Coldplay Sweeps Year-End Billboard Boxscore Charts – Again

For the second consecutive year, Coldplay rules the year-end Boxscore charts. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the Music of the Spheres World Tour grossed $464.9 million in the 2025 tracking period, enough to land at No. 1 on the annual Top Tours recap.

The 2025 year-end tracking period includes all shows, worldwide, between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025. International grosses are converted to USD.

Explore All of Billboard’s 2025 Year-End Charts

This is Coldplay’s second straight year on top, joining Ed Sheeran (2018-19) and The Rolling Stones (1998-99) as the only acts to ever go back-to-back. Moreover, it’s the band’s fourth consecutive year in the top five, dating back to the ongoing world tour’s launch in 2022. In total, the trek has brought in over $1.5 billion and sold 13.1 million tickets, selling more tickets than any concert tour in history. With more dates teased for 2027 and beyond, it is likely to challenge for the all-time gross record, currently held by Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour.

By default, Coldplay leads its genre-specific list, finishing at No. 1 on Top Rock Tours for the third consecutive year. Imagine Dragons ($241.6 million) follows as the only other rock act in the overall top 10.

Just as Coldplay repeats at No. 1 on Top Tours and Top Rock Tours, it logs a third consecutive year at No. 1 on Top Ticket Sales, ranked by total attendance. Across its 59 shows during the tracking period, the tour sold 3.5 million tickets, improving upon 3 million in 2024 and 3.2 million in 2023.

Coldplay’s 2025 – or, more accurately, its 2025 tracking year – included shows on four continents. The band started in Oceania with eight nights in Australia and three in New Zealand (Oct. – Nov. 2024). Then, they traveled to Asia for January shows in United Arab Emirates and India, plus stops in Hong Kong and Goyang, South Korea in April.

On May 31, Coldplay kicked off a 17-show run in North America, including eight-figure stops in Las Vegas, Miami, and Toronto. Finally, there were 12 shows in England, dominated by 10 nights at London’s Wembley Stadium.

The Wembley shows collectively grossed $131.4 million and sold 791,000 tickets. Not only does that land at No. 1 on this year’s Top Boxscores roundup but finishes as the biggest reported single-venue engagement by a headline artist ever. That record applies to artists on tour, and does not include extended residencies, like Celine Dion at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace or Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden.

At No. 1 on Top Tours, Top Ticket Sales, Top Boxscores, and Top Rock Tours, Coldplay completes a clean sweep of all the year-end touring charts for which it is eligible.

Five tours grossed more than $300 million in 2025, breaking the previous record of three such treks in 2023 and 2024. Beyoncé is No. 2 with $407.6 million on the Cowboy Carter Tour. Queen Bey accumulated that sum in just 32 shows, becoming the highest-grossing country tour in Boxscore history.

More record-breakers follow, with Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s Grand National Tour at No. 3 with $358.7 million. It is the highest-grossing co-headline tour in history, surpassing Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s On the Run II Tour from 2018. After Lamar and SZA completed their collaborative shows in North America and Europe, the Grand National Tour continued in Latin America (Sept. 23-Oct. 7) as solo shows for Lamar. He’ll conclude the tour in Sydney later this week (Dec. 11). His solo dates are counted separate from the co-headline stops.

The Weeknd and Shakira round out the top five with $336.7 million and $327.4 million, respectively. The former has already earned over $700 million since launching the After Hours Til Dawn Tour in 2022, which became the highest-grossing and best-selling R&B tour ever earlier this year. The latter continues her 2025 trek this weekend (Dec. 14) in Argentina.

Top Tours 2025

/by

Bad Bunny & Sabrina Carpenter Crown 2025 Year-End Global Charts

For the first time since the inaugural year-end global charts in 2021, the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts have different reigning artists. Sabrina Carpenter is the top artist on the former list and Bad Bunny leads the latter.

Explore All of Billboard’s 2025 Year-End Charts

Both acts are powered by new releases. Bad Bunny released DeBI TiRAR MaS FOToS on January 5 and immediately impacted the charts. Five of its songs debuted in the top of each global list, with its entire track listing filling up the rest of the tallies. He sports nine titles on the year-end Global Excl. U.S. Songs chart, including “DTMF” at No. 10, and eight on the Global 200 roundup.

Carpenter’s new hits came later in the year, upon the Aug. 29 unveiling of Man’s Best Friend. “Manchild” previewed the album with its June release, which debuted at No. 2 on both global charts. “Tears” followed months later, with the same No. 2 start.

But Carpenter’s best year-end showings are her biggest hits from 2024. “Espresso” winds up in the top 10 for both lists, with “Please Please Please” and “Taste” each in the top 40.

