The biggest hits of the past 21 summers

Every year, Billboard declares one pop song as the summer hit of the year. It does so by comparing all sales and downloads between the end of May and beginning of September. See who the past Songs of the Summers are - do you remember them all?

The main single from the album 'Mad Season,' 'Bent' is the band's first and only song to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list. It was also #1 on RPM Top Singles (Canada) for five non-consecutive weeks.

The second single from the album '8701,' this song reached #1 on Billboard and made it into the top 5 in Australia, Belgium, France, New Zealand, UK and the Netherlands. It also got Usher his first Grammy: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

Second single from the album 'Nellyville,' this typical summer song made its way into the charts in many European countries and in the USA. It won the Grammy for Best Male Rap Solo Performance. In 2008, VH1 gave 'Hot in here' the 36th place in the list of the 100 best hip hop songs ever.

This classic was part of Beyoncé's debut album: 'Dangerously in love.' It was #1 on VH1's 'Best Songs of 2000' list, and #118 on Rolling Stone magazine's '500 Best Songs of All Time' list. It won the Grammy for Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Single Collaboration, and it was also nominated for Best Recording of the Year.

The third single from the album 'Confessions,' this Usher song was at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 list for two weeks and had international success as well. The series 'Glee' included it in a mash-up along with Bon Jovi's 'It's My Life.'

It was the second single from her ninth album: 'The Emancipation of Mimi.' The song remained on top of the Billboard chart for 14 weeks and reached #1 in Brazil and Australia. In fact, it is currently the most widely played song in the history of American music.

'Promiscuous' was the first single from the album 'Loose.' Both the song and the album held simultaneously the number one position on Billboard's top lists. In Canada, 'Promiscuous' was certified Diamond. In Chile, Indonesia, Turkey, Croatia and many other countries it also topped the charts.

'Umbrella' was originally offered to Britney Spears, but her representatives turned it down. Released as the first single from Rihanna's third album, 'Good Girl Gone Bad,' it is one of the best-selling songs of the 2000s. It won the Grammy for Best Rap/Single Collaboration. It was also nominated for Song of the Year and Recording of the Year.

It was the first single of her album 'One of the Boys.' It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian Hot 100. In Europe, it topped the charts in countries like Austria, Ireland, Denmark and many others. Katy Perry was nominated for Best Female Vocal Performance at the Grammys.

The second single from the album 'The E.N.D.', this track is the tenth best-selling song of all time. In 2013 it reached #6 in 'Best Songs Ever' on the Hot 100. The Black Eyed Peas are the fourth group in the history of Billboard to succeed in replacing themselves at #1 on the list. After 'I Gotta Feeling' they directly took over the top spot with 'Boom Boom Pow.'

Another summer hit for Katy Perry, this song is from her second studio album 'Teenage Dream.' The singer revealed that it is a response to Jay Z and Alicia Keys' ode to New York: 'Empire State of Mind.' With over 8,370,000 copies sold worldwide, it is one of the most successful songs of 2010.

The first single from the album 'Sorry For Party Rocking,' it spent 11 weeks at #1 in New Zealand, 10 weeks at #1 in Australia and 6 weeks at #1 in the US, tying with Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way.' It sold over 3,112,000 digital copies. In Billboard's 'Hot 100 55th Anniversary: Top 100 Songs of All Time' list, the song was ranked #5.

Part of the album 'Kiss,' this is one of the best-selling digital tracks of 2012. It was certified with a golden and multiplatinum record in more than eight countries. In 2015, it was also placed on the list of the best selling singles in the world.

The first single from the album with the same title, 'Blurred Lines' reached the top of the charts in 14 different countries, including Mexico, Australia, Japan, Ireland, Spain and the USA. In the US it holds a record in the history of digital sales and was #1 on Billboard 12 consecutive weeks.

This was the fourth single from Iggy Azalea's debut album, 'The new classic.' It made platinum in five countries. In 2017, Billboard declared 'Fancy' the biggest hit by a rapper in history, before Nicky Minaj's 'Superbass.' MTV ranked Azalea's video, based on the movie 'Clueless,' as the fifth best of the decade.

Released as a single in 2012, the original OMI song was a hit in Jamaica, several parts of the Caribbean and Dubai. After signing with the US label Ultra, the remixed version (by German dj Felix Jaehn) came out in 2014. It topped the music charts in 20 different countries in 2015.

The second single from the album 'Views,' the track 'One Dance' quickly became an international hit. It was Drake's first No. 1 in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, UK (where it stayed on top for 15 consecutive weeks) and the US.

An unforgettable song in a language other than English, 'Despacito' remained at No. 1 for weeks in more than 80 countries and became the most played song on Youtube. Several covers followed, the most notable being with Justin Bieber. The song won four Latin Grammys: Best Song, Best Recording, Best Urban Fusion/Performance and Best Music Video.

This track was part of his fifth studio album, 'Scorpion.' Drake made it especially popular because of the #InMyFeelingsChallenge, which consisted of dancing the song out of or into a moving car and recording it. The song broke the record for most streams in one week. This record would be smashed in the next year, though.

'Old Town Road' made more streaming appearances in a week than Drake's summer hit of the previous year. It's a remarkable track: the first so-called country rap song to get so much mainstream attention. Both the original rap song and the version with Billy Ray Cyrus reached the top in many countries. It's the song that has achieved the fastest U.S. Diamond certification ever.

In 2020, rapper DaBaby and Roddy Ricch got the honorable title with their song 'Rockstar.' The track came from the album 'Blame it on Baby.'

It was a tough competition in 2021, between Olivia Rodrigo's 'Good 4 U', Dua Lipa's 'Levitating', Doja Cat's 'Kiss Me More,' and this superhit from the Korean boy group BTS. In the end, 'Butter' won, and it's quite an unforgettable song, we have to say.

2022 was not left behind with the variety of hits to choose from in the summer, having songs like 'About Damn Time' by Lizzo (in second place) or 'First Class' by Jack Harlow (in third), however, it has been Harry Styles who took the top spot after 12 weeks in first place with his catchy track 'As it was'.

And this year the contestants are Taylor Swift in fifth place with 'Karma'; 'All My Life' by Lil Durk Featuring J. Cole in fourth place; Rema & Selena Gomez with 'Calm Down'; and the battle for first place is between 'Flowers' by Miley Cyrus and 'Last Night' by Morgan Wallen. Who will take the title of 2023's hit of the summer?