The Best Breakup Songs, Ranked
Rank the best breakup songs head-to-head, Someone Like You vs drivers license and more, then compare your heartbreak list with the community. Early results (n = 18): too few finished brackets to call a leader yet. Your first pick is right here. No sign-up.
Size
No Tears Left to CryAriana Grande
Say SomethingA Great Big World & Christina Aguilera
Tap a poster to make your pick. Crowd numbers appear after you choose.
Rank all 24: the song sorter, about 81 picks for your full order, 1 to 24. All 24: a bracket, 23 picks, with tied places.
Breakup Songs: early results
Early results (n = 18). Win rate across 350 head-to-head picks from 18 finished brackets. n is the number of matchups behind each win rate; only entrants with 30 or more are listed.
| # | Breakup song | W–L | Win rate | vs .500 | Titles | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33–16 | 67.3% | 2 | 49 | ||
| 2 | 24–13 | 64.9% | 2 | 37 | ||
| 3 | 19–12 | 61.3% | 1 | 31 | ||
| 4 | 26–17 | 60.5% | 1 | 43 | ||
| 5 | 19–13 | 59.4% | 2 | 32 | ||
| 6 | 20–15 | 57.1% | 2 | 35 | ||
| 7 | 21–17 | 55.3% | 0 | 38 | ||
| 8 | 15–15 | 50% | 0 | 30 |
Breakup Songs: an early tier list
Early results (n = 18) Too few finished brackets to call yet; the tiers settle as more people play. Placed by win rate, steadied toward 50% for entrants with few matchups: S is 75% or more, A 60%, B 50%, C 40%, D 25%.
Stier, win rate 75% or more
- Nobody yet
Atier, win rate 60% or more
- Since U Been Gone
- Someone Like You
Btier, win rate 50% or more
- good 4 u
- drivers license
- All Too Well
- Somebody That I Used to Know
- I Will Survive
- Kill Bill
- Irreplaceable
- We Are Never Getting Back Together
Ctier, win rate 40% or more
- Back to Black
- Before He Cheats
- Cry Me a River
- No Tears Left to Cry
- Go Your Own Way
- Flowers
- Nothing Compares 2 U
- It's Too Late
- + 4 more
Dtier, win rate 25% or more
- Say Something
- You Oughta Know
Ftier, win rate 0% or more
- Nobody yet
How the Breakup Songs bracket works
This breakup song ranking is played, not dragged into rows. You get one matchup at a time — Someone Like You or We Are Never Getting Back Together? Un-Break My Heart or Nothing Compares 2 U? — and after 15 picks the bracket has a champion, with everything else placed by how far it got. A straight list invites you to hedge. A matchup does not, and that is what makes the final 24-deep order worth screenshotting.
This bracket runs 4 rounds at the default 16-slot size (Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Final), drawn from a pool of 24 songs. Entrants are drawn by a seed that changes daily, and New draw picks a fresh one, so an early upset in one run may never happen in the next. You can also play it at 8 or 24 slots for a shorter or longer run.
15 picks, 4 rounds
- Round of 168 matchups
- Quarterfinals4 matchups
- Semifinals2 matchups
- Final1 matchup
Roughly 1-2 minutes start to finish at the default size.
All 24 entrants
All 24 entrants are listed below, including Someone Like You, We Are Never Getting Back Together, Un-Break My Heart and Nothing Compares 2 U. Updated
- Someone Like YouAdeleListen on Apple Music
- We Are Never Getting Back TogetherTaylor SwiftListen on Apple Music
- Un-Break My HeartToni BraxtonListen on Apple Music
- Nothing Compares 2 USinead O'ConnorListen on Apple Music
- Cry Me a RiverJustin TimberlakeListen on Apple Music
- Since U Been GoneKelly ClarksonListen on Apple Music
- drivers licenseOlivia RodrigoListen on Apple Music
- Before He CheatsCarrie UnderwoodListen on Apple Music
- IrreplaceableBeyonceListen on Apple Music
- good 4 uOlivia RodrigoListen on Apple Music
- Somebody That I Used to KnowGotyeListen on Apple Music
- thank u, nextAriana GrandeListen on Apple Music
- Go Your Own WayFleetwood MacListen on Apple Music
- All Too WellTaylor SwiftListen on Apple Music
- It's Too LateCarole KingListen on Apple Music
- You Oughta KnowAlanis MorissetteListen on Apple Music
- Say SomethingA Great Big World & Christina AguileraListen on Apple Music
- Back to BlackAmy WinehouseListen on Apple Music
- FlowersMiley CyrusListen on Apple Music
- I Will SurviveGloria GaynorListen on Apple Music
- Tears Dry on Their OwnAmy WinehouseListen on Apple Music
- Kill BillSZAListen on Apple Music
- No Tears Left to CryAriana GrandeListen on Apple Music
- Dancing on My OwnRobynListen on Apple Music
Tier list instead?
Load all 24 into the tier list maker and sort them into S through F yourself: same entrants, no matchups.
Open the tier list makerMissing something?
Build your own breakup song bracket with exactly the entrants you want, then share the link.
Open the bracket makerGetting a ranking you actually agree with
- Go with the one you would rather hear right now — instant reaction beats a considered take.
- Start at 16 slots. If the result feels too obvious, replay at 24 so more of the 24 songs make the field.
- Watch for the song you keep beating reluctantly. That is usually the sign you should undo and reconsider the pick before it.
Questions people ask
How many songs are in the Breakup Songs bracket?
The pool holds 24 songs. A default run uses 16 of them and takes 15 picks across 4 rounds: Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Final. Other field sizes are available too — 8, 16, 24 slots.
Which songs are included?
Someone Like You, We Are Never Getting Back Together, Un-Break My Heart, Nothing Compares 2 U, Cry Me a River, Since U Been Gone, drivers license, Before He Cheats, Irreplaceable, good 4 u, Somebody That I Used to Know and thank u, next, plus 12 more. Every entrant is listed further down this page with its artwork.
How long does the Breakup Songs bracket take?
About 1-2 minutes — 15 choices at the default size, or 7 if you drop to an 8-slot bracket. There is no sign-up, and your progress is saved on this device after every pick.
Is this a breakup songs tier list or a ranking?
Both are here, and the bracket is closer to a tier list than it looks. It ends with a champion, a runner-up and then every other song grouped by the round it went out in — which is exactly a set of tiers, decided by 15 direct comparisons rather than by your first guess at a layout. What it deliberately does not do is claim a precise gap between two songs that never met. If you would rather place the songs into S through F rows yourself, the tier list maker loads all 24 of them at bracketranker.com/tier-list-maker.
Is there a community breakup songs ranking?
Every completed bracket feeds the Breakup Songs community results page, which aggregates win rates across all plays and tracks how often each of the 24 entrants takes the title. It updates continuously, so it moves as more people play.
Can I change which songs are included?
Use the bracket maker: add your own songs, name it, and share the link so other people play the same field. That is the route to take when this pool of 24 is missing something you would have picked, or when you want a version scoped to one era, label or franchise.