What songs are currently trending online? Well, the path to virality, chart domination, and social media hits is no longer reserved for new, popular songs. The industry has seen an uptick in renewed interest around classic tracks that re-emerge in pop culture thanks to social media, soundtrack syncs, and commercial placements, and sometimes purely by chance. Look no further than the time a man went cruising on his longboard listening to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.” This column will break down all of the older songs that are trending again (and explain why they became popular one more time).
A rueful song about discovering your lover cheating on you, Toby Keith’s “Wish I Didn’t Know Now” was the fourth and final single from the Oklahoman country music star’s self-titled debut album from 1994. A No. 2 hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart on release, it was recently covered by Ella Langley as part of the digital-only release Apple Music Nashville Sessions: Toby Keith Covered. Interestingly, both recordings are currently in demand on TikTok. Keith’s “Wish I Didn’t Know Now” is inspiring creators posting videos showing off their different trucks, while a new trend has emerged with creators enthusiastically lip-syncing to Langley’s version of the song.
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Featuring a seductive vocal from singer and rapper Luciana, Richard Vission and Static Revenger’s 2009 collaboration “I Like That” was (and still is) an insistent electro-pop banger. Very popular on dancefloors, it was also a commercial success, going double platinum in Australia and topping the U.S. Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. Irrepressible then and now, “I Like That” is again rising on TikTok thanks to a fun dance trend based on one of the song’s best lines “My body rocks a rhythm.”
The dramatic, Mediterranean-tinged “Portuguese Love” first appeared on Teena Marie’s fourth studio album, 1981’s It Must Be Magic. The pioneering soul/R&B star’s last full-length title for Motown, the album was a U.S. Top 30 success and received a Grammy nomination in 1982. Chosen as its third and last single, “Portuguese Love” wasn’t a mainstream hit, but it’s now widely-regarded as a 70s soul classic and it’s currently part of a TikTok trend where creators post videos inspired by the song’s lyrics.
“Beverly Hills” is technically Weezer’s biggest U.S. hit, yet the ultra-catchy “Buddy Holly” is still arguably the song most fans associate with Rivers Cuomo’s enduring alt-rockers. One of the key tracks from the band’s self-titled multi-platinum debut album (usually known as The Blue Album), “Buddy Holly”s longevity has surely been secured with help from director Spike Jonze’s brilliant promo film featuring footage from classic sitcom Happy Days. However, its popularity is again spiking due to Olivia Rodrigo performing with Weezer at last weekend’s Lollapalooza and delighted fans reacting to this collaboration.
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Robyn’s evergreen signature song “Dancing On My Own” went on to become her first No. 1 hit in her native Sweden in 2010 and also earned a Grammy nomination. A beautifully crafted synth-pop song in its initial guise, “Dancing On My Own” has since proved its versatility by lending itself to covers by artists as diverse as Calum Scott, Kings Of Leon and Gracie Abrams. In fact, it’s it’s recently gone viral on TikTok after Robyn joined Abrams for a high-profile performance of the song at this year’s Lollapalooza Festival.
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Featuring a guest slot from Lil Wayne, “You” was the first single taken from Georgia-based rapper Lloyd’s sophomore album, the platinum-selling Street Love from 2007. This popular, radio-friendly R&B tune – which neatly interpolates Spandau Ballet’s 80s megahit “True” into its chorus – rewarded Lloyd with his first U.S Top 10 single and it also topped Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart. Still one of the artist’s key songs, “You” is currently trending on TikTok due to creators posting a wide variety of lip-syncing videos referencing its lyric.
Jodeci’s debut album Forever My Lady (1991) is widely cited as a ground-breaking release that helped bring more of a hip-hop feel into the R&B genre. Its critical notices were matched by its commercial success as it eventually went triple platinum in North America, where “Come & Talk To Me” was one of three Billboard R&B No. 1 hits it sired. Also a U.S. Top 20 smash during 1992, “Come & Talk To Me” has spawned a series of remixes and it’s again surging in popularity due to a TikTok trend where creators highlight the special individual qualities they’re looking for in people they’re attracted to.
