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Maren Morris’ headlining show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Friday (Dec. 2) came just weeks before her 10-year anniversary of chasing her dreams from her native Texas to Music City.
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“I cry at simple things, so this will be overwhelming,” Morris told the crowd, recalling the many times she’s been at Bridgestone. “I’ve opened shows here, I’ve won awards, I’ve lost awards in this room, but it’s the first time I’ve walked out here and known it was my stage.”
The Nashville concert marked the end of Morris’ Humble Quest Tour, and she said, “It felt appropriate to end it at my doorstep.”
To that end, her concert both chronicled and honored her musical journey from her Texas roots to her early days in Nashville, hustling to write songs with meaning that will stand out from the usual Music Row denizens in the writing rooms on 16th Avenue (“Circles Around This Town” particularly resonated with this Music City crowd of dreamers, who seemed to chant along in particular glee). She recounted her days of playing local Nashville haunts such as Belcourt Taps and Basement East and ascending to venues such as the Ryman Auditorium and finally to Bridgestone.
Now enjoying the fruits of her years of work toiling in writing rooms and steadily building her fanbase one song and concert at a time, she took a moment later in her set to pass along the lessons she’s learned to other aspiring writers and artists in the room.
“There are so many talented people in this room, in this town and there are so many people in line ahead of you that it’s ok to just wait and the waiting makes the fruit so much sweeter. I just can’t thank you enough for your support over the years.”
She welcomed Hozier to perform with her on “The Bones,” saying, “I’ve seen songs go all the way up to the top of the charts, I’ve seen songs fall, this one went to the top right as the world shut down, so we didn’t really get to have our flowers and celebrate it. But I always wanted to play this song in here for y’all.”
The genre-fluid singer showcased her innate versatility with her slew of country-leaning releases, such as “’80s Mercedes,” the anthem to resilience and confidence with “Girl,” and “I Could Use a Love Song,” but also her pop smashes “The Middle,” and “Chasing After You” with her husband and fellow artist-writer Ryan Hurd. There were also a plethora of songs from her tour’s namesake, her current Humble Quest album, including “Good Friends,” “Background Music,” “Tall Guys,” “Detour,” and another collaboration with Hurd on “I Can’t Love You Anymore.”
She also noted to the crowd the life lessons she chronicled on her Humble Quest album, and her journey through motherhood amidst a global pandemic, a process of learning “when to shut the f— up and when to absolutely not shut the f— up,” which brought cheers from the audience.
“Good Friends” was an apt inclusion in the setlist for this Music City show. Along the way, Morris has cultivated a community of fellow artists and songwriters who build each other up, support dreams, share hardships and champion one another as humans and creators. That essence of friendship was a theme that also rang throughout the evening, as Morris brought out not just a cavalcade of guest artists, but clearly artists whom she counts as friends, confidants, and peers.
She welcomed the majority of her The Highwomen bandmates, including Brittney Spencer (who also opened the show), as well as Sheryl Crow, Natalie Hemby and Amanda Shires for singalong renditions of “Redesigning Women” and the inclusive, heartwarming “Crowded Table.” Together, Morris and her cohorts showcased music and messages that have been a salve in uncertain times.
“This is a crowded arena,” Hemby said. “After the pandemic, let’s be glad we can be in a crowded room together.”
Also a self-professed “musical theater kid,” Morris even went note for note with Broadway luminary, actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth (who now resides in Nashville) to perform the Wicked favorite “For Good” (in 2003, Chenoweth portrayed Glinda the Good Witch in the show’s Broadway run and earned a Tony nomination for her role). The duet was notable not only for the two singers’ vocal prowess, but the obvious tender friendship between the two, as they stayed close together throughout the performance, hugging and holding hands. Morris noted that they met at Bridgestone back in 2019 during the CMA Awards.
Though Morris often gets credit for her personal, vulnerable songwriting, the evening also proved a showcase for her in equal measure, as evidenced by her thunderous, soulful glissandos on “Once.” Though vocally and musically, her vibe is often soaked in pop and R&B, her stage production, a lush staging of trees and grass surrounding her band, was understated, never overpowering the message of her music and her polished, relaxed stage presence.
She ended the concert by welcoming Hurd and co-writer Jon Green to the stage for a tender encore featuring the final song on Humble Quest, “What Would This World Do?,” a piano ballad tribute to her previous producer busbee, who died in 2019 and who had worked on Morris’ first two albums. Morris shared that she had yet to play the song during her tour. With busbee’s wife and children watching in the audience, the performance seemed a fitting ending for an evening that celebrated friendship and love, in the city that has supported Morris’s journey to headlining status.
Opening the show was Spencer, who first found a champion in Morris after uploading a cover of The Highwomen’s “Crowded Table” on social media. Spencer’s elegant voice and vulnerable songwriting has led her to become part of The Highwomen’s collective. She recently inked a label deal with Elektra, and released her project if i ever get there: a day a blackbird studio. On this Nashville night, Spencer noted that just a few years ago, she was busking on the streets of Nashville not far from Bridgestone. Her free-spirited, engaging performance style further enhanced her powerful, engaging vocals on songs including her own “A Hundred Years” and a version of the Chicks’ 1999 hit “Cowboy Take Me Away.”
