It is genuinely wild to think about how much a 15-second clip on a phone screen can change the trajectory of a music career. One day a song is collecting digital dust on a streaming shelf, and the next it is being blasted across stadium speakers at Coachella. TikTok has become one of the most powerful forces in the music industry, capable of resurrecting forgotten tracks, launching total unknowns into stardom, and turning a simple dance challenge into a full-blown cultural moment.
The platform does not follow traditional rules. There are no gatekeepers, no radio programmers deciding what gets played. Just millions of people scrolling, creating, and sometimes, almost accidentally, changing the course of music history. The 10 songs below are proof of exactly that. Buckle up, because a few of these stories are more incredible than you might expect. Let’s dive in.
1. “Old Town Road” – Lil Nas X (2019): The TikTok Origin Story That Started It All
Here is the thing about ‘Old Town Road’ – it almost never happened the way it did. The song was released independently in December 2018, during the rise of the ‘Yeehaw Agenda’ meme, a movement inspired by cowboy fashion and culture. Lil Nas X was not exactly a household name at the time. He was, honestly, just a guy on the internet who knew how to ride a trend.
The song gained traction in late December 2018 after becoming the ‘Yeehaw Challenge’ meme on TikTok, where users created short videos set to the song. Think of it like this: TikTok was the match and ‘Old Town Road’ was the gasoline. Fans loved the short clip in the meme so much that they found “Old Town Road” on streaming services and pushed it to the Billboard charts.
Lil Nas X officially broke the record for the longest-running No. 1 single on Billboard’s Hot 100 list thanks to his breakout hit “Old Town Road.” In claiming this throne, “Old Town Road” beat out the other contenders who had held the previous record of 16 weeks, including 1995’s ‘One Sweet Day’ by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men and 2017’s ‘Despacito’ remix by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber. The whole story is almost poetic – a kid on a couch with an internet connection rewrites music history.
2. ‘Say So’– Doja Cat (2019/2020): How One Teenager’s Dance Changed Everything
I think ‘Say So’ is probably one of the clearest examples of how TikTok can take something that was already good and push it somewhere extraordinary. The song was originally included as an album track on Doja Cat’s second studio album Hot Pink in 2019. During late 2019 and early 2020, it gained popularity out of nowhere on TikTok due to a viral dance challenge which featured the song and was created by TikTok user Haley Sharpe.
The ‘Say So’ dance exploded on the video-making platform in late 2019, with more than 19.8 million videos created using the chorus. That is almost an incomprehensible number. Celebrities such as Dua Lipa, Laura Dern, Charli D’Amelio, Mackenzie Ziegler, and Sofia Wylie posted their own videos of themselves performing the dance, ultimately helping it become a go-to challenge for TikTok users.
The solo version of ‘Say So’ initially peaked at number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100, before two remixes featuring fellow rapper Nicki Minaj propelled the song to number 1. With this, the track earned a Guinness World Record for becoming the first female rap duo to top the Hot 100, also earning both artists their first number one song in the US. Not bad for a dance made up in art class.
3. ‘abcdefu’ – GAYLE (2021): The Fans Who Literally Wrote the Song’s Story
This one is genuinely fascinating. Most artists release a song and wait for the audience reaction. GAYLE did something different with ‘abcdefu,’ using TikTok before the song even officially dropped. She teased snippets of the track, and fans responded in the comments with such emotional energy that they actually helped shape how the song’s storyline was perceived and developed. That kind of real-time connection between an artist and their audience was essentially unheard of before platforms like TikTok existed.
The song, a breakup anthem that spells out a rather blunt farewell, became a massive streaming hit. It is catchy, relatable, and almost offensively easy to sing along with. The alphabet framing is so simple that it feels almost too obvious, yet somehow it works better than anything more complicated could. Honestly, sometimes simplicity is the whole point.
4. ‘Heat Waves’ – Glass Animals (2020): The Slowest Burn in Pop History
If ‘Old Town Road’ is the lightning-fast viral story, then ‘Heat Waves’ is the slow and steady marathon. Glass Animals’ ‘Heat Waves’ took 59 weeks to break into the mainstream music scene, all thanks to TikTok. Fifty-nine weeks. Think about how long that is. Most songs are forgotten within a few months, let alone building momentum for over a year.
The first Hot 100 entry for the British quartet, the track debuted on the January 16, 2021 chart and spent five weeks at No. 1 that March and April. Released in June 2020, the track subsequently topped weekly alternative, pop and adult radio airplay tallies, and connecting prominently on TikTok helped spark its multi-format crossover.
Glass Animals’ ‘Heat Waves’ is the ultimate sleeper hit in pop history, not just for its sheer chart longevity but for the way its sullen sentiments and lapping currents of virality lay dormant until the nation was ready. That final detail about being emotionally ‘ready’ is something that rings deeply true. Sometimes a song arrives before its time.
5. ‘Running Up That Hill’ – Kate Bush (1985 / Resurgence 2022): 37 Years Later, Still No. 1
Let’s be real – nobody had Kate Bush on their 2022 bingo card as the biggest artist of the summer. Yet that is exactly what happened. Sparked by its sync in the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, the song originally released in 1985 saw gains of 21 percent to 73.7 million streams and 33 percent to 28,000 sold worldwide in just one tracking week. Those are numbers that most brand-new artists would dream of.
