Playlist culture and borderless pop

Top Songs of 2019

The Billboard Year-End Top 20, led by “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X.

The musical landscape of 2019

Streaming playlists became major discovery channels, hip-hop grew more dominant, and international sounds moved more easily into the North American mainstream.

Ariana Grande appears 2 times in the Top 20, making the artist one of the clearest recurring presences in this year’s list.

What to listen for

Listen for shorter arrangements, rhythmic vocal delivery and production choices designed to create an immediate identity.

This list contains 19 different credited artists. The number gives a quick indication of whether the year was concentrated among repeat hitmakers or spread across a wider field.

Billboard Year-End Top 20 songs of 2019

RankSongArtistListen
1 Old Town Road Lil Nas X Spotify ↗
2 Sunflower Post Malone and Swae Lee Spotify ↗
3 Without Me Halsey Spotify ↗
4 Bad Guy Billie Eilish Spotify ↗
5 7 Rings Ariana Grande Spotify ↗
6 Senorita Shawn Mendes Spotify ↗
7 Truth Hurts Lizzo Spotify ↗
8 Talk Khalid Spotify ↗
9 Sucker Jonas Brothers Spotify ↗
10 Wow Post Malone Spotify ↗
11 Thank U Next Ariana Grande Spotify ↗
12 Sicko Mode Travis Scott Spotify ↗
13 Happier Marshmello Spotify ↗
14 Middle Child J Cole Spotify ↗
15 Dancing with a Stranger Sam Smith and Normani Spotify ↗
16 High Hopes Panic at the Disco Spotify ↗
17 Shallow Lady Gaga Spotify ↗
18 Going Bad Meek Mill Spotify ↗
19 Girls Like You Maroon 5 Spotify ↗
20 Eastside Benny Blanco Spotify ↗

Build a 2019 playlist

Start with “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X, then alternate familiar high-ranking records with contrasting selections from the lower half of the list.

Open the playlist builder

How this page should be used

Year-End charts summarize performance across an extended chart year. They are not simply a list of songs that reached number one, and historical methodology has changed. Treat this page as a guided listening resource and compact chart-history reference rather than a mathematical comparison with other eras.