There was no single scoreboard for pop culture in 2024. Search trends, streaming activity, awards and memorable news stories measure different things, so this is a curated look at moments that stood out across those lenses—not a definitive ranking of what mattered most to everyone.
What counted as “biggest” in 2024?
Some moments drew exceptional search interest; others marked a chart rise, made awards history or became part of a broader public conversation. Google’s Year in Search and Spotify’s annual retrospective reflect activity on their own platforms, while the Associated Press (AP) highlights stories it considered memorable. These signals are useful in combination, but they cannot be added together into one objective ranking.
The examples below are drawn largely from U.S.- and UK-facing coverage. They are a selection, not a comprehensive account of every region or audience.
What topped Google’s pop-culture search trends?
Google’s global Year in Search 2024 named Inside Out 2 the top trending movie and Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” the top trending song. “Trending” describes search-interest movement, not total listening, box-office revenue or a universal measure of cultural importance. Google’s Year in Search 2024 places those results alongside wider interests such as sports and elections.
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Which music moments stood out?
Artists gaining visibility on Spotify
Spotify’s December 4, 2024 year-end retrospective named Chappell Roan, Shaboozey and Sabrina Carpenter among artists gaining prominence on its charts. The platform also framed the year around collaborations and fandom. These are Spotify-specific signals of listening and chart visibility, not a cross-platform ranking of the year’s most important artists. Spotify’s 2024 retrospective gives its service’s view of the year.
RAYE set a BRIT Awards record
At the February 2024 BRIT Awards, RAYE won six awards. Official Charts reported that this was the most wins by one artist in a single night in the ceremony’s 44-year history. It was a specific awards milestone, separate from streaming or search rankings. Official Charts’ 2024 music review documents the record.
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How did film shape the year’s conversation?
Inside Out 2 led Google’s movie search trends
Google’s top-trending-movie designation makes Inside Out 2 one clear film marker of the year, but it should be read as a search result rather than a claim that it was the year’s top film by every measure.
Wicked became a late-year focal point
AP’s year-end coverage presented Wicked as a major thread in late-2024 entertainment, with its stars appearing at events including the Oscars, Met Gala and Olympics. AP’s photo retrospective also described the film as dominating late-year box office and public conversation. That editorial framing captures the film’s visibility, while Google’s search list offers a different measure of attention. AP’s pop-culture overview and AP’s photo retrospective offer examples of that coverage.
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Which internet and celebrity moments travelled beyond their original contexts?
Moo Deng became an unlikely viral star
The young pygmy hippopotamus known as Moo Deng was one of AP’s examples of the year’s fascination with cute animals. The phenomenon illustrates a form of internet attention that is very different from an awards record or a chart position.
Cowboy Carter marked a major artistic moment
AP highlighted Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter as one of the year’s notable cultural stories. It sits alongside the other examples as an artistic milestone, rather than a platform trend or a single viral incident.
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Lily Gladstone opened Golden Globes remarks in Blackfeet
AP reported that actor Lily Gladstone began her Golden Globes remarks in the language of her tribe, the Blackfeet Nation. The moment brought Indigenous language and identity into a widely watched awards setting. The exact words are not reproduced in AP’s overview.
Chappell Roan addressed frightening fan encounters
AP also highlighted Roan speaking about frightening interactions with fans. The moment focused attention on the boundaries between public visibility and personal safety, a topic that differs in kind from chart performance or an awards record.
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Why these moments do not form a definitive ranking
Google reports search trends, Spotify describes activity on its service, Official Charts records UK music and awards milestones, and AP selects stories for editorial coverage. Each source shows a different slice of the year. Together, they point to a 2024 shaped by high-profile film releases, rising music acts, a historic BRIT night, online phenomena and public conversations around identity and celebrity—but they do not establish a single order of importance across all pop culture.
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