Scoreboard: 2017 In Review

This week’s special edition of Scoreboard tallies up the year-end scores for 2017

Billboard Artist Top 10

For the magazine dated January 6, 2018

See the full chart at http://www.billboard.com/charts/artist-100

As Scoreboard finishes 2017 and gets into 2018, there are some major year-end moves on the charts. Eminem tops the Billboard 200 with his ninth album Revival, which is his first studio release after a four-year hiatus. That performance also sends him to #1 on the Billboard Artist 100 and puts three of the album’s tracks on the Hot 100. One of those tracks is a collaboration with Ed Sheeran called “River,” which debuts at #10. Besides sitting at #10 with Eminem, Sheeran also tops the Billboard Hot 100 going into the new year with “Perfect (Remix)” ft. Beyoncé; the duet has now been #1 for three weeks in a row. Usually Scoreboard would spotlight the week’s chart achievers, but this week is the year-end special edition summarizing the scores for 2017. Check back with Scoreboard next week to read more about Eminem’s return to #1 and about Grammy contenders.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdEJmKnHSMe/?hl=en&taken-by=g_eazy

G-Eazy also has a great week to finish 2017, debuting at #3 on the Billboard 200 with The Beautiful & Damned

2017 Scoreboard In Review

2017 has been an eventful year in music. Landmark achievements included “Despacito (Remix)” by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber topping the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 weeks, tying an all-time chart record, and Taylor Swift‘s Reputation becoming the year’s best selling album after one week of sales. There were also tragic moments: 22 concert-goers were killed by a suicide bomber outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England; 58 people were killed at the Route 51 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas by a gunman firing from a hotel window overlooking the festival. The music community rallied in response to these acts of terror: Grande put together the #onelovemanchester concert to benefit shooting victims of the bombing; Las Vegas victims received tributes from Carrie Underwood at the CMA Awards and from Pink and Kelly Clarkson at the AMA Awards. Artists also rallied in response to the year’s natural disasters, with the biggest impact made by Beyoncé, proceeds from whose verse on J. Balvin‘s and Willy William‘s “Mi Gente (Remix)” have gone to earthquake and hurricane victims.

Ariana Grande was Billboard’s #1 solo female artist of 2017 thanks to the success of her Dangerous Woman tour and her #2 rank on the year-end Social 50

The Knockturnal compiled its own list of The Top 10 Pop Culture Moments of 2017. You can check it out here, and you bet music featured prominently on the list. There were the Grammy awards, where Adele, last year’s #1 artist, was the big winner with five trophies. Even this year, @adele finished as Billboard’s #47 artist of the year with no new music out. @beyonce only won two Grammys, but stole the show with her performance of “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles.” When it comes to the Grammys that are coming in four weeks, Beyoncé’s husband Jay-Z is the most-nominated artist, with eight nominations. His #1 album 4:44 continued the story of the couple’s ups and downs that was started with Bey’s Lemonade in 2016.

Beyoncé got 10 million likes for this post with her one-month-old twins

When the Grammys come around Jay-Z will face major competition from other hip-hop stars of 2017. No one had a bigger year in the genre than Kendrick Lamar, whose DAMN. was named Billboard’s #1 album of the year. (Note that the Billboard “year” goes from mid-November 2016 to mid-November 2017, hence the absence of Taylor Swift on the year-end chart.) In addition to having the year’s biggest album, Lamar had the year’s #4 single “Humble,” finished as the #4 Artist of the Year, and picked up seven Grammy nominations. The female equal to Lamar of 2017 was Belcalis Almanzar a.k.a. Cardi B. A former stripper, model, and reality star @iamcardib took the Hot 100 by storm with #1 “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” which became the first solo female rap song to top the chart since Lauryn Hill did it in 1998.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdQlf05BdYC/?taken-by=iamcardib

Cardi B finished as Billboard’s #51 artist of 2017 with no album out; here she is with 21 Savage, Billboard’s #36 artist of the year

2017 has also been a huge year for Canada, not only because of the divisive U.S. immigration policies under President Donald Trump, but also because of the continuing cultural relevance of Canadian artists. Four of Billboard’s top 10 artists of 2017 are from up north, led by Drake at #3. Even in an off-year, @champagnepapi had the year’s #5 album with mixtape More Life. Drake’s Toronto colleague The Weeknd came in as the year’s #5 artist and his Starboy is the year’s #3 album. Another Toronto native, teen heartthrob Shawn Mendes, finishes the year as Billboard’s #9 artist and the #4 artist on the Social 50. And then there’s of course Justin Bieber, the year’s #7 artist and the #3 Social 50 artist. Although @justinbieber had no album out, he was ubiquitous in 2017, from “Despacito (Remix)” to flipping off the paparazzi in Australia to a #1 appearance on DJ Khaled‘s all-star jam “I’m The One.”

DJ Khaled, Billboard’s #20 artist of the year, had the year’s biggest celebration when his album Grateful went to #1

And then there’s Ed Sheeran, Billboard’s #1 Artist of the year, whose “Shape Of You” beat out “Despacito” for the #1 song of the year both on the Hot 100 and the Canadian 100. The inescapable tropical ditty helped Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) finish as the year’s #4 album and made him the year’s most in-demand collaborator, even ahead of @justinbieber. Just this week he’s linked up with Eminem, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Future on the Hot 100. On top of all his chart success, Sheeran also had a funny social media encounter in 2017 with a baby girl who looked just like him.

@teddysphotos also has this year’s Christmas #1 in Britain

The year’s other winners include Bruno Mars, the year’s #2 artist whose 24K Magic finished as the year’s #2 album and whose “That’s What I Like” took #1 on the Hot 100 and landed as the year’s #3 song. All that @brunomars magic also earned him six Grammy nominations. New York’s EDM hitmakers The Chainsmokers finished as the year’s #6 artist and their genre-bending collaboration with Coldplay “Something Just Like This” landed as the year’s #5 song. Coldplay was recognized as one the year’s top touring acts by Billboard, alongside rock veterans U2 and Guns N’ Roses. The top spot of the Social 50 chart for 2017 went to South Korea boy band BTS, whose social media fanbase helped the group become the #10 artist of the year and took “Mic Drop” ft. Desiigner and Steve Aoki to #28 on the Hot 100, the highest-charting K-Pop single in the U.S. ever.

Watch out for BTS in 2018

There were so many other stories to 2017, from Rihanna‘s continuing transformations, to Sam Hunt‘s victory on the country charts, and Scoreboard thanks you for following the charts all year long. Your favorite artists will be back in 2018, from Justin Timberlake headlining the Super Bowl, to the collaborations at the Grammys and to a likely BTS appearance at the PyeongChang Olympics. For every music event in 2018 Scoreboard @theknockturnal will be there to track your favorite artists’ triumphs, so check in every week. Have a happy new year and all the best to you and your loved ones in 2018!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdYEZVSnXOG/?hl=en&taken-by=shawnmendes

Catch Shawn Mendes on Dick Clark’s #RockinEve tonight!