--- description: Beyoncé's "Formation" leads the top 10 most Googled songs of 2016, followed by Prince's "Purple Rain" and Rae Sremmurd's "Black Beatles." title: The Top 10 Most "Googled" Songs of 2016 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Top 10 Most 'Googled' Songs of 2016  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 14, 2016 8:02 AM CUT  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 14, 2016 8:02 AM CUT As 2016 draws to a close, [Google has released the top 10 songs that were most searched for](http://time.com/4150411/most-googled-popular-searched-song-lyrics-2015/ "undefined") during the course of the year — while these weren’t the most searched for in terms of lyrics, according to the search engine, these are the tunes that have garnered the most attention on search for the longest periods of time over 2016. Beyoncé, a [TIME Person of the Year runner-up](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-beyonce-runner-up/?xid=homepage "undefined"), takes home the top spot with [her empowering anthem, “Formation,”](http://time.com/4210856/beyonce-formation-download-free-new-single-super-bowl-show/ "undefined") which was a surprise drop this February, leading up to the release of her [electrifying album _Lemonade_](http://time.com/4370269/beyonce-lemonade-love-drought-jay-z/ "undefined"), [a Super Bowl appearance](http://time.com/4557009/beyonce-super-bowl-cheetos/ "undefined"), and [a world tour sharing the same name](http://time.com/4591221/time-poy-beyonce-runner-up-photos/ "undefined"). She’s in good company as well — from throwback favorites like [Prince’s “Purple Rain”](http://time.com/4437859/prince-purple-rain-anniversary/ "undefined") to [contemporary bangers like Desiigner’s frenetically catchy “Panda,”](http://time.com/4368704/desiigner-vogue-debut-panda-video/ "undefined") Adele’s “Hello,” a top search for 2015, remained on the list. You’ll definitely want to play this year’s most-Googled songs on loop. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4600144/most-googled-songs-2016/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4600144/most-googled-songs-2016/"},"headline":"The Top 10 Most 'Googled' Songs of 2016","datePublished":"2016-12-14T08:02:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:27.187Z","description":"Here's what people were listening to this year","url":"https://time.com/4600144/most-googled-songs-2016/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Google","Music","Beyonce","entertainment","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4600144/most-googled-songs-2016/","name":"The Top 10 Most 'Googled' Songs of 2016"}}]}] ```