The Year in Culture: That's Entertainment (And Politics)

From the President of America raging against some of his country’s biggest stars via social media, to Netflix’s record-breaking Adolescence series being endorsed by the UK Prime Minister in Parliament, there’s no denying that the fuzzy line between pop culture and politics has only grown thinner in 2025.

Any expectation that musicians should shut up, smile and play the hits is long dead, particularly in Ireland, with a remarkably wide-ranging selection of acts using their platforms to speak out and raise funds for Palestine over the past 12 months – the most prominent (and persecuted) of all, of course, being KNEECAP. Closer to home, the trio were also among the many Irish artists who took a stand against the rise of the far-right, and the shadowy figures attempting to repurpose Irish culture for their own xenophobic agendas.

Photo: @kneecap32 on Instagram.

CMAT, meanwhile, walked the line between pop and politics in her own dazzling way on her EURO-COUNTRY album – which not only inspired a viral trend in the form of ‘Woke Macarena’, but also took aim at Bertie Ahern and political corruption, in the run-up to the presidential election.

In the US this year, Donald Trump and his White House hit out online at the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Jack White, Bad Bunny and Jimmy Kimmel; high-profile actors and musicians publicly supported the No Kings and anti-ICE protests; and, at the start of the year, actor/comedian Rosie O’Donnell relocated to Ireland in response to America's current political climate.

On both sides of the Atlantic, reports that Spotify founder Daniel Ek had invested €600m in AI military weapons company Helsing sparked a new wave of boycotts, supported by the likes of Massive Attack and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.

Massive Attack at Mallorca Live Festival on June 12th, 2025. Copyright mallorcalivefestival.com/ Selectormarx.

In the face of all that, musicians, actors and countless other creatives still managed to serve up some cultural moments to treasure in 2025. In TV and film, Ireland’s ‘green wave’ continued – with Christy scoring prestigious international accolades, and Irish actors (including Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan and Saoirse Ronan) dominating the cast announcements for the upcoming Beatles films. Season 2 of Wednesday, the largest production to ever film in Ireland, smashed Netflix records, while House Of Guinness served up a soundtrack packed with homegrown acts.

Internationally, critics and movie fans alike hailed the ‘great return of the big screen’ – with everyone and their mother wanting to know if you’d seen Sinners, Weapons or One Battle After Another yet. We also went mad for music biopics – celebrating two of the biggest artists of our time through A Complete Unknown and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.

That’s not to say we didn’t gather around the smaller screen too. The first-ever Irish edition of The Traitors gripped the nation (and made a celebrity of a retired prison guard named Paudie); the final season of Stranger Things was unleashed at last; and Adolescence inspired important real-world discussions about online radicalisation and the manosphere.

Adolescence

Musically, it was a year of blockbuster reunions, as both Oasis and My Bloody Valentine touched down in Dublin for their first Irish shows in decades. As the likes of Fontaines D.C., CMAT and KNEECAP continued to dominate international festival line-ups, Dermot Kennedy brought some of our most exciting acts to Sydney and Boston in March, for his unique run of Misneach shows.

Orla Gartland also achieved a major career milestone when she won Best Song Musically and Lyrically at the Ivor Novello Awards for ‘Mine’. Over on Spotify, Kingfishr's 'Killeagh' was declared the country's most-streamed song, while the most-streamed album honour went to Amble, with Reverie.

Elsewhere, music and celebrity gossip fans alike pored over the details of Lily Allen’s first album in seven years, West End Girl – a shockingly honest portrayal of the breakdown of her marriage to actor David Harbour. Kendrick Lamar had us all talking (particularly about those bootcut jeans) after his record-breaking Super Bowl halftime show; Sam Fender won the Mercury Prize (while fans and bookies agreed that CMAT was robbed); Ozzy Osbourne played a star-studded farewell show with Black Sabbath, just two weeks before his death; Taylor Swift returned with the somewhat lacklustre The Life Of A Showgirl; and bands like Turnstile, Sleep Token and Geese conquered the mainstream.

Lily Allen - West End Girl

In a world that’s increasingly resembling a frantic TikTok feed, let’s be thankful for the cultural moments that made us stop for a moment, and come together – even if it was just to discuss the Coldplay kiss-cam couple…

Read The Whole Hog Round-Up of 2025 in the Hot Press Annual – out now: