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Year-End

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For the second consecutive year, Taylor Swift is both Billboard’s overall top artist of the year, as well as the No. 1 Hot 100 Songwriter.
She finishes 2024 as the No. 1 songwriter thanks to the chart performance of a staggering 56 songwriting credits on the Billboard Hot 100 during the 2024 chart eligibility period (Oct. 28, 2023-Oct. 19, 2024), including her two-week No. 1 hit, “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone.

Explore All of Billboard’s 2024 Year-End Charts

Here’s a look at all 56 of Swift’s songwriting credits on the Hot 100 during the 2024 tracking period, which all contribute to her placement on the year-end ranking. Note that many of the songs listed below are holdovers from previous years—“Anti-Hero,” for example, debuted and peaked at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in November 2022, but continued to chart until Nov. 4, 2023 (its final week on the chart before dropping off). As such, its final two weeks on the chart count towards Swift’s 2024 year-end Hot 100 Songwriters ranking because it was still charting.

Of the 56 songs that contributed to Swift’s No. 1 placement, all but “Anti-Hero” peaked on the chart during the eligibility period. “Cruel Summer,” notably, hit No. 1 in the first week of the eligibility period (chart dated Oct. 28, 2023). Swift is the lead artist on all songs below except Gracie Abrams’ “Us.,” on which she was featured.

Peak Position, Title (co-songwriters in addition to Taylor Swift

No. 1, “Anti-Hero” (Jack Antonoff)No. 1, “Cruel Summer” (Jack Antonoff, St. Vincent)No. 1, “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” (Jack Antonoff)No. 1, “Fortnight” (Jack Antonoff, Post Malone)No. 2, “Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” (Jack Antonoff)No. 2, “Down Bad” (Jack Antonoff)No. 3, “Slut! (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” (Jack Antonoff, Patrik Berger)No. 3, “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” (Jack Antonoff)No. 4, “The Tortured Poets Department” (Jack Antonoff)No. 5, “Say Don’t Go (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” (Diane Warren)No. 5, “So Long, London” (Aaron Dessner)No. 6, “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”No. 7, “Bad Blood (Taylor’s Version)” (Max Martin, Shellback Kendrick Lamar)No. 7, “But Daddy I Love Him” (Aaron Dessner)No. 8, “Florida!!!” (Florence Welch)No. 9, “Style (Taylor’s Version)” (Max Martin, Shellback, Ali Payami)No. 9, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”No. 10, “Suburban Legends (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” (Jack Antonoff)No. 10, “Guilty As Sin?” (Jack Antonoff)No. 11, “Fresh Out The Slammer” (Jack Antonoff)No. 12, “Blank Space (Taylor’s Version)” (Max Martin, Shellback)No. 12, “loml” (Aaron Dessner)No. 13, “The Alchemy” (Jack Antonoff)No. 14, “Welcome to New York (Taylor’s Version)” (Ryan Tedder)No. 14, “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” (Aaron Dessner)No. 16, “Out of the Woods (Taylor’s Version)” (Jack Antonoff)No. 19, “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)” (Max Martin, Shellback)No. 20, “All You Had To Do Was Stay (Taylor’s Version)” (Max Martin)No. 20, “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” (Jack Antonoff)No. 21, “Clara Bow” (Aaron Dessner)No. 23, “Thank You Aimee” (Aaron Dessner)No. 24, “So High School” (Aaron Dessner)No. 25, “The Black Dog”No. 26, “imgonnagetyouback” (Jack Antonoff)No. 27, “You’re Losing Me (From The Vault)” (Jack Antonoff)No. 28, “Shake It Off (Taylor’s Version)” (Max Martin, Shellback)No. 29, “New Romantics (Taylor’s Version)” (Max Martin, Shellback)No. 30, “Clean (Taylor’s Version)” (Imogen Heap)No. 30, “The Albatross” (Aaron Dessner)No. 31, “I Wish You Would (Taylor’s Version)” (Jack Antonoff)No. 32, “The Prophecy” (Aaron Dessner)No. 34, “I Hate It Here” (Aaron Dessner)No. 35, “How Did It End?” (Aaron Dessner)No. 36, “I Know Places (Taylor’s Version)” (Ryan Tedder)No. 36, “Chloe Or Sam Or Sophia Or Marcus” (Aaron Dessner)No. 36, “Us.” (Gracie Abrams feat. Taylor Swift) (Gracie Abrams, Aaron Dessner)No. 39, “Wonderland (Taylor’s Version)” (Max Martin, Shellback)No. 39, “I Look In People’s Windows” (Jack Antonoff, Patrik Berger)No. 40, “How You Get The Girl (Taylor’s Version)” (Max Martin, Shellback)No. 42, “This Love (Taylor’s Version)”No. 43, “You Are In Love (Taylor’s Version)” (Jack Antonoff)No. 44, “Cassandra” (Aaron Dessner)No. 46, “Peter”No. 47, “The Bolter” (Aaron Dessner)No. 51, “The Manuscript”No. 55, “Robin” (Aaron Dessner)

