Greg Kurstin Is the Top Hot 100 Producer of 2022: The Year in Charts
Written by djfrosty on December 1, 2022
For the second time in his career, Greg Kurstin is the No. 1 Hot 100 Producer of the year.
Thanks to his work with Adele, Maren Morris and Tate McRae, he returns as the year’s top producer for the first time since 2016. Kurstin scored nine entries on the Billboard Hot 100 as a producer during the 2022 chart eligibility period, including Adele’s 10-week No. 1 “Easy On Me.”
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
Here’s a look at all nine of Kurstin’s production credits on the Hot 100 during the 2022 tracking period, which all contribute to his placement on the year-end ranking—Kurstin is the sole credited producer on eight of the songs below, helping boost his chart points (as he does not share chart points with any other individuals):
Peak Position, Artist Billing, Title (producers in addition to Kurstin)
No. 1, Adele, “Easy On Me”
No. 5, Adele, “Oh My God”
No. 18, Adele, “I Drink Wine”
No. 23, Adele, “My Little Love”
No. 44, Adele “Cry Your Heart Out”
No. 44, Tate McRae, “She’s All I Wanna Be”
No. 52, Maren Morris, “Circles Around This Town”
No. 53, Adele with Erroll Garner, “All Night Parking (Interlude)” (Joey Pecoraro)
No. 80, Tate McRae, “Chaotic”
Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts dated Nov. 20, 2021 through Nov. 12, 2022. The rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology details, and the November-November time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.
Kurstin’s 2016 finish as the year’s top producer was also partly powered by Adele. He ruled the year thanks to his work on Adele’s 10-week leader “Hello” and “Water Under The Bridge” (No. 26 peak), plus Ellie Goulding’s “Something In The Way You Move” (No. 43), Sia’s four-week No. 1 “Cheap Thrills” featuring Sean Paul, and Kelly Clarkson’s “Piece By Piece” (No. 8).
Kurstin has been a consistent hitmaker on Billboard’s charts since the late 2010s. His first production credit to chart on the Hot 100 was Lily Allen’s “F*ck You” and “The Fear,” which debuted at Nos. 68 and 91, respectively, on the Feb. 28, 2009 chart. Since then, he’s earned nine top 10s as a producer and four No. 1s: “Hello,” “Cheap Thrills,” “Easy On Me” and Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” in 2012.
Just below Kurstin on the year-end Hot 100 Producers ranking, Dr. Luke (real name: Lukasz Gottwald) finishes at No. 2, thanks to seven production credits on the Hot 100 during the eligibility period. Three of those tracks reached the top 10: Doja Cat’s “Need To Know” (No. 8), Latto’s “Big Energy” (No. 3) and Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl,” which spent a week at No. 1. Doja Cat and The Weeknd’s “You Right” came close, peaking at No. 11. Dr. Luke has earned 18 No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 in his career, the third-most of all time (as of this writing) after George Martin and Max Martin, who each have 23.
Plus, Joey Moi finishes at No. 3 on the year-end producers list, largely thanks to his work with Morgan Wallen. Two hits by the country singer-songwriter and produced by Moi reached the top 10 during the chart eligibility period: “Don’t Think Jesus” (No. 7 in April) and “You Proof” (No. 5 in October).
Rounding out the top 5 Hot 100 Producers: Glass Animals’ Dave Bayley closes the year at No. 4, thanks to his production of his record-breaking hit “Heat Waves” (the year’s No. 1 Hot 100 Song), and MAG (real name: Marco Borero) finishes at No. 5, thanks to multiple production credits on the Hot 100, all of which were by Bad Bunny, including the top 10 hits “Moscow Mule” and “Me Porto Bonito,” with Chencho Corleone.