The 20 best songs of 2024, ranked

12 November 2024, 15:17

Pop queens, heartfelt ballads and the continued rise of country.

2024 has been an eclectic year for music.

From the pop excellence of Charli XCX and Chappell Roan, to the pure dominance of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour to Post Malone's transition into a country superstar, it's been a fantastic 12 months.

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Here are the 20 best songs of 2024 (so far):

1. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - 'Murder on the Dancefloor'

   

   Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Murder On The Dancefloor

   OK, we're cheating a little bit here with this one, but come on, it was huge!

   Sophie Ellis-Bextor had the most unexpected of comebacks when this disco banger from 2002 was brought back to life thanks to Barry Keoghan dancing nude to it in Saltburn.

2. The Weeknd - 'Dancing in the Flames'

   

   The Weeknd - Dancing In The Flames (Official Music Video)

   The Weeknd brought out this excellent synthpop track as the lead single from his upcoming album Hurry Up Tomorrow.

   Released next year, the album will serve as the final part of his album trilogy, which began with After Hours and Dawn FM.

3. Charli XCX - '360'

   

   Charli xcx - 360 (official video)

   2024 was very much the year of brat.

   And arguably the best song from Charli XCX's acclaimed album was this 2-minute electropop bop.

   The tongue-in-cheek track makes reference to her place in the music industry and her famous friends, and with a music video starring online "it girl" influencers, models, and actresses - it was hard to ignore this one.

4. Gracie Abrams - 'I Love You, I'm Sorry'

   

   Gracie Abrams - I Love You, I’m Sorry (Official Music Video)

   American singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams had her breakthrough year in 2024, and this pop ballad was one of the songs that gained her many fans.

   The track was something of a follow-up to her 2020 track 'I Miss You, I'm Sorry', and perfectly sums up the feelings of desperation after a breakup.

5. Perrie - 'Forget About Us'

   

   Perrie - Forget About Us (Official Video)

   This was Perrie's first solo track after Little Mix began their hiatus in 2022.

   Originally written by Ed Sheeran, a demo version of the track was sent to Perrie where she recorded a new version at her home studio in London.

   Co-written and produced by Evanescence's David Hodges, the song's lyrics were changed to fit her perspective of past relationships.

6. Sabrina Carpenter - 'Taste'

   

   Sabrina Carpenter - Taste (Official Video)

   Sabrina Carpenter continued her impressive 2024 with this pop gem, which was the third single to her sixth album Short n Sweet.

   Co-starring Jenna Ortega in the music video, 'Taste' is an '80s-inspired playful track about the lingering impact Sabrina Carpenter had on her ex-boyfriend.

7. Chappell Roan - 'Good Luck, Babe!'

   

   Chappell Roan - “Good Luck, Babe!” (Live From The 2024 MTV VMAs)

   What a breakthrough year 2024 was for Chappell Roan, who in a few months has gone from little-known singer-songwriter to one of the biggest popstars on the planet.

   This synthpop track is a breakup anthem with a twist. It sees Roan throwing shade at a love interest who's not ready to embrace her true self.

   "I needed to write a song about a common situationship within queer relationships - where someone is struggling with coming to terms with themselves," she said. "It's a song about wishing well to someone who is avoidant of their true feelings."

8. Taylor Swift - 'I Can Do It with a Broken Heart'

   

   Taylor Swift - I Can Do It With A Broken Heart (Official Video)

   This was one of the breakout songs from Taylor Swift's Tortured Poets Department album, and a welcome addition to her epic Eras Tour setlist.

   The song is about Taylor's perseverance and professionalism while going through personal tough periods during the early days of the tour.

9. Beyoncé - 'Texas Hold 'Em'

   

   Beyoncé - TEXAS HOLD 'EM (Music Video)

   Beyoncé surprised everyone by announcing that her next album Cowboy Carter would be a country record.

   Its lead single proved she could take on the genre with great results, making Beyoncé the first black woman with a number-one country song in Billboard history in the US.

10. Shaboozey - 'A Bar Song (Tipsy)'

    

    Shaboozey - A Bar Song (Tipsy) [Official Visualizer]

    No-one expected a country cover of J-Kwon's 'Tipsy' to be one of 2024's biggest songs, but here we are.

    American singer Shaboozey scored a massive hit this year with this ridiculously catchy tune, which has become one of the biggest country tracks of all time.