Fellow opener Ruston Kelly, known for his albums Dying Star and Shape & Destroy, led the audience through his own surging country-rock releases including “Cover My Tracks” and “Faceplant,” though the audience seemed to reserve its biggest cheers for his moody version of the 2000 Wheatus hit “Teenage Dirtbag” and a sterling, angsty cover of Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well.”
Chicago-born rapper Taylor Bennett grew up around music and was constantly working on his craft with his older brother, Chance the Rapper. Over the years, Bennett has carved his own lane as an independent music artist, entrepreneur, and advocate.
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In 2015, Bennett released his debut project, Broad Shoulders, which quickly became a classic of the mid-2010s underground hip-hop SoundCloud era. The EP was headlined by a track named after the project which included a standout feature from Bennett’s older brother Chance. The single took Bennett’s career to new heights and he began to gain mainstream traction. He went on to release Restoration of an American Idol in 2017, BE YOURSELF in 2018, and THE AMERICAN REJECT in 2019 before taking a few years off from dropping new music. Earlier this year, Bennett returned with a new project, Coming of Age, which features iconic artists like Mr. Hudson and Jeremih.
One year after coming out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Bennett released his 2018 EP BE YOURSELF and launched a clothing brand under the same moniker. The phrase “be yourself” is much more than a brand or album name to the Chicago native. On the project, Bennett tackled some important internal conversations he’s never faced publicly or with family and friends. The cover is symbolic of Bennett accepting himself and features the rapper in rainbow underwear and a birthday hat surrounded by balloons.
In Sound Mind’s latest episode of Unmasked, Bennett credits coming out as the moment he started to gain self-confidence. He is passionate about using his story to build others up and help fans work through any mental health challenges they face.
“Mental health is so important to me. Every day I try to be my best self so I can show up as a father, a manager, and an artist. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I feel it’s my duty to share my story and connect with others so we can build each other up and combat any mental health challenges we may face. That’s what music is all about. I’m grateful for Billboard and Sound Mind’s “Unmasked” series which helps me do that. If someone out there is struggling, I hope they know they’re not alone. Let’s “unmask” mental health together.”
Unmasked is focused on promoting mental health resources, as well as fostering an open dialogue about mental health for artists and audiences alike. It is imperative that the music industry creates more spaces for artists to be open and honest about their struggles with mental health. Check out Taylor Bennett on the latest episode of Unmasked above and stay tuned for more from Sound Mind.
BLACKPINK in your area! After launching their hotly anticipated Born Pink World Tour in Seoul, the girl group headed to North America for a run of 14 concerts that ended Nov. 19 and 20 with back-to-back shows in Los Angeles.
Taking over Banc of California Stadium, Jisoo, Rosé, Lisa and Jennie shut it down time and time again over the course of their two-hour set, electrifying the stadium full of ecstatic Blinks with hits like “Kill This Love,” “How You Like That,” “Whistle” and “Pink Venom.”
Whether they were running through fan favorites like “Savage Love” and “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” or live-debuting Born Pink album cuts like “Typa Girl” and “Tally,” the idols demonstrated that their live show has only gotten better and more refined since the release of their debut LP The Album in 2020 and their 2021 online concert BLACKPINK: The Show.
Each of the members also shone during their own solo sets, with Jisoo bringing out Camila Cabello to duet on the latter’s 2019 single “Liar,” Jennie teasing a yet-to-be-released track with a shadowy dance number, Rosé delivering a one-two punch with “On the Ground” and Born Pink solo cut “Hard to Love,” and Lisa combining her pole-dancing prowess and undeniable star power on “Lalisa” and “Money.”
Below, Billboard was on the ground for BLACKPINK’s two L.A. shows. Click through for some of the best photos from the concerts.
For the second consecutive year, a British artist leads the year-end Billboard Global 200 songs chart. Dua Lipa passes the torch to Harry Styles, who leads the list with “As It Was.” A year ago, Lipa’s “Levitating” was tops. (“As It Was” also leads the 2022 year-end Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart.)
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Meanwhile, Bad Bunny finishes 2022 at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 Artists and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. Artists roundup.
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
Styles’ year-end triumph on the Billboard Global 200 is especially impressive considering “As It Was” missed the first 22 weeks of the tracking period, debuting atop the April 16-dated chart. During that span, six different songs topped the survey, including Glass Animals’ evergreen “Heat Waves,” which reigned from March 5 until April 9.
But “As It Was” arrived, fully formed, at No. 1 where it began a record-setting 15-week run on top. Further, the song spent its first 20 weeks at Nos. 1 or 2, first 24 weeks in the top three, and first 29 weeks inside the top five. Despite missing the first five months of the 2022 chart year, the track’s hyper-focus in the upper reaches of the survey during the eligibility period combined to make it the chart’s strongest song performer of the year.
“As It Was” repeats at No. 1 on the year-end ranking for Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, becoming the first song to top both lists’ year-end tallies – though the year-end rankings only began in 2021. (The Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. chart launched in September 2020, but their first year-end recaps were produced in 2021.)
Beyond Styles’ repeat at No. 1, both global year-end charts share the same top 10 songs, though in slightly different orders. Glass Animals follows at No. 2 on both charts with “Heat Wave,” while crowning the year-end Billboard Hot 100 Songs list. On all three weekly surveys, it set a record for the longest trip to No. 1.