Swift’s 56 songs above are from four different albums: Midnights (No. 1 peak in 2022), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (No. 1; 2023), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (No. 1; 2023) and The Tortured Poets Department (No. 1; 2024). The lattermost album is Billboard’s No. 1 Billboard 200 album of 2024. It’s the fourth time Swift has finished with the No. 1 album of the year, after Fearless in 2009, 1989 in 2015 and Reputation in 2018.

Swift has now finished as Billboard’s No. 1 Hot 100 Songwriter of the year three different times: in 2009, 2023, and now in 2024.

Just below Swift on the 2024 year-end Hot 100 Songwriters ranking, Swift’s collaborator Jack Antonoff finishes at No. 2, thanks to 25 songwriting credits on the Hot 100 during the eligibility period. Along with the 20 songs above by Swift, Antonoff is also credited as a co-writer on four Sabrina Carpenter songs (including her No. 1 hit “Please Please Please”) as well as Quavo and Lana Del Rey’s “Tough.”

Antonoff also finishes 2024 as the No. 1 Hot 100 Producer for the first time, largely thanks to his work with Swift and Carpenter.

After Antonoff, Zach Bryan finishes as the No. 3 Hot 100 Songwriter, thanks to 22 songwriting credits, mainly from his album The Great American Bar Scene.

Kendrick Lamar claims the No. 4 spot, thanks to five songwriting credits, including his No. 1s “Not Like Us” and “Like That” with Future and Metro Boomin.

Finally, Amy Allen finishes as the No. 5 Hot 100 Songwriter of 2024, thanks to 20 songwriting credits in the eligibility period. Twelve of those are from Sabrina Carpenter’s No. 1 album Short n’ Sweet, including her No. 1 “Please Please Please.” Also contributing are songs by Tate McRae (“Greedy,” “Run For The Hills”), Koe Wetzel & Jessie Murph (“High Road,” “Sweet Dreams”), Justin Timberlake (“Selfish”) and Olivia Rodrigo (“Scared of My Guitar”).

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Oct. 28, 2023, through Oct. 19, 2024. 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 detail, and the October-October time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.

For the first time in his career, Jack Antonoff is the No. 1 Hot 100 Producer of the year.
He finishes 2024 as the No. 1 Hot 100 Producer thanks to the chart performance of 31 production credits on the Billboard Hot 100 during the 2024 chart eligibility period (charts dated Oct. 28, 2023-Oct. 19, 2024), all of which were by either Taylor Swift or Sabrina Carpenter. Of those 31 songs, five hit No. 1: Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” “Cruel Summer,” “Is It Over Now (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” and “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone, as well as Carpenter’s “Please Please Please.”

Explore All of Billboard’s 2024 Year-End Charts

Here’s a look at all 31 of Antonoff’s production credits on the Hot 100 during the 2024 tracking period, which all contribute to his placement on the year-end ranking. Note that some of the songs listed below are holdovers from previous years—“Anti-Hero,” for example, debuted and peaked at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in November 2022, but continued to chart until Nov. 4, 2023 (its final week on the chart before dropping off). As such, its final two weeks on the chart count towards Antonoff’s 2024 year-end Hot 100 Producers ranking because it was still charting. It’s worth noting that, on many of the songs below, Antonoff is credited as either the sole producer or co-producer with Swift, helping boost his chart results (as he doesn’t share credit with many other individuals).

“Anti-Hero,” notably, is the only song on the list below that didn’t peak during the eligibility period. “Cruel Summer” topped the Hot 100 on Oct. 28, 2023, the first week of the period.

