5 Songs Turning 25 in 2026 That Still Get Stuck in Your Head

Somewhere in your brain, there's an MP3 Walkman with a CD burned 25 years ago that never stopped playing iconic tracks from 2001. The CD spins instinctively while you're driving, standing in line at the grocery store, and folding laundry. Decades after they first ruled the charts, pop, hip-hop, R&B, and adult contemporary tracks continue to get listeners of all ages moving. That's the true power of a generational bop. A quarter-century later, these 5 songs are still doing exactly what they were written to do: sneak into your head uninvited and refuse to leave!

1. "CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD" // KYLIE MINOGUE
2. "SURVIVOR" // DESTINY'S CHILD
3. "DROPS OF JUPITER (TELL ME)" // TRAIN
4. "THE MIDDLE" // JIMMY EAT WORLD
5. "GET UR FREAK ON // MISSY ELLIOTT

"CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD" // KYLIE MINOGUE

Kylie Minogue hypnotized listeners 25 years ago with "Can't Get You Out Of My Head," and we're still humming along to the "la la las" today. The song describes the feeling of being unable to get someone out of your head and mirrors that sensation in real-time. The tune barely has lyrics, yet somehow lives rent-free in the brains of millions of people worldwide.

In 2002, the music video was nominated for two MTV VMA awards, and in 2003, it received a nomination for Favorite Video at the MTV Asia Awards, evidently striking a chord with international listeners.

The same person who wrote "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" also wrote "Toxic" and offered it to Minogue, who turned it down. The track was given to Britney Spears, who made it a Grammy-winning hit!

"SURVIVOR" // DESTINY'S CHILD

"Survivor" is the musical equivalent of picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and coming back stronger than ever. What started as a breakup song became a powerful anthem made to be belted at full volume and make you feel unstoppable. 

One year before releasing the track, Destiny's Child came out with "Independent Woman," featured in the 2000s reboot ofCharlie's Angels. The "Survivor" music video was nominated for a handful of MTV VMA awards in 2001 and was named Best R&B Video of the year. While the lyrics encourage you to move on, it's almost impossible to move on from the lyrics that are still surviving 25 years later.

"DROPS OF JUPITER (TELL ME)" // TRAIN

This song was daring enough to pose questions that people might've thought foolish before 2001. "Did you make it to the Milky Way?" "Did Venus blow your mind?" Train’s breakthrough hit, "Drops of Jupiter," catapulted astrology into the spotlight and became a song millennials played on repeat for decades. The chorus exudes nostalgia, even if you're not entirely sure what you’re nostalgic for. 

According to Billboard, lead singer Pat Monahan penned the lyrics after experiencing a vivid dream about his mother, who died of cancer years prior. The line "one without a permanent scar" hits home for the artist, who has a permanent chin scar from a car accident that happened prior to releasing "Drops of Jupiter." The song reached RIAA Diamond Status in November 2025, surpassing an impressive 10 million streams in the U.S.!

"THE MIDDLE" // JIMMY EAT WORLD

When Jimmy Eat World released "The Middle" in 2001, they somehow turned a full-on self-help speech (that started out "as a joke," according to lead singer Jim Adkins) into one of the catchiest songs of the decade, beloved across generations. The tune reached unprecedented success after the band was dropped by Capitol Records following the distribution of their first two albums.

The track, nominated for an MTV VMA in 2002, is bright, punchy, and inescapable. 25 years later, "The Middle," featured on Jimmy Eat World's fourth studio album, Bleed American, still proves that sometimes the most effective pop songs are just relentlessly infectious reminders to hang in there.

"GET UR FREAK ON // MISSY ELLIOTT

In 2001, Missy Elliott showed the world that a rap song could be both inventive and mainstream-friendly with "Get Ur Freak On." Produced by Timbaland (name dropped in the track), the chart-topper fused hip-hop and magnetic drum beats to create a hook that set a new standard. Missy's confidence made the tune an instant hit that owned the early 2000s. It even received a handful of MTV VMA nominations and won a Soul Train Award in 2002.

In 2024, Elliott told Good Morning America that her third studio album, Miss E...So Addictive was slated for release before the creation of "Get Ur Freak On," and the song was merely a last-minute addition. In 2025, RollingStone dubbed the track the "best song of the 21st century."