2024 was truly one of the best years in recent memory for music. It felt like almost every artist we love released the best music of their careers this year, which is quite the compliment because they all have incredible discographies. We knew when thinking of what year-end articles to write this year that we had to highlight the pop and pop-adjacent music that was born out of this year. So let’s jump in and break down our Best Pop Songs of 2024!
Sabrina Carpenter – ‘Espresso’
‘Espresso’ truly took over the world this year. It was everywhere, all over the radio, playing in every store, and is a streaming giant. This song truly catapulted Sabrina into a whole other level of superstardom, which we always knew she was destined to reach. Sabrina has truly solidified herself as a pop princess!
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Taylor Swift – ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’
There was no way we were going to make this list without mentioning at least (we wanted to mention many!) one song from Taylor Swift’s magnum opus, The Tortured Poets Department. ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart,’ to us, made the most sense. This track has a glittery backing track, with lyrics that chronicle genuine suffering and triumph. We too cry a lot, but we’re so productive!
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Chappell Roan – ‘Good Luck, Babe!’
Chappell Roan completely skyrocketed to fame this year, and we think some people don’t even realize that the only song she actually released this year was ‘Good Luck, Babe.’ The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess got the ball rolling with ‘HOT TO GO!’ and ‘Casual,’ but ‘Good Luck Babe’ quickly became a crowd favorite.
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Gracie Abrams – ‘That’s So True’
Leaving ‘That So True’ for the deluxe album is truly criminal, but at least Gracie Abrams decided to release it! This song has become mega viral; you can hardly open TikTok without seeing multiple videos of people using this track. The chorus is one of the best of the year, easily, and shows that we are indeed looking at an artist who has been inspired by the genius that is Taylor Swift.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GRACIE ABRAMS:
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Charli xcx – ‘Apple’
And speaking of songs that went mega-viral, ‘Apple’ was simply everywhere online! It seemed like everyone was trying to perfect the ‘Apple’ dance, us included, of course. Charli xcx had what was easily the biggest year of her career this year, with the massive success of brat, and we think ‘Apple’ had a lot to do with the way the record caught on.
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Benson Boone – ‘Beautiful Things’
Benson Boone has one of the best voices in music today; let us get that out of the way! From the moment we first heard ‘Beautiful Things,’ we were transfixed by the things Benson was able to do with his voice. The emotion, the skill, all of that together makes ‘Beautiful Things’ a stand-out track for us!
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Taylor Bickett – ‘I Like Mondays’
We will forever and always praise our girl Taylor Bickett! ‘I Like Mondays’ was our favorite song from her this year, and that is largely due to the specificity in the lyrics. It’s often said that the more specific you are, the less people can relate, but we have never found that to be true. We saw so much of ourselves in the lyrics of ‘I Like Mondays’ that we allowed it to soundtrack our year.
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Noah Kahan – ‘Everywhere, Everything’ (ft. Gracie Abrams)
Noah Kahan is one of those artists where we could have put any song he released this year, and it would have been just as valid as this pick, but we had to narrow it down, and we landed here. ‘Everywhere, Everything’ was already one of our favorite songs from Stick Season, so getting to witness new life breathed into this track via a collaboration with Gracie Abrams was a musical dream come true.
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Hozier – ‘Too Sweet’
‘Too Sweet’ has been on a loop for us ever since its release; it’s that serious to us. Hozier has always been a musical wizard of sorts, but with ‘Too Sweet’ he was able to blend his signature more folk-forward sound with the kind of pop music that can become a bit more mainstream, and that made for a track that we absolutely fell in love with.
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Meghan Trainor – ‘Been Like This’ (ft. T-Pain)
When we were thinking about pop songs this year that we really loved, we kept coming back to Meghan’s album Timeless, so we knew we needed to narrow down the tracklist and highlight one of our favorites. ‘Been Like This’ ended up coming out on top. From the danceability to the collaboration with T-Pain, this is everything we hope for out of a Meghan Trainor track.
