July 12, 2026

What is the song of the summer 2026? - Olivia Rodrigo - "Drop Dead"

What is the song of the summer 2026? -  Olivia Rodrigo - "Drop Dead"

Olivia Rodrigo, 23, exploded with SOUR (2021), dominated with GUTS (2023), then went quiet. April 2026: "Drop Dead" released—darker, heavier, angrier than previous work. Distorted guitars, pounding drums, aggressive bassline. Chorus literally repeats "drop dead"—revenge fantasy. Debuted #4, hit #2, then knocked Ella Langley off #1 three weeks ago (late June). Currently top five, 400M+ Spotify streams in three months, 2M+ TikTok videos. Catharsis song, venting mechanism. But is anger song actually summer material? Advantages: devoted fanbase, momentum, festival presence, key demographic (16-25). Challenge: only hit #1 recently, limited versatility, only available since April. FINALE includes final rankings of all six contenders and Garrett's prediction: Ella Langley wins on longevity, but Olivia could spoil.

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WEBVTT

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Callaroga Shark Media. I'm Garrett Fisher and this is the

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Hit Maker Chronicles. This is it the final episode of

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our Song of the Summer twenty twenty sixth series. Over

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the past five weeks, we've examined the top contenders for

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the most coveted unofficial title in music. Ella Langley's Choos

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in Texas the Country Ballot with ten non consecutive weeks

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at number one, Pink Pantheris and Zara Larson Stateside, the Olympics,

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Boost and international collaboration, Harry Styles Aperture, the disco funk

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comeback with stadium tour infrastructure, Noah Kahan's porch Light, the

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grassroots folk movement, Bruno Mars's I just might pure feel

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good excellence. Today, we're looking at the artist who wasn't

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even on the radar when we started this series six

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weeks ago. The dark horse who surged at exactly the

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right moment, The artist who proved that in the Song

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of the Summer race, timing matters as much as quality.

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Olivia Rodrigo and Drop Dead, the song that hit number

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one just a few weeks ago, knocked Ella Langley off

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the top spot and is asking whether a late surge

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can overcome months of dominance by other contenders? Can Olivia

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Rodrigo win Song of the Summer with momentum instead of longevity?

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Does a recent number one matter more than sustained chart presence?

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And what happens when one of the biggest young stars

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in music decides she wants to own the summer. Let's

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start with where Olivia is in her career, because context matters.

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She's twenty three years old. She exploded in twenty twenty

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one with Sour, an album that turned teenage heartbreak into

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one of the biggest pop phenomena of the decade. Driver's License,

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good for You, Deja Vu. Those songs weren't just hits,

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they were cultural moments. Slivia became the voice of gen

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Z heartbreak, the artist who made being sad and angry

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and messy feel not just acceptable but cool. Then came

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Guts in twenty twenty three, another massive album, Vampire Get

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Him Back, All American Bitch, more hits, more cultural impact,

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more proof that Olivia wasn't a one album wonder, but

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a genuine superstar with staying power. And then she went

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relatively quiet for a while. No album in twenty twenty four,

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or early twenty twenty five, some touring, some appearances, but

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no new music. People started wondering what's next. Where does

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Olivia go after two albums that captured such specific moments

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in time. The answer came in late twenty twenty five,

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when she started teasing new music. No album announcement, no

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big rollout, just cryptic social media posts and snippets of

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songs that sounded darker, more mature, more confrontational than anything

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she'd done before. Drop Dead was released as a standalone

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single in April twenty twenty six, and from the opening

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notes you knew this was different. The production was heavier

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than her previous work, distorted guitars, pounding drums, a bassline

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that felt almost aggressive, and Olivia's vocal was raw, unpolished

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in places like she was barely containing her rage. The

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song is about someone who heard her and the fantasy

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of watching them suffer for it. It's not subtle, it's

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not metaphorical. The chorus literally repeats drop Dead over and

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over while the production builds to this cathartic explosion. It's

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angry in a way that feels almost dangerous, and people

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responded immediately. Drop Dead debuted at number four on the

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Billboard Hot one hundred. Within two weeks, it hit number two,

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and three weeks ago in late June, it knocked Ella

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Langley's Choosing Texas off the number one spot for the

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first time in weeks. That number one debut was significant,

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not just because it ended Ella's run, but because it

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proved Olivia could still command the culture. After being relatively

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quiet for over a year, she could drop a single

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and immediately dominate. That's star power. Since hitting number one,

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drop Dead has stayed in the top five. It's been

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trading the top spot with Ella and occasionally Harry Styles.

