The Year in Charts 2021: Olivia Rodrigo Is the Top New Artist
Olivia Rodrigo closes out 2021 as Billboard’s top new artist, following her massive successes on the weekly Billboard 200 albums and Billboard Hot 100 songs charts.
The 18-year-old singer/songwriter is also the top female artist of the year.
Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts dated Nov. 21, 2020, through Nov. 13, 2021. The rankings for MRC Data-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 November-November time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by MRC Data. The Top New Artists categories ranks the best-performing new acts of the year based on activity on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100 charts, as well as Billboard Boxscore (touring), for the 2021 tracking period.
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Rodrigo’s debut album Sour spent five weeks atop the weekly Billboard 200 in June-July and launched a pair of Hot 100 No. 1s in “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U.” Sour finishes at No. 2 on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums tally, while “Good” and “License” are Nos. 5 and 8, respectively, on the year-end Hot 100 Songs recap.
All 11 of the songs on the Sour album charted within the top 40 of the weekly Hot 100 during the 2021 chart year. Rodrigo also notched weekly top 10 hits beyond “License” and “Good” with the No. 3-peaking “Deja Vu” and the No. 9 hit “Traitor.” Those tunes finish at, respectively, Nos. 13 and 38 on the year-end Hot 100 tally. Thus, Rodrigo has four songs among the year-end top 40 biggest Hot 100 hits of the year – the most of any artist in 2021.
Rodrigo follows recent year-end top new artist honorees Roddy Ricch (2020), Billie Eilish (2019), Cardi B (2018), Lil Uzi Vert (2017), Bryson Tiller (2016) and Fetty Wap (2015).
Rodrigo is also No. 1 on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 Artists, Hot 100 Songwriters, Billboard Global 200 Artists, Streaming Songs Artists, Pop Airplay Artists and Billboard Canadian Hot 100 Artists rankings.
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