The 20 most memorable music moments of 2025

It’s been 27 years since Brandy and Monica took the world by storm with their Grammy Award-winning hit single “The Boy Is Mine.” The two R&B songstresses have not only given fans hit songs throughout their careers, but they’ve also showcased their longevity in an industry that is constantly up and down. During the summer, the two announced their long-awaited joint tour alongside acts Kelly Rowland, Muni Long, and Jamal Roberts. Many fans in attendance have praised the ladies for fulfilling their nostalgia of singing hit after hit, and bringing out special guests at a number of tour stops.  

Michael Jackson became the first artist to have top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in six different decades. His first top ten solo hit came in 1971 with his hit single “Got To Be There,” but thanks to his song “Thriller” being a popular track heard every year at Halloween, it pushed the song into the top ten this year, proving the King of Pop’s generational dominance. 

The Super Bowl Halftime show continues to be the talk all year long as fans always try to figure out how the NFL, Roc Nation, and Apple Music can outdo the previous performer (if that’s even always possible). However, in September, the NFL announced that Latin superstar Bad Bunny will take over the Halftime show at Super LX. 

The 2025 BET Awards gave fans plenty of nostalgia as it celebrated 25 years of their top ten video countdown show '106 & Park.' Not only did the ceremony bring a reunion of former hosts like Big Tigger, Julissa, Rocsi Diaz, Terrence J, and Free, but the celebration was also filled with performances by Mya, B2K, Ashanti, T.I., and of course, “Mr. 106 & Park” himself, Bow Wow. 

After a few nominations in the Grammy’s Album of the Year category, and being named the most nominated artist in Grammy history, Beyoncé finally won the prestigious category, a feat that was long overdue. Queen Bey won for her country album Cowboy Carter, and used her speech as a dedication to country pioneer Linda Martell. 

Kendrick Lamar was already on a roll after releasing his album GNX in late 2025, headlining the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show. Just a couple of months after that, Lamar was joined by former labelmate SZA on the Grand National Tour. As Lamar and SZA performed across stadiums and broke records nightly, the concert became the highest-grossing co-headlining stadium tour ever. 

It’s hard to believe that Kehlani’s first mixtape Cloud 19 was released back 2014, well fast forward to over a decade later and she’s seen her biggest success on Billboard yet. Thanks to her hit song “Folded,” a song that reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, it’s her first song to reach the top ten on the prestigious chart. 

Salt-n-Pepa were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a presentation from 2023 inductee Missy Elliott. The honor marked DJ Spinderella as the first female DJ inducted into the Hall of Fame. During the group’s speech, they made sure to highlight their fight for their rights to their master recordings. 

A moment that rocked social media was during the summer at a Coldplay concert. During the show, as production had a kiss cam moment in the audience, one couple tried to duck away from the cameras when they were spotted on the big screen. Making the moment even more crazy was when lead singer Chris Martin said, “Oh, look at these two. ... Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy.” Between Martin’s comment and the couple trying not to be seen by cameras, there was speculation that they were having an affair, something the couple denied. 

Mariah Carey has been nominated for several MTV Video Music Awards throughout the course of her career since the ‘90s, but she always seemed to fall short. Well, that all changed in 2025 when the network honored her with the coveted Video Vanguard award, making it her first VMA win. After performing a medley of her hit songs, Carey was honored with the award by pop singer Ariana Grande, who made sure to bow in Carey’s presence.

One of the pioneers of neo-soul D’Angelo passed away at the age of 51, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. His death comes just months after singer Angie Stone (whom he shares a son with) tragically passed away from a car accident. D'Angelo will be always be remembered for his hit songs like "Lady," "Send It On," "When We Get By," and more.  

Beyoncé is no stranger to bringing out special guests at her shows, but fans were in for quite a surprise during the final stop of her Cowboy Carter Tour. At the last stop, taking place at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, she shocked fans when she was joined on stage by Destiny’s Child members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. It marked their first performance in seven years as they performed a medley of “Lose My Breath” and “Bootylicious.” 

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of his debut album Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, Jeezy took on a special tour backed by the Color of Noize orchestra, led by musical director Adam Blackstone. Jeezy promoted the tour as a black tie affair in which attendees, as well as he and the orchestra, had to dress up in their finest threads. 

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 30 years since Tejano singer Selena’s life was tragically taken from her. However, her family has always been adamant about solidifying her legacy for old and new fans since then. One way of doing that is the family teaming up with Netlfix to produce their latest documentary Selena y Los Dinos. The documentary is filled with never-before-seen footage and interviews with individuals closest to the singer. 

2025 was a huge year for pop star Lady Gaga, she returned with her sixth solo album Mayhem and coincided it with The Mayhem Ball tour. The album’s second single, “Abracadabra” peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

In more recent years, Las Vegas has become quite the hot spot for more modern acts to take their talents there for show residencies. The Backstreet Boys are no different as they took the summer by storm with their residency at the Sphere. The show was such a hot ticket, that the band added more shows during the December holidays all the way through to the beginning of 2026.

Janet Jackson made her first TV performance in the last seven years when she was honored with the Icon Award at the American Music Awards. She performed a medley of her hit songs including “All For You” and “Someone to Call My Lover.”

The use of AI across various industries has started to take over, and while people realize the technology can be used for innovation, other people see the technology as lacking originality, creativity, talent, and imagination. In the music industry, artists like Timbaland created an AI-generated artist named TaTa, much to the dismay of other artists and fans. On the other hand, there are artists like Kehlani who slammed the industry for signing AI artist Xania Monet to a multi-million dollar record deal. 

It’s been nearly a decade but millennials were rejoicing everywhere when they heard Hilary Duff was releasing a new album after a ten-year hiatus. She released her song “Mature” as the lead single to her 2026 album Luck… or Something. 

The Jonas Brothers brought out a few special guests during their tour, one of which was girl group Fifth Harmony. Although Camila Cabello wasn’t present, the other group members Normani, Lauren Jauregui, Ally Brooke, and Dinah Jane reunited on stage for the first time in nearly seven years. The quartet took the stage to perform their hit songs “Worth It” and “Work From Home,” much to the pleasure of fans everywhere.