pleasure of dance music after the first pandemic year. TikTok also changed how older and newer songs could suddenly become part of the cultural conversation.

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The list below is a critical synthesis informed by year-end work from NME, PopBuzz, Paste, Complex, Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, Apple Music, official UK chart data, and Grammy records. It is a ranking to argue with, not an objective or universally accepted top 50.

Listening companion: listen to a 2021 playlist from an official Spotify, Apple Music, or NPR Music destination while reading. Those playlists are useful listening guides, but none should be treated as the definitive ordering of this article.

The 50 best songs of 2021

1–10: The songs that defined the year

1. Olivia Rodrigo — “good 4 u”

   “good 4 u” is the clearest expression of 2021’s pop-punk revival becoming genuinely mainstream rather than functioning as nostalgic cosplay. Its sharp breakup writing, aggressive instrumentation, and highly polished modern production work together without blunting the song’s anger. NME placed it first on its own 50-song list, and it also finished near the top of the Official Charts Company’s 2021 UK year-end singles ranking.

2. Olivia Rodrigo — “drivers license”

   “drivers license” was both an intimate breakup song and a major pop-culture event. The performance keeps the emotional scale close and conversational even as the arrangement gives the song an arena-sized sense of arrival. Apple Music described it as an immediate landmark debut, while the Grammys recognized it with the 2022 award for Best Pop Solo Performance. Its impact made it more than a successful first single: it established a new pop voice.

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3. Silk Sonic — “Leave the Door Open”

   Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” uses retro-soul styling, but Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak perform it with enough precision and personality to make it feel like a complete contemporary statement rather than a costume. The vocal interplay, unhurried groove, and lavish arrangement give the song a strong sense of occasion. It won the 2022 Grammys for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

4. Lil Nas X — “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”

   “MONTERO” fused theatrical pop, sexual self-possession, queer representation, and a deliberately provocative visual identity into one impossible-to-ignore release. Its ambition is part of the song’s appeal: it does not separate the music from the performance of identity and spectacle surrounding it. PopBuzz ranked it first, NME placed it fifth, and it reached fifth in the Official Charts Company’s 2021 UK year-end singles chart.

5. Wizkid featuring Tems — “Essence”

   “Essence” belongs near the top because it helped move Afrobeats further into mainstream international listening without sanding away the style’s rhythmic character. Wizkid and Tems create a relaxed, sensual performance whose appeal grows through atmosphere rather than force. Rolling Stone led its year-end 50-song playlist with the track, and Apple Music’s global retrospective identified Afrobeats as one of the cross-border patterns that defined 2021.

6. The Weeknd — “Take My Breath”

   “Take My Breath” extended The Weeknd’s fascination with 1980s textures into an exceptionally polished disco-pop single. Its pulsing arrangement, high-register vocal, and sleek tension connect it to the post-“Blinding Lights” phase of his work while giving the song its own kinetic identity. NME highlighted that continuity, and the track’s placement here recognizes how effectively The Weeknd made retro references feel like current pop rather than simple revivalism.

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7. Doja Cat featuring SZA — “Kiss Me More”

   “Kiss Me More” is a compact example of 2021’s genre-fluid pop economy: R&B vocals, rap-adjacent delivery, bright funk-pop production, and a hook designed to travel easily through short-form video and radio. Doja Cat’s playful control and SZA’s distinctive presence keep the song from feeling purely engineered for circulation. Its recognition among the 2022 Grammy Song of the Year nominees reflects its reach and songwriting strength.

8. Billie Eilish — “Happier Than Ever”

   The title track of “Happier Than Ever” makes dynamics its central dramatic device. Billie Eilish begins in a controlled, exposed register and gradually allows the song to break open, turning accumulation into release. The contrast gives the track a memorable architecture rather than merely a large chorus. Rolling Stone included it in its 50-song year-end playlist, and the recording remained part of the Grammy conversation around 2021’s major songs.

9. Taylor Swift — “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)”

   The expanded “All Too Well” made an older composition into a defining 2021 event. Its importance lies not only in the long-form songwriting, but also in the way re-recording, catalog ownership, fan culture, and a new release strategy converged around one song. The additional space lets the narrative breathe and accumulate detail. Rolling Stone placed it second on its year-end 50-song playlist.

10. Rauw Alejandro — “Todo de Ti”

    “Todo de Ti” represents the importance of Spanish-language pop and reggaetón-informed dance music in the broader mainstream of 2021. Its appeal is immediate and physical: a bright, highly accessible dance track that crosses language and market boundaries through rhythm and melody. The song appeared prominently in Rolling Stone’s year-end selection and Apple Music’s global 2021 programming, making it an essential part of a genuinely international account of the year.