Billie Eilish and Bruno Mars also appear in the top five for both charts, with Kendrick Lamar filling the final spot for Global 200 Artists and Lady Gaga doing the same among Global Excl. U.S. acts.

Billboard’s year-end music charts represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the entries 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 fourth consecutive year, the Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts have the same year-end No. 1 song. More, both charts have an identical top five: the same songs in the same order.

Bruno Mars dominates the songs lists, at No. 1 with “APT.,” with BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ, and at No. 2 with “Die With A Smile,” alongside Lady Gaga. These songs, both released in 2024, traded off the top spot on both weekly lists for the majority of the 2025 tracking period. On Global Excl. U.S., they ruled for 29 of the year’s first 30 weeks, interrupted for one week by Mariah Carey’s annual trip to the top with “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

Both hits have endured, only dropping out of the top 20 in the final week of the tracking period due to Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl clogging up the top of both charts. Mars bounced back in the weeks since, potentially gearing up for another showing on the 2026 year-end recap.

Very few songs reached the top of either global chart in 2025, which were mostly run by a handful of dominant tracks. After “APT.” and “Die With A Smile,” Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” took charge, leading the Global 200 for 10 consecutive weeks and Global Excl. U.S. for eight. Ultimately, it finishes at No. 4 for both year-end lists.

“Ordinary” is sandwiched on the year-end charts by two other No. 1 songs. Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” is No. 3 and Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” is No. 5. Both of these were multi-week chart-toppers, but not in 2025.

“Beautiful Things” conquered both lists for multiple months in the Spring of 2024, ultimately becoming that year’s top global song. “Birds of a Feather” reached the summit in August of last year, right before “Die With A Smile” began Mars’ lengthy reign. Both hits lasted in the top 10 of the global charts through July, more than a year after either song was released.

Boone and Eilish are two examples of a broader trend, with other top 10 spots taken up by Carpenter’s 2024 smash “Espresso” and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control,” which first charted in 2023.

Still, one of 2025’s biggest breakthroughs also places in the top 10. HUNTR/X — an animated girl group featuring the voices of EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami — is No. 9 on Global Excl. U.S. and No. 10 on the Global 200 with “Golden,” the breakout hit from Netflix’s runaway record-breaker Kpop Demon Hunters. The Grammy Award-nominated song spent 12 of the last 14 weeks of the tracking period atop both global charts, and returned to the top for the first frames of the 2026 chart year.

/by

‘Shake It to the Max (Fly)’ Is No. 1 U.S. Afrobeats Song of 2025, Tyla Repeats as Top Artist

MOLIY, Silent Addy, Skillibeng and Shenseea’s global-conquering “Shake it to the Max (Fly)” rules Billboard’s 2025 year-end U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart, giving each artist a first year-end finish on the fourth annual recap. The song, first released in December 2024 with only singer MOLIY and producer Silent Addy, received an extra boost with its February 2025 remix that added verses from Skillibeng and Shenseea and grew into a viral sensation that sparked huge streaming increases.

Explore All of Billboard’s 2025 Year-End Charts

Billboard’s year-end U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart recap ranks the biggest-performing songs that appeared on the weekly streaming and sales-based Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart from the list dated Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025.

“Shake It to the Max” debuted at No. 16 on the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart dated March 8 and captured the crown 10 weeks later in mid-May. The track dominated for the remainder of the year-end tracking period, on its way to a total 27 weeks in charge.

Although the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart only includes streaming and sales for its rank calculations, “Shake It to the Max” emerged as a strong crossover success with impact on United States radio for several months. Among the highlights, the collaboration topped the Rhythmic Airplay chart for two weeks in August, reached No. 3 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart in July and a No. 19 best on Pop Airplay in November. The radio strength, combined with its streaming and sales performance, pushed the track to a No. 44 best on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Beneath “Shake it to the Max,” last year’s champ, Tyla’s “Water” wraps 2025 in the runner-up spot. The breakthrough hit, which shot the South African singer to fame starting in late 2023, maintains its strong position through another year of high streaming counts. “Water” added four more weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart in the calendar period – bringing its overall total to a massive 55 weeks in the top spot overall – and remained in the chart’s top three each week.

Likewise, another Tyla track – “Push 2 Start” comes in at No. 3 for the year, spurred by a 20-week reign at No. 1 from December 2024 – May 2025. Despite far more weeks at No. 1 than “Water” in the period, the former finishes higher as “Push 2 Start” receded much more quickly than “Water” once it left the top rank – the “Water” longevity at higher positions made the difference in the final tally.

