Taylor Swift Tops RIAA’s 2025 Year-End Album List; Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” Named Top Single
Published December 11, 2025
On December 11, 2025, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) published its year-end certification summary for 2025. For the second year running, Taylor Swift led the list: her Billboard 200-topping album The Life of a Showgirl was the highest-certified album of the year, earning a 5× Platinum designation.
Earlier in 2025 Swift also reached a major career milestone, becoming the first female artist to surpass 100 million RIAA-certified album units across her catalog. Her recent LP Tortured Poets Department was the RIAA’s top album in the prior year’s tally.
Alex Warren’s single “Ordinary” — certified 3× Platinum after spending ten weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — was named the top single of 2025. Meanwhile, the vocalists behind the fictional K-pop project KPop Demon Hunters (EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI) earned notable first-time RIAA recognitions: their releases from the HUNTR/X project reached multiple Platinum thresholds, led by the 2× Platinum single “Golden.”
RIAA chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier praised the artists and label partners recognized in the year-end report, underscoring how certified milestones reflect both artistic achievement and broad fan engagement. RIAA president and COO Michele Ballantyne highlighted the “Class of 2025,” noting the growing number of emerging artists reaching Gold and Platinum status for the first time.
In total, the RIAA identified 13 albums and 46 singles released in 2025 as #RIAATopCertified. The genre breakdown for those certified projects included 23 pop titles, 18 R&B/hip-hop entries, seven country releases, seven soundtracks and four alternative albums. Other Platinum albums named on the list included Lady Gaga’s Mayhem, Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend and Tate McRae’s So Close To What.
Selected Platinum singles from the year featured work by Bigxthaplug (“All the Way”), Doechii (“Anxiety”), Jessie Murph (“Blue Strips”), Mariah the Scientist (“Burning Blue”) and Sabrina Carpenter (“Manchild”).
Notable highlights from the RIAA’s year-end report
- Drake led all artists with the most certified entries in 2025 (eight titles), including the 2× Platinum single “Nokia” and multiple collaborations tied to his Platinum album $ome Sexy $ongs 4 U.
- Cardi B’s album Am I the Drama? reached Platinum immediately on release and has since climbed to 3× Platinum, making it one of the fastest-certified full-length projects of the year. Lil Tecca’s single “Dark Thoughts” reached Gold in 56 days and is now Platinum.
- Stray Kids were the only act this year to have multiple albums certified, with both HOP and KARMA earning Gold status.
- Gigi Perez’s At the Beach, In Every Life and Tucker Wetmore’s What Not To stood out as the sole alternative and country albums, respectively, to claim Gold certifications in 2025.
- Chappell Roan secured Gold certifications for the singles “The Giver” and “The Subway.”
- Record labels OVO Sound and Republic Records had the most titles represented on the year-end certified list.
- Olivia Dean’s Platinum single “Man I Need” was the highest-certified pop single among the Class of 2025.
- KPop Demon Hunters’ associated Saja Boys collected Platinum hits with “Soda Pop” and “Your Idol.” Artist Sombr tied for the second-most certified entries on the Class of 2025 list with the hits “Back to Friends” and “Undressed.”
- Gelo’s single “Tweaker” was the fastest title to reach Gold among this year’s certified projects, hitting that milestone 97 days after release. It and 803Fresh’s “Boots on the Ground” were the only hip-hop tracks in the 2025 year-end certified list.
The RIAA’s year-end certifications offer a snapshot of which releases resonated most widely with listeners throughout 2025, spanning superstar catalog achievements and the breakthrough moments of rising artists.
