#46 Central Cee feat. Lil Durk - Truth in the Lies

CR: {13}-30-46-67->4

Points: 00

#46 Sleepy Hallow feat. Doechii - Anxiety

CR: 52-{15}R(76)-16-34-60->5

Points: 00

#45 Gwen Stefani - Shake the Snow Globe

CR: 52-40-60-{16}-67->5

Points: 02

#44 Skye Newman - Hairdresser

CR: 69-56-51-38-30-29-16-16-{15}-20-23-24->12

Points: 09

#43 Laufey - Winter Wonderland

CR: 44-49-31-26-55R(48)-24-40-40-27-{18}R(49)-24-39-28->13

Points: 10

#42 Ed Sheeran - Camera

CR: {16}-21-25-33-47-48-62-52-52-61->10

Points: 21

#41 Leon Thomas - Mutt

CR: 65-57-60-65-26-22-19-{17}-17-20-21-22-24->13

Points: 22

Getting out the no-one-cares songs firstly. Central Cee and Sleepy Hallow have the joint honours of sharing bottom place with no points. It is not the first time Cench has had nil points off Buzzjack and the addition of Lil Dirk and a Ne-Yo sample clearly didn't help either. Meanwhile 'Anxiety' was a bit of a fluke hit as it only benefitted from the Doechii solo version having not yet been released after a snippet went viral, she would soon take it into the top three whilst this version quickly fell off. Christmas songs remain not so much popular here with two of them already dropping out. Firstly from Amazon Alexa whose American focused track was from Gwen Stefani. As ever no one actually cared for it although it was at least an original song. Spotify's exclusive from Laufey charted a third year as they don't rotate out as rapidly as Amazon, and this time actually making the top 20. Skye Newman broke through with 'Hairdresser' which sits between the two, she has now won the BBC Sound of 2026 poll so we may be hearing more from her in the year ahead. Ed Sheeran is still kicking about and had a handful of minor hits, the first of these is 'Camera'. Meanwhile one of America's biggest hits of the year was a breakthrough from Leon Thomas, it was not such a big hit here but still did respectably for R&B making the lowest end of the year end chart.

Camera the biggest loss here 😲

#40 Ed Sheeran - A Little More

CR: {18}-26-23-37-48-32-55-72->8

Points: 26

#39 Skye Newman - FU & UF

CR: 18-18-{16}-25-43-69-75R(4)-67-56-63-69->11

Points: 27

#38 Justin Bieber - Yukon

CR: 32-33-37-24-{12}-15-15-20-17-62-29R(21)-48-51->13

Points: 28

#37 Hozier - Do I Wanna Know?