While Tyla settles for the silver and bronze medals on the U.S. Afrobeats Songs recap, she once again takes first place on the U.S. Afrobeats Artists review, defending her title from 2024 and becoming the first act to repeat the feat. The singer claims the mantle through her 11 charted entries this year, including the 2025 teamup with Wizkid, “Dynamite,” which peaked at No. 2 and “Mr. Media,” a No. 8 hit.

Wizkid, Tyla’s “Dynamite” partner, wraps the year at No. 2 on the U.S. Afrobeats Artists led, fueled by a leading 25 entries on the weekly chart during the annual tracking window. Highlights among his collection this year include five songs in the top 20 of the year-end U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart: “Piece of My Heart,” with Brent Faiyaz (No. 7); “Gimme Dat,” with Ayra Starr (No. 12); “Kese (Dance),” (No. 13); “MMS,” with Asake (No. 17) and “Dynamite,” with Tyla (No. 18).

After Tyla and Wizkid, Rema captures third place on the year’s U.S. Afrobeats Artists chart and claims two top 10 tracks –  2023 champ “Calm Down,” with Selena Gomez, comes in at No. 5, while “Baby (Is It a Crime)” ranks directly behind.

Davido nabs the No. 4 slot on the year-end U.S. Afrobeats Artists chart, while Burna Boy rounds out the top five.

Billboard’s year-end music charts represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the entries 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.

/by

Joey Moi Is the Top Billboard Hot 100 Producer of 2025

Joey Moi returns as the No. 1 Hot 100 Producer of the year for the second time, thanks to another blockbuster year with Morgan Wallen.

Moi finishes 2025 as the No. 1 Hot 100 Producer thanks to the chart performance of 38 production credits on the Billboard Hot 100 during the 2025 chart eligibility period (Oct. 26, 2024 – Oct. 18, 2025), all of which were by Wallen. Of those 38 songs, nine reached the top 10 and two of them hit No. 1 (“Love Somebody” and “What I Want” featuring Tate McRae).

Explore All of Billboard’s 2025 Year-End Charts

Here’s a look at all 38 of Moi’s production credits on the Hot 100 during the 2025 tracking period, which all contribute to his placement on the year-end ranking.

Peak Position, Artist Billing, Title

No. 1, Morgan Wallen, “Love Somebody”
No. 1, Morgan Wallen feat. Tate McRae, “What I Want”
No. 2, Morgan Wallen, “I’m The Problem”
No. 2, Morgan Wallen, “Just In Case”
No. 4, Morgan Wallen, “Smile”
No. 7, Morgan Wallen, “Lies Lies Lies”
No. 7, Morgan Wallen, “I Got Better”
No. 8, Morgan Wallen feat. Post Malone, “I Ain’t Coming Back”
No. 8, Morgan Wallen, “Superman”
No. 12, Morgan Wallen feat. ERNEST, “Cowgirls”
No. 17, Morgan Wallen, “I’m A Little Crazy”
No. 20, Morgan Wallen, “20 Cigarettes”
No. 21, Morgan Wallen, “Kick Myself”
No. 21, Morgan Wallen feat. Lil Wayne & Rick Ross, “Miami”
No. 22, Morgan Wallen, “Eyes Are Closed”
No. 25, Morgan Wallen, “Falling Apart”
No. 29, Morgan Wallen, “Skoal, Chevy, And Browning”
No. 31, Morgan Wallen, “TN”
No. 32, Morgan Wallen, “Where’s That Girl Go”
No. 34, Morgan Wallen, “Kiss Her In Front of You”
No. 41, Morgan Wallen, “If You Were Mine”
No. 42, Morgan Wallen, “Missing”
No. 46, Morgan Wallen, “Genesis”
No. 48, Morgan Wallen, “Don’t We”
No. 49, Morgan Wallen, “Dark Til Daylight”
No. 52, Morgan Wallen feat. Eric Church, “Number 3 and Number 7”
No. 54, Morgan Wallen, “Revelation”
No. 60, Morgan Wallen, “Jack and Jill”
No. 63, Morgan Wallen feat. HARDY, “Come Back As A Redneck”
No. 69, Morgan Wallen feat. ERNEST, “The Dealer”
No. 70, Morgan Wallen, “Leavin’s the Least I Could Do”
No. 72, Morgan Wallen, “Drinking Til It Does”
No. 73, Morgan Wallen, “Nothin’ Left”
No. 79, Morgan Wallen, “LA Night”
No. 83, Morgan Wallen, “Whiskey In Reverse”
No. 84, Morgan Wallen, “Working Man’s Song”
No. 88, Morgan Wallen, “Crazy Eyes”
No. 97, Brooks & Dunn with Morgan Wallen, “Neon Moon”

Of the 38 songs above, 36 peaked during the 2025 eligibility period, as they all appeared on Wallen’s 2025 album I’m The Problem. The album finishes as the No. 2 year-end Billboard 200 album of the year, behind only Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl.