Reputedly inspired by a quote attributed to Janis Joplin (“I love being onstage and everything else is just waiting,”) the soaring, anthemic “The Waiting” was chosen as the lead single from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ fourth album Hard Promises, released in May 1981. A U.S. Top 20 hit on release and a popular radio song, the track has since been covered by artists including Linda Ronstadt and Jon Pardi and it’s currently undergoing a resurgence thanks to its placement in Netflix’s new sports comedy film Happy Gilmore 2 featuring Adam Sandler.
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Written by guitarist Allen Collins and vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, the sorrowful, soul-infused “Tuesday’s Gone” remains one of the many era-defining songs gracing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s widely-acclaimed 1973 debut (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd). Produced by Al Kooper (who also performed the song’s orchestral string sound on a Mellotron), “Tuesday’s Gone” has long since been accepted as a Southern rock classic and it can also thank a sync in Happy Gilmore 2 for its current resurgence in popularity.
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The title song from Damian Marley’s third album, 2005’s double Grammy-winning Welcome to Jamrock found the reggae superstar lamenting Jamaica’s darker social issues such as crime, poverty and political corruption over a rhythm and hook sampled from reggae singer Ini Kamoze’s 1984 hit “World-A-Reggae.” Provocative, but also irresistibly catchy, “Welcome To Jamrock” won a Grammy in its own right in 2006 and it’s currently trending on TikTok due to a variety of basketball edits.
A tender love song written from the perspective of a first-time mom addressing her newly-born baby, “You’re Gonna Be (Always Loved By Me)” was one of two new tracks written specifically for inclusion on Reba McEntire’s double-disc 2005 compilation Reba’s #1’s. A country-flavored song with a truly universal appeal “You’re Gonna Be (Always Loved By Me)” is now fittingly enjoying a resurgence due to a TikTok trend involving proud parents showing off pictures of their children as new born babies, but also in later life.
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“No Love” was originally a deep cut from Louisiana R&B singer-songwriter August Alsina’s 2014 debut studio album Testimony. However, the song took on a life of its own after its remix, featuring Nicki Minaj, was released as a single and became Testimony’s biggest track, later earning a double platinum cert in the U.S. Alsina has said he wanted to remix “No Love” as he wanted a “female’s perspective” and Minaj has returned the compliment on X (Twitter) saying it’s one of the favorite songs she’s made. The song is now back in the limelight on TikTok where creators are finding different ways of inserting Minaj’s “August, you know” lyric into their content.
Florida rapper Ace Hood enjoyed his first – and to date only – Billboard 200 Top 5 hit with his fourth album Trials & Tribulations, released via Cash Money/Republic in 2013. The record also included his biggest U.S. Hot 100 hit courtesy of “Bugatti” featuring Future and Rick Ross. The song celebrates the acquisition of a million dollar car, so it’s fitting that “Bugatti” is again surging in popularity due to a TikTok trend in which creators sit in imaginary cars and pull one another along while lip-syncing the song replicating a zooming car. In most cases, the weaker of the two also has trouble pulling their partner.
Noah & The Whale’s debut single “5 Years Time” became the British indie-folk outfit’s first U.K. Top 10 hit in 2008. A fan favorite ever since, the song is again picking up traction due to its placement in the new Superman reboot. In the new movie (directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman) “5 Years Time” plays during a key fight scene featuring another of the film’s key characters, Mr. Terrific, played by Edi Gathegi.
“Just To Keep You Satisfied” originally made for an emotional denouement for soul giant Marvin Gaye’s twelfth studio album, the widely-acclaimed, funk-flavored Let’s Get It On from 1973. Long since accepted as a soul classic, the song is currently undergoing a resurgence due to two separate TikTok trends: one involving a text message slider compilation with your ex and another involving creative copy videos about love.
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Californian rapper Tyga initially shot to fame with his second album Careless World: Rise Of The Last King: a U.S. Top 5 success featuring four spin-off hits including the quintuple platinum Billboard Top 10 smash “Rack City.” Released in the wake of the enduring rapper’s fourth album The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty, 2015’s Young Thug collab “Hookah” was a sleeper hit that became a fan favorite that’s again enjoying a resurgence thanks to a dance trend on TikTok.
