Music critics—myself included—have spent much of the past several years bemoaning the decline of capital-“E” Events in music: no new superstars to crown, no more tentpole albums to unify us, no more ...

Every year, the bounty of pop music grows more and more (my apologies to the 2,637 songs in my inbox as of time of writing that I haven't gotten to yet, out of you don't want to know how many).

As 2025 rolls in, it's time to look back and celebrate some of the nostalgic pop songs you may have forgotten about that turn 25 this year. (Yes, we feel old.) These tracks defined the sound of 2000 — ...