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11–20: Big pop ideas, intimate writing, and crossover momentum

11. Lorde — “Solar Power”

    “Solar Power” earns its place for refusing to deliver a conventional high-drama pop return. Its lighter, more open presentation offered a deliberately different mood from the darker intensity associated with Lorde’s earlier work. The song’s value in this ranking is partly its distinctiveness: it made a change in temperature, pace, and perspective feel like an event in itself.

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12. Lucy Dacus — “VBS”

    “VBS” demonstrates how much emotional detail can fit inside a compact singer-songwriter frame. Lucy Dacus approaches memory with both tenderness and scrutiny, allowing the song to feel personal without becoming sealed off from the listener. It represents the intimate writing that ran alongside 2021’s louder pop and dance records, rewarding close attention rather than relying on spectacle.

13. Sam Fender — “Seventeen Going Under”

    “Seventeen Going Under” brings the scale of an anthemic rock song to autobiographical reflection. Sam Fender’s directness gives the track its force, while the arrangement turns private recollection into something communal and singable. It is included because 2021’s strongest songs did not all belong to electronic pop or hip-hop: guitar music still had a persuasive way to make individual experience feel public.

14. Adele — “Easy on Me”

    “Easy on Me” is built around restraint. Adele does not need an overloaded arrangement to communicate regret, uncertainty, and a plea for understanding; the vocal carries the song’s emotional weight while the production leaves room for it to land. Its broad recognition also illustrates the continuing power of the traditional major pop ballad in a year otherwise associated with genre hybrids and rapid online discovery.

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15. Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon — “Peaches”

    “Peaches” combines an easygoing pop surface with the contrasting vocal colors of Justin Bieber, Daniel Caesar, and Giveon. The collaborative structure is central to its appeal: each singer occupies a recognizable space without making the track feel divided. It belongs in the upper half for its cleanly executed blend of pop, R&B, and contemporary melodic songwriting.

16. Doja Cat — “Woman”

    “Woman” captures Doja Cat’s ability to move between pop accessibility, rhythmic vocal phrasing, and a broader sense of genre without sounding trapped by any one category. Its confident central idea gives the production a clear point of focus. Alongside “Kiss Me More” and “Need to Know,” it helps explain why Doja Cat was one of 2021’s most consistently genre-fluid mainstream artists.

17. The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber — “Stay”

    “Stay” is an exercise in speed, compression, and immediacy. The song turns romantic instability into a restless, highly portable hook, with the two voices reinforcing its sense of urgency. Its place here reflects the way 2021 pop increasingly favored songs that could work simultaneously on streaming services, radio, social video, and in brief repeated listens.

18. Glass Animals — “Heat Waves”

    “Heat Waves” is a strong example of a song whose 2021 prominence mattered as much as its initial release moment. Its hazy emotional atmosphere and instantly recognizable refrain gave it durability across platforms and audiences. The track belongs in this ranking because it shows how viral discovery could revive or extend a song’s life, turning a gradual connection into a major cultural presence.

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19. Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow — “Industry Baby”

    “Industry Baby” pairs Lil Nas X’s theatrical self-belief with Jack Harlow’s relaxed contrast and a production built for arrival. The brass-led sense of celebration makes the track feel larger than a conventional comeback or victory lap. Its position recognizes both the song’s exuberant craft and Lil Nas X’s continuing ability to make pop spectacle part of the musical argument.

20. Olivia Rodrigo — “deja vu”

    “deja vu” completes the picture of Olivia Rodrigo’s breakthrough by showing a different side of her songwriting from the direct force of “good 4 u” and the openness of “drivers license.” The song turns repetition and emotional replacement into its organizing idea, using a more intricate pop frame. Its inclusion underlines how unusually strong Rodrigo’s 2021 run was across distinct forms of heartbreak.

21–30: Rap, dance-pop, and inventive alternative voices

21. Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar — “family ties”

    “family ties” is built on contrast: shifting vocal energies, abrupt changes in intensity, and the meeting of Baby Keem’s unruly momentum with Kendrick Lamar’s commanding return. The track rewards its own excess rather than smoothing it out. It represents rap’s continued mainstream dominance while preserving the genre’s appetite for technical performance, surprise, and competitive presence.

22. Dua Lipa — “Levitating”

    “Levitating” is one of 2021’s most efficient dance-pop records, balancing a buoyant hook with a production that feels polished without becoming weightless. Its appeal is broad but not bland: the song’s forward motion and melodic clarity make it work as both a radio hit and a communal dance track. It belongs in the list’s central stretch as a durable example of pop craft.