This is the second time Moi has finished as the No. 1 producer. He first ruled the year-end ranking in 2023, largely thanks to his work on Wallen’s One Thing at a Time. He’s also finished in the top 10 in 2024 (No. 7), 2022 (No. 3), 2021 (No. 2) and 2020 (No. 6).

Charlie Handsome finishes just below Moi on the 2025 year-end Hot 100 Producers ranking, also thanks to his work with Wallen. Handsome and Moi are listed as co-producers on many tracks from I’m the Problem, including its No. 1s “Love Somebody and “What I Want.” Also contributing to Handsome’s placement is his work with BigXthaPlug (“Hell At Night”) and Marshmello and Jelly Roll (“Holy Water”).

Rounding out the top five, Julian Bunetta finishes at No. 3, Dan Nigro places at No. 4 and FINNEAS stands 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. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025. 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 differences between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.

/by

Kendrick Lamar Is the Top Billboard Hot 100 Songwriter of 2025

Kendrick Lamar caps a landmark 2025 on Billboard’s charts by finishing as the top Hot 100 Songwriter of the year for the first time.

He finishes 2025 thanks to the chart performance of 22 songwriting credits on the Billboard Hot 100 during the 2025 eligibility period (charts dated Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025), including his 13-week No. 1 “Luther,” with SZA, and one-week ruler “Squabble Up.”

Explore All of Billboard’s 2025 Year-End Charts

Here’s a look at all 22 of Lamar’s songwriting credits on the Hot 100 during the 2025 tracking period, which all contribute to his placement on the year-end ranking. Note that several of the songs below are holdovers from previous years — “Not Like Us,” for example debuted and peaked at No. 1 on May 18, 2024, but it remained on the chart through May 2025. As such, its chart run from Oct. 26, 2024 through May counts towards Lamar’s 2025 year-end Hot 100 Songwriters ranking since it was still charting. Same with “Humble.” and “All the Stars” (with SZA) — both of which returned to the chart following Lamar’s headlining turn during the Super Bowl halftime show in February. They peaked in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Peak Position, Artist Billing, Title

No. 1, Kendrick Lamar, “Humble.”
No. 1, Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar, “Like That”
No. 1, Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”
No. 1, Kendrick Lamar, “Squabble Up”
No. 1, Kendrick Lamar  with SZA, “Luther”
No. 2, Kendrick Lamar  feat. Lefty Gunplay, “TV Off”
No. 3, Kendrick Lamar, “Euphoria”
No. 4, Kendrick Lamar, “Wacced Out Murals”
No. 5, Kendrick Lamar  feat. Dody6, “Hey Now”
No. 7, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, “All the Stars”
No. 8, Kendrick Lamar, “Reincarnated”
No. 9, Kendrick Lamar, “Man At The Garden”
No. 10, SZA with Kendrick Lamar, “30 For 30”
No. 11, Kendrick Lamar feat. Wallke The Sensei, Siete7x & Roddy Ricch, “Dodger Blue”
No. 13, Kendrick Lamar feat. Azchike, “Peekaboo”
No. 14, Kendrick Lamar, “Heart Pt. 6”
No. 17, Kendrick Lamar  with Playboi Carti, “Good Credit”
No. 24, Kendrick Lamar feat. Hitta J3, YoungThreat & Peysoh, “GNX”
No. 25, Playboi Carti feat. Kendrick Lamar & Jhene Aiko, “Backd00r”
No. 27, Kendrick Lamar with SZA, “Gloria”
No. 27, Playboi Carti, “Mojo Jojo”
No. 42, Clipse feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Chains & Whips”

Of the 22 songs that contribute to Lamar’s No. 1 placement, all but “All the Stars,” “Humble.,” “Like That,” “Not Like Us” and “Euphoria” peaked on the Hot 100 during the eligibility period.

Twelve songs appear on Lamar’s album GNX, which spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and finishes at No. 4 on the 2025 year-end Billboard 200 ranking.

Just below Lamar on the year-end Hot 100 Songwriters ranking, Amy Allen finishes at No. 2, thanks to 31 songs that debuted on the Hot 100 during the eligibility period, including three top 10s: Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild” (No. 1) and “Tears” (No. 3), and ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” (No. 3). She’s the principal songwriter behind Carpenter’s No. 1 album Man’s Best Friend, having written or co-written all 12 of its tracks. Allen also penned songs for Tate McRae (“Just Keep Watching”) and JENNIE and Dua Lipa (“Handlebars”).

This marks the best year-end finish of Allen’s career. She first appeared on the year-end ranking in 2024, finishing at No. 5.

