2020 YEAR END ARTISTS

STEVIE NICKS CELEBRATES FOURTH YEAR AS L.DK WEEKLY’S TOP ARTIST!

Note: an artist’s performance is determined by both the sales of their albums, and the week-to-week chart performance of those albums.

As Nicks rules overall, Taylor Swift takes the sales crown!

Fleetwood Mac frontwoman and rock legend Stevie Nicks triumphs as the most successful artist of the year for the fourth time in a row.

Nicks has ruled every Year-End Artists tally since records began in 2017, and this year continues her unbroken streak. The rock n roll goddess saw sales of 2.17 million albums this year from her catalogue (making her the 5th bestselling artist of the annum) – with almost half coming from the best-of set Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks which hit the No.1 spot in January, and ranks as the 7th biggest album of 2020.

Nicks also benefitted from the continued success of her earlier studio albums: her 1981 solo debut Bella Donna made its fourth successive appearance on a Year-End List, ranking at No.27 this time around. Bella made it to No.4 on the 2017 rundown and then appeared at No.20 & No.24 in 2018 and 2019.

1985’s Rock a Little narrowly sneaks onto the Year-End Chart at No.49. It is also the fourth showing from this album: No.10 in 2017, No.38 in 2018, and No.31 in 2019.

Lana Del Rey achieves her highest rank on the Year-End Artists Chart as she sits at No.2. Del Rey’s surpasses her previous best showing of No.3 in 2017 – she would also rank No.9 in 2018 and No.4 in 2019.

Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! was announced last month as 2020’s Top Album, after it came in at No.3 for 2019. The singer’s spoken word poetry album Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass reached No.3 over the Summer this year and sits at No.26 on the yearly rundown.

With sales of 2.64 million units, Lana Del Rey ranks as the year’s second bestselling artist.

Ariana Grande follows at No.3, matching her best performance from 2018 when she also placed at No.3.

Grande places four albums in the Year-End Albums Chart – the most of any artist. Live album K Bye for Now leads the pack at No.17 after peaking at No.2 for six weeks in January. Older records Sweetener & thank u, next rank at No.21 and No.42 after making the Top Ten on the yearly rundown in 2018 & 2019 respectively. Positions (released in October) finishes 2020 as the year’s 33rd most successful record.

With total sales of 2.16 million albums, Grande is the 6th bestselling artist of 2020.

Taylor Swift Rule Sales!

At No.4: Taylor Swift utterly dominated 2020 in terms of sales. Her catalogue sold a massive 3.17 million units, with 2.21 million of those sales coming from folklore alone. No.4 also marks Swift’s best rank on the Year-End Artists Chart (passing her No.9 high in 2017).

folklore was the year’s 4th biggest album, while 2019’s Lover makes it onto the tally at No.24.

In a big first year for Alanis Morissette, the singer finishes at No.5 on Year-End Artists. The Canadian star sold 2.2 million albums (No.4 for sales) with 1.9 million units coming from 2005’s The Collection – the 3rd biggest album of the year. Her 2020 release Such Pretty Forks in the Road also made the cut, placing at No.39.

Lady Gaga is next at No.6. Her latest set Chromatica has shifted 1.81 million units since June (of Gaga’s total sales haul of 2.16 million – No.7 for sales) and sits at No.5 on Year End Albums. A Star is Born – her joint soundtrack with Bradley Cooper – takes the No.29 spot after ruling the rundown for two years.

Dua Lipa follows at No.7 – owing much of her success this year to the blockbuster Future Nostalgia which finishes 2020 at No.2 – and with 2.28 million sales is the 3rd bestselling star of the year.

Annie Lennox ranks at No.8 thanks to the sustained success of Diva (No.16) and Medusa (No.11).

Jessie Ware ends 2020 at No.9. She appears twice on the Year End Albums Chart: at No.18 with 2017’s Glasshouse, and at No.25 with her new What’s Your Pleasure?. With total sales of 1.31 million albums this year, Ware is the 8th biggest seller.

Rounding out the Top Ten: Fleetwood Mac owe their success this year to the continued draw of their catalogue. 1988’s Greatest Hits was their biggest hit in 2020 (No.23); 1977’s Rumours is at No.37; and 1979’s Tusk takes the No.45 spot.

Top Ten Artists (Sales)