Peak Position, Artist Billing, Title (co-producers in addition to Jack Antonoff)

No. 1, Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero” (Taylor Swift)No. 1, Taylor Swift, “Cruel Summer” (Taylor Swift)No. 1, Taylor Swift, “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” (Taylor Swift)No. 1, Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone, “Fortnight” (Taylor Swift)No. 1, Sabrina Carpenter, “Please Please Please”No. 2, Taylor Swift, “Down Bad” (Taylor Swift)No. 2, Taylor Swift, “Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” (Taylor Swift)No. 3, Taylor Swift, “Slut! (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” (Taylor Swift, Patrik Berger)No. 3, Taylor Swift, “I Can Do It with A Broken Heart” (Taylor Swift)No. 4, Taylor Swift, “The Tortured Poets Department” (Taylor Swift)No. 5, Taylor Swift, “Say Don’t Go (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” (Taylor Swift)No. 6, Taylor Swift, “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” (Taylor Swift)No. 7, Taylor Swift, “But Daddy I Love Him” (Taylor Swift, Aaron Dessner)No. 8, Taylor Swift, “Florida!!!” (Taylor Swift)No. 9, Taylor Swift, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” (Taylor Swift)No. 10, Taylor Swift, “Suburban Legends (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” (Taylor Swift)No. 10, Taylor Swift, “Guilty As Sin?” (Taylor Swift)No. 11, Taylor Swift, “Fresh Out The Slammer” (Taylor Swift)No. 13, Taylor Swift, “The Alchemy” (Taylor Swift)No. 16, Taylor Swift, “Out of the Woods (Taylor’s Version)” (Taylor Swift)No. 20, Taylor Swift, “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” (Taylor Swift)No. 21, Sabrina Carpenter, “Sharpest Tool”No. 23, Taylor Swift, “thanK you aIMee” (Taylor Swift, Aaron Dessner)No. 25, Taylor Swift, “The Black Dog” (Taylor Swift)No. 26, Taylor Swift, “imgonnagetyouback” (Taylor Swift)No. 27, Taylor Swift, “You’re Losing Me (From The Vault)” (Taylor Swift)No. 27, Sabrina Carpenter, “Slim Pickins”No. 31, Taylor Swift, “I Wish You Would (Taylor’s Version)” (Taylor Swift)No. 39, Taylor Swift, “I Look in People’s Windows” (Taylor Swift, Patrik Berger)No. 41, Sabrina Carpenter, “Lie to Girls”No. 43, Taylor Swift, “You Are in Love (Taylor’s Version)” (Taylor Swift)

The 31 songs above are from several different albums: Swift’s Midnights (No. 1 peak on the Billboard 200 in 2022), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (No. 1; 2023), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (No. 1; 2023) and The Tortured Poets Department (No. 1; 2024), along with Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet (No. 1; 2024).

Swift herself finishes just below Antonoff at No. 2 on the 2024 year-end Hot 100 Producers ranking, thanks to her production credits on each of her 55 charting solo songs during the eligibility period (she tallied one additional chart entry in the period, as a featured act on Gracie Abrams’ “Us,” though she isn’t listed as a producer). Swift also finished at No. 2 on the 2023 Hot 100 Producers list, behind Joey Moi.

After Swift, Dan Nigro is the No. 3 Hot 100 Producer of 2024, thanks to 16 production credits during the eligibility period by Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo. Leading the way is Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” which finishes as the No. 18 Hot 100 Song of the year.

Finishing out the top five, Finneas ranks as the No. 4 Hot 100 Producer of 2024, thanks to his continued work with Billie Eilish on her album Hit Me Hard and Soft, and Zach Bryan finishes at No. 5.

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Oct. 28, 2023, through Oct. 19, 2024. 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 detail, and the October-October time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.

In 2017, Imagine Dragons started a trend that has continued every year since on Billboard’s year-end Top Rock & Alternative Artists chart.
It’s never obvious at first. An act has a big year, big enough that they reign supreme above all other rock and/or alternative artists in the U.S. Well and good, but by the time they’re crowned atop Billboard’s year-end charts, the clock has reset anew, and there’s no guarantee they’ll end up on top of the fray yet again the following year.

Except that’s exactly what’s happened in every two-year period since, a trend that continues in 2024, with Zach Bryan the year’s No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Artists.

Explore All of Billboard’s 2024 Year-End Charts

After Imagine Dragons led in both 2017 and ’18, Panic! at the Disco followed in 2019-20. Glass Animals topped the list in 2021 and ’22, with Bryan ascending to the top in 2023, a spot he holds again this year.