Rounding out the top five of the 2025 year-end Hot 100 Songwriters tally, Sabrina Carpenter ranks at No. 3, Charlie Handsome finishes at No. 4 and Billie Eilish and FINNEAS are tied at No. 5 (they were the sole songwriters on the same four charting songs during the eligibility period).

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025. 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 differences between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.

/by

Lady Gaga, Marshmello & Charli xcx Shine Bright on 2025 Year-End Dance/Electronic Charts

In 2024, months before the release of her seventh studio album MAYHEM, Lady Gaga teased that she was returning to her dance-pop roots. Not only did she deliver, but it paid off in dividends, as Gaga finishes at No. 1 on Billboard’s 2025 year-end Top Dance/Electronic Artists ranking for the fifth time in her career, while her single “Abracadabra” leads the Top Dance/Pop Songs list.

MAYHEM also finishes at No. 2 on the year-end Top Dance Albums ranking, behind only Charli xcx’s 2024 smash Brat.

Explore All of Billboard’s 2025 Year-End Charts

Released March 7, MAYHEM debuted at No. 1 on the Top Dance Albums chart (dated March 22), and remained in the top three of the chart throughout the remainder of the 2025 year-end tracking period (running Oct. 26, 2024-Oct. 18. 2025). Brat, on the other hand, debuted at No. 1 on Top Dance Albums on the chart dated June 22, 2024 and held at No. 1 through the remainder of the 2024 tracking period (ending Oct. 19, 2024), helping it top the 2024 year-end Top Dance Albums list. The album remained in the top five of Top Dance Albums throughout the 2025 year-end tracking period, helping it claim the throne for the second consecutive year.

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts dated Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025. 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 differences between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.

Also boosting Gaga’s points on the year-end Top Dance/Electronic Artists ranking are two additional albums in the top 10 of the year-end Top Dance Albums list: 2008’s The Fame finishes at No. 3 and 2011’s Born This Way ranks at No. 7.

Gaga previously ranked at No. 1 on the year-end Top Dance/Electronic Artists ranking in 2021, 2020, 2011, 2010 and 2009. She now holds the record for the most years finishing as the top dance artist, breaking out of a tie with the Chainsmokers, who have finished at No. 1 four times (2016-2019).

Not only does Gaga lead among all Dance/Electronic Artists, but she’s also the inaugural leader of Billboard’s year-end Hot Dance/Pop Songs ranking, as “Abracadabra” tops the list. Billboard launched the chart in January 2025, and “Abracadabra” led for 18 weeks.

Charli xcx’s Brat dominated headlines and topped charts in 2024, and its success spilled into 2025. The album is the first project to lead the year-end Top Dance Albums ranking in consecutive years since the Chainsmokers’ Memories… Do Not Open lead the chart in in 2017 and 2018.

The only other album to lead the chart for multiple years is Gaga’s The Fame, which finished as the top dance/electronic album in 2009, 2010 and, miraculously, 2021. Gaga also ruled the list in 2011 with Born This Way, 2014 with ARTPOP and 2020 with Chromatica.

Marshmello and Kane Brown’s smash single “Miles On It” finishes 2025 at No. 1 on the year-end Hot Dance/Electronic Songs tally. The song spent a whopping 31 weeks at No. 1 on the chart during the tracking period, and spent the entire time in the top two.

“Miles On It” had an historic run, spending 50 total weeks at No. 1 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs — making it the third-longest-leading hit in the chart’s history. It finished at No. 2 on the 2024 year-end Hot Dance/Electronic Songs list, behind Dua Lipa’s “Houdini.”

While this marks the first time Kane Brown has finished atop the year-end Hot Dance/Electronic Songs ranking, Marshmello finishes at No. 1 for the second time, following 2019’s “Happier,” with Bastille.” Marshmello joins Dua Lipa, the Chainsmokers and DJ Snake as the only artists to rule the chart in multiple years with different songs. Dua Lipa led in 2022 and 2024, with “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)” with Elton John and “Houdini,” respectively; the Chainsmokers ruled with “Don’t Let Me Down,” featuring Daya, in 2016 and “Something Just Like This” with Coldplay in 2017; and DJ Snake led with “Turn Down For What” with Lil Jon in 2014 and “Lean On” with Major Lazer featuring MØ in 2015.

As for the Top New Dance Artists ranking, up-and-comer CHRYSTAL leads the list thanks to her breakthrough single “The Days.” The song finishes at No. 2 on the year-end Hot Dance/Electronic Songs ranking, thanks to 45 weeks spend on the chart during the tracking period. It debuted at No. 3 on Jan. 18, 2025 and peaked at No. 2 (stuck behind “Miles On It”). The song was a crossover success too, reaching No. 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February.