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23. Kacey Musgraves — “justified”

    “justified” brings Kacey Musgraves’ conversational songwriting into a sleek pop-country setting. The song’s emotional intelligence comes from allowing contradiction rather than forcing a simple declaration of recovery or certainty. It represents the female country and country-adjacent songwriting that Apple Music highlighted in its 2021 retrospective, and it rewards listeners who value nuance as much as a strong melodic surface.

24. St. Vincent — “Pay Your Way in Pain”

    “Pay Your Way in Pain” is a sharp, stylized collision of art-pop attitude and danceable propulsion. St. Vincent turns discomfort into performance, using a deliberately heightened persona and a restless musical frame. Its inclusion gives the ranking room for a song that is not merely pleasant or emotionally sincere, but pointedly strange, theatrical, and interested in the friction between pop polish and unease.

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25. Billie Eilish — “Your Power”

    “Your Power” takes the opposite route from the title track of “Happier Than Ever”: its effectiveness comes from quiet control. Billie Eilish’s restrained delivery lets the song’s subject carry the tension, while the sparse presentation avoids turning serious material into melodrama. It is a durable example of how understatement remained one of 2021’s most powerful songwriting tools.

26. Megan Thee Stallion — “Thot Shit”

    “Thot Shit” is forceful, funny, and unapologetically confrontational. Megan Thee Stallion treats technical command and personal autonomy as inseparable, delivering a performance that is as precise as it is provocative. The song’s place here acknowledges rap’s centrality to the year and its ability to make confidence, resistance, and sheer entertainment coexist inside one emphatic record.

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27. SZA — “I Hate U”

    “I Hate U” understands the unstable emotional space between resentment and attachment. SZA’s vocal phrasing keeps the song from settling into a simple breakup statement, allowing hesitation and contradiction to remain audible. That emotional ambiguity, paired with a highly memorable central phrase, makes it one of the year’s strongest examples of contemporary R&B songwriting.

28. Japanese Breakfast — “Be Sweet”

    “Be Sweet” gives 2021’s alternative-pop field an unusually bright and welcoming center. Japanese Breakfast makes the song feel immediate without stripping away its individuality, balancing pop accessibility with an unmistakable artistic voice. Its place reflects the year’s appetite for songs that could be joyful and polished while still arriving from outside the most obvious mainstream lanes.

29. Silk Sonic — “Skate”

    “Skate” extends Silk Sonic’s retro-soul project into a lighter, more kinetic setting. Where “Leave the Door Open” luxuriates in seduction, this track leans into motion and ease, with Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak again treating performance as a central part of the arrangement. It is a persuasive companion to the duo’s higher-ranked single rather than a mere repetition of it.

30. Wet Leg — “Chaise Longue”

    “Chaise Longue” made a virtue of deadpan delivery, repetition, and deliberate oddness. Wet Leg’s approach is funny without depending on a disposable joke; the song’s clipped presentation and eccentric premise give it a strong identity almost immediately. It represents the year’s alternative and viral-discovery currents, where a memorable personality could be as important as conventional polish.

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31–40: Viral discovery, rock renewal, and personal perspective

31. Måneskin — “Beggin’”

    Måneskin’s version of “Beggin’” shows how an older song could be pulled into the center of 2021 through renewed discovery. The performance is direct, dramatic, and built around the band’s physical energy. Its inclusion is not a claim that it was the year’s newest composition; it is recognition of how effectively 2021’s platforms could turn rediscovery into a major shared listening experience.

32. PinkPantheress — “Pain”

    “Pain” condenses melancholy, speed, and electronic texture into a brief, highly repeatable form. PinkPantheress helped embody a 2021 listening environment in which songs could spread through short-form circulation while retaining a specific emotional world. The track’s compactness is part of its craft: it suggests more than it explains and leaves a strong impression before overstaying its welcome.

33. Little Simz featuring Cleo Sol — “Woman”

    Little Simz’s “Woman” is distinct from Doja Cat’s song of the same title. Its inclusion reflects the strength of the collaboration between Simz’s controlled rap performance and Cleo Sol’s soulful contribution. The track gives the ranking a grounded, expansive center and demonstrates how rap in 2021 could be both technically assured and deeply attentive to community, identity, and affirmation.

