Year-End Hits by Year, 1956–2025

Every year since 1956, the music industry has ranked the 100 songs that did best over the whole year. Turn the dial or pick a year to see its full Top 100, who had the most hits and which songs carried over, then play it in the mixer.

The 1950s

Rock ’n’ roll crashed the pop charts in the mid-'50s. Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and the doo-wop vocal groups shared the year-end lists with crooners, novelty records and lush orchestral pop, a mix that shows a business still deciding what teenagers wanted to hear.

The 1960s

The '60s charts swing from teen idols and girl groups to Motown's hit factory, surf music and, from 1964, the British Invasion led by the Beatles. By the end of the decade soul, folk-rock and psychedelia were all landing in the year-end Top 100, often side by side.

The 1970s

Singer-songwriters and soft rock dominated the early '70s, while funk, Philadelphia soul and finally disco took over the dance floor. The year-end charts of the decade are some of the most varied ever, mixing ballads, rock anthems, novelty hits and the Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever era.

The 1980s

MTV launched in 1981, and the decade's charts reflect it: Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince and Whitney Houston became global stars, synth-pop and new wave arrived from the UK, and power ballads and hair metal filled out the year-end lists by the late '80s.

The 1990s

R&B and hip-hop became central to the pop charts in the '90s, alongside dance-pop, grunge-era rock and, by the end of the decade, a new wave of teen pop. Changes to how the charts counted sales and airplay in 1991 made the year-end lists more closely reflect what people actually bought and heard.

The 2000s

Hip-hop and R&B ruled the 2000s year-end charts, with Usher, Beyoncé, Eminem and 50 Cent among the biggest acts, while pop-punk, post-grunge rock and the first digital-download hits added variety. Legal downloads began counting toward the Hot 100 in 2005.

The 2010s

Streaming changed the charts in the 2010s. On-demand plays began counting toward the Hot 100 in 2012, and the year-end lists filled with EDM-flavoured pop, trap-influenced hip-hop and long-running smashes that stayed on the chart for most of a year.

The 2020s

In the 2020s, viral videos and streaming playlists can turn a song into a year-end hit in weeks. The lists so far mix pop superstars, a strong run for country music, Latin hits and older songs rediscovered by a new generation.

The 2026 list will be added after it's published in December 2026.