By Ava Fultz

The new year represents new beginnings, resolutions and reflection, setting the stage for exciting events in 2026. Last year was a year for the books for the entertainment industry, marked by drama in the pop culture industry, enticing sports wins and social media trends emerging all over the world. If you will lend me six or seven minutes of your time, I will provide a quick synopsis of the exciting, interesting and weird year 2025.

Pop Culture

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s romantic relationship sparked interest everywhere among fans of football, to the excitement of young girls following Swift’s undeniable successful music journey. The two crossed paths when Kelce attended one of Swift’s concerts, where he later admitted on “New Heights” his podcast that he tried to give the singer a bracelet with his number strung along on it. On Aug. 26, Swift posted an engagement post with the caption “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” Love was in the air for the two in 2025, who continue to thrive in their careers in early 2026, with Swift leading iHeartRadio in music listeners and Kelce ending his football season with splendid stats.

Swift was not the only singer to leave a lasting impression on the world, as early in the year, April 14, Katy Perry changed the music industry forever by taking a trip to space. Accompanying Perry were six women making the trip, the first all-women spaceflight since 1963. Later, Perry shared her intentions for the trip to inspire young girls everywhere, aspiring to one day work in science or astronautics. One goal was definitely accomplished with Perry’s endeavor, leaving the world in conversation on the stunning decision to travel to space.

Sports

The World Series had millions of baseball fans on the edge of their seats as the championship took all seven games between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Dodgers. The seventh game took place on Nov.1st, where the Blue Jays fell 5-4 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. A notable performance by Shohei Ohtani throughout the games ignited hope in Dodgers fans everywhere. Ohtani contributed greatly to the win with stellar pitching and hitting, where he hit three home runs and five RBIs. The impressive performance from both the Blue Jays and Dodgers will not go unforgotten, with the historic accomplishments from both teams.

Starting the year with a bang, Super Bowl LX was one to remember with both the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs going head-to-head, winner taking all. While both teams showed resilience and grit, the Eagles came away with a 40-22 win against the Chiefs. The unwavering support for both teams was evident as millions of Americans tuned in to the game, waiting to see if the Eagles could defeat the reigning champs. Jalen Hurts, the Eagles quarterback, quickly separated himself from other athletes as he threw a remarkable 221 yards, resulting in being named Super Bowl MVP. The Eagles are presented with the opportunity to repeat early in 2026, while the Chiefs were eliminated early, meaning the matchup has no chance to repeat, making the Super Bowl one of a kind.

Trends

The phrase every teacher started to dread when school began “six seven.” The meme was born with kids all around the world after rapper Skrilla’s song hit the charts. What began as a funny phrase for kids to shout at each other in the hallways, adults quickly caught on and joined in on the fun by saying the silly trend. The real question is will the phrase stick with schools in to the new year or will a new meme take its place? 

Tiktok had a generational run this year with influencing society to buy products, specifically Labubus. The Labubus craze started with Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung where he caught inspiration from Nordic folklore and used his creativity to make a toy that has monster-like features. Social media then gave the toy the large platform it demanded. The craze over the toy has fizzled making for a new trend to take its place in the new year!

The year 2025 has brought a wide range of emotions– positive and negative– but one thing is for sure, the year was a memorable one. With stellar sport performances, celebrities taking the world by surprise and trends that seem to unite the world in funny phrases and toys. Hopefully, 2026 will be exciting with the entertainment industry’s release of song/movies and TikTok growing with more users engaging with the app, bringing fun and feisty content.

Courtesy of Spotify