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Radio has embraced it, though not as universally as some

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other contenders. The aggressive production and angry lyrics make it

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harder to program in every day part, but on streaming

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its massive over four hundred million streams on Spotify in

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just three months TikTok has been crucial to its success.

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The song has been used in over two million videos,

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many of them people lip syncing to the Drop Dead

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chorus in increasingly creative and cathartic ways. It's become a

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venting mechanism, a way for people to express anger and

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frustration in a socially acceptable format, and that raises an

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interesting question, is drop Dead actually a summer song. Summer

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is supposed to be about joy, celebration, good vibes. Drop

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Dead is about rage and revenge fantasies. It's dark, it's heavy.

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It's the opposite of what we traditionally think of as

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summer energy. But maybe that's exactly why it could win,

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because Summer twenty twenty six isn't just pool parties and

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beach trips. It's also people dealing with breakups, processing anger,

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working through difficult emotions. While everyone else seems to be

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having the time of their lives. Drop Dead gives voice

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to that shadow side of summer that other contenders don't address.

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Let's talk about Olivia's advantages first. She has one of

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the most devoted fan bases in music. Her fans don't

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just like her, they identify with her. They see their

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own experiences in her lyrics. When Olivia releases music, it's

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not just entertainment for them, it's personal. That intensity of

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cane matters for Song of the Summer. It's not just

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about casual listeners. It's about people for whom the song

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becomes the soundtrack to their actual summer experiences, and drop

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Dead is definitely that kind of song for Olivia's fans. Second,

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she has momentum. While Ella Langley has been number one

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on and off since February, while Harry Styles has been

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building since March, drop Dead is still in its peak phase.

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It's still climbing on some formats. It's still generating new

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TikTok trends. It feels fresh in a way that songs

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from four or five months ago might not. Third, Olivia

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is touring festivals throughout July and August. She's one of

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the biggest draws at Lollapalooza outside Lands Governor's Ball. Tens

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of thousands of people will see her perform drop Dead

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live over the next six weeks. Those performances will generate

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social media content, keep the song in conversation, create new

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viral moments. And Fourth, she has the age demographic that

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drives streaming. Core audience is sixteen to twenty five year olds.

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That's the group that streams most actively, that creates TikTok trends,

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that shapes what music feels current. If that demographic decides

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drop Dead is their summer anthem, the metrics will reflect it.

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We'll be right back. But Drop Dead also has significant challenges.

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The biggest is that it only hit number one three

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weeks ago. Song of the Summer is calculated from Memorial

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Day through Labor Day. That's a fourteen week tracking period.

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Ella Langley has been charting since December, has been number

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one since February. Harry Styles has been in the top

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ten since March. Drop Dead has only been around since

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April and only hit its peak in late June. Can

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three months of availability compete with six or seven months? Historically,

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Long of the Summer tends to go to songs that

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were strong throughout the entire tracking period, not just songs

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that peaked late. The other challenge is versatility. Choos in

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Texas works in multiple contexts, driving, reflecting late nights, aperture,

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works at parties, weddings, anywhere you need joy, I Just

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Might is universal summer energy. Drop Dead works when you're angry,

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when you need catharsis when you want to scream along

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to something aggressive that's powerful, but it's also limiting. How

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many times can you listen to an anger song before

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it either loses its power or becomes exhausting. Olivia's fans

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will stream it endlessly but will casual listeners keep returning

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to it throughout the summer. There's also the question of

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what comes next for Olivia. Is drop Dead a standalone

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single or the lead from a new album. If it's standalone,

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that limits its longevity. If it's leading an album that

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drops soon, that could give it a boost. But right

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now we don't know, and that uncertainty might hurt it.

