year in music 2022
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Drake reigns as Billboard‘s Top Dance/Electronic Artist for the first time in 2022, thanks to the success of his underground house-focused album Honestly, Nevermind. The set also finishes as the year’s Top Dance/Electronic Album.
With just the singular performance of Honestly, Nevermind, Drake edges out Lady Gaga as the Top Dance/Electronic Albums Artist, who closes the year at No. 2 off the strength of her five charting albums during the chart year. Gaga is also No. 2 on the overall Top Dance/Electronic Artists list, after ending 2020 and 2021 at No. 1.
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
Honestly debuted at No. 1 on the July 2-dated weekly edition of the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, amassing 19 weeks at No. 1 in the chart year. Drake sat at the summit every week since except one, when Madonna bowed at No. 1 with her career-spanning remix collection Finally Enough Love on September 3. Drake’s 19 weeks at the top were second only to Lady Gaga’s 25 with The Fame: no other album totaled more than one frame at No. 1 in the 2022 chart year.
Drake also completes 2022 at No. 3 on the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Artists chart, with 10 Honestly tracks, the most of all acts, finishing the year in the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs top 50, led by “Massive” at No. 11. “Falling Back,” which became Drake’s first Hot Dance/Electronic Songs No. 1 (July 2), comes in at No. 15 on the year-end list. The album spawned six additional top 10s (eight in total) during the year, with year-end finishes as follows: “Texts Go Green” (No. 17), “A Keeper” (No. 18), “Calling My Name” (No. 19), “Currents” (No. 22), “Flight’s Booked” (No. 23) and “Overdrive” (No. 40).
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.
Speaking of the year-end Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, Elton John and Dua Lipa hold the No. 1 spot with “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix).” The inventive pop/dance remixed track, which references John classics “Rocket Man” and “Sacrifice,” spent 32 weeks at No. 1 on the weekly chart during the year, almost three times as many as any other song (Beyonce’s Grammy-nominated “Break My Soul” was next, with 11 weeks at No. 1; more on her below).
“Heart” first hit No. 1 on October 23, 2021, compiling four frames at No. 1 prior to the chart year; its 36 total weeks at No. 1 are second only to the 69 chart-topping weeks achieved in 2018-20 by Marshmello and Bastille’s “Happier” since the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart’s January 2013 inception.
Elton John also ends the year as the No. 1 Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Artist. He was the only artist to register more than one leader on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart in 2022, as in September he teamed with Britney Spears to follow “Heart” with “Hold Me Closer,” which also referenced John’s hits, including “Tiny Dancer,” “The One” and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” John is also the only act with more than one song in the year-end Hot Dance/Electronic Songs top 10, with “Closer” coming in at No. 9.
“Heart” also ends 2022 at No. 1 on the Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs and Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales charts, earning 32 weeks apiece at No. 1 during the year on both lists; the longest span of any song. Plus, John completes 2022 at No. 1 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales Artists chart, while Drake takes No. 1 honors on Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs Artists.
Circling back to Beyoncé, she finishes 2022 as the No. 2 Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Artist, with her Renaissance album leading to her first four Hot Dance/Electronic Songs top 10s, including the aforementioned “Break My Soul,” “Summer Renaissance,” “Pure/Honey” and “Thique.” “Break,” with its interpolation of Robin S.’s “Show Me Love,” ends at No. 2 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs year-end list, as it earned top 10 finishes on Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales (No. 2), Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs (No. 4) and Dance/Mix Show Airplay (No. 8).
David Guetta, who was the No. 1 Top Dance/Electronic Artist of 2015, had another banner year in 2022, this time finishing at No. 6 on the list. Guetta earned 16 chart entries on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in 2022, the most of all acts (his 72 charted titles in the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart’s history leads all acts too). His collaboration with Bebe Rexha, “I’m Good (Blue),” became Guetta’s second career leader in October, spending seven weeks at No. 1 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (a total which continues to increase at press time); besides “Heart” and “Break,” “Good” was the only song to spend multiple frames at No. 1 in 2022.
The Grammy-nominated “Good,” based upon an interpolation of Eiffel 65’s 2000 Eurodance smash “Blue (Da Ba Dee),” grabs the No. 6 spot on the year-end Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. It was also No. 4 for 2022 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales list, with Guetta also garnering a No. 4 finish on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales Artists chart.
