Lorde Says Justin Bieber’s ‘Daisies’ Was Her 2025 Song of the Summer: ‘It Ticked All the Boxes for Me’
What's the New Zealand native's main SOTS requirement? "It has to be flirty," she says.
Lorde attends the 2025 LACMA Art+Film Gala, Presented By Gucci at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on November 01, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Lorde is giving Justin Bieber his flowers on what she thinks was the song of the summer in 2025: “Daisies.”
In a New Yorker piece published Monday (Dec. 1), the New Zealand pop star said that the Canadian singer’s Swag lead single was the “closest we came” to having a bonafide SOTS this year. “It ticked all the boxes for me,” she told the publication. “It has to be flirty!”
And while many of her fans might contest that “What Was That” should be awarded the song of the summer title, Lorde isn’t sure. “I should be so lucky as to make a song of the summer,” she added. “I don’t think I really make that type of music, but maybe I do. I’m happy to leave that to others.”
This year was one of the most confusing battles for song of the summer in recent memory, with some music fans claiming that — unlike most years — there was no clear winner in 2025. Other stars shared their own SOTS picks with The New Yorker, with Sadie Sink shouting out Lady Gaga’s “How Bad Do U Want Me” and Amaya “Papaya” Espinal praising “DtMF” by Bad Bunny.
By Billboard‘s chart metrics, the song of the summer honours belong to Alex Warren for “Ordinary,” which spent an eye-popping 10 weeks at No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2025. Morgan Wallen also dominated the season with “What I Want” featuring Tate McRae, “Just in Case” and “I’m the Problem,” which ranked Nos. 2-4 on the season-end SOTS tally, respectively.
But, as Lorde said, there’s definitely a case to be made for Bieber’s sauntering R&B-pop hit. “Daisies” peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 and is currently up for best pop solo performance at next year’s Grammys.
This article was first published by Billboard U.S.
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