Yes, the most popular song globally on TikTok in 2025 came out in 1962. Oldheads rejoice! Connie Francis’ “Pretty Little Baby,” according to a year-end report, was featured at least 28 million times, amassing more than 68 billion views in total. In May alone, “Pretty Little Baby” was featured in 1.3 million posts, topping the app’s music chart. The true number of videos featuring the song is unknown, but could be as many as 1 million. As Rolling Stone reported yesterday, “the scattered nature of how music is shared on TikTok makes it hard to know exactly how the count reached 28 million.”
On Spotify, the song crossed the 100 million streams threshold. Versions sung by Francis in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and Japanese have since been reissued. “I recorded that song 63 years ago and to know that an entire new generation now knows who I am, and my music is thrilling to me,” Francis said in a press release, two months before passing away at the age of 87. “Thank you so much everybody, thank you TikTok.”
The runner-up on the Top Global Songs list is Jess Glynne’s “Hold My Hand,” best known for being featured in the viral “Nothing Beats a Jet2 Holiday” audio trend. TikTok named Katseye its Global Artist of the Year, while Taylor Swift was the Global Most-Saved Artist, Sombr’s “Back to Friends” was the Global Most-Saved Track, and Tate McRae’s So Close to What was the Global Most-Saved Album.
“Pretty Little Baby” was not originally a single, instead showing up on Connie Francis Sings “Second Hand Love” & Other Hits in 1962. In response to the song’s growing popularity on TikTok, it was given the official single rub. I find Francis to be an American treasure on the level of Doris Day, and “Pretty Little Baby” turning into a viral phenomenon this many years after its release is a sweet reminder that good things do still happen on the internet.
At her peak, Francis was one of her generation’s most successful singers. She sold over 100 million albums and became the first woman to ever reach the #1 position on the Hot 100, thanks to “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” becoming a hit in 1960. Between 1957 and 1969, she had more than 50 charting singles, including “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own” and “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves,” both of which went all the way to the top.
