PinkPantheress, Addison Rae & The Artists That Defined 2025

In end-of-year-list culture, it’s customary to rank the classics — albums, films, style moments, maybe live shows if you’re lucky. But this time around, team NYLON is following the impulses of our individuality complexes and adding a new category to the mix for 2025: artists of the year.

In the past, our years have been defined by indelible tunes that soundtracked our summers and star-making award show performances. Not so much the case in 2025; instead, the performers on this list proved that pop stardom can be achieved through a myriad of different avenues, from viral TikTok trends and unforgettable opening acts to grassroots marketing tactics and good, old fashioned, boots-on-the-ground pop star campaigns.

Ahead, the artists that defined 2025.

PinkPantheress

If 2025 could be summed up in one sentence, it would be: "My name is Pink and I'm really glad to meet you." You couldn't go anywhere without hearing the PinkPantheress-penned phrase, which she later parlayed into her first solo entry on the Billboard Hot 100. When she wasn't off completing random side quests like receiving a doctorate from Kent University or competing in chess tournaments, she was busy penetrating our collective consciousness with tartan plaids, a caramel-hued wig, a handshake, and more than a few viral TikToks. It's a simple formula, but it worked so, so well. — Jillian Giandurco, editorial associate

Addison Rae

Lorde would agree: Rae defined what artistry can be in modern times. She exited LAX in a blindfold, wore archival Rodarte at the Grammy museum, and flashed her album's release date on custom VS PINK panties at Coachella. Every choice she made this year was intentional, and it was genuinely refreshing to watch her rewrite the pop-girl playbook in real time. There are always, always new ways to approach both music and its accompanying circus, and Rae made it feel the most fun it has in a while with that sweet Southern smile and ability to lean into the cringe of trying. In 2026, effort won't only be the standard, it will define the great from the good. — Kevin LeBlanc, style editor

Zara Larsson

Zara Larsson has had several near-breakthrough moments in her career, but this year she was finally able to capture the zeitgeist with her viral hit "Midnight Sun" and a headline-worthy opening stint on Tate McRae's Miss Possessive tour. Every pop star needs a "thing," and although her talent has always spoken for itself, it was the discovery of her kitschy Lisa Frank aesthetic that helped click everything into place. Now that she has your attention, best believe she's not letting go. — Giandurco

Lady Gaga

2 million people at a beach on Rio? Just another concert for Mother Monster. After a detour through Jokerland and a Bruno Mars pit stop, Gaga honed in on what makes her a dark-pop goddess and dropped Mayhem, to the delight of fans hoping for more music to lose themselves to on a gay-bar dance floor. Whether in Valentino at the Grammys or in full camp-pop Miss Claire Sullivan for the VMAs, her fashion set the agenda and the effortlessness of it all reminded us time and time again how the best pop artist of the times can channel her inner Mother at her whim. — LeBlanc

Olivia Dean

2025 was Olivia Dean’s year of ubiquity. Not only is she ending the year having scored her first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, but she’s entering 2026 with a legitimate chance of securing that Best New Artist trophy at the Grammys. Her music has soundtracked just about every OOTD TikTok filmed within the last six months, and she’s on track to headline her very first (sold out!) arena tour following a successful opening gig on Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet tour. I could keep going, but I’ll let the music speak for itself. — Giandurco

Lorde

"A place in the city / a chair and a bed." The opening lyrics of Lorde's first single off of Virgin, her raw, transparent fourth album, established how little artifice would go into this era. It was as real as it got: The album cover was an X-ray photo of her pelvis, and her onstage outfits were often Calvin Klein underwear and blue jeans. Call it the Brat-ification of pop, call it a daring response to the opacity of AI-generated art, but Lorde felt the need to go deeper than ever this year. The result? A tear-jerking tour celebrating her heart-wrenching songbook, an album that returned to her earlier sound, and the lyric "I rode you until I cried." Doesn't get much more blunt than that. — LeBlanc

Beyoncé

Between her first-ever Album of the Year Grammy win and her massive, record-breaking stadium tour victory lap, it's impossible not to recognize the year Beyoncé has had. Maintaining one's proximity to the center is no easy feat for women in pop past the age of 40, but Beyoncé is living proof that pop stars only get better with age. — Giandurco

Cameron Winter

Last December, you could snag a $25 day-of ticket to see him live — good luck trying that now. If you haven’t heard of Cameron Winter (or the band he fronts, Geese), you’re living under the youth-rock radar. Winter is reviving rock’s golden age in a fresh, modern way with excellent songwriting, powerful vocals, and an undeniable charm. If that needs any further proof, the artist closed out his grand year with an extremely sold-out show at Carnegie Hall, attended by legends like Michael Stipe and Lee Ranaldo (and filmed by Paul Thomas Anderson and Benny Safdie). — Katherine Diermissen, social editor