Here Are Billboard’s Top Artists of the 2010s, Ahead of the Final Reveal

Billboard continues revealing the top acts of the 2010s.

Billboard previously published, among multiple decade-end charts, the overall Top Artists from Nos. 11 through 100 for the 2010s, along with the Nos. 11 through 50 Top Artists on charts encompassing country, rock, R&B/hip-hop, Latin, Christian, gospel, dance/electronic and all-genre touring.

Now, the 2010s’ top 10 acts for each genre, as well as in touring, are unveiled for the first time.

For the overall Top Artists recap of the 2010s, the acts at Nos. 6-10 are ranked below, with the top five set to be revealed during the 2021 Billboard Music Awards.

Let’s dig into the all-genre Top Artists of the 2010s from Nos. 6-10, as well as the decade’s top 10 acts by genre and in touring.

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Top Artists, overall
1, To Be Announced
2, To Be announced
3, To Be Announced
4, To Be Announced
5, To Be Announced
6, ED SHEERAN
7, JUSTIN BIEBER
8, KATY PERRY
9, MAROON 5
10, POST MALONE

The acts from Nos. 6 through 10  tallied a combined 23 No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and 15 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 in the 2010s.

Meanwhile, the as-of-now mystery artists from Nos. 1 through 5 notched a collective 31 leaders on the Hot 100 and 19 on the Billboard 200 during the decade.

Who are these elite acts in the top five spots? And, in what order do they rank? Again, the five biggest artists of the 2010s are scheduled to be announced during the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. (Keep checking billboard.com for further details.)

View Nos. 100-6 on the 100-position Top Artists of the 2010s chart here.

Country
1, LUKE BRYAN
2, JASON ALDEAN
3, BLAKE SHELTON
4, FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE
5, ZAC BROWN BAND
6, LADY A
7, CARRIE UNDERWOOD
8, ERIC CHURCH
9, KEITH URBAN
10, TAYLOR SWIFT

Luke Bryan reigns as Billboard‘s top country artist of the 2010s, having banked 11 No. 1s on the weekly Hot Country Songs chart and nine leaders on Top Country Albums during the decade (encompassing his career totals). “It starts with moving to Nashville, but then you’ve got to prove that you’re gonna be able to pull this career off,” the Georgia native mused in 2017. “I just set out to make the best music I can and have fun with it.”

Elsewhere among the top 10 country acts of the 2010s, Florida Georgia Line, at No. 4, set the record for the longest-leading No. 1 in the Hot Country Songs chart’s history when its Bebe Rexha duet “Meant to Be” dominated for 50 weeks in 2017-18.

View the full, 50-position Top Country Artists of the 2010s chart here.

Rock
1, IMAGINE DRAGONS
2, TWENTY ONE PILOTS
3, MUMFORD & SONS
4, PANIC! AT THE DISCO
5, THE BLACK KEYS
6, COLDPLAY
7, THE LUMINEERS
8, LINKIN PARK
9, FALL OUT BOY
10, FOO FIGHTERS

Imagine Dragons first fired up on Billboard‘s charts in 2012 and quickly flew to record-breaking heights. The Las Vegas band scored five No. 1s on the weekly Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart and four No. 1s on Top Rock Albums during the 2010s. 2017’s Evolve led the latter list for a personal-best 24 weeks, while its single “Believer” topped the former tally for a career-high 29 frames.

At No. 4 among the 2010s’ top rock artists, Panic! at the Disco amassed a record 65 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs with its 2018 smash “High Hopes.”

View the full, 50-position Top Rock Artists of the 2010s chart here.

R&B/hip-hop
1, DRAKE
2, RIHANNA
3, CHRIS BROWN
4, NICKI MINAJ
5, POST MALONE
6, THE WEEKND
7, KENDRICK LAMAR
8, LIL WAYNE
9, BEYONCÉ
10, TREY SONGZ

Drake dominated Billboard‘s R&B/hip-hop charts in the 2010s, racking up 18 No. 1s on the weekly Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and 10 No. 1s on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums during the decade’s chart tracking period. He’s since upped his count to 11 No. 1s on the latter and 21 on the former, passing Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder for the most No. 1s in the chart’s history.

At No. 4 among the top R&B/hip-hop artists of the 2010s, Nicki Minaj has tallied the most Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs entries among women in the list’s history: 112, through the latest, Dec. 5-dated chart.

View the full, 50-position Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the 2010s chart here.

Latin
1, ROMEO SANTOS
2, PRINCE ROYCE
3, J BALVIN
4, ENRIQUE IGLESIAS
5, DADDY YANKEE
6, JUAN GABRIEL
7, BANDA SINALOENSE MS DE SERGIO LIZARRAGA
8, OZUNA
9, NICKY JAM
10, GERARDO ORTIZ

Since first hitting Billboard‘s surveys as a soloist in 2011, after breaking though in hit bachata quartet Aventura, Romeo Santos has collected seven solo No. 1s on the weekly Hot Latin Songs chart and five No. 1s on Top Latin Albums. “If you put out quality music,” he told Billboard in 2017, “you’re always going to be in a good place.”

Daddy Yankee is the No. 5 top Latin act of the 2010s, thanks, in part, to his landmark hit “Despacito,” with Luis Fonsi and featuring Justin Bieber. The English/Spanish-language collab spent a record 56 weeks atop Hot Latin Songs beginning in February 2017, passing the 41-week reign of “Bailando” by Enrique Iglesias (the decade’s No. 4 artist), featuring Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona, beginning in May 2014.

View the full, 50-position Top Latin Artists of the 2010s chart here.

