The Most Talked About Fandom Highlights That Took Over Your Feed This Year
2025 was not a year short of viral moments, which we continue to hold space for, much like Cynthia and Ariana. In case the speed at which social media moves, and the constant notable fandom moments have led to you requiring a refresh of your memory, this summary should update you before 2026 hits on the widely spoken about fandom highlights of the year!
Kendrick Lamar Performing Not Like Us at the Superbowl
2025’s list of viral fandom moments started strong with a memorable Superbowl halftime show moment with Kendrick Lamar’s performance. In his respected half time show performance slot in 2025, joined by SZA for some of the set, the rap star performed many of his hits, in iconic denim flares. The true fandom highlight which flooded social media was Kendrick performing his Grammy Awarded Drake diss track, Not Like Us, and introducing the track by saying, “I want to play their favourite song… but you know they love to sue.” He delivered the track with confidence in the knowledge that the internet would be talking about him looking straight at the camera to deliver the line, “Tryin’ to strike a chord and it’s probably A minor” for weeks, and they were.
Primavera Sound and the Summer of the Power-Pop Girls
Chappell Roan. Sabrina Carpenter. Charli XCX. Three pop music powerhouses, who have taken the charts and the internet by storm in recent years, came together to perform at Primavera Sound in Barcelona this summer, with their hair colours leading that line up to be dubbed the “Power-Pop” girls in a nod to the icon Y2K cartoon characters the Powerpuff Girls. Charli XCX took the opportunity with her set to bring the Sweat Tour to Europe, her tour with Troye Sivan, which had exclusively North American stops. Sabrina took the stage on the Friday, with her viral dances, memorable costumes and fun pop hits all included in this performance. Chappell was the final of the “Power-pop” girls to take the Primavera stage this year, in a fun, high energy performance which had the whole crowd singing along to HOT TO GO.
KPop Demon Hunters Takes Over the Charts
KPop Demon Hunters, a title with very little meaning at the beginning of the year, absolutely dominated the streaming figures and the charts this year. This animated film, released in summer 2025, combined catchy KPop songs, with excellent animation and lovable characters, which proved to be the perfect recipe for a viral hit. The standout track from the film, Golden, achieved great success following the release of the film, with the track landing a number one on the UK charts for nine non-consecutive weeks, and sixteen non-consecutive weeks in the US.
Sunrise on the Reaping Book Release and Cast Announcement
The news of a new Hunger Games book (and upcoming film) was exciting news for all the fans who have watched hours of incredible Hunger Games edits on TikTok, and took up archery at some point, inspired by Katniss Everdeen. The new book by author Suzanne Collins, was to follow Hamitch Abernathy, the mentor from District 12, who supports Peeta and Katniss in the original series. This released in 2025, and had great fandom discussion around the plot, and who would be best to play each beloved character in the film adaptation in 2026, with the cast announcements each day getting much attention.
The Life of a Showgirl
A new Taylor Swift album instantly becomes a highlight in fandom buzz for the year, with her twelfth album, The Life of a Showgirl being announced on her first podcast appearance this summer, along with her boyfriend (now fiancé) Travis Kelce (this deserved its own point.) The Life of a Showgirl had an orange and teal theme branding this time, and as described as Taylor, had “folklore storytelling with 1989 production.” The album was released later in the year in October, having cinema showings along with the release.
Lady Gaga’s Tour and Record-Breaking Rio Show
Pop royalty Lady Gaga touring in 2025 and the artistic excellence of the Mayhem Tour was enough to land her on this list, but in classic Gaga fashion, she pushed boundaries with her show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Copacabana Beach. This free show led to over two million attendees, making her the female artist in the world with the most attended concert. The Mayhem tour itself had many iconic fandom moments throughout the year, including the cast of Wednesday joining her on stage in London to perform Dead Dance.
Taylor Swift’s Engagement
In August this year, Taylor Swift announced her engagement to Travis Kelce, in a viral Instagram post captioned “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”, in a nod to her song So High School.
The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3
A TV show fandom which took the internet by storm in 2025, was that of The Summer I Turned Pretty. Season 3 graced our screens this past summer, and hooked everyone, with the same question…Conrad or Jeremiah? If you haven’t watched this show yet, it is worth the binge watch to be involved in the internet discussion about everyone’s favourite love triangle before the upcoming feature film.
Phan 2025 Hard Launch
Words that those who spent a bit too much time on YouTube and Tumblr in 2015 thought they would never hear. If the words “PINOF” or the image of cat whiskers doesn’t give you instant flashbacks to 2015, then this fandom moment can be easily explained as the YouTubers Dan and Phil hard launching their 16 year long relationship, in an over 45 minutes long video titled, “Are Dan and Phil in a Relationship? The Truth.” This video confirmed their relationship, addressed why they hadn’t spoken about it previously, and why they are finally speaking about it now. They concluded the video with a podcast announcement, aptly titled “Hard Launch.”
Zara Larsson’s Tour
Underrated pop icon, and singer of the absolute hits, Lush Life and Ruin My Life (to name a few!), Zara Larsson went on tour this year, with the Midnight Sun Tour. The fandom highlight within this tour was the fan interaction within the song Lush Life, where fans are invited on stage to perform and dance to the song with Zara herself. Fan Julia, created a viral moment when she came on stage and shocked everyone with her dance ability.
Grammy Nominations
To round off a year of pop culture and fandom moments, the Grammy nominations were announced in October, with Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, and Bad Bunny being among the most nominated.