Notably, Billboard revamped its dance chart offerings during this year. Beginning on the charts dated Jan. 18, 2025, the songs eligible to debut on Hot Dance/Electronic are those primarily recorded by DJs or producers with an emphasis on electronic-based production. Hot Dance/Pop Songs, which launched the same week, featured titles with dance-centric vocals, melody and hooks by artists not considered rooted in the dance/electronic genre. Top Dance/Electronic Albums was also renamed Top Dance Albums.

/by

Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Is the Top Billboard 200 Album of 2025

Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl sparkles as the No. 1 title on the 2025 year-end Billboard 200 Albums chart. It’s the fifth time she has ruled the year-end roundup, and she remains the only act to have the year-end No. 1 Billboard 200 album more than three times.

Explore All of Billboard’s 2025 Year-End Charts

The Life of a Showgirl’s year-end feat is especially remarkable considering it had only one week of activity on the Billboard 200 during the eligibility period. It debuted at No. 1 on the list dated Oct. 18 — the final week of the 2025 chart year — with a modern-era weekly record of 4 million equivalent album units earned in its first week in the United States, according to Luminate.

Swift led the 2024 year-end Billboard 200 Albums chart with The Tortured Poets Department, and in turn, she becomes the first act to have the year-end No. 1 Billboard 200 album in consecutive years with two different titles since Elton John in 1974 (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) and 1975 (Greatest Hits). In between John and Swift, two artists went back-to-back but with the same albums: Michael Jackson with Thriller in 1983 and 1984 and Adele with 21 in 2011 and 2012.

Swift also had the year-end Billboard 200 No. 1 with reputation (2018), 1989 (2015) and Fearless (2009).

The Tortured Poets Department closes out 2025 at No. 6 on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums chart. Swift and Morgan Wallen each have a pair of titles in the top 10, as the latter’s I’m the Problem and One Thing at a Time are found at Nos. 2 and 7, respectively.

Billboard’s year-end music charts represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the entries 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.

/by

Bad Bunny & Karol G Continue to Dominate Year-End Latin Charts

Bad Bunny is still the reigning king among Latin acts, with a whopping seventh consecutive win as Billboard’s Top Latin Artist, extending his own record for the most No. 1 finishes on the year-end tally. Such a massive milestone for the hitmaker, spanning from his reign in 2019-2025, is evidenced by a wave of chart successes, most notably his sixth solo studio album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos. The set not only became the only Spanish-language album to reach No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 tally in 2025 but also secured Benito a ninth straight chart-topper on the Top Latin Albums chart, a historic feat for a Latin rhythm act. It also closes the year at No. 1 on 2025’s Top Latin Albums recap.

On a similar note, Karol G remains the winningest Latin female act in the history of the year-end charts, maintaining an unparalleled seven-year streak atop the Top Latin Artists – Female tally. Since 2022, she has also stood out as the only woman in the top 10 on the Top Latin Artists year-end chart, a testament to her continued chart impact. Her latest project, Tropicoqueta, made a No. 1 debut on the weekly Top Latin Albums chart, while standout single, “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” — the longest-running No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart this decade by a woman — spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the during the 2025 eligibility period (Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025).

Explore All of Billboard’s 2025 Year-End Charts

Billboard’s year-end music charts represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the entries 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.

Benito Towers Above the Competition:  As is typical with any Bad Bunny project, Debí Tirar Más Fotos also delivered a string of hits. The blockbuster song “DTMF” earns the No. 1 spot on the Hot Latin Songs year-end chart, after an incredible run of 34 weeks atop the list during the 2025 chart year. The song also secures the No. 1 slot on the year-end Latin Streaming Songs list.

Benito stands head and shoulders above the competition as the Latin genre’s most consistent hitmaker. As if being No. 1 on the year-end Top Latin Artists, Top Latin Albums and Hot Latin Songs, weren’t enough, he also claims five additional spots on the year-end Latin songs list. Joining “DTMF” at the top are four other Debí songs, plus a collaboration: “Baile Inolvidable” at No. 2, “Nuevayol” at No. 3, “EOO” at No. 4, “Qué Pasaría…,” with Rauw Alejandro, at No. 8, and closing the year-end finish line at No. 9 is “Voy a Llevarte Pa PR.”

Netón Vega Redraws the Map as Top New Artist:  Mexican singer-songwriter Netón Vega’s breakthrough came in June 2024 when he landed a No. 2 hit on the Billboard charts. Since then, the newcomer has become a driving force in regional Mexican culture. During the eligibility period, Vega placed 20 total songs on the Hot Latin Songs chart, including seven top 10s. Plus, his victory is highlighted by being the only newcomer to secure a spot in the top 10 on the overall Top Latin Artists year-end tally, at No. 7.

