Google has revealed its annual list of the year’s top trending searches, and for once Taylor Swift was nowhere to be seen.
Despite having the biggest year out of virtually any person, Swift was not one of the search engine's top subjects. Instead, the world's most searched person was Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin, who suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed on-field during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2, 2023.
The most searched musician globally was Shakira, who made plenty of headlines with her long-standing tax dispute with Spanish authorities, which saw her settle out of court for a reported $11million CAD. She was also one of the big winners at the Latin Grammy Awards in November. The Colombian star also had the third most searched song in "Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53," her collaboration with Bizarrap.
A controversy surrounding Jason Aldean's summer hit "Try That In A Small Town" made both him and the song one of music's top searches.
The number one most searched song in the world was "アイドル" or "Idol" by Yoasobi, which is the theme music from the popular anime series Oshi no Ko. And strangely enough, in a down year Imagine Dragons had two of the most hummed to search songs of the year: "Bones" at #1 and "Believer" at #5.
In other categories, Matthew Perry was the most searched Passing both globally and in Canada, Jeremy Renner was the most searched Actor, Barbie was the most searched movie (Oppenheimer was #1 in Canada), and the War in Israel and Gaza was the most searched news story.
See the full list of global music searches below, and have some fun browsing the "Year in Search" here.
Musicians
1 Shakira
2 Jason Aldean
3 Joe Jonas
4 Smash Mouth
5 Peppino di Capri
Songs
1 アイドル - Yoasobi
2 Try That In A Small Town - Jason Aldean
3 Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53 - Shakira and Bizarrap
4 Unholy - Sam Smith and Kim Petras
5 Cupid - FIFTY FIFTY
Hum to Search: Top Songs
1 Bones - Imagine Dragons
2 Kesariya - Arijit Singh
3 アイドル - YOASOBI
4 Maan Meri Jaan - King
5 Believer - Imagine Dragons