Taylor Swift is well on her way towards winning Billboard’s Artist of the Decade for the 2020s after climbing to the summit of the points rankings.
The Cruel Summer singer has taken her place at the top above The Weeknd after moving beyond the Save Your Tears star, who was previously leading the charts.
It represents how 2023 has taken Swift to new heights following the release of her hit album Midnights and her sellout global Eras tour.
The 34-year-old finished the year with the highest point total on 2.1 million points, with Morgan Wallen additionally finishing off with the second-highest.
That is without adding Swift’s points for touring, which is calculated based on the total revenue, with her status as number one in the Top 200 chart certainly a factor in helping her surpass The Weeknd – real name Abel Tesfaye.
Swift is also the number one-ranked Billboard 200 Artist Year-End with 13.3 million units, representing the highest yearly total of any artist in the 21st Century.
Her hit single Cruel Summer, which was brought out again in 2023 after its original release in 2019, currently leads Billboard’s Adult Pop Airplay chart. It has now led the chart for songs that reach the largest audience at radio stations that play adult pop across the U.S. for 18 weeks.
Has Taylor Swift won the award before?
In 2019, Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, and was honored as the Woman of the Decade by Billboard. But after setting sights on the overall gong, she was beaten to the award for the 2010s chart after finishing runner-up to rapper Drake.
She had five No.1s on the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 during the decade, but fell short in matching the Canadian rapper, who experienced unparalleled success with albums such as Nothing Was the Same and Views.
On that occasion, Drake’s dominance in the Hot 100 and 200 charts helped him beat Swift to the prize. But he is now ranked fourth after a slight decline in streams and album sales.
And Drake’s influence in music has since dwindled,Swift is now the most popular artist in the music industry, as reflected by the huge popularity of her sellout Eras Tour.