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So where does Dropdead actually rank in the Song of

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the Summer race? And more importantly, after six weeks of

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analyzing contenders, who's actually going to win? Let me lay

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out the final standings as I see them. Ella Langley's

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Choosing Texas is still the front runner, ten non consecutive

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weeks at number one, sustain presence since February, country to

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pop crossover success, the Morgan Wallen precedent of early Peaks

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winning Song of the Summer radio support across multiple formats.

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It has everything you'd want from a Song of the

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Summer except one thing. It's a ballad about heartbreak, and

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people might be ready for something else. By August, Harry

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Styles's aperture is the wild card, strong chart performance stadium tour,

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creating constant visibility. Disco funk that works everywhere. The challenge

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is whether retro sounds can define a contemporary summer and

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whether a March release can sustain through September. Bruno Mars's

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I Just Might is the excellence play, impeccable production, proven

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hit maker, radio love, universal appeal. The challenge is lack

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of narrative and whether pure fun is enough. In twenty

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twenty six, Pink Pantheress and Zara Larsen's Stateside had a

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moment with the Olympics, but has been fading. Still in

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the top ten but losing momentum. Unless something changes dramatically,

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it's not winning. Noah Kahan's Porch Light is the heart

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candidate that might not win on metrics but will win

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in memory for his devoted fan base. It's building slowly

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and could peak in late August when others fade, but

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it's probably two niche for mainstream song of the summer.

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Victory and Olivia Rodrigo's Drop Dead is the late surge,

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recent number one, passionate fan base, festival presence, demographic advantage.

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The challenge is timing and weather. Three months can beat

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six if I had to predict right now in mid July,

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say the races between Ella Langley and Harry Styles, with

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Olivia Rodrigo as a legitimate spoiler threat if she can

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maintain momentum through August. Ella has longevity, Harry has infrastructure

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and star power. Olivia has recency and intensity. Any of

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them could win, and honestly, the answer might be different

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depending on who you ask. For country fans, Ella already won.

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For Harry's fans, hitting stadium shows all summer, Aperture is

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obviously song of the Summer. For Olivia's fans streaming Drop

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Dead on repeat, nothing else even comes close. That's what

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makes Song of the Summer both important and ultimately arbitrary.

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There's an official Billboard chart that will crown a winner

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based on specific metrics, but there are also millions of

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individual experiences where different songs soundtrack different summers. What I

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can tell you is this, These six songs represent the

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full spectrum of what summer twenty twenty six sounds like.

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The heartbreak of choosing Texas, the joy of Stateside, the

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celebration of aperture, the introspection of porch light, the fun

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of I Just Might, the catharsis of Drop Dead. Summer

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isn't just one thing. It's all of these things at

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different moments. And maybe the real answer is that twenty

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twenty six doesn't have one Song of the Summer. It

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has six. But if you're making me choose, if you're

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asking me right now, what song I think will be

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officially crowned song of the Summer twenty twenty six when

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the tracking period ends on Labor Day, I'm going with

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Ella Langley's choos in Texas. The longevity is too strong,

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the Morgan Wallen precedent is too relevant, the chart performance

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is too dominant. But I wouldn't bet money on it.

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Because Olivia Rodrigo is surging, Harry Styles has a stadium tour,

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Bruno Mars knows how to make summer hits. And sometimes

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the song everyone thinks will win doesn't because summer has

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its own logic that charts can't fully cap. Sure, we'll

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find out in seven weeks when the official Songs of

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the Summer chart debuts after Labor Day. Until then, all

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six of these songs are in the race, All six

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have a case. All six are soundtracking Someone's Summer twenty

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twenty six. This is Garrett Fisher and this is the

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hit maker Chronicles. Thank you for joining us for our

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Song of the Summer twenty twenty six series. Whatever song

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wins the official title, the real victory is that we're

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living through a summer with this much great music competing

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for our attention. How's that for a final episode? By

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the way, follow Hitmaker Chronicles on Spotify and turn on

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notifications so you never miss an episode. And while you're there,

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leave us a comment on Spotify and let us know

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what you think about today's song. We're also trying to

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spread the words, so if you like the show, please

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tell a friend or even better, share an episode with

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that