Shifting gears, Acraze is the No. 1 Top Dance/Electronic New Artist, with his breakthrough hit, “Do It To It,” featuring Cherish, securing top 10 finishes on both the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (No. 6) and Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales (No. 7) tallies. “Do It” did it at No. 3 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for 12 weeks, from December-March, and the track even crossed to the Billboard Hot 100, darting as high as No. 65 in January.
Kordhell comes in second on the Top Dance/Electronic New Artist list, as his viral hit “Murder In My Mind” made it to No. 7 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in October. Another viral act, Dxrk, ranked third on the Top Dance/Electronic New Artist tally, with his “Rave” reaching No. 9 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in May.
Sickick was fourth on the Top Dance/Electronic New Artist list, thanks to two viral tracks: “I Can Feel It” (which mashes up Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight” and Michael Jackson’s “Remember The Time”) and “Frozen,” Madonna’s 1998 Ray of Light electronic ballad which began as a remix and became a collaboration with Madonna, Fireboy DML and 070 Shake.
Meanwhile, Doja Cat clawed her way to No. 1 on the Dance/Mix Show Airplay Artist listing, with six titles hitting the chart during the year (only second to Guetta’s seven), including top 10s “Get Into It (Yuh)” and “Vegas.” Consistency and longevity was Doja’s strategy, as all six of her songs peaked between Nos. 10 and 12, with three logging 20 weeks or more on the chart.
Harry Styles shined bright as the No. 2 Dance/Mix Show Airplay Artist, with his “As It Was” ending as the No. 1 Dance/Mix Show Airplay Song. Next on that year-end list, at No. 2, is Kx5’s first offering, “Escape,” featuring Hayla. “Escape” spent eight weeks at No. 1 from April-June; only “Cold Heart” reigned for longer. Kx5, the team of Deadmau5 and Kaskade (new as an entity in 2022), also finishes at No. 5 on the Top Dance/Electronic New Artist list.
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.
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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.
When Bad Bunny appeared at No. 24 on 2021’s year-end Streaming Songs Artists chart, he found himself in a fairly elite group of acts who primarily record within Latin genres and in the Spanish language to make the annual list. What was more: he did so by virtue of multiple entries on the weekly Streaming Songs ranking. His predecessors, Luis Fonsi (No. 19, 2017) and Daddy Yankee (No. 25, 2017), made that year’s rundown solely on the strength of the Justin Bieber-featuring global phenomenon “Despacito,” also that year’s top-streamed song. Conversely, Bad Bunny’s 2021 included a slew of entries, including a pair of No. 2-peaking songs on the weekly survey (“Dakiti,” alongside Jhay Cortez, in November 2020 and “Yonaguni” in June 2021).
But the artist born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio leveled up in 2022 with May’s Un Verano Sin Ti. The streaming juggernaut of an album – by way of the streaming popularity of its songs –lands him at No. 1 on 2022’s Streaming Songs Artists chart.
In doing so, Bad Bunny becomes the first artist who records primarily in a language other than English to rule the year-end ranking, besting the likes of Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Morgan Wallen and Drake at Nos. 2-5, respectively. (The annual year-end Streaming Songs Artist recap began in 2013.)
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
2022 saw Bad Bunny land his first weekly Streaming Songs No. 1, the two-week ruler “Me Porto Bonito” with Chencho Corleone. Exemplifying the long-tail virality of Un Verano, the song didn’t even hit No. 1 until its 10th week on the ranking and was still in the top five well into October.
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.
Six songs from the album debuted within the top 10 upon release week (May 21, 2022), too, with “Titi Me Pregunto” (No. 4) remaining in the top five or 10 through October, too.
In 2021, two Bad Bunny songs – “Dakiti” (No. 13) and “Yonaguni” (No. 62) – appeared on the year-end Streaming Songs ranking. 2022 finds him with eight, including his first top 10s: “Bonito” (No. 5) and “Pregunto” (No. 6).
The year, however, wasn’t all about Bad Bunny on streaming services – no matter what it may have felt like at times. After falling off Streaming Songs Artists entirely in 2021, Taylor Swift roars back with a vengeance at No. 2, her first time in the top 10 since she was No. 4 in 2015 and her highest year-end rank since it began being tabulated.
