What was your favorite queer song of 2025?
The Out team has been listening to the best queer music all year, and now, after announcing our favorite queer albums of the last 12 months, we're back to tell you our favorite queer songs!
Last year, we counted songs from Tyler, the Creator, Doechii, Billie Eilish, and Chappell Roan as our favorites. Find out how many of those artists made this year's list below!
'Abracadabra' - Lady Gaga
When the music video for this standout track from Gaga's latest album, Mayhem, had its surprise premiere during a commercial break during the 2025 Grammy Awards, the world stopped. The beat, the hook, the choreography... this is peak Gaga. Once again, she proved why she's the most creative pop star in the world.
- Mey Rude
'Crank' - Slayyter
There are songs that you hear the teaser of for the first time, and your body has a carnal desire to hear the whole thing. That was my reaction when I first heard “CRANK” by Slayyyter. This track is an explosion of synths, a throbbing bass, and Slayyyter’s indelible way with words. I was already excited about her upcoming third album, but after this song, “CANNIBALISM!,” and “BEAT UP CHANEL$,” I’m exponentially more excited about her new project.
- Moises Mendez II
'Gnarly' - Katseye
With out members Lara Raj and Megan, Katseye is one of our favorite young bands. The K-Pop-inspired global girl group exploded onto the pop charts and fans' hearts with the endlessly catchy, reference-heavy, dance-pop anthem "Gnarly." The music video also features some of the hottest choreography of the year, making us love the song even more.
- MR
'Folded' - Kehlani
Kehlani hasn’t found the mainstream success she’s deserved for years until the release of her song “Folded” earlier this year. The immensely talented R&B singer finally got their first top 10 single with this slinky, nostalgia-nodding tune about hoping to rekindle a romance that seems to have ended poorly. Her vocal delivery and the song’s production is reminiscent of the early 2000s crooners that stole our hearts years ago and upgraded the sound for a modern audience.
- MM
'Cuntology 101' - Lambrini Girls
Launching from zero to a million in one second, "Cuntology 101" is the punk rock response to the previously mentioned "Gnarly." British political punk band Lambrini Girls kick up the energy and the attitude in this blazing track that celebrates being yourself, feeling comfortable, being a slut, and neurodivergence. There's no other way to say it: This song is cunty.
- MR
'Polo' - Kim Petras
It's a new day for Grammy-winning pop star Kim Petras! The German-born singer released several new tracks this year that indicate an exciting new era of revelation. Petras has never sounded better than on tracks like "I Like Ur Look" and the technotronic, cyberpunk-sexy "Polo." Working with trans producer Margo XS, Petras is becoming an icon of the digital age.
- MR
'The Subway' - Chappell Roan
Ever since Chappell Roan first performed “The Subway” at New York’s Governor’s Ball in June 2024, her fans have been begging her to release the song as a single. She released “Good Luck Babe” and “The Giver” as singles following her massive year in the spotlight, closing out this star-making era with this hauntingly beautiful track about not being able to get over a love lost and the pain of trying to move on. Now that she’s in a new relationship that she’s kept quiet about, maybe the song could be about her mourning her old life, before the fame, the grueling touring schedules, and the social media fodder.
- MM
'Berghain' - Rosalía ft. Bjork and Yves Tumor
Rosalía's latest album, LUX, is a symphony of sounds (literally) and features the singer singing in 14 languages across a wide range of musical genres. Never is the epic scope of the album more apparent than on the sprawling track "Berghain," where Swedish singer Björk and experimental artist Yves Tumor join her on the song, which begins with a symphony and choir before Rosalía begins singing in an operatic style. The song transforms when Björk's otherworldly refrain of "the only way to save us is through divine intervention" comes in, and once again when Yves Tumor's haunting voice comes in, adding, "I'll fuck you till you love me."
- MR
'Kiss' - Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato has done it all. She’s conquered genres from rock music to pop to Latin, but now she wants to take her fans with her to the club. The lead single off her latest album, It’s Not That Deep, “Fast” was the perfect teaser for what’s to come. While promoting that single, she stopped by a party where she played “Kiss” for the first time, and it was captured in a mesmerizing 28-second clip. It was the perfect marketing tactic for this new era, showing that the perfect place to listen to this song (and her new album) is in the club.
- MM
'Lemonade' - Maren Morris
Maren Morris is sweeter than ever on her latest album, but that doesn't mean she doesn't also have a bigger bite. In the song "Lemonade," she lets go of all her unneeded baggage, declaring, "You're a waste of lemons, a waste of limes / You're a waste of my present, a waste of my prime." With clever lyrics and a soothing melody, this is an empowering anthem for fed-up people everywhere.
- MR
'Hotbox' - Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X has had a tumultuous year, but before things took a turn, he put out an album called Dreamboy. The out rapper released the lead single “Light Again in November 2024,” but the single that really stole the show was “Hotbox.” The song samples Pharrell and Jay-Z’s song “Frontin,” and he just slides all over this beat with his usual impressive rapping skills and charisma.
- MM
'Nosebleeds' - Doechii
In Doechii’s song “Nosebleeds,” the music cuts away, and you hear her say, “Everybody wants to know what Doechii would do if she didn’t win, I guess we’ll never [know],” which is a nod to Kanye West’s Grammy acceptance speech after he won for College Dropout. This surprise release was put out after this year’s Grammy Awards, where she became the third woman ever to win in the Best Rap Category for her mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal. It’s a propulsive track backed by a menacing beat, threatening her haters to never doubt her because if they do, they’ll feel her wrath.
- MM
'Vodka Cranberry' - Conan Gray
In a world of bland male popstars, Conan Gray stands out with this introspective and sensitive lyrics and disarming voice. On "Vodka Cranberry," he opens up about the heartbreak of keeping someone in your life who's not meant to be there. When the song reaches its emotional climax in the chorus, Gray sings about drunk-dialing his ex, a feeling most of us know all too well, and lays his emotions bare.
- MR
'Fineshyt' - Amaarae
Off her third album, Black Star, "Fineshyt" is an absolute bop from the Ghanaian-American singer Amaarae. When Charli XCX said she wants to hear the club classics, this is the type of song she's talking about. Amaarae is so enamored with her partner that she can't say no to her. "She's my fine shyt / I love her then I don't / She always on the phone / I give her what she want / My fine shyt," she sings in the earworm hook.
- MR
'Puta' - Arca
Arca imagines a cyberpunk present in the Venezuelan producer's first solo material since 2022. It's choppy, dark, sensual, and steamy, perfect for losing yourself in a dark club or bedroom. If you want to feel like you're living in a future where everyone is in control of their bodies and sexualities, this is your perfect soundtrack.
- MR
'Big Ol' Hammer' - G Flip
Nonbinary Australian alt-rocker G Flip released their best album to date in 2025, and their song "Bed on Fire" could easily be on this list as well. Still, we're instead going to highlight the haughty and hilarious anthem of non-male masculinity, "Big Ol' Hammer." G Flip praises their partner for making them feel "like a mustang / like an alpha / In a toolbelt / with a big ol' hammer," and we can't help but agree. The music video starring Fortune Feimster and a dozen hot dykes and queers line-dancing in a garage is just the cherry on top.
- MR
'Clam Casino' - Chrissy Chlapecka
The recent trend of lesbian pop stars dipping their toes into country (look at Chappell Roan's "The Giver" and Zolita's "Small Town Scandal" for examples) and Chrissy Chlapecka's "Clam Casino" is the most fun of them all! Filled with hilarious double entendres and a proud lesbian attitude, this song is a ready-made party anthem.
- MR
'Leave Me Alone' - Reneé Rapp
It felt like Rapp really came into her pop-star persona on her newest album, Bite Me, and the caustic, confrontational "Leave Me Alone" is a perfect summation of that. On the in-your-face track, she jokes about her lack of PR training, shades her former show The Sex Lives of College Girls, and declares that she just wants to be left alone to have fun. Sometimes, we feel the same way!
- MR
'worst behaviour' - kwn ft. Kehlani
Kwn is one of the few artists who can match Kehlani's sexy swag bar for bar, particularly on this song from her EP With All Due Respect. Cowritten with Sasha Keable, this smooth R&B track features an even sexier remix featuring Kehlani. If the song isn't enough for you, check out the sensual music video featuring one of the pairs in music and shibari suspension!
- MR