Bryan, the folky troubadour whose music blurs the line between rock and country singer-songwriter fare, premiered a new album, The Great American Bar Scene, on July 4. Music from that set – including one-week Hot Rock & Alternative Songs No. 1 “Pink Skies” – certainly helped his fortunes on both the Top Rock & Alternative Artists and Top Country Artists (where he’s No. 2) for the year, but much like fellow country heavy-hitters Morgan Wallen and Chris Stapleton, it’s important to look beyond music that was released during the chart year.

Indeed, “I Remember Everything,” Bryan’s duet with Kacey Musgraves from his 2023 self-titled album, is No. 1 on a variety of year-end charts for 2024, including – but certainly not limited to – the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs lists, as well as the all-genre Streaming Songs survey. Released in September 2023, the song reigned on the weekly Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart for 30 weeks through March of this year and didn’t fall off the survey until October. Even as The Great American Bar Scene’s tracklist roared onto the charts in July, “I Remember Everything” persisted; it’s only spent a handful of weeks outside Streaming Songs’ top 20 since release.

Bryan also notches multiple appearances on the year-end Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart; Zach Bryan leads the way at No. 2, followed by 2022’s American Heartbreak (No. 5), The Great American Bar Scene (No. 12), 2020’s Elisabeth (No. 20), 2022 EP Summertime Blues (No. 25) and 2023 EP Boys of Faith (No. 64). And on the year-end Rock Streaming Songs, he boasts the top two (“I Remember Everything” and 2022’s “Something in the Orange”) and 13 of the 50 total entries.

Bryan’s 2024 coronation continues another rising trend on Top Rock & Alternative Artists: the domination of soloists. After years of leads by bands, Bryan’s 2023 rule was the exclamation point on a year when the entire top 10 were solo acts, a first for the genre.

In 2024, soloists are still in vogue, but bands took back some territory, with two of the top 10 groups of two or more. One of those is Fleetwood Mac (No. 9), the classic rock act who remains a streaming force in the ‘20s, with “Dreams” No. 7 on the year-end Rock Streaming Songs survey. The other? Linkin Park (No. 8), which returns to the top 10 for the first time since 2017.

The story of Linkin Park’s resurgence began in 2023, when it vaulted to No. 16 on Top Rock & Alternative Artists after appearing at No. 50 in 2022, mostly on the strength of catalog sales and streams. The band was No. 3 in 2017, but it wasn’t for particularly celebratory reasons; longtime co-frontman Chester Bennington died that year, spurring an outpouring of streams and sales in remembrance of the late iconic singer. In 2023, the band found success via the 20th-anniversary reissue of its 2003 album Meteora, which spurred the year-end No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Airplay Songs and Alternative Airplay Songs in “Lost,” a previously unreleased cut featuring Bennington’s vocals.

A new greatest-hits package, Papercuts, followed this April, boasting a one-week No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Airplay in “Friendly Fire.” In September, Linkin Park officially reformed with a new vocalist in Dead Sara’s Emily Armstrong, with comeback single “The Emptiness Machine” topping both Mainstream Rock Airplay and Alternative Airplay for multiple weeks. Despite being released in the 11th hour of the 2024 chart year, the song appears on several year-end rankings, paced by its No. 4 arrival on Hot Hard Rock Songs.

What will 2025 have in store for Linkin Park? Stay tuned, with new album From Zero having been released on Nov. 15, whose chart performance will factor into the year-end 2025 charts.

Further up Top Rock & Alternative Artists, Billie Eilish rises to the highest point she’s ever been on the ranking since the weekly Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Top Rock & Alternative Albums charts changed from their previous iterations to allow alternative-leaning music not necessarily within the rock genre in 2020. Eilish ends the year at No. 2, the highest rank for a woman since Lorde was No. 1 on the year-end tally in 2014. She’s also No. 1 on Top Alternative Artists, a return for Eilish after she also reigned in 2022.

As in 2022, Eilish released a new album, this time Hit Me Hard and Soft. The set has reigned on Top Rock & Alternative Albums for 18 weeks so far since debuting atop the June 1 list and has paced Top Alternative Albums for even longer (22 frames); though she misses out on the distinction of the No. 1 Top Alternative Albums year-end entry in 2024 (that goes to Noah Kahan’s Stick Season), Hit Me Hard and Soft still ranks at No. 2, while Eilish is the No. 1 Top Alternative Albums Artist in 2024 thanks to a flurry of appearances on the year-end ranking (When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? at No. 11, Happier Than Ever at No. 14 and Dont Smile at Me at No. 47).