The rest of the Billboard Global 200 top 10 includes Ed Sheeran (twice), GAYLE, and Adele, plus collaborations from Elton John and Dua Lipa, The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber, Imagine Dragons and JID, and The Weeknd and Ariana Grande. Two of those duets – “Stay” by The Kid LAROI and Bieber and “Save Your Tears” by The Weeknd and Grande — also placed in the top 10 on both year-end lists in 2021.
Bad Bunny is the No. 1 artist on both charts’ year-end recaps. Though already omnipresent on the two Global charts with material from his pair of 2020 releases, 2022’s Un Verano Sin Ti secured his No. 1 spot. All 23 songs from the album debuted on the May 21-dated rankings and logged a combined 81 weeks in the Billboard Global 200’s top 10 between then and the end of the 2022 tracking period.
Bad Bunny scores 12 songs on the year-end Billboard Global 200 chart and 10 on the corresponding Global Excl. U.S. list, taking up more than 10% of the year-end global rankings.
He is followed by Latin artists Rauw Alejandro, Karol G, Farruko and Chencho Corleone in the top 30 both of artist rankings. Elsewhere, South Korea’s BTS and BLACKPINK represent for non-English-language acts.
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.
Christian music in 2022 showed off its welcoming aspect to diversity with multiple women leading the charts and offering many collaborations between Christian and gospel artists.
The Top Christian Artist of 2022 is Kanye West, who concurrently reigns as the top male artist of the year. It marks two years straight that West leads both categories. His Donda album is No. 1 on the year-end Top Christian Albums tally for a second year in a row.
The hip-hop superstar is also the Top Gospel Artist of 2022. West wins the day on the strength and longevity of his second faith-based album, Donda, which is No. 1 on the Top Gospel Albums recap for a second year running.
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.
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
Let Us Recap: On the Billboard charts in September 2021 Donda debuted atop the all-genre Billboard 200 with 309,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. according to Luminate. It marked West’s 10th Billboard 200 leader. It simultaneously hit No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums and Top Gospel Albums charts.
Donda followed West’s first spiritual LP, 2019’s Jesus Is King, which was his ninth No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Donda has spent all of 2022 at Nos. 1 or 2 on Top Christian Albums.
Plus, the year’s rundown of the top tracks on the streaming-, airplay and sales based Hot Christian Songs ranking includes two songs by West inside the top 5.
“Praise God,” which dominated the survey for seven weeks starting last December is at No. 2 and “Hurricane,” which ruled for 12 weeks beginning in September 2021 is the No. 4 title on the year-end list.
West was not absent from the weekly Christian charts in 2022. His featured role on DJ Khaled’s “Use This Gospel (Remix),” which also featured Eminem, arrived at the Hot Christian Songs apex in September, awarding West with his fifth leader and the first for Khaled and Eminem.
The top female Christian artist for 2022 is Katy Nichole, who records for the Franklin, Tenn.-based Centricity Music. Nichole is also Billboard’s Top New Christian artist.
The 22-year-old singer-songwriter from Mesa, Ariz. owns the No. 1 Hot Christian Songs title of the year with her launch single “In Jesus Name (God of Possible).” The song concurrently leads the Christian Airplay Songs year-end ranking. Nichole co-wrote “Name,” with Ethan Hulse, David Spencer and Jeff Pardo, the latter of whom also produced it solo.
“I’m blown away and so incredibly honored,” Nichole tells Billboard. “It is such a gift to be able to use music to bring the love of Jesus to so many. I’m beyond grateful for everything that God has done in this past year and for the impact of the songs and stories I’ve shared.”
Plus, Nichole is one of the first successful Christian artists to come from social media. She currently boasts over 450,000 TikTok followers and before she was signed to Centricity she first gained traction by posting videos on TikTok as well as Instagram.
“Name” led the weekly Hot Christian Songs chart for 20 weeks and Christian Airplay for nine frames. Her sophomore hit “God is In This Story” reigned the lists for three and two weeks respectively.
A full studio album from Nichole is expected in early 2023.
Meanwhile, for King & Country is crowned as Billboard’s top Christian duo/group of 2022. The sibling duo comprised of Luke and Joel Smallbone ranks second among all Christian acts.
“For God Is With Us,” which became the pair’s second of two No. 1s on Hot Christian Songs, is the No. 5 top song of the year. It led for one week on the Aug. 6 dated chart and for three frames on Christian Airplay beginning in July.
The pair’s first Hot Country Songs leader, “Relate” which dominated Hot Christian Songs for three weeks in February finishes as No. 11 on the year-end tally.
“Relate” also led Christian Airplay for three frames starting February 12.
In July “For God Is With Us” topped the survey for its first of three frames and gave the duo its 11th No. 1.
The act also extended its record streak to eight consecutive Christian Airplay leaders (encompassing songs in lead roles promoted as proper, non-holiday radio singles, unless seasonal songs contribute to that run).
The duo began its run of eight straight No. 1s on the Aug. 18 dated tally when “joy.” commenced a four-week domination.
Billboard’s Top Gospel Artist of 2022 is Kanye West, who concurrently reigns as the top male artist of the year. West repeats, marking two years straight that he leads both categories.
The multi-genre superstar is simultaneously the Top Christian Artist of 2022. West reigns again mostly due to the staying power of his second faith-based album, Donda, which is No. 1 on the year-end Top Gospel Albums list.
