The past year has minted a pair of new superstars as Ella Langley and Olivia Dean dominate the 2026 top songs chart from Luminate, Variety and Billboard’s official data partner, amid global trends that sees global streaming climb 10% and Spanish-language music soar to 1 in 10 U.S. streams, per Luminate’s 2026 Midyear Report covering trends in music, television & film.
The two singers both have two songs in the top 10 of the Luminate songs chart — which Variety uses for its year-end Hitmakers chart — with Langley at No. 1 and No. 4, and Dean at No. 2 and 10. However, the year’s top song to date, Langley’s smash “Choosin’ Texas,” has nearly double the numbers as No. 2, Dean’s “Man I Need,” based on total sales-equivalent consumption.*
Three top songs from 2025 are also in the top 10 (by Alex Warren, Huntr/x and Bad Bunny), but that is common for mid-year charts. Also, Luminate now counts background music like “Rain Sounds for Sleeping” in its chart, although Variety does not.
1. Ella Langley “Choosin’ Texas” 629K2. Olivia Dean “Man I Need” 347K3. Alex Warren “Ordinary” 339K4. Ella Langley “Be Her” 312.52K5. Huntr/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & Rei Ami “Golden” 312.51K6. Bruno Mars “I Just Might” 306K7. Bad Bunny “DtMF” 278K8. PinkPantheress, Zara Larsson “Stateside” 277K9. Taylor Swift “The Fate of Ophelia” 268.1K10. Olivia Dean “So Easy (to Fall in Love)” 268K