Eilish also boasts a coronation as the No. 1 on Hot Alternative Songs Artists in 2024, accumulating 11 songs on the 50-position year-end Hot Alternative Songs list. That includes the Nos. 2 and 3: “Birds of a Feather,” from Hit Me Hard and Soft, and “What Was I Made For?,” off the 2023 Barbie film soundtrack.

Neither song could hold a candle to Hozier’s “Too Sweet,” No. 1 on the year-end Hot Alternative Songs. The viral success of the tune fuels Hozier’s appearance at No. 4 on Top Rock & Alternative Artists, an impressive comeback for the Irish singer-songwriter after having last reached the top 10 in 2015, when he was No. 2. “Too Sweet” was a force across all metrics; the song ends 2024 as the No. 1 on the year-end Adult Alternative Airplay Songs, Alternative Streaming Songs and Rock Digital Song Sales lists, while other notable accolades include No. 2 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, No. 4 on Alternative Airplay Songs and No. 4 on Rock & Alternative Airplay Songs.

Hozier’s influence even extended outside the rock and alternative genres, much like his breakout 2014 hit, “Take Me to Church.” “Too Sweet” ends the year at No. 10 on Hot 100 Songs, as well as at No. 4 on Adult Pop Airplay Songs and No. 7 on Pop Airplay Songs.

The year’s No. 1 on Top New Rock & Alternative Artists illuminates TikTok’s continued influence on all charts: Djo, whose “End of Beginning,” originally released in 2022, went viral via multiple trends on the social media app earlier this year. The project of actor Joe Keery also finds its way to No. 10 on Top Rock & Alternative Artists, while “End of Beginning” is the year-end No. 6 on Alternative Streaming Songs and No. 7 on Alternative Airplay Songs.

And Hozier’s not the only resurgent act to top a year-end radio ranking; Sum 41’s “Landmines” leads the Alternative Airplay Songs list, while Daughtry crowns the Mainstream Rock Airplay Artists ranking.

Sum 41 (which relents the Alternative Airplay Artists No. 1 to usual format stalwart Green Day) topped the weekly Alternative Airplay chart for two weeks but ultimately remained on the ranking for 51 weeks from October 2023 to October 2024. The Deryck Whibley-fronted band’s reign was its first since 2001’s “Fat Lip,” marking the longest break between rulers in the chart’s 36-year history.

Daughtry’s Mainstream Rock Airplay Artists coronation is thanks to a pair of one-week No. 1s on the weekly Mainstream Rock Airplay. This is former American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry’s first time topping the chart. “Pieces” ends up at No. 3 on Mainstream Rock Airplay Songs, followed by “Artificial” at No. 5; Nothing More’s “If It Doesn’t Hurt” is No. 1, the rockers’ first time as the biggest song of the year, eclipsing the No. 3 rank of “Ballast” all the way back in 2014.

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts dated Oct. 28, 2023, through Oct. 19, 2024. 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 October-October time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.

A billionaire in the music business usually doesn’t start out in the music business. They begin in less glamorous industries until, with a large enough bank account, they can buy a record label, music venue or concert promoter and earn entry into the world of media moguls. Or the billionaire joins the equally exclusive fraternity of professional sports team owners. Some do both music and sports.  

Charles Dolan, the patriarch of the Dolan family, majority owners of MSG Entertainment and Sphere Entertainment Group —not to mention a few sports teams —began with a closed-circuit service that sent tourist information into New York City hotel rooms. Ron Burkle got his start working for a grocery store before turning into a grocery M&A titan. Len Blavatnik, whose Access Industries holding company owns most of Warner Music Group, earned his fortune buying aluminum smelters after the breakup of the Soviet Union. For Vicent Bolloré, maritime freight and paper manufacturing were the pathway to media and entertainment. For Phil Anschutz, it was oil. For Hassan Khosrowshahi, it was consumer electronics.

In a few instances, billionaires came to the music business through Wall Street. Two celebrity hedge fund kings, Bill Ackman (Pershing Square Holdings) and Steve Cohen (Point72), have purchased stakes in public music companies. Ackman acquired 10% of Universal Music Group (UMG) before its 2021 initial public offering, becoming a helpful cheerleader for UMG — and music assets in general — as more institutional investors put money into a growing slate of public and private music companies. Cohen, owner of the New York Mets, quietly has small stakes in two of the Dolan family’s companies, MSG Entertainment and Sphere Entertainment Co.  