Adding to his winning chapter, Vega’s debut album, Mi Vida Mi Muerte, further cemented his ascent. It launched at Nos. 1 and 2 on the Top Regional Mexican Albums and Top Latin Albums charts, respectively, in March. This mark was equally huge for Josa Records, his independent label, which partnered with Downtown Artist & Label Services in late 2023: “Together, I’m confident we’ll bring his music to new heights,” said founder Jesus Chavez, and they did—Vega brought Josa Records its first Billboard No. 1.

Tell Me, RaiNao: Puerto Rican singer-songwriter RaiNao may not have had a chart hit prior to 2025, but her fan demand became palpable after her collaboration with Bad Bunny, “Perfumito,” made a splash. The track, their first and only team-up, scored a top 10 debut on Hot Latin Songs at the turn of the year, peaking at No. 7. The track also reached top 10 on Latin Streaming Songs, broke into the top 40 on the overall Billboard Hot 100, and soared into the top 20 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts, along with securing placements across Latin charts.

RaiNao’s colossal chart activity, propels her to No. 5 on the year-end Top Latin Artists-Female ranking, joining an elite line-up of major stars: Karol G (at No. 1), Shakira (No. 2), Selena (No. 3) and Kali Uchis (No. 4).

Regional Mexican Continues Hot Streak: After its astronomical rise in 2023 and continued ascent in 2024, regional Mexican music has solidified its global presence, capturing widespread attention. There were a dozen regional Mexican songs that hit the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 in 2025 (with 11 during the 2025 chart year), as compared to 19 in 2024 and 37 in 2023.

Aside from Bad Bunny’s four rhythmic tracks, Oscar Maydon and Fuerza Regida stand out for the genre, as their collaboration “Tu Boda” (No. 87) is the only other Latin song included in the year-end Billboard Hot 100 Songs tally. (Netón Vega, primarily a regional Mexican artist, also appears on the chart with his Latin rhythmic hit “Loco.”)

Regional Mexican acts further demonstrate their influence in the Top Latin Artists year-end rankings, with some of the genre’s heavy hitters leading the charge: Fuerza Regida (No. 2), Peso Pluma (No. 3), Junior H (No. 5), Xavi (No. 8), Grupo Frontera (No. 9), and Ivan Cornejo (No. 10), whose repertoire spans both regional Mexican and pop music.

At the same time, Tito Double P, who transitioned from writing songs for his cousin Peso Pluma in the underground scene to becoming a bona fide hitmaker and arena headliner, saw similar triumphs. His debut album, Incómodo, launched to major success, thanks in part to his composition wizardry and the stacked guest list of well-established acts. The album topped the Top Latin Albums chart for nine weeks, including six within the year-end eligibility period, earning a No. 2 spot on the year-end Top Latin Albums tally.

Move Over for RIMAS: RIMAS has reasserted its dominance in the Latin music industry, climbing back to the top of the 2025 Top Latin Labels list after a fiercely competitive year. The independent Puerto Rican powerhouse secured a notable 24 songs on the Hot Latin Songs chart during the eligible period – an unmatched feat.

Driving this triumph was the monumental success of Bad Bunny’s album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos. The label lands five songs from the project in the year-end Hot Latin Songs top 10, an unprecedented deed. Leading the charge is the record-breaking hit “DTMF” at No. 1, followed by “Baile Inolvidable” (No. 2), “Nuevayol” (No. 3), and “EOO” (No. 4). Additionally, crowd favorite “Voy a Llevarte Pa PR” secured the No. 9 spot.

/by

Cardi B Is Bringing the Drama to the Season 18 Premiere of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’

It looks like Cardi B has finally answered her sophomore album’s titular question — yes, she is the drama, and the drama is headed to RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Related

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 cast

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Is Back: Meet the New Queens of Season 18

Cardi B attends MISTR's National PrEP Day at The Abbey on October 09, 2025 in West Hollywood, California.

Cardi B Says She Won’t ‘Overthink’ Things Heading Into Next Album: ‘I’m Just Gonna Give It to Y’all’

Scarlet Envy and Cardi B

Scarlet Envy Still Can’t Believe Her Viral Meme Became Cardi B’s Album Title: ‘I’m Not Sure That’s Sunk In’

On Tuesday (Dec. 9), MTV revealed that Cardi will serve as the guest judge for the premiere episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 18. Taking place Friday, Jan. 2, the premiere will see 14 new contestants begin their competition for the crown, with Cardi helping her fellow judges decide the winners and losers of the first episode. Alongside the news, MTV also shared the entire slate of guest judges for season 18, including stars such as Teyana Taylor, Zara Larsson, Benny Blanco, Dove Cameron and Atsuko Okatsuka.

