Zendaya in 'Euphoria.'
Marcell Rev/HBOTV shows and movies have been using songs to enhance stories for decades. On HBO’s Euphoria, tracks don’t just add emotion and intensity to certain scenes, the music has become as central to the story as the characters in the show themselves.
The songs featured span decades and genres — including a ‘60s era Andy Williams hit to “Nonstop” off Drake’s 2018 smash Scorpion. But how does the show’s music supervisor Jen Malone curate the perfect soundtrack? It’s actually not rocket science: “Through Spotify, Soundcloud, Instagram, and Twitter. I just find the artists and read all the blogs,” she told W Magazine shortly after the pilot came out in June 2019. “I have a good network of friends who know what’s poppin’ and use playlists. I go into the rabbit holes and see what’s good.”
Nearly two full seasons and two special episodes later, the show has featured dozens of artists and even more songs — from up and coming acts to seasoned veterans. Find seven of Euphoria’s most memorable music moments below, listed from newest to oldest.
SPOILER ALERT: This rest of this post contains spoilers for season 2 of Euphoria.
It proves difficult to choose a favorite part from Lexi’s (Maude Apatow) play that the show’s second season has been leading up to, but Ethan’s (Austin Abrams) flashy portrayal of Nate (Jacob Elordi) really brings the unexpected to the episode. With a crowd full of teenagers on edge that their lives outside the classroom are being exposed, the stage at East Highland’s auditorium shifts to a locker room filled with a shirtless, oiled-down football team donning tight gold spandex (à la Rocky Horror). Ethan is front and center as he performs choreographed hip thrusts and suggestive workout poses while lip syncing Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 hit. Though Nate walked out in the middle of the number, fans of the show will agree: Ethan “put his whole ETHUSSY into that performance.”
As Rue (Zendaya) creeps closer and closer to hitting rock bottom, she gives in to the suitcase full of drugs hiding in her bedroom and swallows a few too many pills from one of the many orange bottles inside. In a dream sequence that takes place in a church, the series brings the show’s composer Labrinth on screen for the first time to perform his track “I’m Tired.” Rue walks down the aisle towards Labrinth, who offers her the hug she’s been needing as she continues lying about her sobriety to the people closest to her. She later imagines it’s her father embracing her, whose passing a few years earlier contributed to her drug addiction. As Labrinth sings “Now the tide is rolling in/ I ain’t tryna win/ Let it take me, let it take me” the audience can feel Rue slowly giving up.
Nate offers to give Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) a ride to the New Year’s Eve party and turns up an Orville Peck tune which perfectly foreshadows what’s to come for the pair’s relationship. The two gulp down beers and look at each other with fiery eyes, establishing a growing sexual tension — despite the fact that Nate is Cassie’s best friend’s on-again-off-again lover. No words are said between the two so the audience can hone in on the sultry sound and mysterious lyrics: “You say ‘go fast’ I say ‘hold on tight’/ In the dead of night, dead of night.”
In a special episode co-written by Hunter Schafer herself, the viewers gets a deeper peek into Jules’ upbringing. The episode begins with Jules sitting in a therapist’s office as a voice from offscreen asks her, “So where do you want to start?” The scene shifts into a close-up shot of Jules’ bright blue eye literally reflecting flashbacks of the last year she’s had at East Highland — mainly, moments with Rue, as Lorde’s piano-driven ballad plays in full and drives home her feelings for her: “So I guess I’ll go home/ Into the arms of the girl that I love/ The only love I haven’t screwed up/ She’s so hard to please, but she’s a forest fire.”
After building a strong bond with Rue, Jules decides to run away from the suburbs, leaving a sober Rue feeling helpless. After a good sobriety streak, she relapses in the season 1 closer with a line of cocaine — sending her to an unexpected musical hallucination. The choreographed number brings her out of her bedroom and into the streets, where she drunkenly performs alongside a clan of maroon-hooded figures.
“There’s nothing more powerful than a fat girl who doesn’t give a f—k,” Kat (Barbie Ferreira) says in a narration right before the beat drops in Billie Eilish’s “You Should See Me In A Crown.” Earning serious coin as a masked camgirl, the high schooler takes her new-found confidence and brand-new look to the mall — a place she used to dread. Passersby can’t help but do a double take as she struts in a sheer red shirt and leather harness. The look even gets the attention of one passing beanie boy with piercings who asks her out to dinner.
The teen drama’s pilot opens with a brief history on the central character, Rue, who grew up in a middle class family in the suburbs and started taking medication young after being diagnosed with OCD, ADD, anxiety and “possibly bipolar disorder, but she’s too young to tell,” according to her therapist. Viewers soon see her sniff her first line of cocaine on-screen, sending her into a daze as Andy Williams’ “Can’t Get Used to Losing You” transforms into Beyoncé’s “Hold Up” (which actually samples the Williams’ 1963 track). Though the transition is quick, it’s significant — representing juxtaposition between the —ahem— euphoria the character feels when she’s high versus the fast-paced life of a high schooler.