Warren Buffet is an outsider here. Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Holdings looks for undervalued companies with competitive advantages — think insurance companies and railroads. A media mogul he isn’t. Buffet has a reputation for investing in boring companies with good management and avoiding the crowds that drive up prices. “Price is what you pay; value is what you get,” he once said. Berkshire Hathaway owns a considerable stake in a radio company, SiriusXM, that is trying to keep satellite radio relevant in an era of high-flying streaming services. But SiriusXM, which represents just a small part of Berkshire’s portfolio, isn’t an entryway to glitz and glamour.

For this list, Billboard is highlighting ten billionaires — some well-known, others less so — who have built music companies or invested in them but didn’t originally build their fortunes in the music business. Billboard excluded CEOs or musicians. According to Forbes, Jay-Z is worth $2.5 billion, Rihanna is worth $1.4 billion and Taylor Swift is worth $1.1 billion. Two founder/CEO billionaires, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and CTS Eventim CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, are also excluded.  

Phil Anschutz

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In 2024, radio gained a massive star: Shaboozey. Thanks to an ambitious five-format strategy by the EMPIRE label to break “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” to the widest possible audience, the singer-songwriter’s signature track hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July and remained there for a record-tying 19 weeks, making radio history along […]

As if the world needed any more proof of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Rihanna‘s power, Forbes has listed all three superstars on the publication’s year-end most powerful women ranking. As unveiled Wednesday (Dec. 11), the “Anti-Hero” singer is the highest placing musician on the list, with the publication putting her at No. 23. Giving her […]

You can tell everybody … that Sir Elton John was named Time magazine’s Icon of the Year in 2024.
In a new cover story for the publication — which will reveal its pick for Person of the Year on Thursday (Dec. 12) — John sat for an interview in which he looked back over his career, and considered his own legacy. “If people remember that we tried to change the world a little bit, we were kind, we tried to help people … And then, apart from that, there was the music,” he said.

Writer Belinda Luscombe makes a compelling argument for John earning the title. “The candle that is Elton John has been inextinguishable, no matter how strong the wind. His 57 U.S. top 40 hits were mostly released during his wild-child youth, but he found a second act in writing songs for animated Disney movies, for which he won two Oscars, and a third in writing songs for Broadway musicals, for which he won a Tony,” she writes. “There’s a whiff of fourth act about him as he moves into the mash-up phase of his career, lending his melodies — and some vocals — to a new generation of performers.”

Throughout his wide-ranging interview, John talked about myriad aspects of his life, including his faith, sobriety and relationship with his late mother. He also reflected on aspects of his job in the industry, including his distaste for performing in music videos. “Music videos should be made by good-looking people like Harry Styles. I’m not very good at looking at myself,” he explained “I don’t think you ever lose that body consciousness. I just think it stays with you forever.”

Trending on Billboard

The star also spoke about the recent news that Tammy Faye, the Broadway musical he wrote music for, closed less than a month after its Broadway debut. “It’s a shame for everyone who put so much work in it. But that’s what happens when you take a chance,” he said. “It’s a fairly political piece of work. And with that you have to press somebody’s buttons. The buttons we pressed … with the critics weren’t the right ones.”

Among the many people to speak on John’s behalf in the story were a number of modern pop performers whom John personally championed. Dua Lipa, who collaborated with John on his hit song “Cold Heart,” said that it never felt like John was courting her for a collaboration due to her star power. “It was because of our friendship,” she said. “Singing alongside one of my musical heroes was a no-brainer. His music has been able to soundtrack my life from the very beginning.”

Meanwhile, pop phenomenon Chappell Roan also shared her own anecdotes about meeting John, and she revealed the piece of advice he gave that changed her perspective. “The advice he gave me was that the songs will come,” she said. “He thought that he wouldn’t have the ideas, but they were absolutely there. He just had to let them come to him. So that’s a good reminder.”

See Time‘s cover featuring Icon of the Year Elton John below:

Elton John

TIME

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Between the the majors suing Suno and Udio, the ELVIS Act protecting voices against deepfakes and “BBL Drizzy” setting legal precedent, it’s been a big year for AI music.

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