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.
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
On the Billboard charts dated Sept. 11, 2021, Donda started with a splash. It debuted in the penthouse on the all-genre weekly Billboard 200 plus Top Gospel Albums and Top Christian Albums with 309,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S., according to Luminate.
It marked West’s 10th Billboard 200 leader and his second No. 1 on Top Gospel Albums (as well as Top Christian Album).
Donda followed his first spiritual LP, Jesus is King, which crowned both lists as well as the Billboard 200. King started with 264,000 weekly units in November 2019, which was a record at the time on the two faith-based tallies.
On the weekly Top Gospel Albums chart, Donda has held the summit every week during 2022. Donda is second to only Jesus is King on the list for the longest reigning titles in the history of Top Gospel Albums which started in 1983. Both sets are north of 65 frames each.
As for the top albums of 2022 Donda is No. 1 while Jesus is King ranks at No. 5.
Plus, West holds the Nos. 1 and 2 positions of the year on the year-end streaming-, airplay and sales based Hot Gospel Songs tally with “Praise God” at No. 1 and “Hurricane” at No. 2.
The top female gospel artist of the year is CeCe Winans, who is No. 4 among all acts. Winans was also the leading woman of 2021.
Winans’ LP Believe For It: A Live Worship is No. 3 on the Top Gospel Albums’ year-end tally. The set entered at No. 1 in March 2021 becoming her ninth No. 1. It ruled for seven weeks and has spent all of 2022 in the top 10.
The LP’s title track is the No. 8 song of 2022 on Hot Gospel Songs.
“Believe” dominated the weekly version of the multi-metric ranking for 12 weeks beginning in June and led Gospel Airplay for two frames starting on Jan. 29.
Winans’ “Goodness of God,” is the No. 2 track of 2022 on Gospel Digital Song Sales. The song rang up 13 weeks atop the list after it reached the penthouse in February, giving Winans her third leader.
“Goodness” reached No. 6 on Hot Gospel Songs in October, her fifth top 10.
Billboard’s top duo/group of 2022 and No. 2 among all acts is the Atlanta-based worship collective Maverick City Music.
Old Church Basement, the collaborative project with popular Christian act Elevation Worship, ranks as the Top Gospel Albums No. 2 LP of 2022. Basement, which opened at No. 1 on Top Gospel Albums in May 2021 with 19,000 units, has been in the top 3 for the entirety of 2022.
Maverick City Music posts two of its songs inside the top 5 on Hot Gospel Songs’ top tracks of 2022: “Promises,” featuring Joe L. Barnes and Naomi Raine is at No. 3, and “Jireh,” a collaboration between Maverick City Music and Elevation Worship is the No. 4 title for 2022.
“Jireh” also crowns the year-end ranking on Gospel Digital Song Sales.
Gospel music’s top new act of 2022 is E. Dewey Smith, whose rookie single, “Your Presence Is a Gift,” topped Gospel Airplay on the survey dated April 30. It peaked at No. 18 on Hot Gospel Songs.
Smith is based in Macon, Ga., and serves as the senior pastor and teacher at The House of Hope church in Atlanta.
Smith also released the holiday-themed album Let Praises Ring which arrived and peaked at No. 7 on Top Gospel Albums last December.
Most songs wouldn’t be the No. 1 on Billboard’s year-end Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart – or any other genre-based chart of a similar ilk, for that matter – two years after its initial release.
But “Heat Waves,” Glass Animals’ still-inescapable No. 1 of the year, isn’t most songs.
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
A year after “Heat Waves” climbed to No. 2 on the year-end ranking (alongside Glass Animals’ own first-time rule on the 2021 Top Rock & Alternative Artists survey), the Dreamland tune lifts to No. 1 for 2022, staving off challenges from songs released in 2021, 2020 and even 1985. Which is of course emblematic of the music industry as a whole as 2022 comes to a close: old can be new, two years isn’t necessarily too long a runway against which to gauge a song’s success, and what seemed to work to break an act years ago may not be part of the playbook anymore.
Thank TikTok and other short-form video apps especially. The year-end Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart’s top 10, after all, is full of success stories from that corner of the Internet – and there’s even more to discover in the top 20, the top 30 and so on.
“Heat Waves” famously cracked the code in 2021, driving the song to an eventual 37-week reign on the weekly Hot Rock & Alternative Songs list that began in September 2021 and only concluded for good in June 2022.
“Heat Waves’” tremendous success fuels Glass Animals’ finish at No. 1 on the 2022 Top Rock & Alternative Artists recap.
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.
The No. 2 Hot Rock & Alternative Songs title of the year, GAYLE’s “Abcdefu,” initially blew up on TikTok in late 2021 and climbed to No. 2 on the weekly survey. Imagine Dragons and JID’s “Enemy,” the No. 3? It did well on TikTok alongside its radio and streaming success after its initial premiere as the theme song to Netflix’s Arcane: League of Legends.
Speaking of Netflix: count the film and TV streaming service as one of the other main drivers of success on the Billboard charts in 2022. It singlehandedly caused the return of 1985’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” previously a No. 30 hit for Kate Bush that year on the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, it wasn’t so much a return to form as it was a new cultural high for the song, which eventually peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 and ruled Hot Rock & Alternative Songs for 11 weeks once the reign of “Heat Waves” had ended.