NEWS
It has been just over seven months since Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce revealed their engagement through an Instagram post that quickly went viral.
Since that announcement, both stars have stayed extremely busy with their careers. Swift dropped her 15th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, The Life of a Showgirl, in October, selling an impressive 4 million equivalent album units. Around the same time, Kelce confirmed he would return to the Kansas City Chiefs for his 14th NFL season earlier this month.
Even though they have both expressed excitement about organizing their wedding, their current focus remains on their professional commitments.
“I’m just doing the album thing now,” Swift shared during an October interview on The Graham Norton Show after Norton asked whether wedding preparations had started. “And then I think the wedding is after that.”
After Swift and Kelce made their first joint awards show appearance at the iHeartRadio Music Awards on March 26, curiosity about their wedding plans has started building again.
People close to the couple, often referred to as the Tayvis circle, have mostly stayed quiet about any confirmed plans. Kelce’s mother Donna Kelce declined to comment when approached by a photographer at LAX about whether she would help with the planning. “I’m just happy. I’m so happy for them,” she said.
At the same time, Swift’s future sister in law Kylie Kelce, who is married to Travis’ brother Jason, asked listeners on her Not Gonna Lie podcast on April 2 to stop asking for insider information. “Quit asking me and my mother in law [Donna] about upcoming nuptials,” she said directly to viewers. “Nobody’s f—ing telling you anything.” She continued by saying, “I don’t have any details. I have no details. I have none. Look at that. That’s how many details I have. None. None.”
While Donna and Kylie have chosen to stay private, a handful of people within the couple’s inner circle, including Taylor and Travis themselves, have occasionally shared small insights about the wedding.
Here is what has been revealed so far about the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce wedding.
Swift is interested in having the ceremony in another location
During an interview on BBC Radio 1, host Greg James thanked Swift for supposedly inviting him to the celebration, joking that although he usually avoids destination weddings, he would gladly attend hers. When he asked where she might hold the event, Swift kept things mysterious, replying, “I’m going to let you know at a different time.”
The guest list could be very large
If you are hoping to receive an invitation to the Tayvis wedding, there might actually be a chance.
During an October 2025 appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Swift joked that Norton would eventually find out when he asked whether the wedding might take place in 2026. She clarified that she plans to invite him along with practically everyone she has spent time with.
“I know it’s going to be fun to plan because I think the only stressful weddings are the ones where you have a small amount, and people are on the bubble,” Swift said. “And you have to evaluate or assess your relationship with them to see if they should be there. I’m not going to do that.”
She added, “Anyone I’ve ever talked to.”
Watch the full clip below.
A live band will probably provide the music
It appears the couple is leaning toward live performers rather than a DJ.
On a September episode of the Kelce brothers’ New Heights podcast, guest Jimmy Fallon asked Travis whether they had begun thinking about wedding details.
“Are you gonna do DJ or band? Are you thinking about all this stuff?” Fallon asked.
Kelce answered by sharing their preference, saying, “Yeah, I think we’re live music kind of people, you know?”
Although he likely would not be the only performer, Swift hinted in an October interview with Hits Radio that her close friend and collaborator Ed Sheeran could perform during the celebration.
“It’s like, ‘Ed, if there’s a stage, you know that you’ll be on it,” Swift said. “He knows what people want and he wants to give people what they want.”
The wedding could happen before summer ends
Fans hoping for an autumn themed ceremony might be disappointed, as the couple may be considering a summer timeframe.
During a January 2025 episode of New Heights, recorded months before the engagement, Kelce explained why fall weddings can be difficult due to the football season.
“I actually don’t know people who have gotten married in the fall,” he said. “All the weddings I’ve been to, and all my friends do it in the summer.”
If they do move forward with a wedding this year, it may happen before the end of the summer. Kelce recently confirmed he would return to the Chiefs for another season, partly inspired by Swift’s dedication to her work. ESPN reporter Nate Taylor also mentioned that Kelce “plans to marry [Swift] before training camp,” which begins July 22. If they want to avoid conflicts with football, the ceremony would likely need to happen before that date.
Invitations may not have been sent yet
Even with speculation pointing toward a summer ceremony, no confirmed date has been publicly shared, and even people close to them say they are unsure.
In a September interview on SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series, Ed Sheeran said he had not yet received a save the date. He also mentioned that he found out about their engagement through Instagram just like everyone else.
“You didn’t even get a DM in advance?” host Andy Cohen asked.
“No,” Sheeran responded.
More recently, Kylie Kelce said during a January appearance on Today with Savannah Guthrie that she had no idea whether the wedding would happen this year.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Kylie admitted when discussing how little she knows about the plans.
Kylie also repeated that she has no inside information during an appearance on the podcast Conversations With Cam. “I would love to give you all the details. I don’t have them,” she said after host Cam Rogers asked what fans should expect from the wedding.