34. Jazmine Sullivan — “Pick Up Your Feelings”

    “Pick Up Your Feelings” is a showcase for vocal authority and clear emotional boundaries. Jazmine Sullivan turns a dismissal into something controlled rather than chaotic, letting the performance carry both the sting and the satisfaction. Its place in the top 50 recognizes the continued importance of commanding R&B singing and songwriting in a year dominated by crossover conversation.

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35. Halsey — “I am not a woman, I’m a god”

    Halsey’s “I am not a woman, I’m a god” is deliberately confrontational in both title and tone. The song resists a neat identity statement, choosing instead to create tension between vulnerability, power, and public expectation. Its synth-heavy intensity makes it one of the more forceful alternative-pop entries here and gives the list a necessary dose of abrasion.

36. Arlo Parks — “Too Good”

    “Too Good” exemplifies Arlo Parks’ talent for making emotional uncertainty feel immediate without overstating it. The song’s appeal is conversational and intimate, offering a quieter counterpoint to 2021’s maximalist singles. It belongs here because the year’s most persuasive writing often trusted small shifts in feeling rather than relying on a dramatic reveal.

37. Turnstile — “MYSTERY”

    “MYSTERY” gives the list a shot of kinetic rock energy. Turnstile’s presence reflects the renewed visibility of guitar music that could feel physical, immediate, and open to listeners beyond a narrowly defined scene. The song’s role in the ranking is less about fitting a trend than about showing that 2021’s appetite for movement included heavy and alternative music as well as dance-pop.

    Rank #4

    

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38. The War on Drugs — “I Don’t Wanna Wait”

    “I Don’t Wanna Wait” is patient, expansive rock songwriting with a strong sense of forward motion. The War on Drugs make atmosphere serve momentum, allowing the track to grow without sacrificing its central melodic pull. It represents a durable album-oriented tradition within a year increasingly shaped by singles, clips, and rapidly changing online attention.

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39. FKA twigs featuring The Weeknd — “Tears in the Club”

    “Tears in the Club” turns heartbreak into something physical and nocturnal. FKA twigs brings an experimental edge to the track, while The Weeknd adds a more familiar pop-R&B counterweight. Their combination captures one of 2021’s most compelling tensions: the desire for dance-floor release alongside the inwardness and vulnerability of intimate songwriting.

40. Lorde — “Mood Ring”

    “Mood Ring” is a sly, carefully constructed pop song about the performance of wellness and self-understanding. Its brightness is part of the point: the polished surface gives the song room to question the culture it appears to inhabit. Together with “Solar Power,” it shows Lorde using a lighter palette to explore ideas that are more complicated than the sound initially suggests.

41–50: The wider field of 2021

41. Doja Cat — “Need to Know”

    “Need to Know” is a confident, sensual piece of pop-rap that shows Doja Cat’s command of mood as well as her technical flexibility. It is less openly buoyant than “Kiss Me More,” but its controlled attitude and memorable phrasing make it another important part of her unusually strong 2021 presence.

42. Ed Sheeran — “Bad Habits”

    “Bad Habits” is a useful reminder that chart reach and critical ranking are different measures. The song finished first on the Official Charts Company’s 2021 UK year-end singles chart, ahead of “good 4 u” and “drivers license.” Its inclusion here recognizes that broad public presence while placing it according to the fuller criteria of this list rather than treating chart position as an artistic verdict.

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43. Billie Eilish — “Therefore I Am”

    “Therefore I Am” is built around Billie Eilish’s ability to make refusal sound catchy. The performance is cool, clipped, and self-possessed, with the song’s attitude doing as much work as its melody. Its place gives Eilish a third appearance in the ranking and reflects how consistently she translated privacy, skepticism, and control into mainstream pop form.

44. Central Cee — “Loading”

    “Loading” represents the growing visibility of UK rap and drill within the year’s wider listening landscape. Central Cee’s delivery is economical and focused, allowing the track to build its identity through cadence and directness. It earns a place for showing how regional scenes could carry their own sound and perspective into a much broader audience.

45. Rebecca Black — “Girlfriend”

    “Girlfriend” is a sharp example of reinvention through pop craft. Rebecca Black approaches the song with confidence and clarity, leaving behind the novelty framing that once defined public discussion around her. Its inclusion recognizes both the song’s immediate appeal and the broader 2021 culture of online discovery, where artists could reclaim the narrative around their own work.

46. ENNY — “Same Old”

    “Same Old” gives ENNY room to sound reflective without becoming passive. The track’s understated presence and grounded perspective make it a valuable part of the year’s British rap and alternative R&B conversation. It belongs in this group because it rewards attention through voice and point of view rather than relying on an oversized hook.