“Hill” wasn’t a flash in the pan brought about by a quick sync in film or TV, as is sometimes seen in the entertainment industry. It was reserviced to radio, playing a part in prolonging its impact alongside the song’s return in Stranger Things’ second part of its fourth season later in the summer. All told, it’s the No. 4 song on the year-end Hot Rock & Alternative Songs list and ranked as the No. 1 on the year-end Rock Digital Song Sales tally, while alternative radio stations embraced it to the point that it appears at No. 17 on the Alternative Airplay Songs year-end survey.
And that wasn’t all for Stranger Things. Released a year after “Hill” in 1986, Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” boasted similar virality with its sync in the back-end of the fourth season, reaching the Hot 100 for the first time (peaking at No. 35 in July) and crowning the weekly Hot Hard Rock Songs chart for nine weeks, a run that drove the song to be No. 1 on the latter’s year-end ranking while Metallica itself is the year’s Top Hard Rock Artist. All that for a band that last released an album of fully new material in 2016, while Bush last did so in 2011.
Other TikTok and streaming successes include Zach Bryan and Steve Lacy, who rank as the Nos. 1 and 2 artists on the New Top Rock & Alternative Artists chart for 2022, respectively. Both, in addition to rock and/or alternative cred, create music difficult to neatly assign to just one overarching genre – Bryan in the country and folk corners of the industry, Lacy with material spanning pop, R&B and soul.
Bryan’s chart success was buoyed not only by his 34-song major label debut American Heartbreak and subsequent EP Summertime Blues (the former crowning the weekly Top Rock & Alternative Albums survey for eight weeks) – he also boasted entries in the chart year from the self-released DeAnn from 2019 and Elisabeth from 2020.
In addition to ranking at No. 1 on the new artists rundown, Bryan also appears at No. 3 on the Top Rock & Alternative Artists list for 2022.
Lacy, meanwhile, sported chart hits from 2022 album Gemini Rights as well as the 2017 TikTok trender “Dark Red,” reaching the top 10 of the year-end Rock Streaming Songs list twice, with “Bad Habit” at No. 3 and the aforementioned “Red” at No. 10. “Habit” even climbed to No. 1 on the Hot 100, reigning for three weeks late in the year.
Bryan, Lacy and Bush are three of six soloists in the top 10 of Top Rock & Alternative Artists, exemplifying the continued rise of single-person acts on the rock and alternative charts. They’re joined by Billie Eilish, GAYLE and Machine Gun Kelly at Nos. 5, 6 and 8, respectively. In no other year since Top Rock & Alternative Artists (formerly Top Rock & Artists) began in 2011 did more than four soloists reach the top 10.
By the way, Eilish was no slouch in 2022. She’s No. 1 on the Top Alternative Artists chart for 2022 and boasts the No. 1 on the year-end Top Alternative Albums ranking: Happier Than Ever, initially released in August 2021 and the No. 5 entry on the 2021 recap.
The year-end radio tallies see Red Hot Chili Peppers return in a big way following a pair of albums, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen, the band’s first LPs since 2016’s The Getaway and the pair that marks the return of guitarist John Frusciante to the fold.
“Black Summer,” the lead single from the first release, comes in as the No. 1 Top Rock & Alternative Airplay song of the year and the No. 2 Alternative Airplay song, while also appearing at No. 6 on the year-end Top Mainstream Rock Airplay list.
The band is kept from No. 1 on the Alternative Airplay recap by the aforementioned “Enemy” from Imagine Dragons and JID, a juggernaut that’s now spent over a year on the weekly list, including nine weeks at No. 1 early in the year. Imagine Dragons last crowned the year-end Alternative Airplay song ranking in 2017 with “Believer.”
The Black Keys nab the No. 1 on Adult Alternative Airplay Songs for the year with “Wild Child,” the band’s first to do so since “Fever” in 2014, while Spoon ranks atop the artist-based survey after a trio of hits at the format, one of which – “The Hardest Cut” ruled for three weeks. And at Mainstream Rock Airplay, it’s perennial heavyweight Three Days Grace who takes top artist and song honors with “So Called Life,” their first time ruling the latter since “Break” led 2010’s year-end tally.
Nobody has been able to unseat Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio as the year’s Top Latin Artist for the last three years, and 2022 is no different as Bad Bunny crosses the finish line at No. 1 for a fourth consecutive year.
Notably, 2022 marks the eighth straight year that a male finishes atop the ranking (since Jenni Rivera’s 2013 domination). Before Bad Bunny’s four-year rule, Ozuna was the 2018 champ, preceded by Daddy Yankee in 2017, the late Juan Gabriel in 2016, and a back-to-back command by Romeo Santos in 2014-15.
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.
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
Bad Bunny upholds his ‘YHLQMDLG’ (short for “I do whatever I want”) stance releasing all-Spanish-language tunes to global audiences without reservations. He’s secured a global fanbase thanks largely to his knack for melding rhythmic melodies with elements from multiple genres, zigzagging from one format to another within the same song, which translated into a provoking shift in Latin music. Thanks to his solid chart performance, in addition to completing the year at No. 1 on the year-end Top Latin Artists chart, the Puerto Rican adds more achievements to his resumé in 2022, taking home the trophies for Top Latin Artist – Male, Hot Latin Song, and Top Latin Album.
