As the year of 2026 has started, it’s the perfect time to look back and reminisce on some of the biggest pop culture moments from 2025, ranging from Labubus, which took over the world in 2025, to the 67 trend that seemingly had no end in sight. So let’s look back at some of the biggest moments of the year.
The year was kicked off with the 2025 Grammys, crowning Beyoncé with her first ever Album Of the Year Award for her country album, Cowboy Carter. However, the Lemonade singer being awarded this title stirred up much debate on if she was even deserving of the award. Many argued that her album was not one of her best, arguing that Sabrina Carpenter’s album Short n Sweet or Billie Eilish’s album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT should’ve won. Debate aside, Beyoncé still took home the award.
Following the Grammys was the 2025 Superbowl 59, where the Philadelphia Eagles demolished the Kansas City Chiefs. Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance had everyone buzzing as he looked directly at the camera and sang, “Hey Drake” following him and Drake’s very public beef over social media. The halftime performance completely shattered the internet when Serena Williams appeared on screen crypt walking to Lamar’s song “Not Like Us”. The flare jeans that Kendrick Lamar rocked during the performance had everybody rapidly adding them to their cart.
The year of 2025 was characterized by vocal stims, like “123 release ‘em,” “beefing with my chick while I’m in jail,” “Madame Morrible, flip it around Wicked Witch,” and new slang terms like unc. But probably the biggest stim of the year was when Justin Bieber said, “It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business,” as everyone is still expressing that “it’s not clocking to you.”
2025 brought its share of new movies, but the one that got the most attention was Wicked: For Good, starring Arianna Grande as Glinda the Good Witch and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West. Once again, everybody started singing the infamous riff from the movie and went crazy over Jonthan Bailey’s role in the movie. One of the other biggest movies of the year would have to be KPop Demon Hunters, as the animated girl band took the world by storm and even got their song “Golden” nominated for a Grammy.
Speaking of music, 2025 brought lots of new hits, like “The Subway” by Chappell Roan, “Luther” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA, “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter, and “Sally, When the Wine Runs” by Role Model. But it was especially a big year for Taylor Swift, as she got engaged to Travis Kelce, announced her 12th studio album The Life Of a Showgirl on her fiance’s podcast New Heights, reclaimed her first six master albums that had been stolen out from under her feet, and also put out a second Eras Tour concert film, The Final Show, and a documentary series about the behind the scenes of the record breaking tour, The End Of An Era.
2025 also revealed that no one is safe when it comes to a Jumbatron at a Coldplay concert, as a couple, later revealed to be having an affair, were put on full display at a concert before they both immediately unlinked their arms and covered their faces. It later came out that the man was the woman’s boss, and the woman and her husband later filed for divorce.
2025 brought lots of new shows, but the one that was the most anticipated and talked about was The Summer I Turned Pretty season three. As a new episode was rolled out every Wednesday, it had team Conrad and team Jeremiah arguing over which brother was the better pick. In the end, team Conrad was left happy as Belly made her final decision.
Stepping back in time has made everyone nostalgic of the year that now lives in the past, but more importantly, everyone is excited to see what the year of 2026 is going to bring.