As in the aughts, technological advances made the 2010s a transformative decade for the music industry. This had significant business implications, but also affected pop’s sound (song length, for instance). From bubblegum bops like “Call Me Maybe” to grittier songs like “Ho Hey” to the SoundCloud stylings of “Old Town Road,” the 2010s were packed with memorable pop music.
Here’s a list of the best pop songs from each year, based solely on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 charts. (Note that some songs charted in more than one year-end list.) You can read our list of the best country songs of the 2010s here.
2010: ‘Teenage Dream’
Honorable mentions:
“TiK ToK”
“California Gurls”
“Bad Romance”
“Need You Now”
2011: ‘Super Bass’
Honorable mentions:
“Rolling In The Deep”
“On The Floor”
“Pumped Up Kicks:
“Dirt Road Anthem”
“All Of The Lights”
“You And I”
2012: ‘Call Me Maybe’
Honorable mentions:
“We Found Love”
“Starships”
“Young, Wild & Free”
“Domino”
2013: ‘I Love It’
Honorable mentions:
“Ho Hey”
“Royals”
“Wrecking Ball”
“Cruise”
“Hold On, We’re Going Home”
“Started From The Bottom”
“Beauty And A Beat”
“Summertime Sadness”
“Girl On Fire”
“I Will Wait”
2014: ‘All Of Me’
Honorable mentions:
“Boom Clap”
“Timber”
“Fancy”
“Shake It Off”
“Turn Down For What”
“Wake Me Up”
“Chandelier”
“Bang Bang”
“Drunk In Love”
“Cool Kids”
2015: “FourFiveSeconds”
Honorable mentions:
“See You Again”
“Post To Be”
“Blank Space”
“Cheerleader”
“Want To Want Me”
“What Do You Mean?”
“Jealous”
“I Don’t F–k With You”
“B-tch Better Have My Money”
“Blessings”
2016: Ex’s & Oh’s
Honorable mentions:
“Work”
“Work From Home”
“Love Yourself”
“Closer”
“Cheap Thrills”
“This Is What You Came For”
“Send My Love (To Your New Lover)”
“Same Old Love”
2017: ‘Despacito’
Honorable mentions:
“Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)”
“Sorry Not Sorry”
“Malibu”
“Body Like A Back Road”
“Humble.”
“Love On The Brain”
“Shape Of You”
2018: ‘I Like It’
Honorable mentions:
“One Kiss”
“No Tears Left To Cry”
“Havana”
“Meant To Be”
“The Middle”
“Lucid Dreams”
2019: ‘Shallow’
Honorable mentions:
“Truth Hurts”
“Old Town Road”
“Bad Guy”
“7 Rings”
“Thank U, Next”