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Olivia O’Brien – ‘out of your league (but i want you so bad)’
We are Olivia O’Brien stans around here, so naturally we had to highlight this track! Olivia had us in our feelings quite a bit this year, so getting this change of pace, which felt very sun-soaked, was very welcome. We have loved seeing the musical growth with Olivia over the last year and can’t wait to see where the new year takes her.
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Shawn Mendes – ‘Why Why Why’
This Shawn Mendes era has truly been his best yet. With Shawn we have gotten an artist we’ve listened to for years at his most vulnerable and honest. It feels like we are hearing an all-new artist in a way. ‘Why Why Why’ was one of our first tastes of this record, so it felt right for this to be the song we highlighted.
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Nat & Alex Wolff – ‘Soft Kissing Hour’
We have gushed about this song over and over again and will do so forevermore! ‘Soft Kissing Hour’ is exactly the track you want to hear for all of life’s most precious moments. It’s the sign you want to listen to as you’re with the person you love. It’s a song you want to listen to when you’re alone and need complete relaxation. Nat and Alex Wolff are truly in a class of their own.
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Halsey – ‘Lucky’
As soon as we heard ‘Lucky’ and we are able to relish in the 2000s pop/ Britney Spears infusion we knew this era of Halsey was going to be unlike any other! And of course, if you’ve heard The Great Impersonator, you know we were right! This entire record is a love letter to music. To genre and to the artists Halsey loves, and ‘Lucky’ feels like the best representation of that.
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Ashe & Suki Waterhouse – ‘Pushing Daisies’
When thinking about collaborations we wanted to highlight within the pop music space over the last year, our mind instantly went to ‘Pushing Daisies.’ Ashe and Suki Waterhouse are two artists who have blown us away with their bodies of work this year, so getting this meeting of musical minds felt like a personal present to us. We would love to see these two team up again in the new year.
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TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SUKI WATERHOUSE:
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Rachel Chinouriri – ‘All I Ever Asked’
Rachel Chinouriri is going to be the name on everyone’s lips in 2025, but as usual, your friends here at THP are ahead of the curve! We have had Rachel’s album What A Devastating Turn of Events on repeat since its release and have found ourselves time and time again returning to the track ‘All I Ever Asked.’
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Maude Latour – ‘Cursed Romantics’
When we think of stellar pop projects to come out of 2024, one of the first records we think of is Sugar Water by Maude Latour! Front to back, it’s a masterclass in pop music, taking elements from the sub-genres of pop and blending them seamlessly. When we looked at the tracklist for a song to highlight, ‘Cursed Romantics’ stood out as one that could turn anyone into a fan.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MAUDE LATOUR:
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ROLE MODEL – ‘Something, Somehow, Someday’
Truly, Kansas Anymore is one of the best records we’ve ever heard. And y’all aren’t making enough noise about it, so we are going to do it for you! This album, and specifically our favorite song on the record, ‘Something, Somehow, Someday,’ hits the perfect soft pop notes that we are looking for from an album. We would frankly listen to ROLE MODEL sing the phone book front to back.
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Billie Eilish – ‘BIRDS OF A FEATHER’
You can’t talk about music in 2024 without bringing Billie Eilish into the conversation! ‘BIRDS OF A FEATHER,’ and Hit Me Hard And Soft in general, were everywhere this year. Usually with these big radio singles, we don’t find them being our favorite tracks on a record, but with ‘BIRDS OF A FEATHER’ it’s an instant classic, and we love every moment.
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Beyoncé – ‘16 CARRIAGES’
There has been a large debate online about what genre COWBOY CARTER falls under, and our opinion is that it falls under whatever category Beyoncé wants to put it in! If it’s pop, great; if it’s country, great; and if it’s genreless, then great! We decided to include it in this pop round-up simply because we had to give Beyoncé her flowers! To us, ‘16 CARRIAGES’ is one of the more pop-sounding songs on the record and proves what a genius with melody and vocal ability Beyoncé is, even all these years into her iconic career.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BEYONCÉ:
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Check out more of our end-of-year coverage here!
We would love to hear from you! What is your favorite pop song from 2024? Is it something off Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter? Something off of The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift? Let us know by commenting down below or by tweeting us @TheHoneyPOP! We are also on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!