Chalk that one up to two different albums in the tracking period – one with fully new material, the other rerecorded. Her Red (Taylor’s Version), released in November 2021, boasted a weekly No. 1 in “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” and a collection of top 10s, while the release of November 2022’s Midnights marked the second time ever that an act occupied the entire top 10 of Streaming Songs in a single week, paced by “Anti-Hero.”
The sheer volume of Swift material to make the chart throughout 2022 is so staggering, in fact, that on the year-end song ranking, she appears just once – at No. 66 – with “All Too Well.”
An artist like Glass Animals took a separate approach. “Heat Waves” ranks as the No. 1 entry on the year-end Streaming Songs tally, while the band appears at No. 10 on the artists ranking, all by virtue of just one charting song on the weekly survey.
Originally released in 2020, “Heat Waves” first made the weekly Streaming Songs in April 2021 and had broken into the top 10 by the end of the 2021 chart year. The song never actually rose higher than No. 3, but it spent the entirety of the weeks Jan. 29-May 7, 2022 anywhere between Nos. 3 and 8, and largely in the top 20 after that. Basically, the song – which now holds the record for the most weeks spent on the Billboard Hot 100 in its history (91) – refused to go away, and even when it felt like it wasn’t everywhere anymore, it was still in the periphery.
“Heat Waves” becomes the second song in a row to reign over the year-end Streaming Songs chart despite having not been released in that chart year, following Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” which ruled in 2021 after premiering in March 2020. The similarities don’t stop there, either – guess where “Levitating” peaked on the weekly Streaming Songs? That’s right, No. 3. Steady wins the game.
Harry Styles appears at No. 3 on the year-end Streaming Songs Artists survey after never ranking higher than No. 15 (2020). His 2022 finish was buoyed by two-week No. 1 “As It Was,” the year’s overall No. 2 (and, due to “Heat Waves,” the highest-ranking song actually released in 2022).
He’s followed by Morgan Wallen, who backs up being No. 11 in 2021 by rising to No. 4 on the Streaming Songs Artists roundup. All that despite not releasing an album in the tracking year; many of the country star’s streams came from 2021’s Dangerous: The Double Album, plus a trio of newly released singles and a featured role on Lil Durk’s “Broadway Girls.”
Wallen is the first act releasing music primarily in the country genre to appear in the ranking’s year-end top 10, let alone top five. And he paces a slew of artists from the genre who make the 25-position list; he’s followed by newcomer Bailey Zimmerman (No. 16), veteran Chris Stapleton (No. 22) and newer-guard acts Walker Hayes, Zach Bryan and Luke Combs at Nos. 23-25, respectively. Last year? It was just Wallen and Combs.
2022 also marks the return of Disney film franchises to the year-end chart, particularly its top 10. Encanto’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” a 13-week No. 1 at the start of the year, ends up at No. 7 on the Streaming Songs tally, following in the footsteps of Idina Menzel’s “Let It Go” from 2013’s Frozen, the No. 5 on the year-end 2014 list.
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.
Lin-Manuel Miranda has already won a slew of impressive accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize, Grammys, Tonys and Emmys and now he can add yet another distinction to his resume: he’s No. 1 on the 2022 year-end Hot 100 Songwriters chart.
The multifaceted talent finishes the year at No. 1 thanks to his work on Disney’s Encanto soundtrack, including its five-week Billboard Hot 100 leader “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” credited to Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and the Encanto Cast. Miranda is credited as the sole songwriter on the track, helping boost his chart points (as he does not split chart points with multiple writers). During its 20-week run on the chart, “Bruno” earned the distinction as the biggest Disney song of all time, based on Billboard’s Greatest Of All Time methodology.
