Most Popular Music Of 2021: Dua Lipa, Drake Top Billboard’s Year-End Lists - Forbes

Topline

As 2021 comes to a close, music giants like Billboard, Spotify, Apple Music, iHeartRadio and more are releasing their lists for the most-listened and best-selling songs and albums of the year, and acts like BTS, Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande and Olivia Rodrigo have the lead on several charts—here’s a rundown of the most popular music this year.

Key Facts

Billboard: Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” was the most popular song of the year, topping Billboard’s Hot 100; Drake was the top artist of the year; Controversial country singer Morgan Wallen, who was caught on video using a racial slur, earned the number one spot on the Top 200 Albums chart for his work Dangerous: The Double Album.

Spotify: Olivia Rodrigo’s “driver’s license” was the most-streamed song Jan. 1 to Nov. 27, around the world and in the U.S. on the streaming service; Rodrigo’s album Sour was the most-streamed album globally; Bad Bunny was the most streamed artist around the world for the second year in a row, garnering 9.1 billion streams.

Apple Music: BTS’ “Dynamite” was the most-played song on the streaming service between October 16, 2020, and October 15, 2021; the most Shazamed song—when users ask Siri to identify a song that’s playing—was Masked Wolf’s “Astronaut in the Ocean,” which was requested 11.7 million times.

iHeartRadio: Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” was the most-played song on the country’s largest radio network, garnering 1.2 billion listens; Ariana Grande was the network’s most-played artist, getting 2.6 billion listens.

Lists

Billboard Hot 100 Songs:

“Levitating” — Dua Lipa
“Save Your Tears” — The Weeknd ft. Ariana Grande
“Blinding Lights” — The Weeknd
“Mood” — 24Goldn ft. ian dior
“Good 4 u” — Olivia Rodrigo

Billboard Top 200 Albums:

Dangerous: The Double Album — Morgan Wallen
Sour — Olivia Rodrigo
Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon — Pop Smoke
Evermore — Taylor Swift
Certified Lover Boy — Drake

Billboard Top Artists:

Drake
Olivia Rodrigo
The Weeknd
Taylor Swift
Morgan Wallen

Spotify Most Streamed Artists Globally:

Bad Bunny
Taylor Swift
BTS
Drake
Justin Bieber

Spotify Most Streamed Songs Globally:

“drivers license” — Olivia Rodrigo
“MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) — Lil Nas X
“STAY (With Justin Bieber) — The Kid Laroi
“good 4 u” — Olivia Rodrigo
“Levitating (ft. Da Baby)” — Dua Lipa

Spotify Most Streamed Artists Globally

SOUR — Olivia Rodrigo
Future Nostalgia — Dua Lipa
Justice — Justin Bieber
= — Ed Sheeran
Planet Her — Doja Cat

Apple Music Most Streamed Songs:

“Dynamite” — BTS
“drivers license” — Olivia Rodrigo
“positions” — Ariana Grande
“For The Night (ft. Lil Baby and Da Baby) — Pop Smoke
“Blinding Lights” — The Weeknd

Apple Music Most Shazamed Songs:

“Astronaut In The Ocean” — Masked Wolf
“Save Your Tears” — The Weeknd
“Bad Habits” — Ed Sheeran
“drivers license” — Olivia Rodrigo
“Beggin” — Maneskin

iHeartRadio Top Overall Songs:

“Levitating” — Dua Lipa
“Save Your Tears” — The Weeknd
“34+35” — Ariana Grande
“Kiss Me More” — Doja Cat ft. Sza
“MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) — Lil Nas X

iHeartRadio Top Overall Artists:

Ariana Grande
Dua Lipa
The Weeknd
Olivia Rodrigo
Pop Smoke

Tangent

Several popular songs from last year bled over onto this year’s charts. Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande and Bad Bunny did not release new music this year, and their popularity in 2021 on Spotify, iHeartRadio and the Billboard charts comes from their releases in 2020. “Blinding Lights” was one of the most popular song’s last year, and still charted on Apple Music and on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2021. “Dynamite” was also released last year.

Key Background

Last year’s Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Year chart, which is based on sales, streams and radio plays , was topped by familiar names: The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” ranked first, followed by Post Malone’s “Circles,” Roddy Ricch’s “The Box,” Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” and DaBaby and Roddy Ricch’s “Rockstar.” The most-popular album of last year, according to Billboard, was Post Malone’s “Hollywood Is Bleeding.” “Blinding Lights” was also the most-streamed song on Spotify last year.