TikTok’s Revival Era: Jess Glynne Tops the UK List as Older Tracks Find New Life
Key Highlights
- Jess Glynne’s Hold My Hand becomes the UK’s TikTok Song of the Year as the Jet2 holiday meme gives the 2015 hit a fresh surge in popularity.
- TikTok trends are increasingly reviving older tracks, giving artists unexpected second-career highs.
- From Rihanna to Connie Francis, catalogue songs from past decades are returning to global charts through viral audio moments.
TikTok’s hold over global music culture has shifted dramatically in recent years, with older tracks now re-emerging as viral favourites thanks to memes, challenges and nostalgic trends.
The platform’s ability to breathe new life into catalogue songs is reshaping discoverability, streaming habits and even artist careers.
TikTok’s Music Revival Engine
This year’s biggest example is Jess Glynne’s Hold My Hand, which TikTok has crowned the UK’s Song of the Year, according to the platform’s annual music review. The surprising resurgence of her decade-old hit showcases a larger shift: TikTok is no longer just launching new artists, it’s reviving older hits and giving them a second, often bigger, moment.
Jess Glynne’s Unexpected Comeback Moment
Jess Glynne’s 2015 chart-topper owes its 2025 comeback to one of the UK’s most viral memes of the year: the “nothing beats a Jet2holiday” trend. The audio, long associated with Jet2’s marketing, exploded on TikTok as users began pairing the upbeat track with humorous holiday mishaps, chaotic airport scenes and self-deprecating travel humour.
The trend has been huge. TikTok said the track has now soundtracked 6.6 million videos, and posts using the audio have surpassed 80 billion views, making it not only the UK’s top TikTok song but also the second-most popular global TikTok track of the year.
Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, Glynne said the renewed attention has been “insane,” calling it “the most amazing feeling” to see the song thriving again a decade after its release. She described the trend as giving the track a genuine “new lease of life,” allowing her to reconnect with a younger audience discovering the song for the first time.
How TikTok’s Algorithm Resurrects Older Songs
TikTok trends thrive on rediscovery. Audio snippets from any era can suddenly resurface if they spark emotion, humour or nostalgia. Songs with strong hooks, emotional crescendos or meme-friendly lyrics tend to dominate.
In Glynne’s case, the Jet2 voiceover paired with her energetic chorus created a perfect comedic template. But her revival is part of a broader movement: TikTok’s algorithm increasingly favours emotive or meme-ready back catalogue tracks, often pushing them back onto charts, playlists and radio rotations.
Other Artists Riding TikTok’s Second-Wave Fame
This year delivered a long list of resurrected hits. As reported by TikTok:
- Rihanna’s 2007 track “Breakin’ Dishes” returned to global relevance thanks to high-energy transformation videos.
- Radiohead’s 1997 ballad “Let Down” resurfaced as users paired its melancholic tone with reflective scenes.
- The Black Eyed Peas’ 2010 release, “Rock That Body,” powered upbeat montage trends.
However, the most dramatic comeback belongs to Connie Francis, whose 1962 classic “Pretty Little Baby” unexpectedly became TikTok’s Global Song of the Year, six decades after its release.
What This Means for Artists and the Industry
For artists, TikTok has become an unexpected accelerator of second careers. A decade-old single can suddenly outperform new releases, and catalogue songs, which were once reliant on radio or licensing, can now find global audiences overnight.
As a result, labels have been quick to adapt, increasingly prioritising catalogue marketing, commissioning new remixes, and pushing artists to re-engage with older hits through their own TikTok content.
The Future: Music Discovery Has No Time Limits
TikTok’s 2025 music landscape confirms one thing: songs no longer age out of opportunity. Whether it’s a decade-old pop anthem or a six-decade-old classic, any track can become a global hit again if it lands in the right trend.
For Jess Glynne and many others, the platform is proving that a hit doesn’t just happen once; it can return, evolve and resonate all over again.