Late Oklahoman country star Toby Keith was inspired to write “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)” by two significant events – the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on North America and the death of his father, a former veteran of the U.S. military. Understandably devastated by both, Keith poured his heart out in the song, finishing up with a proudly emotive anthem about the American way of life that ranks among the most hard-hitting in his canon. A Top 30 U.S. hit on release in 2002, “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue” remains relevant over 20 years later, so it’s fitting it’s trending as the U.S. undertakes its annual Fourth Of July celebrations.
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On paper, the idea of Black Eyed Peas’ rapper Will.I.Am teaming up with legendary composer Hans Zimmer to score the soundtrack for 2008’s adventure comedy Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa was inspired. Happily, it worked just as well in reality, with the music’s ambitious mix of pop, classic rock and R&B resulting in what Filmtracks.com called “one rollocking album.” One of five tunes, Will.I.Am composed especially for the soundtrack, the upbeat “Big & Chunky” was one of its stand-outs and it’s currently enjoying a resurgence on TikTok where it’s intrinsic to several trends. One involves creators flexing muscles; a second involves a celebrity crushes slider compilation and a third is a top food transitions trend.
Arguably the most enduring of all the Bee Gees’ hits, “Stayin’ Alive” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks thanks to its appearance in the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever: the 1977 blockbuster starring John Travolta that popularized the disco craze around the globe. Going on to win a Grammy in 1979, “Stayin’ Alive” has rarely been out of fashion since. It again topped international charts when covered by U.K. electro-pop outfit N-Trance in 1995 and it’s now enjoying another spike in popularity having been interpolated into the Jonas Brothers’ latest hit “No Time To Talk.”
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Few soundtracks have been as widely-acclaimed as John Williams’ super-dramatic score for Steven Spielberg’s 1975 killer shark-related thriller Jaws: winner of numerous accolades including a Grammy, an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. The soundtrack album has been regularly reissued ever since, but it’s inevitably trending again as it celebrates its 50th anniversary with a selection of vinyl reissues, including a double-disc set with real water sealed and pressed between two translucent discs.
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Chicago R&B luminary Jeremih enjoyed U.S. Top 30 success with his 50 Cent collaboration “Down On Me,” from his second album, 2010’s All About You, released through Def Jam. However, it’s another of that same record’s key tracks, Jeremih’s mellow Ludacris collab “I Like” that’s presently undergoing a resurgence due to several different TikTok trends including a group dance trend and a lip-sync trend.
The third of three Billboard Hot 100-topping singles taken from Black Eyed Peas’ quintuple platinum-selling fifth album The E.N.D. from 2009, the funky “Imma Be” enjoyed further exposure thanks to its placings in film soundtracks including the 2010 action movie The Other Guys and the following year’s Todd Phillips-directed comedy The Hangover Part II. Now, this seemingly irrepressible track from the superstar L.A. crew is again central to a TikTok trend where creators are running through a day and timestamping their activities during different parts of it.
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Trinidad Cardona’s lilting, Latin-tinged “Dinero” already has history with TikTok as it went viral after appearing in several dance challenges on the platform in 2021. It went on to provide the Arizona-born singer-songwriter with a U.S. Top 50 breakthrough as a result and it’s now enjoying further popularity on TikTok as part of a trend where creators express how they feel when speaking another language.
As a rule, specific trends dictate which songs return to prominence on TikTok, but with Foxy Brown’s “Candy” it’s a more general appreciation of the track rather than a specific trend that’s at the root of the resurgence. Certainly “Candy” – which also features a cameo from Kelis – is more than deserving of kudos. Widely regarded as one of the Brooklyn rap queen’s most pop-oriented tunes, this classy, if slightly raunchy U.S. hit from her third album Broken Silence has a genuine crossover appeal that’s also secured its place in film soundtracks including Friday After Next and Judd Apatow’s rom com The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
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One of a quartet of smash hits from Toby Keith’s seventh album Unleashed from 2002, “Who’s Your Daddy” became the Oklahoman country legend’s sixth consecutive to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in addition to yielding a Top 30 placing on the Hot 100. The song’s enduring appeal is easy to understand as it rides an irresistible groove and its lyric about a young lady with a sugar daddy at her beck and call has humor aplenty. Its recent resurgence isn’t due to any TikTok trend in particular, but it’s hard to ignore the recent Father’s Day holiday as a possible reason.