A thirty-second version of the Stranger Things clip was posted and reposted on TikTok, gaining millions of views in just over a week, and Kate Bush’s song was used in over 500,000 short videos. The combination of TV placement and TikTok virality created a perfect storm. The song ended up being featured in 2.7 million TikTok videos, which is not to be ignored.
Kate Bush’s record-breaking hit ‘Running Up That Hill’ was named the UK’s Official Song of the Summer 2022, resurrected into the public consciousness thanks to the release of Stranger Things Season 4, beating off modern-day anthems by the likes of Harry Styles, LF SYSTEM and Beyoncé. A song from 1985, winning the summer of 2022. Almost surreal.
6. ‘Made You Look’ – Meghan Trainor (2022): Dance Challenges Do the Heavy Lifting
Meghan Trainor had already proven she could make a hit. ‘Made You Look’ showed she could still ride the new wave of music discovery. The track swept across TikTok through dance challenges that were impossible to scroll past without at least watching twice. The bold, retro-inspired energy of the song was practically designed for short video content, almost like it was made with a viral life in mind.
Viral dance challenges on TikTok propelled the song into global charts, introducing Trainor to a younger generation that may have only known her name in passing. It is a pattern that keeps repeating with TikTok hits: the platform does not just push songs up the charts. It introduces artists to entirely new audiences and, in some cases, gives careers a second wind. That is arguably more valuable than any radio campaign.
7. ‘Escapism.’ – Raye (2022): The Snippet That Broke the Internet
Raye had been quietly building a reputation as one of British pop’s most underrated talents for years. Then ‘Escapism.’ happened, and suddenly everyone was paying attention. It is hard to say for sure exactly which TikTok moment tipped the scales, but a snippet went viral on the platform well before the full song was available to stream. That created a kind of anticipation that is almost impossible to manufacture intentionally.
Once the full version dropped, the streaming numbers exploded. The song’s hypnotic production and Raye’s distinctly raw vocal performance gave it an emotional depth that went beyond typical viral fodder. It was not just a sound for a 15-second clip. It was an experience people kept returning to. There is a lesson in that: TikTok can ignite the flame, but the song itself has to sustain the burn.
8. ‘Stay’ – The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber (2021): Edits, Lip-Syncs, and Global Domination
‘Stay’ became one of those songs that seemed to be everywhere on TikTok for months. Edits, lip-sync videos, dance trends – the song became a universal backdrop for content creators across every conceivable niche. A dance trend featuring the song went massively viral as influencers competed to get the most views, with even major creator Bella Poarch jumping into the trend.
The sheer firepower of having The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber on the same track gave it a head start, but TikTok is what turned a good pop song into a genuine cultural fixture. It spread organically through millions of videos in a way that traditional marketing budgets simply cannot replicate. The song became one of the most streamed tracks globally that year, a testament to what happens when organic TikTok momentum meets undeniable pop craft.
9. ‘About Damn Time’ – Lizzo (2022): A Challenge That Became a Celebration
When Lizzo dropped ‘About Damn Time’ in 2022, TikTok made it a dance phenomenon overnight. The funk bass-driven track and upbeat energy gave birth to a viral dance routine complete with a signature point-at-the-wrist motion that everyone was attempting. It was the kind of challenge that felt joyful rather than performative – something that matches Lizzo’s whole energy as an artist perfectly.
The song’s use on TikTok gave its chart status a boost, and it even won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year. That Grammy win is worth pausing on for a second. A song that arguably owed a significant chunk of its momentum to a social media dance challenge went on to win one of the most prestigious awards in music. That says everything about how the relationship between TikTok and mainstream recognition has evolved.
10. ‘Unholy’ – Sam Smith & Kim Petras (2022): The Teaser Strategy That Rewrote the Rulebook
Unholy was first teased by Sam Smith on their TikTok on August 18, 2022, more than a full month before its official release on September 22. This was not an accident. It was a masterclass in modern music marketing, using the platform’s unique ability to build anticipation through short, tantalizing clips. Unholy is a golden standard of TikTok buzz leading to chart fame, with the song’s teasers going around on TikTok even before its 2022 official release.
Unholy by Sam Smith and Kim Petras was the UK’s Number 1 single for four consecutive weeks, representing both a return to commercial form for Sam and a major breakthrough moment for Kim herself. The track also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, cementing it as one of the defining songs of that year. The dark, theatrical energy of the song was almost tailor-made for the dramatic, visual storytelling style of TikTok creators.
The Festival Connection: From Your Phone Screen to the Main Stage
There is one more layer to all of this that deserves attention. Many of these TikTok-viral songs do not just win the streaming charts. They become festival moments. DJ sets at Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Glastonbury regularly feature tracks that first blew up on TikTok, creating those electric crowd moments where thousands of people simultaneously recognize the opening notes of a song they first heard on their phone.
It is a fascinating pipeline. A teenager films a 15-second dance in their bedroom. Millions of people watch it and stream the song. Radio picks it up. Then suddenly, a massive crowd in a field somewhere is losing their minds when the drop hits. The journey from phone screen to festival main stage is now shorter and faster than ever before.
TikTok did not just change how we discover music. It changed where music lives, how long it survives, and who gets to make it. The next record-breaking hit might already be sitting in someone’s drafts right now, waiting for the perfect moment to drop. What song from this list surprised you the most? Tell us in the comments below.
Besides founding Festivaltopia, Luca is the co founder of trib, an art and fashion collectiv you find on several regional events and online. Also he is part of the management board at HORiZONTE, a group travel provider in Germany.
