As the year comes to a close, many people are comparing their Spotify Wrapped or Apple Replay results to find out which artists they spent the most time listening to, but which artists were the most popular among the entire population combined? Below are the top five most popular music artists of 2022 and the ways they managed to climb to the top of the charts.

5. Morgan Wallen

At number five is 29-year-old American country singer Morgan Wallen. Although he didn’t release any new albums in 2022, he did come out with a handful of songs for fans to enjoy. Wallen rose to fame after competing in the sixth season of NBC’s The Voice in 2014. Despite the fact that he didn’t win the competition, he quickly became a massive sensation amongst country music fanatics.

4. Drake

In fourth place is 36-year-old Canadian rapper Aubrey Drake Graham (Drake). He originally gained fame as an actor on the teenage drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation and later ditched his acting career to pursue music. The reason for his popularity in 2022 most likely stemmed from his most recent album, Honestly, Nevermind, which made its debut on June 17th. The album quickly became a tremendous success for his loyal fans.

3. Harry Styles

At number three is 28-year-old British singer Harry Styles. His former boy band, One Direction, was what brought him into the spotlight. After the band made the difficult decision to split up in 2015, Styles decided to continue making music independently. On May 20th, Styles released his third studio album, Harry’s House, to the public. It became an immediate success and undoubtedly assisted him in making it into the top three most popular music artists of the year.

2. Taylor Swift

In second place is 33-year-old American singer Taylor Swift. Swift originally began her career as a country singer with her self-titled debut album, Taylor Swift, which was released in 2006 when she was only 16 years old. In 2014, she released her first full pop album titled 1989. Her tenth studio album, Midnights, was released on October 21st and quickly topped the Billboard charts. Swift has truly been the talk of the year, so it isn’t surprising that she was the second most popular artist.

1. Bad Bunny

The most popular music artist of the year was 28-year-old Puerto Rican rapper Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio (Bad Bunny). The rapper began sharing his music on SoundCloud when he was a college student and later received calls from producers after his song “Diles” blew up in 2016. From there, he went on to release four solo studio albums. His most recent album, Un Verano Sin Ti, debuted on May 6th and became a huge hit, so much so that he now holds the honorable title of “most popular music artist of 2022.”