Bad Bunny continues as the No. 1 Top Latin Artist for a fourth straight year thanks to his extraordinary success during the 2022 chart year on both the weekly Top Latin Albums chart and Hot Latin Songs chart, as well as his blockbuster concert earnings as reported to Billboard Boxscore.
His latest album, Un Verano Sin Ti, arrived at No. 1 on the weekly Top Latin Albums, Latin Rhythm Albums and all-genre Billboard 200 charts (dated May 21, 2022). On both Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums, it spent the rest of the 2022 chart year at No. 1. On the Billboard 200, it notched 13 nonconsecutive weeks in the lead.
The set opened with 274,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week in the U.S., according to Luminate, the largest weekly sum by a Latin album during the 2022 chart year. Concurrent with the album’s debut, mammoth streaming numbers (356.66 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) yielded a Bad Bunny monopoly of the entire top nine on the Hot Latin Songs chart the same week. In addition, he broke the record for the most simultaneous titles on the chart in the same week, placing a total of 24 on the list (23 from the album).
Benito also takes the year’s No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs recap, with “Me Porto Bonito,” a co-billed collaboration with Chencho Corleone. It hovered at No. 1 for 20 weeks on Hot Latin Songs after the superstar ceded the throne to one of his own in October: “Titi Me Preguntó.” “Bonito” concurrently earned Corleone his first champ on the multi-metric ranking.
Bad Bunny has seven of the year-end top 10 songs on the Hot Latin Songs roundup – all from his Un Verano Sin Ti album.
Karol G’s Still Got It: Karol G is No. 1 on the year-end Top Latin Artists – Female chart for a fourth consecutive year. She’s also No. 2 on the overall Top Latin Artists chart – the only female act in the top 10. The success comes after her strong showing in 2022 with her fusion of Colombian rhythmic tunes with pop and Afrobeats – and some big collaborations.
Her 2021 chart-topping album KG0516 spent nearly the entire 2022 chart year in the weekly top 10 of the Top Latin Albums chart, while she notched multiple new hits on the Hot Latin Songs chart, including two No. 1s in “Mamiii,” with Becky G, and “Provenza” (“Mamiii” also marked Becky G’s first No. 1 on the tally).
“Mamiii” spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs and also topped the weekly Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, Latin Rhythm Airplay, Latin Digital Song Sales and Latin Streaming Songs charts. The song was soon overtaken by its follow-up “Provenza.” As it debuted at No. 2 on Hot Latin Songs, Karol G became only the second woman, after Selena, to hold Nos. 1 and 2 at the same time since 1995.
“Mamiii” and “Provenza” close 2022 at Nos. 4 and 5 on the year-end Hot Latin Songs recap – the only two songs in the top five that are not by Bad Bunny.
Eslabon Armado & Ivan Cornejo Makes Waves for Regional Mexican Music: In a notable showing for the regional Mexican genre during the year, two regional Mexican acts snag the No. 1 spots on key overall Latin recaps. Eslabon Armado is the Top Latin Artist – Duo/Group, while Ivan Cornejo is the Top New Latin Artist.
Eslabon Armado hit its stride in 2022. As the group’s fifth studio album Nostalgia was released, the California-based group made a historic debut across Billboard’s albums charts: it bowed atop Regional Mexican Albums (ruling for six weeks), in the top 10 on Top Latin Albums, while becoming the first top 10-charting regional Mexican album ever on the all-genre Billboard 200. Meanwhile, “Te Encontré,” a collab with Ulices Chaidez, topped Regional Mexican Airplay for one week — its first ruler there.
On Hot Latin Songs, Eslabon Armado charted more hits during the 2022 chart year than any other duo/group – 11.
Ivan Cornejo quickly rose as a favorite among Latin artists fueled by his popularity on TikTok. He took a first shot uploading a requinto cover of regional Mexican artist Esteban Gabriel’s “Hay Niveles” with instant credit from the singer. The 18-year-old crashed in the Latin charts in Oct. 2021, scoring his first top 10 on Hot Latin Songs with single “Está Dañada.” In addition to becoming a fixture on TikTok, the track became just the second title by a regional Mexican act to snatch an entry on the Billboard Hot 100, a list devoid of regional Mexican tunes until the arrival of Gera MX and Christian Nodal’s “Botella Tras Botella” in May of 2021.
Cornejo, who captures the Top New Latin Artist honors, saw his sophomore album Dañado open at No. 1 on the weekly Regional Mexican Albums chart (and spend most of the rest of the 2022 chart year atop the list). On the Top Latin Albums tally, it reached No. 3 and spent months in the top 10.
Further, Cornejo visited the all-genre Billboard 200 for a second time, becoming the fourth regional Mexican act to secure an entry there in 2022 (trailing Junior H, Yahritza y Su Esencia and Eslabon Armado).
Yahritza y Su Esencia’s Youthful Takeover: The regional Mexican genre, meanwhile, caps off the year with a mounting presence on the Billboard charts, thanks in part to the younger generations of singer-songwriters who are setting new rules as they experiment with different sounds. Such is the case of Yahritza y Su Esencia, who finish at No. 2 on the year-end Top New Latin Artists recap.
