Time is a funny thing. Sometimes 2016 feels like yesterday to me, while other times I can’t believe all that’s happened in the decade—yes, decade—since that year has come and gone.
Most of the time, though, it’s the former. The years since 2016 have largely sped by, perhaps warped by the strange phenomenon that makes time feel faster as you get older. The rapid passage of time can, of course, bring a blend of nostalgia for a bygone era mixed with shock at the fact that a full decade has passed since then.
2016 was a special year of music. It saw a number of iconic musical moments, from the release of Leonard Cohen’s final album to the dawn of Billie Eilish’s career. Read on to discover 10 hit songs that turn 10 in 2026.
- “Love on the Brain” // Rihanna
- “Formation” // Beyoncé
- “You Want It Darker” // Leonard Cohen
- “Nights” // Frank Ocean
- “Closer” // The Chainsmokers
- “Sorry” // Justin Bieber
- “Your Best American Girl” // Mitski
- “Six Feet Under” // Billie Eilish
- “33, ‘GOD’” // Bon Iver
- “Redbone” // Childish Gambino
“Love on the Brain” // Rihanna
Yes, it’s been a full decade since Rihanna last dropped an album. ANTI, her eighth studio album, was a hit from the moment it dropped in January of 2016, and songs including “Kiss It Better” and “Work” remain in heavy rotation today. “Love on the Brain” is a standout, an emotional power ballad filled with a heady glamour only Rihanna could deliver.
Rihanna has been busy since the album came out, of course, doing everything from becoming a billionaire and headlining the Super Bowl to having three kids, yet she still teases her ninth album from time to time. If it’s anything like ANTI, it’ll be worth the decade-plus-long wait.
“Formation” // Beyoncé
Beyoncé wowed everyone when she surprise-released “Formation” the day before the Super Bowl in 2016 along with a music video. The song and video’s overtly political messaging and unapologetic critique of racist policing made waves, as did the entirety of the album that followed it. Lemonade arrived in April of that year, and was accompanied by a stunning visual album that explored betrayal and reconciliation after infidelity. The album served as a tell-all about her relationship with her husband, Jay-Z, but ultimately used that as a lens through which it explored feminism, Black history, and much more. A decade later, “Formation” remains a standout and a rallying cry.
“You Want It Darker” // Leonard Cohen
More than a few icons died in 2016, including David Bowie and Prince. Leonard Cohen, the singer-songwriter behind the track “Hallelujah” and countless other ballads about spirituality, sexuality, and the space between them, also passed away that year. Before that, he released the album You Want It Darker, which featured a haunting single of the same name. Like many other Cohen songs, the track is a meditation on God, faith, suffering, and death. It’s made all the more potent by the fact that Cohen wrote it while on the cusp of the actual end of his life, staring into the mystery of whatever comes after and reflecting on it as only he could.
“Nights” // Frank Ocean
Frank Ocean’s Blonde was released directly after Ocean dropped the visual album Endless. While Endless has since become a cult favorite, Blonde blew the former out of the water—at least in terms of its cultural resonance—and remains a modern classic. As of 2026, Blonde also remains Ocean’s most recent full-length release.
The album blends hypnotic beats with experimental and psychedelic texture, and its enigmatic and gut-punching lyricism mixes current events, religious symbolism, and coming-of-age angst. All this comes together to form an album that never sounds like or means exactly one thing. “Nights,” in particular, is a standout track that starts as an upbeat tune about working the night shift and, by the end, transforms into something entirely different.
“Closer” // The Chainsmokers
It was hard to go anywhere in 2016 without hearing Halsey, The Chainsmokers, or someone belting out the infectious chorus of the track “Closer.” The tune occupied the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 12 weeks, and remains a millennial anthem that is ironically, is filled with nostalgia for bygone times.
“Sorry” // Justin Bieber
After a slate of public controversies, Justin Bieber marked his comeback with the 2016 album Purpose. That album featured hits like “Love Yourself” and “What Do You Mean,” but its most enduring hit might be “Sorry,” a song that doubled as an apology for Bieber’s past misbehaviors and a significant entry in the canon of 2010s pop. Starting out with a memorable vocal riff that only Bieber’s falsetto could have made into a defining refrain, this song is definitely a standout in Bieber’s catalogue.
“Your Best American Girl” // Mitski
Mitski started out as an underground indie act, but broke into the mainstream with her song “Your Best American Girl,” a track that builds from a slow meditation on belonging into a cathartic blizzard of guitars. By the time it culminates in Mitski’s reclamation of her identity and her pride, it’s hard not to feel like something has shifted.
“Six Feet Under” // Billie Eilish
It may be hard to believe that Billie Eilish only broke out into the mainstream ten years ago, but it’s true. Eilish was just 14 years old when “Six Feet Under” came out, joined her 2015 debut single “Ocean Eyes,” and made it clear that a new megastar had been born. Her debut EP, Don’t Smile At Me, dropped in 2017, but by then she was already a rising icon based on the strength of her first two singles alone.
“Six Feet Under” explored a breakup using rather morbid imagery, a habit Eilish would build on with her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? But “Six Feet Under” introduced her and her brother, Finneas, as collaborators who were definitely here to stay.
“33, ‘GOD’” // Bon Iver
Up until his album 22, A Million came out in 2016, Bon Iver was known for melancholy indie folk music. Everything changed on that album, which blended experimental and electronic stylings with the artist’s trademark enigmatic lyrics.
“33, ‘GOD’” was a standout track that explored religious themes while reaching ecstatic heights thanks to its innovative composition. Overall, the album marked Bon Iver’s venture into the realm of electronic music, which eventually led to high-profile collaborations and enough fame to eventually cause him to release an album about the pain of fame almost a decade later—2025’s SABLE, fABLE.
“Redbone” // Childish Gambino
Childish Gambino’s “Redbone” was another major 2016 hit. The song explores paranoia about infidelity, and comes from the third album actor Donald Glover created under his stage name. 2016 was a huge year for Glover, who also released season one of Atlanta—the show he created, wrote, and starred in—that same year.
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