Jess Glynne’s 2015 anthem, Hold My Hand, has achieved an unexpected and remarkable comeback, being crowned TikTok’s UK Song of the Year on December 9, 2025. A full decade after its initial release—and after already securing its place in pop history as Glynne’s first UK chart-topper—the track has found a new audience and a fresh cultural moment, all thanks to a viral trend that swept through the social media platform this past summer.
According to TikTok, Hold My Hand was featured in about 6.6 million videos in 2025 alone, with posts using the track’s audio racking up more than 80 billion views. The song’s resurgence is largely credited to the “nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” meme, which paired the uplifting melody with humorous clips of holiday mishaps, travel chaos, and failed getaways. This trend, which originated from a Jet2 holiday advert featuring voiceover artist Zoe Lister declaring, “nothing beats a Jet2 holiday,” quickly became a staple of British TikTok feeds.
For Jess Glynne, now 36, the experience has been nothing short of surreal. Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, she described the feeling as “the most amazing feeling knowing that 10 years later a song that means so much to me, and was such an important part of my journey into music and earning my stripes as a solo artist—to 10 years later to be able to celebrate again and again throughout this year—has been insane.” Glynne went on to say, “Seeing the way the song has reconnected to the younger generation and they’ve all heard it for the first time—it’s just a really amazing thing to see.”
The journey of Hold My Hand from chart-topping debut to viral sensation is a testament to the unpredictable power of social media. The track was originally released in 2015 as part of Glynne’s debut album, I Cry When I Laugh, which itself soared to number one in the UK. The song’s infectious, uplifting melody and lyrics about connection and support made it an instant hit. “When I released it in 2015, I hoped it would resonate with people the same way it did with me when we created it. I always knew there was something special about it,” Glynne reflected in an interview with ITV News. “Melodically, it’s instantly uplifting and catchy, but at its heart, the lyrics are powerful, they are about connection. When you feel alone or vulnerable, or scared or insecure, sometimes all it takes is one person to reach out and show they’re there.”
The song’s association with Jet2 began in 2022, when it was first used in the holiday company’s adverts. But it was the 2024 campaign—combining the track with Zoe Lister’s now-iconic voiceover—that truly cemented Hold My Hand as a staple of British travel culture. The advert’s audio quickly became a meme, with TikTok users repurposing it for their own comedic takes on holiday disasters. As Glynne herself noted, “The Jet2 campaign has brought a really fun, light-hearted twist to the song, and seeing it become TikTok’s song of 2025 ten years after its release has been incredible. I am incredibly grateful for the journey this song is on.”
The trend’s appeal was not lost on Glynne, who admitted that her favorite TikTok videos were those featuring parents getting their children to say the famous “nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” line. She also shared a personal anecdote about being on a Jet2 flight to Corfu with her family when the song played over the plane’s speakers. “I was a bit nervous, I was sat right at the front next to my mum—it was quite funny actually,” she recalled to BBC Newsbeat.
Despite its omnipresence on TikTok and in British pop culture throughout 2025, Hold My Hand did not re-enter the UK singles charts this year. Still, its digital success is undeniable. TikTok’s ranking for song of the year is calculated based on the number of videos using the track and the popularity of posts on the artist’s profile. In this metric, Glynne’s decade-old hit outpaced new releases from artists like Taylor Swift, KPop Demon Hunters, Sabrina Carpenter, and Benson Boone, all of whom were also favorites among UK music fans this year.
The Hold My Hand phenomenon is part of a broader trend on TikTok, where older songs have found renewed popularity with new generations. Alongside Glynne’s hit, tracks like Rihanna’s 2007 Breakin’ Dishes, Radiohead’s 1997 Let Down, and the Black Eyed Peas’ 2010 Rock That Body have all experienced viral moments in 2025. Perhaps most notably, Connie Francis’s 1962 doo-wop classic Pretty Little Baby was named TikTok’s global song of the year, having been used more than 28 million times in videos that often featured nostalgic or wholesome themes. “It even broke into Spotify’s charts for the first time, proving that TikTok can revive even the most obscure gems,” reported BBC News.
Glynne’s own career has been marked by a series of chart successes since her breakout in 2014, when she featured on Clean Bandit’s Rather Be and Route 94’s My Love. Both collaborations reached number one in the UK, paving the way for her solo achievements. Her debut album, I Cry When I Laugh, topped the charts in 2015, followed by Always In Between in 2018, and her self-titled third album in 2024, which peaked at number six. Yet, the resurgence of Hold My Hand on TikTok has arguably introduced her music to the widest audience yet—many of them experiencing the song for the first time.
Reflecting on the role of social media in her music’s longevity, Glynne acknowledged its power to bridge generational gaps and introduce classic tracks to new listeners. “The popularity of the trend has shown me how important social media can be for artists and now I see it as an amazing way to engage with people,” she said. As for her own TikTok habits? Glynne admitted she’s more likely to stop on cooking videos, cat compilations, or clips of people falling down than on her own meme, but she’s clearly delighted by the song’s new life.
As the year draws to a close, Hold My Hand stands as a reminder that in the era of viral trends and digital discovery, no song is ever truly out of the running for a comeback. For Jess Glynne, and for the millions who have danced, laughed, or commiserated to her song, the message is clear: sometimes, all it takes is one moment—or one meme—to bring people together again.
