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The Viral Vault

The Viral Vault

The Viral Vault

See Google’s Top Trending Pop Culture Searches of 2021

By Laila Abuelhawa
In this photo illustration, an image of the Google logo is reflected on the eye of a young man on August 09, 2017 in London, England.

Google has unveiled what we were searching for most this year, reflecting the biggest moments in pop culture for the last 12 months.

Yesterday (December 8), Google unveiled the top trending searches, which involved a variety of pop culture-related searched terms. After all, it was the year of Britney Spears being freed from her conservatorship, Bennifer 2.0, Adele’s 30 album release and the end of Kim and Kanye, to name a few.

The below list reflects the U.S. searches that had a high spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2021 as compared to 2020.

  • Dr. Dre

    2021 got off to a scary start for the music mogul after he suffered a brain aneurysm on January 4, a month before his 56th birthday. After more than a week, he was released from the hospital.

  • Kim Kardashian & Kanye West

    2021 was a rollercoaster for Kimye. While Kim filed for divorce in February after nearly seven years of marriage, the rapper has more recently made it clear that he wants his family back together…while his estranged wife has seemingly moved on.

  • Kim Kardashian & Pete Davidson

    Moved on with Pete Davidson, that is! While fans were keeping their eyes peeled for whichever guy the reality star was going to date next, her budding romance with the Saturday Night Live comic was not exactly on everyone’s 2021 bingo card.

  • Mare of Easttown

    https://youtu.be/bm7RmpzCeyk

    The HBO saga of a Pennsylvania detective investigating a murder while trying to keep her own life together gripped viewers. It became one of the year’s breakout TV hits and landed Kate Winslet an Emmy Award.

  • Zendaya & Tom Holland

    After years of trying to dodge romance rumors, the Spider-Man co-stars’ relationship was officially out of the bag when the two were photographed kissing in July.

  • 'Montero (Call Me By Your Name)'

    Lil Nas X made an undeniable splash when he dropped his first single of the year and its accompanying music video, which has amassed more than 400 million views. The track debuted at number one and was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Song and Record of the Year.

  • Jennifer Lopez & Alex Rodriguez

    2021 saw the end of J.Lo and A-Rod, who officially announced the end of their engagement in April after four years together.

  • Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck

    A month after announcing her split from Alex Rodriguez, Jennifer Lopez shocked fans once again when she vacationed with former flame Ben Affleck. Nearly two decades after they called off their engagement and broke up, Bennifer was back—and has been going strong ever since.

  • 'All Too Well'

    https://twitter.com/_heyautumn_/status/1466401970848088073?s=20

    When Taylor Swift released her re-recorded 2012 album, Red, she released a 10-minute long version of “All Too Well.” She also released a short film she directed for the song starring herself, Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien.

  • Jake Gyllenhaal & Taylor Swift

    With Swift’s release of “All Too Well,” fans were quick to resurface Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal’s past relationship. After all, the track—and its red scarf mentions—are rumored to be all about the rise and fall of their short-lived romance.

  • 'Easy on Me'

    Six years after she last released music, Adele showed fans she still got it when she returned with the ballad of 2021, “Easy on Me.” The new single was an immediate success and the music video has since been watched more than 190 million times.

  • Adele

    https://youtu.be/oKAkR4L7HNk

    After becoming a recluse in the years since her last album, Adele was the name on everyone’s Google search bars—after she emerged with a new album, concert specials and a sit-down with Oprah Winfrey.

  • Jennifer Aniston & David Schwimmer

    HBO’s Friends reunion in May had fans of the beloved sitcom thinking of Ross and Rachel in a brand new light when Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer revealed they had a crush on each other while filming the show. However, those feelings were left to their TV characters. “Honestly, I remember saying one time to David, ‘It’s going to be such a bummer if the first time you and I actually kiss is going to be on national television,'” Jennifer said. “And sure enough, the first time we kissed was in that coffee shop…We just channeled all of our adoration and love for each other into Ross and Rachel.”

  • Bridgerton

    Even though Bridgerton released on Netflix last December, fans continued to burn for the show into the new year. Factor in leading star Regé-Jean Page’s Saturday Night Live hosting debut, adding to those Google searches.

  • 'drivers license'

    18-year-old Olivia Rodrigo’s debut single had everyone revisiting their teenage heartbreak this year.

  • Olivia Rodrigo

    Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour, was a smash hit this year, debuting at number one. She’s since earned seven Grammy nominations, including ones for Best New Artist and Album of the Year.2

  • Squid Game

    The hit series has become Netflix’s most-watched show to date—and has viewers thinking of childhood games like “Red Light, Green Light” in a much different way.

  • Travis Scott

    Two months after Kylie Jenner revealed she and Travis are expecting their second child together, the rapper’s annual Astroworld Festival in November became the site of immense tragedy when ten concertgoers died and hundreds were injured.

  • Shailene Woodley

    In February, Aaron Rodgers took fans by complete surprise when he revealed he got engaged to Big Little Lies‘ Shailene Woodley.

  • Space Jam

    More than two decades after the original, Lebron James’ Space Jam: A New Legacy had fans thinking about the Space Jam universe all over again.

  • Eternals

    The star-packed Marvel movie was finally released in November, a year after it was originally scheduled to come out before the coronavirus pandemic.

  • Dog the Bounty Hunter

    https://twitter.com/alan_xbt/status/1451316047202566165?s=20

    Amid the search for Brian Laundrie, the man who returned home from a cross-country trip without fiancée Gabby Petito and later went missing, Dog the Bounty Hunter emerged to help track him down.

  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

    The new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starring Simu Liu, was one of the highest-grossing movies of the year. If that wasn’t enough good news for fans, a sequel was also confirmed to be in the works.

  • Olivia Wilde

    Photos of the Don’t Worry Darling director and the movie’s leading man, Harry Styles, holding hands at a friend’s wedding in early January sent the internet in a tizzy. The two stars have been dating ever since.

  • Alec Baldwin

    While Alec Baldwin and wife Hilaria Baldwin started the year off on a happy note by welcoming their sixth child, their year took a dramatic turn south in October when Halyna Hutchins, the director of photography on his latest project, Rust, was fatally shot on set. He later said in an interview that he did not pull the trigger, but that the gun went off when he let go of the hammer during a marking rehearsal.

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