Summer is winding down, and as always, certain songs defined the season. For 2025, Muse Group—the company behind Ultimate Guitar and MuseScore—looked into what musicians were playing the most. Their analysis highlights this year’s standout new releases, fastest-rising tracks, enduring classics, and the top genres of summer.
Remembering the legends: Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath and The Beach Boys songs saw the fastest growth on Ultimate Guitar
This summer, the music community lost two legends. Ozzy Osbourne passed away in July and The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson in June. Musicians on Ultimate Guitar paid tribute in the best way possible, which was by playing their songs.
Tabs for Ozzy Osbourne’s final live-performed song, “Mama I’m Coming Home,” had almost 16 times more views than at the start of summer, making it the fastest-growing track on Ultimate Guitar. It was followed by another iconic track, “Changes,” forever associated with Ozzy’s voice. The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows,” one of the band’s most renowned songs, saw its views grow eight times over the summer.
Tabs for “Sparks” by Coldplay jumped five times in views following their tour. Social media is full of concert videos of Chris Martin performing an acoustic, more emotional version of the song, which fans have linked to his recent breakup.
Fastest growing tabs of summer 2025 on Ultimate Guitar
- Ozzy Osbourne — Mama I’m Coming Home — 30,151 to 477,616 views, up 16 times
- Black Sabbath — Changes — 9,664 to 150,376 views, up 15.5 times
- The Beach Boys — God Only Knows — 43,730 to 353,962 views, up 8 times
- Coldplay — Sparks — 291,343 to 1,539,264 views, up 5 times
- Black Sabbath — War Pigs — 50,825 to 153,244 views, up 3 times
The Beatles and Billie Eilish are the artists of the summer
The Beatles might seem like the all-time musicians’ favorite, and this summer they indeed topped the list with 8 million views. However, in last year’s summer ranking they were overtaken by Taylor Swift, who spent all of 2024 on her highly successful “Eras Tour.” This time she placed third, right after Radiohead. Two other most popular artists of the summer are Coldplay and Oasis, both of whom are touring this year, which often sparks a fresh wave of interest in an artist’s catalog.
For MuseScore, it’s Billie summer. Musicians have generated over 600K views on her scores since June, a year after the Hit Me Hard And Soft album release. Next comes Coldplay, for the same reason they increased popularity on Ultimate Guitar.
The second half of the list is all about timeless favorites, with Chopin, Hans Zimmer, and Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi always in demand among pianists.
Top 5 artists of summer 2025 on Ultimate Guitar
- The Beatles — 8,267,116 views
- Radiohead — 6,754,972 views
- Taylor Swift — 6,402,510 views
- Coldplay — 5,958,926 views
- Oasis — 5,618,637 views
Top 5 artists of summer 2025 on MuseScore
- Billie Eilish — 668,090 views
- Coldplay — 884,250 views
- Frédéric Chopin — 1,687,292 views
- Hans Zimmer — 1,413,971 views
- Joe Hisaishi — 1,593,105 views