11. Billie Eilish - 'Birds of a Feather'

    

    Billie Eilish - BIRDS OF A FEATHER (Official Music Video)

    This new wave-tinged track was the second single from Billie's thid album Hit Me Hard and Soft.

    The downtempo song is centred around a bond between two people that is so deep that it leads to them sticking together forever.

12. Myles Smith - 'Stargazing'

    

    Myles Smith - Stargazing (Lyric Video)

    British singer-songwriter Myles Smith had a surprisingly massive hit with this folk-pop anthem.

    Myles got the inspiration for the song while hanging out in LA, saying: "I love the idea that the person we fall in love with has been there our whole life."

13. Dasha - 'Austin'

    

    Dasha - Austin (Official Music Video)

    One of the year's biggest country hits came from new star Dasha, thanks to her TikTok dance which went viral at the turn of 2024.

    'Austin' arrived after Dasha and her co-writers were working on a song titled 'Play Dumb' about "knowing you're getting cheated on," which Dasha could not relate to.

    It was abandoned and the perspective of a "scorned woman" from that song was changed into "something really boot-clappy and fun and kind of badass", and later described as a "catchy ode to a lover who just won't commit".

14. Taylor Swift & Post Malone - 'Fortnight'

    

    Taylor Swift - Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) (Official Music Video)

    For the lead single of Taylor's Tortured Poets Department, she went all downtempo and electropop for this excellent duet with Post Malone.

    The song is about a woman in an unhappy marriage who rekindles with an ex-lover who is also married, with the two of them vowing to escape to Florida.

    The track's simple production gave them both one of the biggest hits of the year.

    Posty later said that Taylor initiated the collaboration, inviting him to the studio for a session that he described as a "good day."

15. Post Malone and Morgan Wallen - 'I Had Some Help'

    

    Post Malone - I Had Some Help (feat. Morgan Wallen) (Official Video)

    Post Malone had long been rumoured to be making a country album, and when he finally took on the genre, he didn't disappoint.

    Teaming up with country's biggest star Morgan Wallen, this track was a fun fist-pumping track that was impossible to get out your head.

16. Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - 'Die with a Smile'

    

    Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars - Die With A Smile (Official Music Video)

    This duet between two icons of the 2010s seemed to come out of nowhere, and it was a welcome surprise.

    The soft rock track showcased just how good both Gaga and Bruno still are, and came about after a chance meeting when he invited her to his studio where he had been working on new music.

    "Bruno and I have a lot of mutual respect for each other," Gaga explained. "We'd been talking about collaborating for a while. I was wrapping up my own album in Malibu when, after a long day, he called me over to his studio to listen to something he'd been working on."

17. Benson Boone - 'Beautiful Things'

    

    Benson Boone - Beautiful Things (Official Music Video)

    As debut singles go, this was a pretty darn good start.

    American singer Benson Boone began writing this song last year after moving to Los Angeles. He later said that a relationship he had recently begun was the main inspiration.

    The powerful ballad is "about the meaning of life", where Benson reflects on gratitude for life, love and the "volatility of happiness".

18. Hozier - 'Too Sweet'

    

    Hozier - Too Sweet (Official Video)

    It had been a while since Irish singer Hozier had a big hit, but he was well and truly back with this soul-inspired rock track.

    The boozy power ballad is about the differences between people in a relationship, with his significant other preferring a healthy lifestyle to his love of whiskey and black coffee. He enjoys the rawness because his partner is "already too sweet".

19. Noah Kahan - 'Stick Season'

    

    Noah Kahan - Stick Season (Official Music Video)

    Technically, this song first came out in 2022, but it was such a big hit in 2024 that we're counting it.

    Thanks to going viral on TikTok and an Olivia Rodrigo cover, this folk-rock ballad became a huge success in 2023/24, and it has essentially not gone away since.

    The song's title refers to a term for autumn in New England, the period after Halloween before winter begins, which Kahan called "a time of transition" and "super depressing" as "it just means that winter is coming soon and it creates a lot of anxiety" and "nobody really likes it".

20. Sabrina Carpenter - 'Espresso'

    

    Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso (Official Video)

    If there's one song you've probably heard more than any other in 2024, we'd argue it was probably 'Espresso'.

    This irresistible synthpop earworm about self-confidence took over the world this summer, and cemented Sabrina as a pop queen.