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
In total, Miranda earned eight songwriting credits on the Hot 100 in the 2022 chart year, all from Encanto, which all contributed to his placement on the year-end ranking. Here’s a look at where each song peaked on the Hot 100—Miranda is the only credited writer on each song:
Peak Position, Artist Billing, TitleNo. 1, Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”No. 8, Jessica Darrow, “Surface Pressure”No 20, Stephanie Beatriz, Olga Merediz & Encanto Cast, “The Family Madrigal”No. 27, Diane Guerrero & Stephanie Beatriz, “What Else Can I Do?”No. 36, Sebastian Yatra, “Dos Oruguitas”No. 48, Stephanie Beatriz, “Waiting On A Miracle”No. 71, Stephanie Beatriz, Olga Merediz, John Leguizamo, Adassa, Maluma & Encanto Cast, “All of You”No. 100, Carlos Vives, “Colombia, Mi Encanto”
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.
Prior to 2022, Miranda had only landed seven songs on the Hot 100 as a songwriter (he’s billed as an artist on four of them). He first charted in July 2016 with “Love Make The World Go Round” with Jennifer Lopez (No. 72 peak), and then with four songs from Moana soon after: Opetaia Foa’l and Miranda’s “We Know The Way” (No. 93 peak), Alessia Cara’s “How Far I’ll Go” (No. 56), Dwayne Johnson’s “You’re Welcome” (No. 65) and Auli’I Cravalho’s “How Far I’ll Go” (No. 41). After that, he charted with “Almost Like Praying,” featuring Artists for Puerto Rico (No. 20) and “Found / Tonight” with Ben Platt (No. 49)
His work on the Moana songs helped Miranda finish as the No. 28 Hot 100 Songwriter of 2017.
Miranda is also credited as a producer on all eight of his Encanto chart hits. “Colombia, Mi Encanto” was produced by Miranda and Carlos Vives, while the other seven entries were produced by Miranda and Mike Elizondo.
Miranda’s production work enables his finish as the No. 12 Hot 100 Producer of 2022, while Elizondo finishes just behind him at No. 13.
Just below Miranda on the year-end Hot 100 Songwriters ranking, Glass Animals’ Dave Bayley finished at No. 2, thanks to his writing credit on the band’s “Heat Waves.” The song spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in March-April and spent 37 weeks in the top 10 (beginning on Nov. 13, 2021—the beginning of Billboard’s chart year). The song also made history in October when it passed The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” as the longest-charting song in the Hot 100’s 64-year history, with 91 total weeks spent on the chart.
As “Heat Waves” debuted on the Hot 100 in January 2021, Bayley finished 2021 as the No. 8 songwriter of the year.
Plus, Taylor Swift finishes at No. 3 on the Hot 100 Songwriters recap, thanks to a whopping 50 songwriting credits on the Hot 100 during the chart year, which all contributed to her year-end placement. The songs encompass many of the tracks from Red (Taylor’s Version), which she released in November 2021 and her new LP Midnights, which debuted in the next-to-last week of Billboard’s 2022 chart year, helping boost her final totals.
Of the 50 songs helping Swift’s year-end placement, 11 reached the top 10 on the weekly Hot 100 and two hit No. 1: “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” and “Anti-Hero.”
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Rounding out the top 5 of the year-end Hot 100 Songwriters ranking, Harry Styles finishes at No. 4 (thanks to 13 writing credits, including the No. 1, “As It Was”) and Doja Cat close out at No. 5 (eight writing credits).
Things, for a while, have been unprecedented. Following an 18-month quiet period for concert venues worldwide, doors slowly opened, first in the U.S. and increasingly so around the globe. This made for an excepted review of touring in 2021, but the full return of live music presents a much fuller picture this year. With the 2022 year-end Boxscore recap, precedents continue to fade as Bad Bunny finishes as the year’s top touring act (No. 1 on Top Tours) with total gross of $373.5 million from 1.8 million tickets across 65 shows.
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
Bad Bunny is the first Latin act, and first act who doesn’t perform in English, to finish atop Billboard’s year-end Top Tours chart. Beyond the historic nature of his win for genre and language, he is the only artist to mount separate $100-million tours in the same year.
Further, while Boxscore charts often favor older acts with deeper histories on the road, like 2020 and 2021 champs Elton John and The Rolling Stones, Bad Bunny’s win this year is a testament to the growing power of contemporary stadium acts. In fact, the 28-year-old is just the third artist to simultaneously crown the year-end Top Tours and overall Top Artists charts, following Taylor Swift in 2015 and One Direction in 2014.
