40 Most-Played Songs of 2025 Reveal A Disturbing Trend

The most-played song in country music in 2025 is an RIAA certified, triple-platinum duet released two summers ago.

After that, it's a lot of Morgan Wallen, Jelly Roll and famous country men.

This list of the Top 40 country songs of 2025 is ranked based on radio airplay data provided by Billboard. The most-played song is last.
During a mid-year check-in, Jelly Roll's "Liar" was No. 1 but this rocker has slid to No. 5 for the year-end list.
Taste of Country's choice for the No. 1 song of the year was "Don't Mind If I Do" by Riley Green and Ella Langley.

Country Music's Most-Played Songs, By the Numbers

Seven duets make up the 40 most played songs on the radio this year. Of the 33 remaining solo hits, 31 are from country men.

The two women who cracked this list of most-played songs are Megan Moroney ("Am I Okay?") and Langley ("Weren't For the Wind"). Surprisingly, the current CMA Entertainer of the Year Lainey Wilson does not have a song on this list ("4X4XU" is at No. 42).

Shaboozey (two songs) and Kane Brown are the only two not white artists among the most played this year. Both took big leaps as the year moved on with "Good News" leaping from the back of the pack to No. 4 overall.

The No. 1 Most Played Song of 2025 Is ...

The most played song of 2025 is a surprise if you don't understand radio programming methodology.

Artists with several years worth of hits on the radio typically struggle to notch a Top 5 most-played song because programmers seek artist separation. That means they don't want two songs from any one artist within a set time frame, often 30 minutes but sometimes less or more.

So, after an active single (a "current") enjoys its chart run, it's competing with hits from the same artist's catalog for airplay (called recurrents). A new artist on his first or second single doesn't have to worry about this. If this song mid-tempo, all the better because no programmer wants to play too many ballads.

It's been long-rumored that programmers also try to avoid playing too many women in a short time frame as well and these numbers support this.

The last time a woman had the most played song on the radio was 1992 when Wynonna Judd took the crown with "I Saw the Light."