the summer of

What it was like to be 15 in 2021 in Britain

To be fifteen in Britain in 2021 was to have “Good 4 U” by Olivia Rodrigo everywhere, No Time to Die on every screen, and Line of Duty on after school. That year, gas cost £1.35/L and the PlayStation 5 (still impossible to buy) was the new thing. Born in 2006? You turned 15 in 2021 — a teenager from 2019 to 2025, right in the window a soundtrack bonds to you for life.

Compiled by the Original Lore archive from period charts, box-office and price records. How we build these · sources noted throughout.

▶ Play your 2021 reel with sounda 30-second video of your year — the song, the screen, the turn.

the mixtape of 2021

Good 4 U — Olivia Rodrigo

  1. Good 4 U — Olivia RodrigoOlivia Rodrigo resurrecting pop-punk fury, the reopening-summer anthem for everyone furious about the year they'd just lost.
  2. Bad Habits — Ed SheeranEd's neon eighties throwback, the giddy first-proper-night-out banger of the summer the clubs finally reopened.
  3. Levitating — Dua LipaDua Lipa's disco shimmer soundtracking that fizzy, blinking-into-the-light freedom of a first post-lockdown beer garden.
  4. Save Your Tears — The WeekndThe Weeknd's glossy heartbreak, huge on every radio, the polished ache of a summer trying to feel normal again.
  5. Body — Russ Millions & Tion WayneUK drill topping the charts, Russ and Tion's swagger booming out of every open car and playground speaker.

▶ Play your 2021 reel

why this one mattered

The sound of being 15 in a lockdown summer — Olivia's snarling, pop-punk kiss-off blasting out of a bedroom while the world crept back open. All that bottled-up teenage fury, finally let loose, soundtracking the year everything and nothing changed.

the year-end #1 was the UK's second best-selling single of 2021 (behind Ed Sheeran's 'Bad Habits').

the movies you are watching in 2021

  • No Time to Die
  • Spider-Man: No Way Home
  • Dune
  • Venom: Let There Be Carnage
  • A Quiet Place Part II

the tv shows you are binging in 2021

  • Line of Duty
  • Squid Game
  • The Great British Bake Off
  • Strictly Come Dancing
  • It's a Sin

the games you are playing in 2021

  • Minecraft
  • Roblox
  • Fortnite
  • FIFA 22
  • Among Us
  • Call of Duty: Vanguard

what things cost in 2021

What things cost in 2021
a litre of petrol£1.35
a pint of lager£4.07
a first-class stamp85p
a gallon of gas£1.35/L
minimum wage£8.91/hr
a movie ticket£7.79
the average income£25,971

trending this year

PlayStation 5
Osh33m, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
PlayStation 5
Squid Game
도자놀자, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Squid Game
NFTs
Photo by Wattenoh (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NFT_artwork_%22Single_Transparent_Pixel%22_displayed_in_a_digital_photo_frame.png · CC BY-SA 4.0
NFTs
the metaverse (Facebook becomes Meta)
Photo by Nokia621 (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meta_Headquarters_Sign.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
the metaverse (Facebook becomes Meta)
Clubhouse app

the gadgets you just got

PlayStation 5
Osh33m, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
PlayStation 5
AirPods (3rd gen)
Photo by Yovt (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AirPods_3.jpg · CC0
AirPods (3rd gen)
iPhone 13
Photo by Kskhh (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPhone_13.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
iPhone 13
Oculus Quest 2
Photo by KKPCW (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oculus_Quest_2_-_1.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Oculus Quest 2
NHS Covid Pass app
AI-generated illustration
NHS Covid Pass app

what everyone is snacking on

Greggs vegan sausage roll
AI-generated illustration
Greggs vegan sausage roll
Colin the Caterpillar cake
Photo by Andy Li (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colin_the_Caterpillar_2024-06-14.jpg · CC0
Colin the Caterpillar cake
Percy Pigs
Photo by Leigh Harries (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Percy_Pig_(6050229631).jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0
Percy Pigs
Little Moons mochi
AI-generated illustration
Little Moons mochi
Freddo
Photo by Dan arndt (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dairy_Milk_Freddo.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Freddo

what everyone is drinking

BrewDog Punk IPA
Photo by Matt Brown (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crushed_Punk_IPA_cans.jpg · CC BY 2.0
BrewDog Punk IPA
Aperol Spritz
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aperol_Spritz_-_July_2024_-_Sarah_Stierch.jpg · CC0
Aperol Spritz
Dalston's / hard seltzer
AI-generated illustration
Dalston's / hard seltzer
Yorkshire Tea
AI-generated illustration
Yorkshire Tea
Costa iced latte
AI-generated illustration
Costa iced latte

what made the news in 2021

  • England enters a third national COVID lockdown in January as the vaccine rollout accelerates
  • Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, dies aged 99 in April
  • England lose the delayed Euro 2020 final to Italy on penalties at Wembley
  • COP26 climate summit is held in Glasgow
England enters a third national COVID lockdown as vaccines roll out
Photo by OwenBlacker (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:COVID-19_London_Bridge_Vaccination_Centre_%E2%84%962.jpg · CC0
England enters a third national COVID lockdown as vaccines roll out
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, dies aged 99
Photo by Michael Gwyther-Jones (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prince_Philip,_Duke_of_Edinburgh,_2006.jpg · CC BY 2.0
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, dies aged 99
England lose the Euro 2020 final to Italy on penalties at Wembley
Photo by Kwh1050 (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EURO_2020_FINAL_Wembley_Stadium_London_11_July_2021.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
England lose the Euro 2020 final to Italy on penalties at Wembley
Cargo ship Ever Given blocks the Suez Canal for six days
Photo by Pierre Markuse (Copernicus Sentinel data) (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Container_Ship_%27Ever_Given%27_stuck_in_the_Suez_Canal,_Egypt_-_March_24th,_2021_(51070311183).jpg · CC BY 2.0
Cargo ship Ever Given blocks the Suez Canal for six days
COP26 climate summit held in Glasgow
Photo by Press Information Department (Government of Bangladesh) (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sheikh_Hasina_Boris_Johnson_Antonio_Guterres_COP26_Glasgow_2021-11-01_(PID-0026810).jpg · Public domain
COP26 climate summit held in Glasgow

what everyone is saying

  • "You're on mute"the universal cry of the lockdown video call
  • "It's coming home"the England Euro 2020 chant that gripped the nation
  • "Sus"Among Us slang for suspicious, everywhere in 2021
  • "No cap"no lie — straight off TikTok
  • "Bruv / innit"the enduring London filler words of teen speech

the summer of 2021.

you can't wait to be older.

…and then it cools. Play the reel to feel where 2021 goes.

Turn 2021 into a 30-second reel →

▶ Play your 2021 reel with sound