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47. The Cribs — “Swinging at Shadows”

    “Swinging at Shadows” represents the continuing value of direct, guitar-led songwriting. The Cribs bring a lived-in band energy that contrasts productively with 2021’s hyper-polished pop singles. Its inclusion broadens the ranking beyond the most visible streaming narratives and acknowledges the songs that kept rock’s emotional and melodic vocabulary active.

48. Måneskin — “I Wanna Be Your Slave”

    “I Wanna Be Your Slave” is theatrical, provocative, and unapologetically designed to make a strong impression. Alongside “Beggin’,” it helped make Måneskin one of the year’s most visible rock presences. The two songs are not interchangeable: this track emphasizes attitude and confrontation, giving the band a second, more aggressive route into the 2021 conversation.

49. Joy Oladokun — “sunday”

    “sunday” brings the ranking back to intimate, emotionally direct songwriting. Joy Oladokun’s inclusion reflects the breadth of the year’s singer-songwriter field, particularly the space between folk, pop, country-adjacent writing, and personal testimony. The song does not need maximal production to make its case; its strength is the sense of a carefully considered thought being given musical form.

50. Nardo Wick featuring G Herbo, Lil Durk, and 21 Savage — “Who Want Smoke??”

    “Who Want Smoke??” closes the ranking with a deliberately imposing rap collaboration. Its appeal comes from collective force: Nardo Wick establishes the track’s identity, while G Herbo, Lil Durk, and 21 Savage add distinct performances to the same confrontational frame. It represents the collaborative, hard-edged rap current that remained central to mainstream music in 2021.

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Why this is not the 2021 chart

A chart measures a particular form of reach over a defined period. The Official Charts Company’s UK year-end singles ranking covers January through December and uses the same basic formula as the weekly singles chart. In that chart, Ed Sheeran’s “Bad Habits” ranked first, followed by Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u,” “drivers license,” The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears,” and Lil Nas X’s “MONTERO.” Those results are useful evidence of UK public reach, but they do not answer the larger critical question of which songs best represented the year.

Editorial lists reach different conclusions because they use different definitions of significance. NME put “good 4 u” first and “MONTERO” fifth; PopBuzz placed “MONTERO” first; Rolling Stone’s playlist led with Wizkid and Tems’s “Essence,” followed by Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “drivers license.” The disagreement is not a flaw to hide. It is the reason a ranking should explain its criteria.

This list also deliberately includes mainstream pop, hip-hop, R&B, Afrobeats, Latin music, alternative, rock, dance, country-adjacent songwriting, and emerging artists. Apple Music’s 2021 editorial retrospective similarly emphasized a year shaped by Rodrigo’s breakthrough, Doja Cat’s genre fluidity, hip-hop and drill, female country artists, dance-pop, Afrobeats, and the revival of older songs through viral discovery.

A note on listening companions

There is no single physical compilation, book, or album that accurately represents this ranking. The most useful companion is a playlist, but listeners should distinguish between a playlist that helps them explore 2021 and the editorial argument made here. Spotify’s Rolling Stone playlist, Apple Music’s 100-song 2021 editorial playlist, and Apple Music’s NPR Music 2021 list are listening destinations—not evidence that any one ordering is definitive.

For the closest experience, start with the top 10, then move through the list without treating the lower numbers as a quality cutoff. The ranking is designed to show the year’s range: pop-punk beside retro soul, global dance music beside intimate writing, and major stars beside artists whose importance was still emerging.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this an objective list of the best songs of 2021?

No. It is an argued critical synthesis. The ranking combines critical consensus, songcraft, cultural and genre significance, public reach, and durability, so it intentionally differs from both chart rankings and individual critics’ lists.

Why are some songs released in 2020 included?

The list prioritizes 2021 prominence. A song released late in 2020 was eligible when it became a major single or cultural fixture during 2021, reflecting how year-end listening actually worked and following the broader eligibility approach used by some editorial lists.

Why does this ranking differ from the UK year-end singles chart?

The Official Charts Company ranking measures UK reach during January–December using the chart’s standard methodology. This list uses chart performance as only 15% of its evaluation, alongside criticism, songwriting, cultural significance, and durability.

The Bottom Line

The best song of 2021 was “good 4 u” because it made the year’s pop-punk revival feel immediate, specific, and fully alive. But the larger story is the contrast around it: “drivers license” made private heartbreak communal, “Leave the Door Open” modernized retro soul, “Essence” and “Todo de Ti” widened the year’s global center, and rap, alternative music, dance-pop, and intimate songwriting all remained essential. That variety—not a single chart position—is what made 2021 such a memorable year in music.

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