CR: 26-{18}-35-59-72->5

Points: 35

#36 Olivia Dean - Dive

CR: 74-73-74-63-64-71-59R(2)-64-31R(2)-22-21-{17}-18->13

Points: 37

#35 Olivia Dean - A Couple Minutes

CR: 22-15-{13}-47R(4)-20R(2)-16-16-17-18-16-19-20-17->13

Points: 40

#34 Dave feat. Kano - Chapter 16

CR: {11}-47->2

Points: 41

#33 Sam Fender feat. Elton John - Talk to You

CR: {20}-38-59-60->4

Points: 45

#32 Lil Tecca - Dark Thoughts

CR: 30-{20}-25-27-42-41-41-45-52-57-57-66->12

Points: 45

#31 Esdeekid & Rico Ace - Phantom

CR: 61-45-36-29-25-28-28-17-15-{12}-19-37-34-44-14-18-19-21-22-25->20

Points: 47

We meet Ed Sheeran again with another song that would've been bigger had it only been released one decade in the past. Thankfully we are now in 2026. Skye Newman proves to be the rare case of a new female breakthrough that Buzzjack really don't care for as her other entry in this doesn't perform a whole lot better. Speaking of which, the biggest breakthrough of the year in Olivia Dean places two entries here, firstly 'Dive' from her first album belatedly hitting and right above it one of her many album tracks that have had impressive post-release longevity though due to chart rules only 'A Couple Minutes' has had somewhat of a proper chart run of those. Justin Bieber attempted to bring back the term "swag" with his comeback album, it produced two hits of which one of them had his vocal heavily edited - 'Yukon' places fairly lowly here as such. Hozier covered the Arctic Monkeys mega-hit which was a former winner of this poll as it only peaked at #11 - this version had a brief boost of vitality many years after release but ultimately wasn't half as popular with us. Dave put out his third album which produced one proper hit - of the other two allowed to chart 'Chapter 16' just missed out on being 3 for 3 in the top 10 - being a 6 minute hook-less song it naturally had little longevity outside of week one. Sam Fender had another great year with 'Rein Me In' start its lengthy journey to the top of the chart. Meanwhile he had an Elton John collab as a promotional track for the album deluxe albeit the legend's contribution was limited to just assistance on the piano. Otherwise we have two rap tracks actually place well outside of the bottom ten for a change. Firstly from Lil Tecca who we may have written off as a one-hit wonder however five years on from his breakout he eventually had a second top 40 placement with 'Dark Thoughts'. The rapper of the moment towards the year's end was undeniably Esdeekid though time will tell if he's just a quick fad 'Phantom' was his breakthrough with two other hits quickly following, '4 Raws' of which will appear in the 2026 poll.

There are better drill songs but 'Phantom' is still quite memorable and catchy.

'Anxiety' felt like a big music moment of the year and Doechii is very critically acclaimed!

I liked that Skye Newman "sweary version of Paloma Faith" style track 'FU and UF'! It's better than her new track "Walk" for me at the moment.

'Chapter 16' the biggest robbery so far!

Hookless indeed but their back-and-forth conversation keeps me gripped for the whole duration nevertheless.

Its edit on the chart show didn't do it justice x

#30 Cynthia Erivo - No Good Deed

CR: {17}-62->2

Points: 50

#29 Ed Sheeran - Old Phone

CR: {17}-18-27-26-32-33-52->7

Points: 52

#28 Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande - For Good

CR: {14}-56->2

Points: 52

#27 Pawsa & The Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)

CR: 44-47-64-57-61-20R(2)-28-22-{17}-20-20-27-29-35-75->15

Points: 54

#26 Coldplay - Sparks

CR: 40-43-48-44-46-41-39-36-30-28-22-19-{18}-20-31->15

Points: 64

#25 Ariana Grande - Dandelion

CR: {19}-51->2

Points: 72

#24 Fred Again.., Sammy Virji & Reggie - Talk of the Town

CR: 22-{18}-26-48-50-55-30R(2)-36-38-38-41-40->12

Points: 81

#23 Lola Young - One Thing

CR: 25-22-19-19-{18}-19-19-24-24-26-35-34->12

Points: 82

#22 Sleep Token - Emergence

CR: {17}-38-58-56->4

Points: 83

#21 Benson Boone - Mystical Magical

CR: 17-16-{13}-15-18-14-16-17-15-16-16-15-44-49-44-40-44-50-50-56-52-56-51-59-58-54-56-68-74->29

Points: 86

Starting this section off we have two songs taken from the second part of the Wicked film adaptation. The title track 'For Good' being another duet of the two leads alongside Cynthia Erivo solo number 'No Good Deed' have roughly the same performance here. Neither had any chart longevity as there was a clear consensus that the first film was better or at the very least its songs were more, ahem, popular. Ariana Grande does also have a second track in the section however not associated with Wicked but instead an album track from the 'Eternal Sunshine' deluxe edition. Ed Sheeran put out another mid single in 'Old Phone' in between his two bigger hits of the year - it is the best performing of his three titles here. Older music continued to gain popularity in the year, firstly from The Adventures Of Stevie V whose 1990 #2 hit 'Dirty Cash' was given a remix to be a top 20 hit a third time (if we also count the Dizzee Rascal version) 35 years on. We also had another Coldplay a year after 'We Pray' placed on the podium of this contest but this time for 2000 album track 'Sparks', the song had already gone viral on TikTok but was eventually boosted into the top 20 by the tour. 'Viva La Vida' and 'Yellow' were also brought back but were ineligible here for having originally been top 10 hits. Fred Again & Sammy Virji gave Irish drill rapper Reggie a hit having remixed his 2022 track 'Talk of the Town' seeing the two producers eventually link up after both had a hit each with Skepta. Lola Young shed any 1HW status allegations fairly quickly with 'One Thing' having been her first release about a half year since the breakout of 'Messy' - we may see her further top 40 hit land in a similar position in the other poll. A rare rock band breakthrough happened for Sleep Token this year, in actuality they'd already made it big with their prior album but singles chart success evaded them until 'Emergence' was a surprise top 20 hit and a great one at that. Meanwhile Benson was still Booneing and not just with 'Beautiful Things' continuing to linger about, 'Mystical Magical' was the bigger of his two top 20 hits however the earlier hit remains preferred being yet to appear.