The Mexican American outfit burst out of the gate earlier in the year with unprecedented speed as its debut single, “Soy El Único,” went viral upon its release thanks to TikTok. The momentum yielded a No. 1 start on the weekly Hot Latin Songs and a top 20 debut on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart (making the sibling trio the highest-ranked regional Mexican act in the 64-year-old chart).
“Soy El Único” closes 2022 at No. 34 on the year-end Hot Lating Songs recap while Yahritza y Su Esencia also places at No. 5 on the Top Latin Artists – Duo/Group roundup.
Dance Genre Growth: Dance generated a big impact in Latin music this year. The genre grew at a lightning-fast pace among Latin heavy hitters. A clear example is Farruko and his ubiquitous “Pepas” which led Hot Latin Songs for 14 weeks during the tracking period (a total of 26 weeks in command). The song earned the Puerto Rican – who first reached the chart in 2014 – his first No. 1 on the weekly Hot Latin Songs chart. The track closes 2022 as the No. 9 title on the year-end Hot Latin Songs recap and at No. 3 on the year-end Hot Dance/Electronic Songs roundup.
Other Latin powerhouses dabbling with EDM include Karol G, whose team-up with Tiesto, “Don’t Be Shy,” reached No. 4 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (it’s No. 35 on the year-end Hot Dance/Electronic Songs recap), while Skrillex’s partnership with Jhayco on “En Mi Cuarto” and with J Balvin on “In Da Getto” also nabbed a space on the tally (the latter is No. 37 for the year).
Further, Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez’s “Dakiti” remained in the top 10 on Hot Latin Songs for 25 weeks during the tracking frame (previously topping the list for 27 weeks). It’s No. 13 on the year-end Hot Latin Songs chart.
On a global level, Bizarrap and Quevedo’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52” became a major hit. The club anthem translated into the former’s first top 10 on Hot Latin Songs and the latter’s first career entry there. Plus, both acts made their first trips to the top of the Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts. On the year-end charts, it’s No. 33 on Hot Latin Songs, No. 12 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, No. 38 on the Billboard Global 200 and No. 21 on the Global Excl. U.S. recap.
Since Drake dropped his debut album, Thank Me Later, in 2010, he’s enjoyed a yearly coronation more often than not: For the seventh time in the past 13 years, the superstar caps the year as Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artist. He first achieved the rank in 2012, ran a four-peat from 2015-18, and reclaimed the MVP title last year. With seven rings, the 6 God firmly stands in a class of his own, three ahead of his nearest challenger, R. Kelly, who headed the year-end recap four times.
Unsurprisingly, Drake also repeats on the Top Rap Artists chart, which debuted last year. Beyoncé, meanwhile, rules 2022’s Top R&B Artists recap, now in its second year.
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
Drake traces his success this year to the endurance of his 2021 album, Certified Lover Boy and 2022 release Honestly, Nevermind. The former also wraps 2022 at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums recap, while the latter finishes at No. 21. Certified, which contains hits like “Way 2 Sexy,” featuring Drake and Tems, “Knife Talk,” with 21 Savage and featuring Project Pat and the Travis Scott-assisted “Fair Trade,” never fell below No. 13 on the weekly Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums recap during the chart year. Further, with its 10 weeks at No. 1 to date, it’s only Drake’s second album to reach the double-digit mark, after Take Care and its 12-week run in 2012-13.
Looking (far) ahead, Drake is already a frontrunner for his eighth title as the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artist. His collaborative album with 21 Savage, Her Loss, was released Nov. 4 and debuted on the Nov. 19, 2022, chart date – the first week of the 2023 chart year.
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.
Harlow ‘First’ in Class: Jack Harlow’s “First Class” captures first place on the annual Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs recap and gives the 24-year-old Louisville-bred rapper his first year-end champ on the list. The single, which debuted in April and samples Fergie’s 2006 track “Glamorous,” featuring Ludacris, logged 10 weeks on top of the weekly Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and spent its first 27 weeks on the list inside the top 10.
The song’s double-digit stay also punched Harlow’s ticket into a rare club. Between “Class” and “Industry Baby,” his collaboration with Lil Nas X that spent 18 weeks on top of the list, Harlow became one of only a handful of artists with two songs that have claimed 10 or more weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. “Industry Baby,” released in 2021, comes in at No. 6 on the 2022 year-end recap. Harlow and Drake are the only acts with multiple songs in the top 10 of this year’s annual Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ranking.
Latto’s ‘Big’ Prizes: Elsewhere, Latto cashes in big on several year-end lists, including as the Top New R&B/Hip-Hop Artist. The 23-year-old rapper’s win ends a nine-year gap for a woman to lead the yearly recap, since Iggy Azalea took home top new honors in 2014. The breakout success stems from Latto’s “Big Energy” single, released in September 2021, found its stride in 2022, first by entering the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs’ top 10 in January, topping the chart for two weeks in April and remaining on the list through September, a full year since its release.
Radio support played a pivotal role in the “Big Energy” story, most notably at the rhythmic format. The single clocked 35 weeks in the top 10 of the Rhythmic Airplay chart, the second-most by any song in the chart’s 30-year existence. No surprise then, that “Energy” is the No. 1 title on Rhythmic Airplay Songs for 2022. In addition, it nabs other awards as the year’s top R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales track and Rap Digital Song Sales, while Latto herself is the Top Female Rap Artist.
