TikTok Crowns the Biggest Music Moments of 2025

Pushing old favorites back into the spotlight, launching new stars, and turning quick clips into chart-topping moments. Now TikTok revealed its top artists, songs, and trends of the year.

TikTok’s Global Artist of the Year is KATSEYE, who basically lived on everyone’s For You Page. Their track Gnarly powered a worldwide dance trend that even K Pop giants like LE SSERAFIM, TOMORROW x TOGETHER and ENHYPEN joined. Camila Cabello got in too. The trend sparked 2.4 million creations and 13.5 billion views and even pushed the group onto the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time.

Their song "Gabriela" also exploded with 2.8 million creations and 9.9 billion views. The group kept winning when their Gap campaign set to "Milkshake" went viral. Fans recreated the dance from the ad and pulled in 151 million views, including clips from Charli D’Amelio and Sienna Mae.

On the news of winning Global Artist of the Year, KATSEYE said: "We had an unforgettable year on TikTok, and it was all because of the EYEKONS who showed up for us every single day. You turned our songs, our moments, and our chaos into something truly global, and we are so grateful for this community.”

TikTok’s Global Song of the Year might surprise you. More than sixty years after its release, Connie Francis’ "Pretty Little Baby" became a runaway hit again. Users used it over 28.4 million times to soundtrack sweet videos with pets, families and flowers, which racked up 68.6 billion views. Kylie Jenner’s clip with Stormi grabbed 132 million views alone. Connie Francis loved every second of her comeback and even joined TikTok.

In her first post she said: "I'm flabbergasted and excited about the huge buzz my 1962 recording of pretty little baby is making all over the world. To think that a song I recorded 63 years ago is captivating new generations of audiences is truly overwhelming for me. Thank you TikTok."

Over in the UK, TikTok named "Hold My Hand" by Jess Glynne as its UK Song of the Year.

TikTok’s Music Trend of the Year came from Doechii’s "Anxiety," which sampled "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye. The song started as a demo back in 2019, but TikTok users rediscovered it in 2025 and begged for an official version. Doechii re-recorded it and a massive dance trend followed based on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Will Smith and Tatyana Ali even recreated the dance with a cameo from Doechii herself.

The track generated 10.4 million creations and 51.6 billion views. All that attention lifted it into the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 and number three on the UK Singles Chart. Doechii also earned five Grammy nominations.

Another major name in 2025 was EJAE, a New York City-based artist and the singing voice of Rumi from KPop Demon Hunters. She co-wrote the soundtrack’s massive hit "Golden," which inspired 9.8 million creations and 23.6 billion views. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Global 200. The soundtrack even became the first movie soundtrack to have four songs in the Top 10 at the same time.

EJAE already had a strong songwriting background with credits for Red Velvet, aespa, TWICE, LE SSERAFIM, Fifty Fifty and more. But 2025 pushed her into another level of fame.

TikTok’s numbers tell the story.
• Eight out of ten Billboard number ones in 2025 had a viral TikTok moment first.
• All thirteen UK number ones on the Official Charts had TikTok traction too.

TikTok also helped people rediscover older tracks like "Breakin’ Dishes" by Rihanna, "Let Down" by Radiohead and "Rock That Body" by the Black Eyed Peas. Many listeners heard these songs for the first time through the app.

Tracy Gardner, TikTok’s Global Head of Music Business Development, summed up the year: "TikTok has become the industry’s most powerful engine for music discovery, the place where beloved classics find a second life and new voices break through particularly those of women, who dominated music on TikTok in 2025. KATSEYE became the biggest artist of the year, Connie Francis’ ‘Pretty Little Baby’ was adopted by a new generation, EJAE shone a light on female songwriters, and Doechii went stratospheric all thanks to the TikTok community, and the power of music discovery on the platform. TikTok connects global audiences to the artists and the music they love, and that ability to spark fandom for every kind of artist and genre is what continues to set us apart."