Recap

46 00 Central Cee feat. Lil Durk - Truth in the Lies

46 00 Sleepy Hallow feat. Doechii - Anxiety

45 02 Gwen Stefani - Shake the Snow Globe

44 09 Skye Newman - Hairdresser

43 10 Laufey - Winter Wonderland

42 21 Ed Sheeran - Camera

41 22 Leon Thomas - Mutt

40 26 Ed Sheeran - A Little More

39 27 Skye Newman - FU & UF

38 28 Justin Bieber - Yukon

37 35 Hozier - Do I Wanna Know?

36 37 Olivia Dean - Dive

35 40 Olivia Dean - A Couple Minutes

34 41 Dave feat. Kano - Chapter 16

33 45 Sam Fender feat. Elton John - Talk to You

32 45 Lil Tecca - Dark Thoughts

31 47 Esdeekid & Rico Ace - Phantom

30 50 Cynthia Erivo - No Good Deed

29 52 Ed Sheeran - Old Phone

28 52 Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande - For Good

27 54 Pawsa & The Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)

26 64 Coldplay - Sparks

25 72 Ariana Grande - Dandelion

24 81 Fred Again.., Sammy Virji & Reggie - Talk of the Town

23 82 Lola Young - One Thing

22 83 Sleep Token - Emergence

21 86 Benson Boone - Mystical Magical

Top 20 A-Z

Benson Boone - Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else

Blackpink - Jump

Charli XCX - Party 4 U

Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Doja Cat - Jealous Type

Huntr/x - What It Sounds Like

Kehlani - Folded

Lady Gaga - The Dead Dance

Lily Allen - Madeline

Lily Allen - West End Girl

Lisa feat. Doja Cat & Raye - Born Again

Lorde - What Was That

Max Dean, Luke Dean and Locky - Can't Decide

Moliy & Silent Addy - Shake It to the Max (Fly)

Oasis - Acquiesce

Rihanna - Breakin' Dishes

Rossi & Jazzy - High On Me

Sabrina Carpenter - House Tour

Sam Fender - Arm's Length

Tate McRae - Nobody's Girl

I didn't end up getting into Sleep Token in general but do have a soft spot for 'Emergence', which I thought was a pretty thrilling, standout hit.

Hard agree with the general consensus that Wicked: For Good was a huge step down from the first film, but those two musical numbers were highlights, especially the title track for me - which tugged on the heartstrings in the context of the movie.

'Sparks' was a welcome Coldplay revival.

NGD, FG, OP, and MM biggest loses here for me but quite a few solid choices top 20

I feel the only real losses so far are the Ed Sheeran tracks, but I know that BuzzJack is not a fan of Ed.

A lot of great tracks in the top 20.

#20 Moliy & Silent Addy - Shake It to the Max (Fly)

CR: 70-44-35-25-26-26-15-14-13-{12}-14-14-17-18-21-45-54-59-60-57-60-73->22

Points: 89

#19 Rossi & Jazzy - High On Me

CR: 33-28-28-19-21-24-21-19-{18}-18-23-29->12

Points: 90

#18 Tate McRae - Nobody's Girl

CR: {16}-53-70-64R(3)-64-75->6

Points: 95

#17 Sam Fender - Arm's Length

CR: {14}-24-37-35-17-25-34-41-41->9

Points: 102

#16 Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

CR: 74-63R(103)-22-73R(50)-70-33-58R(52)-57-68R(49)-48-42-32-52R(49)-45-39-29-42R(49)-42-35-31-56R(49)-50-41-30-69R(48)-31-34-32-{20}->29

Points: 102

#15 Lisa feat. Doja Cat & Raye - Born Again

CR: {13}-34-45-42-56-69->6

Points: 104

#14 Max Dean, Luke Dean and Locky - Can't Decide

CR: 19-{13}-13-13-16-20-22-25-24-68->10

Points: 107

#13 Lily Allen - West End Girl

CR: 17-{15}-23-39->4

Points: 107

#12 Kehlani - Folded

CR: 75-68-48-59-47-41-33-30-23-25-25-23-26-26-{20}-20-30-27R(5)-30-24-24-29-24-31-36-38->26

Points: 119

#11 Rihanna - Breakin' Dishes

CR: 40-31-30-21-{19}-20-26-30-73R(2)->9

Points: 127

Commencing the top 20 we have a slice of afrobeats - you'd be forgiven for remembering 'Shake It to the Max' as the first hit for Ghanaian-American singer Moliy however she did feature on a minor hit by Amaarae in 2021. The song took off following a remix with guest verses by Shenseea & Skillibeng who were left uncredited by the OCC. Silent Addy remained true to his name not saying a word on the track, he is credited as the song's producer. The first in a duo of fairly unknown UK house DJs getting unexpectedly viral hits, Rossi from London teamed with a more familiar face to the charts in vocalist Jazzy for 'High On Me' at 19th. Five places above we have the cousins Max & Luke Dean with 'Can't Decide', with vocals sampled from Qendresa's '2 Much'. Tate McGee put out a deluxe version of her latest album which saw 'Nobody's Girl' briefly chart, rounding off a year where she also had four top 10 hits and a US #1 with Morgan Wallen. The more popular of Sam Fender's top 20 hits proves to be 'Arm's Length', put out as the second and final pre-release single from 'People Watching' long before Olivia Dean made 'Rein Me In' the biggest hit of his career yet. At 16th it is our token Christmas classic of the year, Darlene Love's offering for the 1963 Phil Spector compilation first charted in 2017 and had eventually reached #20 in Christmas just passed. The top rated Blackpink soloist is at 15th here from Lisa albeit with a lot of help from Raye as it is essentially her song that she partly gave away. Doja Cat also provided a guest rap and she will appear again in the top 10, as will Blackpink as a group. Likewise we have another Lily Allen song higher up but for now at 13th is the title track and opener to her surprise success comeback album 'West End Girl'. Not long after a top 10 hit having been named after her, Kehlani broke back into the chart after a six-year absence with 'Folded' becoming her first top 20 and one of the year's biggest RnB hits. We also had a new Rihanna hit in the year. If by new we mean new in the chart that is, as she remains essentially retired from music (that Smurfs film half-song doesn't count) we had to settle for the 2007 fan-favourite album track in 'Breakin Dishes' going viral, belatedly the ninth hit from the 'Good Girl Gone Bad' era.

Top 10 A-Z:

Benson Boone - Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else

Blackpink - Jump

Charli XCX - Party 4 U

Doja Cat - Jealous Type

Huntr/x - What It Sounds Like

Lady Gaga - The Dead Dance

Lily Allen - Madeline

Lorde - What Was That

Oasis - Acquiesce

Sabrina Carpenter - House Tour

Poor WEG and BD the biggest victims here 😢

Top 20 for Razzy we'll take it.

Huntr/x or Oasis to win!

Some terrible songs in the top 10.

