As analyzed by Billboard in 2025, songs are increasingly lasting in the upper reaches of the Billboard Hot 100. Contributing factors cited include a bevy of beloved hits from both established and newer acts, enhanced artist development campaigns and streaming’s ability to help lessen fatigue of acts’ biggest singles by spreading listening across their catalogs.
Two relatively recent smashes stand as the longest-charting hits in the top 10 over the Hot 100’s history: Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” (80 weeks) and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (66). Another, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile,” tallied 51 weeks in the top 10, with Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” up to 43 weeks and counting (including a record 33 in the top three).
Also among sturdy hits that charted on the Hot 100 through 2025: Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” (42 weeks in the top 10), Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” (33 each).
As for their sonic styles, what are key differences between songs that forge notably long and shorter stays in the chart’s top 10? Hit Songs Deconstructed, which provides compositional analytics for top 10 Hot 100 hits, has released its 2025 Staying Power report.
Here are three takeaways from Hit Songs Deconstructed’s in-depth research about what defined durable Hot 100 top 10s in 2025.
Pop Is Hard to Stop
As reflected by hits noted above by Gaga, Mars, Carpenter and Warren, “Pop songs had the greatest staying power in 2025,” Hit Songs Deconstructed notes, with 45% of Hot 100 top 10s lasting for 10 weeks or more being pop titles.
Here’s a breakdown by genre of 2025 Hot 100 hits with runs of 10 or more weeks in the top 10:
- Pop: 45%
- Country: 23%
- R&B/soul: 18%
- Hip-hop/rap: 9%
- Rock: 5%
Pop also led in 2024, accounting for 36% of Hot 100 top 10s lodged in the tier for at least 10 weeks. Country and R&B/soul held their 2025 shares from a year earlier, while hip-hop/rap fell five points from 14%.
Unsurprisingly, pop’s top placement aligns with its victory as the most prominent primary genre in the Hot 100’s top 10 overall for 2025.
Love Somebody
The most common lyrical theme in 2025 Hot 100 hits that lasted for 10 or more weeks in the top 10? “Songs centered on love and relationships,” Hit Songs Deconstructed finds, with such narratives in 68% of top 10s that charted for 10 weeks or more.
Given its universality, love similarly accounted for 67% of top 10s with stays of nine weeks or fewer in the bracket.
2025 Hot 100 top 10s of 10 or more weeks with storylines about love include Carpenter’s “Taste,” Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” and Morgan Wallen’s “Just in Case.”
Among notable differences thematically, 23% of Hot 100 top 10s focusing on lifestyle were in the region for 10 or more weeks, versus 40% for nine or fewer. Such lyrical references are commonly tied to hip-hop, which as a primary genre fell by half in overall top 10 presence in 2025.
Shorter Songs, Longer Stays
“Shorter song lengths were more prevalent among songs with staying power,” compared to those that charted for nine weeks or fewer, Hit Songs Deconstructed reports. Hot 100 top 10s in 2025 that extended their stays to 10 or more weeks averaged 3:17 in length, 12 seconds more succinct than songs that lasted for nine weeks or fewer.
Despite brevity a trait of longer-lasting 2025 Hot 100 top 10s, “the inclusion of a pre-chorus was significantly more common among songs with staying power,” according to Hit Songs Deconstructed. Pre-choruses are heard in 73% of songs that remained in the top 10 for 10 or more weeks, as opposed to 40% of songs that charted for nine or fewer weeks.
