It’s late May, and the official launch of Billboard‘s Song of the Summer race is just around the corner. Many of this year’s likely frontrunners have already been established — with more sure to join them in the weeks to come with the release of much-anticipated new songs and albums — as some longer-shot artists are also starting to show themselves as good value bets. And while plenty of new names and faces look to be elbowing their way into the discussion, some older artists are showing up in the mix for the first time in years — some even doing so posthumously.
On this week’s Pop Star Performance Review episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, we do our best to size up what is sure to be a very heated race for the 2026 Song of the Summer crown. Host Andrew Unterberger is enjoyed by AJ Marks of r/Popheads and the Main Pod Girl podcast to run down the most obvious inner-circle contenders in the discussion, while also giving some dark-horse picks currently a little more on the fringes, and naming some personal favorites who aren’t particularly close to the discussion just yet, but who we’re pulling for just the same.
Along the way, we also answer all of the most pressing questions about Song of the Summer 2026: Is “Choosin’ Texas” still somehow the song to beat? Will any of the 42 Drake songs on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 stick around long enough to be a major factor in the discussion? Are we sure to hear from Morgan Wallen at some point in the race? Are we miscasting Olivia Rodrigo as a Song of the Summer-type artist? How might Zara Larsson or Kacey Musgraves be able to elbow her way into the race? Can Charli xcx dominate the summer discourse for the second time in two years? And perhaps most importantly: Does the Song of the Summer really still mean what it used to, anyway?
Check it out above, along with a playlist of some of our favorite Song of the Summer not-quite-contenders discussed in the episode, and please subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom.
And as we say in every one of these GPS podcast posts — if you have the time and money to spare, please consider donating to any of these causes in the fight for trans rights:
Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe
Human Rights Campaign – In Your Area
