I hardly ever leave my house without my headphones on. I have three pairs of them I wear depending on the occasion and weather. They go everywhere with me.
Restaurants, grocery shopping, sunset on the pier, walking…whatever.
Music is my life. It’s been that way for as long as I can remember. I am pretty sure I was conceived to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album, playing at full volume, on a vinyl spinning at 33 1/3 RPM.
Ironically, Michael Sembello’s Maniac was the top track the month I was born. I was probably delivered to it. Even the music gods knew who I was going to be!
Music really is my life though, but not in the “I like having something on in the background” way, but in the it-is-literally-keeping-me-functional, plays-all-day-every-day, I-will-cry-about-this-song-in-my-car way. It keeps me sane. It regulates my mentals and nervous system.
It also just carries me through everything else. The good days, the hard days, the days where I’m just trying to get from morning to night in one piece.
These are the songs that have been doing that work for me so far in 2026. My top 25 most played tracks. Some of them will make sense. Some of them might surprise you. A few of them are proof that I am becoming genuinely unrecognizable, even to myself. My taste is shifting with me, and honestly? Good. All of them earned their spot.
Enjoy.