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The very epitome of a sleeper hit, Glass Animals’ signature song “Heat Waves” was a U.K. Top 5 success on release in 2020, but it only topped the U.S. charts in 2022 after taking a mammoth 59 weeks to crawl to the apex of the Billboard Hot 100. The lyric’s reference to “late nights in the middle of June” immediately ties this lovely, languid pop song to the height of summer, so it’s no surprise that “Heat Waves” tends to trend on TikTok at this time of year – something it’s again doing as it celebrates its fifth anniversary in 2025.
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American rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot is arguably best known for his chart-topping 1992 hit “Baby Got Back,” through it’s one of his deeper cuts “Bark Like You Want It” that’s presently trending on TikTok. This bass-driven highlight from Sir Mix-A-Lot’s fifth album Return Of The Bumpasaurus is currently attracting all manner of creatives as it’s integral to a lip-syncing trend, a couples trend, and also a trend with the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.
One of Ice Cube’s most overtly political songs, the dark, dramatic “Arrest The President” was first released as the lead single from the influential rapper’s tenth album Everythang’s Corrupt in 2018. In the wake of protests in the United States, this hard-hitting song is enjoying a resurgence.
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Detroit R&B, soul and funk star Carl Carlton’s “She’s A Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked)” soon became a popular U.S (and U.K.) Top 40 hit on release in 1981. However, it’s since achieved quite remarkable longevity. Nominated for a Grammy in 1982, the song has frequently been sampled (perhaps most significantly for Foxy Brown & Dru Hill’s 1997 hit “Big Bad Mama”) and it remains a much-loved R&B radio staple. It boasts an irresistible groove, so it’s no surprise that it’s catalyzed a ‘Mama Jama’ dance trend on TikTok attracting posts from celebs such as boy band NCT Dreams and Idaho Falls rapper Dogg Face.
Swedish artist collective NEIKED went Top 5 in the U.K with 2016 hit “Sexual,” influenced by Marvin Gaye’s classic 1982 hit “Sexual Healing.” However, the group’s Mae Muller and Polo G collaboration became a worldwide hit in 2021, even introducing NEIKED to the Top 30 of Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. This euphoric disco-pop song also went viral on TikTok through 2021’s ‘Better Days Challenge’ (garnering over a million streams as a result) and it’s now showing signs of a resurgence on the same platform.
It’s hard not to think of Jon Pardi’s “Can’t Turn You Down” as one that got away. It’s a fantastic country-pop song, featuring a great guitar hook and a soaring chorus and it can only have remained a deep cut from Pardi’s second album California Sunrise because that record also included sure-fire hits such as “Dirt On My Boots” and “Heartache On The Dancefloor.” Proving you can’t keep a good song down, “Can’t Turn You Down” is now in the spotlight as part of a country trend on TikTok where creators are showing off outfits and lip-syncing.
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Elton John’s “Rocket Man” needs little introduction. Originally released as the lead single from his fifth album, Honky Château in 1972, this classy, widescreen ballad went quintuple platinum in the U.S. alone and played a significant role in launching the esteemed British singer-songwriter on the international stage. A fan favorite ever since, the song lent its title to the 2019 biopic about Elton John’s life and career and it’s now rising again thanks to a TikTok trend where creators show off a variety of things they aren’t going to fall for because of artificial glitz and glamour.
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Promoted by a memorable video paying homage to the influential American crime drama Breaking Bad, Rich The Kid’s “Plug Walk” peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018 and remains his biggest solo hit to date. The Queens, New York rapper recently posted an amazing video of himself walking with a tiger on TikTok and “Plug Walk” is enjoying an upsurge in popularity on the same platform as it’s part of a fun trend where creators lip-sync while looking like crooners.
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Issued as the fourth single from Young Jeezy’s acclaimed fourth album TM:103 Hustlerz Ambition, “Leave You Alone” also featured a cameo from the celebrated, multiple Grammy Award-winning R&B star Ne Yo. A slow-burner on the charts, the song narrowly missed the Top 50 of the U.S. Hot 100, but it did make it to No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs run down and eventually moved over a million copies. More recently, “Leave You Alone” is having a comeback on TikTok as part of a trend wherein creators are sad that they have to be alone.