RihannaYou’re at the pub. It’s quiz night. The music round starts, and suddenly everyone’s frantically searching for music quiz answers on their phones under the table. Been there? Yeah, we all have.
Music quizzes are brilliant. They’re also absolutely knackering when you’re the only person at your table who doesn’t know that Freddie Mercury’s real name was Farrokh Bulsara. Or that Post Malone’s favourite restaurant is Olive Garden. These are real quiz questions, by the way. Someone had to know these things.
Why Music Rounds Are the Best (and Worst)
Here’s the thing. Music rounds are proper fun because everyone reckons they know music. You’ve listened to Spotify your whole life. You watch TikTok. You know stuff, right?
Wrong. To know songs is not to know music trivia. You remain completely blank when the quiz poses a question about which video topped Thriller for Video of the Year at the first MTV Video Music Awards. It was The Cars with You Might Think, in case you’re wondering.
The music round is what separates the casuals from a really good bunch of proper music nerds. The ones who know that Milli Vanilli were singing Girl You Know It’s True when they got exposed for lip syncing. The ones who know Dionne Warwick are Whitney Houston’s cousins. They’re the ones winning the £50 bar tab whilst you’re sat there wondering how anyone knows this stuff.
Music Quiz Answers That Keep Popping Up
Some questions show up in basically every music quiz. If you’re preparing for pub quiz night, memorise these.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour became the highest-grossing tour ever, ending in November 2024 with over $1 billion in total. That’s a fact you’ll see in 2025 quizzes constantly.
Beyoncé holds the record for most Grammy wins by any artist. She’s got 32 of them. More than anyone else in history.
The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights has over 4 billion streams on Spotify. It’s the most-streamed song globally. That question’s in loads of quizzes.
Tyla’s “Water” hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2024. She was the first South African solo artist to do that since 1968. Quiz setters love that one because it’s recent and properly impressive.
The first YouTube video to reach one billion views was Gangnam Style by Psy. Old news now, but it still shows up in quizzes.
And Oasis reunited for a tour in 2025, holding their first performance since 2009. Every British quiz needs an Oasis question right now because everyone’s talking about it.
Why We Remember Some Answers and Forget Others
Here’s the thing. You have a better chance of recalling music quiz answers if they relate to something you actually care about. If you were Spice Girls-obsessed as a kid, there is no way you don’t know the names of all five members and their Spice names. Mel B is Scary Spice. Melanie C is Sporty. Emma Bunton is Baby. Geri Halliwell is Ginger. Victoria Beckham is Posh.
But quiz that person on classical music or jazz, and they’ll stare back at you blankly. We are more likely to retain information about the music that mattered to us personally.
That is why good music quizzes blend decades as well as genres. Any true quiz needs questions on Elvis and the Beatles, 80s synthesiser stuff, 90s grunge, 2000s garage and today’s chart-toppers. Something for everyone.
The Real Names Round
Every music quiz has a round where they ask for celebrities’ real names. It’s mental how many artists don’t use their actual names. Katy Perry is Katheryn Hudson. Bruno Mars is Peter Gene Hernandez.
Bono is Paul David Hewson. Stevie Wonder is Stevland Hardaway Judkins. Lady Gaga is Stefani Germanotta. Elton John is Reginald Dwight. Rihanna is Robyn Fenty. Bob Dylan is Robert Allen Zimmerman.
Learn those eight, and you’ll get at least a couple of points in most music quizzes.
Band Member Questions
Quiz setters do enjoy band members as a topic. Who was part of the first N.W.A.? Ice Cube, Dr Dre, DJ Yella, MC Ren and Eazy-E. Arabian Prince was also in and out, because that’s the kind of footnote you can get a bonus point for from an indulgent quiz master.
All five Spice Girls: Mel C (Sporty), Mel B (Scary), Geri Halliwell (Ginger), Emma Bunton (Baby) and Victoria Beckham (Posh). If you can’t reel off all five, you just lost some points.
Destiny’s Child had many members over the years. The primary three were Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. But earlier members included LaTavia Roberson, LeToya Luckett and Farrah Franklin. That is the kind of question that was created to trick people.
Recent Music Quiz Trends
Music quiz answers in 2025 respond to what’s gone down recently. Oasis regrouped for a tour and played their first show since 2009. That’s been in every quiz this year, really.
Billie Eilish’s, What Was I Made For? from the Barbie movie won tons of awards. There have been trivia questions about Barbie soundtrack songs.
The 30th anniversary tour of Dookie marked Green Day’s return to touring, along with their new album Saviors in 2024. Several 2025 music quizzes reflect that.
Lauryn Hill was the first female rapper to take home a statuette in Best New Artist at the Grammys, almost 20 years ago in 1999. That historical fact keeps turning up in quizzes.
The Ones Nobody Gets
Some questions are just ridiculous. Which book do The Police allude to in Don’t Stand So Close to Me? It’s Lolita. Who even knows that for sure unless they’ve heard the question before?
What did Stevie Ray Vaughan call his favourite guitar? Jimbo. Why would anyone know that?
What’s Post Malone’s favourite restaurant? Olive Garden. This is the kind of trivia that makes you want to throw your phone across the room.
David Crosby said who’s the best singer of all time? Bonnie Raitt. You get these subjective questions that you can’t logic your way out of.
How to Actually Win
Here’s how to get better at music quizzes without just memorising thousands of facts.
Follow music news. Read those “on this day in music history” posts. They’re annoying, but they work.
Listen to different decades. Most people know 2000s and 2010s music. Learn 80s and 90s stuff. That’s where quiz setters go for harder questions.
Watch music documentaries. They’re full of the exact sort of trivia that shows up in quizzes.
Pay attention to the awards shows. Who won what Grammy, who performed at which festival, who made history. That stuff becomes quiz questions within months.
Learn the patterns. Every quiz has a decade round. A real names round. A band member’s round. A Bond-themed round. Know those formats.
The Bottom Line
Music quiz answers aren’t about knowing everything. They’re about knowing the stuff that quiz setters think is interesting. Taylor Swift’s tour grossed. Beyoncé’s Grammy count. Real names of famous artists. First YouTube video to hit a billion views.
Memorise maybe 50 solid facts across different eras, and you’ll do alright. You won’t win every quiz, but you won’t be the person frantically Googling “what was the first video on MTV” under the table either.
And yeah, it was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles. Write that down. It’ll come up again.