#10 Huntr/x - What It Sounds Like

CR: {13}-13-13-14-14-20-41-45-50-19R(2)-28-30-31-35-30->15

Points: 128

#09 Sabrina Carpenter - House Tour

CR: {17}-19-21-24-29-27-28-32-44->9

Points: 137

#08 Charli XCX - Party 4 U

CR: 69-34-28-28-{19}-20-21-24-22-23-26-34->12

Points: 140

#07 Doja Cat - Jealous Type

CR: {13}-25-33-36-44-30-38-41-42->9

Points: 144

#06 Oasis - Acquiesce

CR: {17}-21->2

Points: 145

The biggest new group of the year proved to be a fictional K-pop group from a children's movie whose 'Golden' was a massive #1 hit. The OCC rules eventually gave way for two of their other songs to have a run in with the film's ballad 'What It Sounds Like' not quite following 'How It's Done' into the top 10. Sabrina Carpenter remained popular as ever with 'Man's Best Friend' her second post-major-breakthrough album. Taken from it as the fifth track to make a chart appearance is 'House Tour' which went viral for its far from subtle innuendo. Charli meanwhile belatedly scored a hit off her 2020 album 'How I'm Feeling Now', after going viral on TikTok it was soon given a single push and music video. It was produced by A.G. Cook who also worked with her on most of the 'Brat' album that dominated the previous year in pop/dance music. Doja Cat lead her fifth album with 'Jealous Type', the second song in the top 10 produced by Jack Antonoff after 'House Tour'. The album was her first since her 2020 breakthrough to not produce a top 10 hit and it may well be that she has indeed surpassed her commercial peak now however this track did cater well to the more pop-leaning fanbase here. Meanwhile the first of two male acts in the top 10 here are Oasis. The song 'Acquiesce' was originally a B-side to #1 hit 'Some Might Say' but took off in its own right last year following the reunion tour. Helped perhaps by it being one of the few songs where both Gallagher brothers share vocals and lyrics that could be interpreted to be about their reunion.

#05 Benson Boone - Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else

CR: 30-25-27-24-28-21-22-21-22-24-{20}-23-25-26-74->15

Points: 146

#04 Lorde - What Was That

CR: {11}-19-25-29-35-33-50-61-56-35-50-72->12

Points: 159

#03 Lady Gaga - The Dead Dance

CR: {13}-13-16-19-22-24-29-36-35-44-59-72->12

Points: 161

The top performing male here is Benson Boone, perhaps not who you'd expect to be a huge Buzzjack favourite after 'Beautiful Things' grated on so many of us however it was the lead single to album #2 that we took a lot more kindly to. The song looked to be a very unlucky top 20 miss but eventually did scrape in eligibility for this particular poll assisted by 'Mystical Magical' (#21 in this poll) taking off quicker as the second single. Meanwhile Lorde commenced album #4 with 'What Was That', continuing the run of all her album leads making the top 20 however just missing out on becoming a belated second top 10 appearance. It was her most-appreciated hit since 2017's 'Green Light', the winner of that year's poll. In third place, Lady Gaga rounded out her sixth solo album cycle with 'The Dead Dance', released as a tie-in with season 2 of Netflix series 'Wednesday' and later added to the deluxe re-issue of 'Mayhem'. The three previous singles all reached the top 10 but in fairness they were all easily better too.

Tomorrow evening: Blackpink vs. Lily Allen

WISL only 10 is criminal

HT should be a few spots higher too

SIHFSE is the best BB song so top 5 is deserving

TDD at 3 😁

Cmon lily you can do it gurl 💪

The best 3 songs from the top 5 in my opinion are now out. Rooting for Lily.

The Blackpink song is pretty trashy, hopefully Lily wins.

I wasn't sure what to expect for Oasis, as I noticed them picking up some negative points, so 6th place is pretty good going. 'Acquiesce' was a very high quality B-side so I'm glad it eventually got this moment to shine as a proper top 40 hit. Refreshing to have both brothers on vocals indeed.

'party 4 u' wasn't originally a highlight of how i'm feeling now for me (I preferred the more abrasive stuff like 'claws' and 'pink diamond') but it has grown a lot since becoming a hit.

'What Was That' is my favourite 2025 song of the lot so I'm happy to see that in the top 5 rooting for Lily now.