The decade of the fifteen-second head start
The 2020s are the first decade whose hits are born in public, mid-sentence. A song now breaks as a clip — a chorus over somebody's video, a bridge sped up, a forty-year-old album track resurrected by a TV show — and the charts scramble to count what the feed already decided. The decade began in lockdown, with concerts dark and bedrooms loud, and came out the other side with country crossovers, K-pop globals, Afrobeats anthems, and catalog revivals all sharing one chart. It's the fastest musical era ever measured, and it's only half told.
Deezer's 20s Hits playlist opens with the decade's defining run: Harry Styles' “As It Was,” The Kid LAROI's “STAY,” Glass Animals' slow-burn marathon “Heat Waves,” and then the new establishment — Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Sabrina Carpenter — with Elton John, of all people, riding a remix into the top ten. A man who first charted in 1970, sharing a list with stars born this century: the 2020s in one image. Nothing is old, nothing is new, everything is available, and the feed decides the order.
Top 10
The opening ten of the playlist, at a glance. The full list, playable top to bottom, is just below — loaded fresh from Deezer's “20s Hits” playlist every time this page opens.
- As It Was — Harry Styles
- STAY — The Kid LAROI
- Heat Waves — Glass Animals
- BIRDS OF A FEATHER — Billie Eilish
- Die With A Smile — Lady Gaga
- Beautiful Things — Benson Boone
- Flowers — Miley Cyrus
- Espresso — Sabrina Carpenter
- Cold Heart (PNAU Remix) — Elton John
- Save Your Tears — The Weeknd
The full 2020s playlist
A decade still being written
Every other decade page on this site is history. This one is a draft. The 2020s list will keep moving — not just because new hits land weekly, but because the decade keeps re-deciding its past: an album track from 2021 becomes the song of 2025, a catalog record out-streams the new releases, a genre that looked finished (ask country, ask disco) walks back to the center. Judging a decade at halftime is a fool's errand, but it's also the most fun one: these are the songs currently winning the argument.
Press Play All and hear the present tense at full strength — the hooks engineered for the first fifteen seconds, and the slow burns that proved patience still pays. Then come back in a year. Half this page's story will have been rewritten, and that, more than any single song, is the sound of the 2020s.
Looking for a song from another time?
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