Fans also got a sneak peak of what to expect from the new set of queens and from Cardi herself when MTV dropped the trailer for season 18. In the clip, Cardi enters the work room to surprise the new batch of queens, and later offers a high compliment to one of the contestants on the runway, saying, “I would wear this outside.”

Despite Cardi’s longstanding love of drag, the “Outside” rapper has yet to appear on the series, either as a guest judge or even as a featured artist through the show’s iconic Lip Sync For Your Life format. But that hasn’t stopped her from spreading the love to her favorite drag performers. When Drag Race season six alumna Trinity K. Bonet gave a double-take worthy performance to Cardi’s “I Like It” in 2018, the rapper reposted the clip and gave Bonet her props. “Yaaaaaass QUE PERRA,” Cardi wrote at the time.

Even on her latest album, Am I the Drama?, Cardi paid homage to an iconic Drag Race meme when season 11 and All Stars 6 alum Scarlet Envy asked the question to the viewers at home. Speaking to Billboard earlier this year, Envy said that having Cardi reference and revere drag artistry so publicly was extremely validating for an art form under political attack.

“It’s bridging a bigger gap in some way than when bubblegum pop girls reference drag queens. We are across genres,” she said at the time. “And I think it’s important, especially in the times we’re living in right now, to remember the power of the queer people behind drag.”

Season 18 of RuPaul’s Drag Race premieres Friday, Jan. 2, at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. Watch the full trailer for the new season above.


Billboard VIP Pass

/by

Morgan Wallen Is Billboard’s Top Artist of 2025

Morgan Wallen finishes atop Billboard’s year-end Top Artists chart for the first time following the monster success of his 2025 album I’m the Problem and its associated hit songs. The continued chart performance of his earlier smash albums One Thing at a Time and Dangerous: The Double Album also helped fuel the victory.

Explore All of Billboard’s 2025 Year-End Charts

I’m the Problem, which ranks at No. 2 on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums recap, debuted at No. 1 on the weekly Billboard 200 dated May 31 and spent 12 weeks leading the list during the annual eligibility period (see methodology below).

Wallen’s Top Artists trophy was also earned in part by his success on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 songs chart during the chart year, placing more titles on the list (41) than any other act. Of those, nine reached the top 10, including “What I Want” (featuring Tate McRae), which spent a week at No. 1 upon its debut in May.

Wallen is the first act who primarily records country music to crown the Top Artists list since 2009, when Taylor Swift took home her first win in the annual recap. That year, she was also No. 1 on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums chart with her second full-length, Fearless. (She would pivot to a mostly pop career in 2014 with her 1989 album.) Wallen is only the second male country act to be the year-end top artist after Garth Brooks, who scored back-to-back year-end wins in 1992 and 1993. (The year-end Top Artists recap began in 1981.)

Swift also looms large on the 2025 year-end rankings, as her recently released The Life of a Showgirl is No. 1 on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums chart. It’s the fifth time she has ruled that roundup, and she remains the only act to have the year-end No. 1 Billboard 200 album more than three times.

The Life of a Showgirl’s year-end feat is especially remarkable considering it had only one week of activity on the Billboard 200 during the eligibility period. It debuted at No. 1 on the list dated Oct. 18 — the final week of the chart year — with a modern-era weekly record of 4 million equivalent album units earned in its first week, according to Luminate.

Swift led the 2024 year-end Billboard 200 Albums chart with The Tortured Poets Department, and in turn, she becomes the first act to have the year-end No. 1 Billboard 200 album in consecutive years with two different titles since Elton John in 1974 (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) and 1975 (Greatest Hits). In between John and Swift, two artists went back-to-back but with the same albums: Michael Jackson with Thriller in 1983 and 1984 and Adele with 21 in 2011 and 2012.

Wallen and Swift are the year’s top male artist and top female artist, respectively, while the top duo/group is the animated KPop Demon Hunters girl group HUNTR/X, voiced by real-life singers EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI. The trio from the smash Netflix film scored four hits on the weekly Hot 100 in 2025, including the No. 1 “Golden.” Alex Warren is 2025’s top new artist following his massive success with “Ordinary,” which spent 10 weeks atop the Hot 100, while his album You’ll Be Alright, Kid reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200.

The year-end No. 1 on the Hot 100 Songs chart is “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. The track led the Hot 100 for five weeks.

Billboard’s year-end music charts represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the entries 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. The Top Artists and Top New Artists categories rank the best-performing acts, and new acts, of the year based on activity on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100, as well as Billboard Boxscore (touring), for the 2025 tracking period.

/by