# Top 19 Breakup Songs of All Time

> Torch songs, furious kiss-offs and dance tracks with tears under them. Heartbreak has never sold better.

*By YPB Team · Published October 6, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/top-19-breakup-songs-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Go Your Own Way** — score 1000/1000
   Lindsey Buckingham's 1977 song about Stevie Nicks, sung in the same band as her.
2. **Since U Been Gone** — score 840/1000
   Kelly Clarkson's 2004 pop-rock kiss-off.
3. **Tracks of My Tears** — score 840/1000
   Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' 1965 Motown ballad.
4. **Nothing Compares 2 U** — score 812/1000
   Prince-written ballad that became Sinéad O'Connor's 1990 worldwide number one.
5. **I Will Always Love You** — score 811/1000
   Dolly Parton's farewell song, made a 14-week number one by Whitney Houston in 1992.
6. **Someone Like You** — score 771/1000
   Adele's 2011 piano ballad about seeing an ex move on.
7. **Flowers** — score 600/1000
   Miley Cyrus's 2023 self-love anthem after her divorce.
8. **Back to Black** — score 600/1000
   Amy Winehouse's 2006 retro-soul song of heartbreak.
9. **Love Will Tear Us Apart** — score 600/1000
   Joy Division's 1980 single about a failing marriage.
10. **Without You** — score 600/1000
   Badfinger-written ballad that Harry Nilsson took to number one in 1972.
11. **You Oughta Know** — score 507/1000
   Alanis Morissette's furious 1995 single to a former partner.
12. **Don't Speak** — score 507/1000
   No Doubt's 1996 song about Gwen Stefani's breakup with bandmate Tony Kanal.
13. **Irreplaceable** — score 400/1000
   Beyoncé's 2006 hit telling a cheating partner to leave, to the left.
14. **Total Eclipse of the Heart** — score 400/1000
   Jim Steinman's 1983 power ballad sung by Bonnie Tyler.
15. **Drivers License** — score 400/1000
   Olivia Rodrigo's 2021 debut single that broke Spotify streaming records.
16. **Cry Me a River** — score 400/1000
   Justin Timberlake's 2002 single, widely read as aimed at Britney Spears.
17. **All Too Well** — score 273/1000
   Taylor Swift's 2012 song, re-released in 2021 as a ten-minute version that topped the Hot 100.
18. **Somebody That I Used to Know** — score 273/1000
   Gotye and Kimbra's 2011 duet telling both sides of a breakup.
19. **Un-Break My Heart** — score 0/1000
   Diane Warren-written 1996 ballad sung by Toni Braxton.

Tags: music, breakup