Bad Bunny’s year in touring breaks down into several parts. First, he played two hometown stadium shows at San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium, earning $6.5 million on Dec. 10-11, 2021. That was followed by El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo, an arena run named after his 2020 album that broke ground as the first all-Spanish-language set to top the weekly Billboard 200 chart. On that trek, he earned $116.8 million from 35 shows, enough to set a record for the highest-grossing Latin tour in Boxscore history.
Billboard’s Year-End Boxscore charts are based on figures reported to Billboard Boxscore for engagements that played between Nov. 1, 2021-Oct. 31, 2022.
That tour broke local records in Inglewood, Calif., Miami, Houston, Seattle, and more, setting the stage for an even bigger fall in 2022. After releasing Un Verano Sin Ti and spending most the summer at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Bad Bunny played three Puerto Rico shows for a $4 million gross, and then properly embarked on World’s Hottest Tour, living up to its name at each stop.
The trek leveled Bad Bunny to stadiums and took in $232.5 million in North America, plus another $13.8 million from its first four Latin American shows. After setting arena records throughout the U.S. in the spring, he set revenue records in 12 of the 15 domestic markets he played in the fall. While Daddy Yankee’s La Ultima Vuelta World Tour quickly stole Bunny’s all-time Latin tour record from earlier this year, World’s Hottest Tour re-sets the pace as the first pan-American stadium tour of its size.
All of that combines to $373.5 million during the twelve-month tracking period, amounting to a record-setting, historic No. 1 finish, eclipsing Elton John and Ed Sheeran at Nos. 2-3, each of whom was a previous year-end victor.
These men lead the most eye-popping Top Tours chart ever. Five acts grossed more than $200 million, beating the previous high of four in 2018, and 16 acts generated more than $100 million in ticket sales, nearly doubling the previous high of nine in 2017 and 2018.
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.
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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.
Tems tops the first-ever year-end Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs Artists ranking, representing the best-performing acts on the genre’s song charts for 2022. The singer-songwriter’s victory parade extends to the year’s Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs recap, where she shares top honors with Wizkid for “Essence” and claims three more songs in the year-end top 10.
The Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart launched for the chart dated April 2, 2022, and ranks the 50 most popular Afrobeats songs in the U.S., ranked by a weighted formula incorporating official streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of leading audio and video music services, plus download sales from top music retailers, as compiled by Luminate.
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Behind Tems, Burna Boy finishes second on the year-end artist recap, spurred by 27 charting songs during the chart year, the most of any act. Among the haul is the genre giant’s “Last Last,” which became his first No. 1 on the U.S. Afrobeats chart in July. The song’s appeal, though, crossed barriers: It also topped the U.S.-based Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart and was likely familiar to listeners thanks to its sample of “He Wasn’t Man Enough,” a 2001 hit for Toni Braxton. “Last,” meanwhile, is far from that on the year-end songs recap, where it places at No. 5.
Rounding out the top five artists, CKay comes in third, with Wizkid next in line and Asake taking fifth place.
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.
Crossover Hits Capture Songs Crown: As mentioned, Wizkid’s “Essence,” featuring Tems, is the first year-end Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs champ. In a testament to its endurance, the smash ruled for two weeks in July this year, despite a 2021 release and peak on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in October 2021. The global hit bowed at No. 3 on the first edition of the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart and spent its first 34 weeks inside the top five.
Fireboy DML and Ed Sheeran’s “Peru” ranks second on the year-end songs recap. Like “Essence,” the popular remix too became a crossover smash stateside, with a No. 7 peak on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart and No. 53 high on the Hot 100.
Crossover hits fill out the remaining top spots on the inaugural songs recap, with CKay’s “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)” – the first No. 1 hit on the weekly chart upon its April launch – at No. 3. The tune rolled to a No. 26 best on the Hot 100 and captured the No. 1 perch on both the weekly Rhythmic Airplay and Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay lists in the year.
Tems’ “Free Mind” wraps 2022 in fourth place on year-end U.S. Afrobeats Songs. The track, which originally appeared on the singer’s For Broken Ears EP in 2020, found a renewed audience and buzz in 2022 in the wake of “Essence” and she and Drake’s featured spot on Future’s “Wait for U,” a No. 1 Hot 100 hit this year. Thanks to that revival, “Mind” climbed to No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart this year and No. 46 on the Hot 100.