“Essence” Is Radio Champ: The Afrobeats genre brings home a big prize on the year-end charts thanks to Wizkid’s “Essence,” featuring Tems, which is No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Songs. Following its July release and growing buzz on TikTok, the Nigerian acts’ collaboration found quick reception on U.S. airwaves after its radio campaign began, flying to the top of the weekly R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart just eight weeks after its debut. The journey at the top, though, was longer – historically long, in fact. “Essence” clocked 27 weeks at No. 1 on the chart, a tie for the second-longest in the chart’s history, and became the first song to remain in the top 10 for an entire year.
Additional Highlights:
As noted, “Essence” wins the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay race and “Big Energy” takes the title for R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales. The genre’s streaming champ? Kodak Black’s “Super Gremlin.” It managed 13-week conquest of the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs chart, the longest since Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” ran up 14 frames in 2020.
Future takes the crowns for No. 1 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Artist, No. 1 Hot Rap Songs Artist and No. 1 Rap Streaming Songs Artist. One of the rapper’s best – if not the best – years of his career includes silver medals on the year-end charts for Top Rap Albums (I Never Liked You) and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (“Wait for U,” featuring Drake and Tems).
A year after being No. 1 on Hot Rap Songwriters, Lil Baby successfully defends his title. This year, though, he ups his collection to also take the prize at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriters, after coming in second place in last year’s standings.
Just as the 29-year-old singer-songwriter did in 2021, Sneedville, Tenn. native Morgan Wallen reigns as Billboard’s Top Country Artist of 2022. Concurrently, he finishes first as top country male artist.
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.
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
Wallen’s Dangerous set is the No. 1 Top Country Albums title of 2022. The 30-track LP has led the weekly albums list for well over 80 frames. On April 2, when it rolled into its record-breaking 51st week, it made history as it surpassed the 50-week commands logged by Luke Combs’ This One’s For You and Shania Twain’s Come on Over.
Notably, the methodology for Top Country Albums changed as of the survey dated Feb. 11, 2017, when the chart switched from using a strictly album sales-based formula to one calculating multiple metrics, incorporating album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Thus, the steady streaming activity of Dangerous’ 30 songs has contributed to the set’s chart rank each week during its run.
Dangerous blasted in at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart dated Jan. 23, 2021, with 265,000 equivalent album units earned. That marked the biggest week for a country album since Carrie Underwood’s Cry Pretty launched with 266,000 in September 2018. Wallen achieved the largest week for a solo male since Luke Bryan’s Kill the Lights began with 345,000 (August 2015).
Wallen also possesses the No. 1 and 2 hits of 2022 on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay and sales based Hot Country Songs. “Wasted on You,” which is from Dangerous, is the leading song of the year, while stand-alone single “You Proof” is No. 2.
“Wasted” rocketed atop the weekly Hot Country Songs survey in January 2021 and topped the tally for 11 weeks. “You Proof” debuted in the penthouse in May of 2022, giving the artist his sixth leader and his fifth No. 1 start, the most of any artist. “You Proof” also dominated the weekly Country Airplay chart for five frames — his longest running No. 1 among his seven chart-toppers.
Underwood Shines: Billboard’s Top Female Country Artist of 2022 is Carrie Underwood. She ranks 10th overall.
Underwood’s Denim & Rhinestones LP entered Top Country Albums at No. 2 on the chart dated June 25, marking her 10th top 10 in as many visits. Released June 10, the set earned 31,000 equivalent album units in its first week, with 22,000 of that sum in album sales, according to Luminate.
Underwood is the second-highest ranking woman on the Top Country Albums Artists recap (Taylor Swift is first) and Underwood is seventh among all artists.
On the list for top Country Airplay Artists of 2022 Underwood is the top female (12th overall). The artist’s hit “Ghost Story,” which reached No. 6 in October 2021 awarded Underwood with her landmark 30th song to reach the chart’s weekly top 10.
Since Country Airplay was launched in January 1990, Underwood is second among women with the most top 10s; Reba McEntire leads with 30.
Billboard’s Top Country Duo/Group of 2022 is Zac Brown Band. The act ranks first among duos and groups on the year-end Top Country Albums Artists recap, and 15th overall.
At the end of October 2021, ZBB released its seventh studio LP The Comeback which arrived at No. 3 on the weekly Top Country Albums chart with 19,000 units in its first week. It was the band’s 10th top 10.
Over on Country Airplay, ZBB achieved its first No. 1 in over five years when “Same Boat” (from The Comeback set), floated from 4-1 on the tally dated Dec. 4, 2021. It awarded the act with its 14th No. 1.
Billboard’s Top New Country Artist of 2022 is Zach Bryan who finished fifth on the overall Top Country Artists recap.
Bryan is also fifth on the Top Country Albums Artists roundup this year. Bryan’s American Heartbreak album ranks eighth on the year-end Top Country Albums titles list. The 26-year-old singer-songwriter from Oologah, Okla. released the hefty 34-track effort on May 20 and it entered atop the June 4 dated chart with 71,000 equivalent album units. Concurrently it bowed at No. 5 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
Also noteworthy for 2022, the group Parmalee’s “Take My Name” is No. 1 on the year-end Country Airplay Songs tally. The song led the survey for two weeks starting June 18. It gave the group its third No. 1, plus it remained in the top 10 for 21 weeks; the fourth longest run in the list’s upper tier in the almost 23-year history of the chart.