In addition to “Essence” and “Free Mind,” Tems lands two more tracks in the year-end top 10: “Higher” at No. 7 and “Found,” featuring Brent Faiyaz, at No. 10. She, Burna Boy and Ed Sheeran are the only acts with multiple entries in the top tier. In addition to his “Last Last” smash, Burna Boy closes at No. 10 with “For My Hand,” featuring Ed Sheeran.
For a second straight year, Republic Records is No. 1 on all three of Billboard’s leading year-end label rankings: Top Labels, Billboard 200 Labels and Billboard Hot 100 Labels. The company achieved the triple for the first time in 2021.
Republic has triumphed on the year-end Top Labels tally in six of the last eight years, and as the top Hot 100 Label in nine of the last 11 years.
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During the 2022 tracking year, Republic placed 72 albums on the weekly Billboard 200 chart, including the most that reached the top 10 (23) and top 40 (40) of any label. Among those were five No. 1s: Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) and Midnights, Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind (released via OVO Sound/Republic) and Stray Kids’ ODDINARY and MAXIDENT (JYP/Imperial/Republic).
Billboard’s year-end music Top Labels chart represents aggregated metrics for labels’ performance on the weekly Billboard 200 albums chart and the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart combined during the 2022 charts tracking year: Nov. 20, 2021 through Nov. 12, 2022-dated charts. Any activity registered before or after an album or song’s chart run isn’t considered in this ranking. The individual Billboard 200 Labels and Billboard Hot 100 Labels rankings represent the same measurement, but for each specific chart, during the same tracking period.
For a second consecutive year, and third time in the last four years, Republic lays claim to half of the year-end top 10 Billboard 200 Albums. Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (Big Loud/Republic) is No. 3, Taylor Swift’s Midnights and Red (Taylor’s Version) are Nos. 4 and 5, Drake’s Certified Lover Boy (OVO Sound/Republic) is No. 9 and The Weeknd’s The Highlights (XO/Republic) is No. 10.
On the weekly Hot 100 during the chart year, Republic placed more chart entries (119), top 40 hits (60), top 10s (21) and No. 1s (five) than any label. The company also boasts the year-end No. 1 Hot 100 Song in Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” (Wolf Tone/Polydor/Republic). It’s the third time in the last five years where the year’s top Hot 100 Song is from Republic, following The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” (XO/Republic, 2020) and Drake’s “God’s Plan” (Young Money/Cash Money/Republic, 2018).
Latto finishes 2022 as Billboard’s top new artist, after her breakthrough year on the charts with the smash single “Big Energy.”
The 23-year-old Atlanta-born rapper is also 2022’s Top New R&B/Hip-Hop Artist and the top female rap artist, while “Big Energy” is No. 1 on the year-end R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales, Rap Digital Song Sales and Rhythmic Airplay Songs recaps.
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Latto’s “Big Energy” was a big deal in 2022, peaking at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart in April and spending 37 weeks (all consecutive) in the top 40 of the weekly chart. The track flourished in popularity on TikTok and eventually migrated to hit status at streamers, retail and radio. It vaulted to No. 3 following the release of a new remix of the track with Mariah Carey and featuring DJ Khaled.
On the “Big Energy” remix, Carey sings a portion of her 1995 No. 1 Hot 100 hit “Fantasy” – both songs sample Tom Tom Club’s 1982 Hot 100 hit “Genius of Love.”
“Big Energy” also closes 2022 at No. 7 on the year-end Hot 100 Songs roundup. Aside from “Big Energy,” Latto notched another hit on the Hot 100 during the 2022 chart year through her featured turn on Megan Thee Stallion’s “Budget.”
Latto additionally landed a top 20-charting album on the Billboard 200 with the song’s parent set, 777, peaking at No. 15 in April.
Latto follows recent year-end top new artist honorees Olivia Rodrigo (2021), Roddy Ricch (2020), Billie Eilish (2019), Cardi B (2018), Lil Uzi Vert (2017), Bryson Tiller (2016) and Fetty Wap (2015).
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 Top New Artists category ranks the best-performing new acts of the year based on activity on the Billboard 200 albums and Billboard Hot 100 songs charts, as well as Billboard Boxscore (touring), for the 2022 tracking period.