Dance/Electronic
1, THE CHAINSMOKERS
2, LADY GAGA
3, CALVIN HARRIS
4, AVICII
5, DAVID GUETTA
6, DJ SNAKE
7, SKRILLEX
8, ZEDD
9, DAFT PUNK
10, MARSHMELLO

Having arrived on the weekly Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart in 2014, The Chainsmokers have achieved a record six No. 1s. They’ve also posted five leaders on Top Dance/Electronic Albums. Leading the DJ duo’s impressive singles haul, “Closer,” featuring Halsey, led Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for 27 weeks beginning in September 2016 and “Something Just Like This,” with Coldplay, ruled for 25 frames starting in March 2017.

Meanwhile, “Happier,” by Marshmello, the No. 10 dance/electronic artist of the 2010s, and Bastille, controlled Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for a record 69 weeks beginning in September 2018.

View the full, 50-position Top Dance/Electronic Artists of the 2010s chart here.

Christian
1, MERCYME
2, CASTING CROWNS
3, CHRIS TOMLIN
4, LAUREN DAIGLE
5, TOBYMAC
6, HILLSONG UNITED
7, SKILLET
8, HILLSONG WORSHIP
9, FOR KING & COUNTRY
10, NEWSBOYS

A song from the late 1990s made a sizzling resurgence in the late 2010s, helping to spark MercyMe’s reign as the top Christian act of the latter decade. “I Can Only Imagine” topped Billboard‘s weekly Hot Christian Songs chart for three weeks in 2018, the latest of the band’s record 13 No. 1s. The song returned, and hit new heights, propelled by the 2018 movie of the same name, which chronicles the life of the group’s frontman and the song’s author, Bart Millard.

Plus, Lauren Daigle, the genre’s No. 4 artist of the decade, ran up an unprecedented reign with her 2018 single “You Say”: The ballad tops the latest Hot Christian Songs chart (dated Dec. 5) for a record-extending 113th week. She marveled of its impact in September, “To be a part of a song that has not only made history but has lived inside the homes of families raising babies, widows needing comfort, teenagers needing a friend, those who have lost and those who have gained … that is a gift I’ll never fully put into words.”

View the full, 50-position Top Christian Artists of the 2010s chart here.

Gospel
1, TASHA COBBS LEONARD
2, TAMELA MANN
3, KIRK FRANKLIN
4, MARVIN SAPP
5, TRAVIS GREENE
6, ANTHONY BROWN & GROUP THERAPY
7, JAMES FORTUNE & FIYA
8, LECRAE
9, FRED HAMMOND
10, WILLIAM MCDOWELL

Tasha Cobbs Leonard first reached Billboard‘s charts in December 2012 and has since earned four No. 1s on the weekly Hot Gospel Songs survey and five on Top Gospel Albums. Meanwhile, her 2013 EP Grace has spent a record 185 weeks in the latter list’s top 10.

Notably, gospel is the only genre among Billboard‘s seven 2010s decade-end genre artist recaps to sport women in the top two spots, as Tamela Mann ranks at No. 2, thanks in part to her two No. 1s each on Hot Gospel Songs and Top Gospel Albums during the decade, all of which led for over 20 weeks.

View the full, 50-position Top Gospel Artists of the 2010s chart here.

Touring
1, U2
2, TAYLOR SWIFT
3, THE ROLLING STONES
4, ED SHEERAN
5, COLDPLAY
6, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
7, BEYONCÉ
8, BON JOVI
9, PAUL McCARTNEY
10, ROGER WATERS

With 250 reported shows during the 2010s, the famed Irish rock quartet is the only act to have earned more than $1 billion in that span, closing with $1.018 billion and 9.1 million tickets sold, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. U2 claimed year-end Top Tours honors in 2011 with the 360 Tour and 2017 with The Joshua Tree Tour.

The former trek covered 2009-11, becoming the highest-grossing tour all-time, with $736 million, until Ed Sheeran’s The Divide Tour (2017-19) took the title with a final gross of $776.2 million. Sheeran is the decade’s fourth-highest-grossing act with $848.3 million, behind U2, Taylor Swift ($910.2 million) and The Rolling Stones ($907.6 million).

View the full, 50-position Top Touring Artists of the 2010s chart here.

As previously reported, Mark Ronson‘s “Uptown Funk!,” featuring Bruno Mars, reigns as the Hot 100’s No. 1 song of the 2010s. Rounding out the top five: No. 2, “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock; No. 3, “Shape of You,” Ed Sheeran; No. 4, “Closer,” The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey; No. 5, “Girls Like You,” Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B.

Also as previously announced, Adele‘s 21 rules as the Billboard 200’s top decade-end album. Elsewhere in the top five: No. 2, 1989, Taylor Swift; No. 3, ÷ (Divide), Ed Sheeran; No. 4, Frozen soundtrack; No. 5, beerbongs & bentleys, Post Malone.

Click on the following links for deeper dives into Billboard‘s 2010s decade-end charts covering country, rock, R&B/hip-hop, Latin, Christian, gospel, dance/electronic, social activity and all-genre touring.

How We Charted the Decade: Billboard‘s 2010s decade-end recaps encompass chart performance from Dec. 5, 2009, through Sept. 28, 2019 (except for those for the Social 50, which began on Dec. 11, 2010, and Hot Dance/Electronic Songs and Streaming Songs, each of which launched on Jan. 26, 2013).

On decade-end Hot Songs and Top Albums recaps, titles are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 on weekly charts earning the greatest value and weeks at lower positions earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology and title turnover rates over the decade, certain periods were weighted differently.

Top Artists recaps are ranked based on a formula blending performance, as outlined above, of all their chart entries. Specifically, the overall Top Artists category ranks the best-performing artists based on activity on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and the Billboard 200 albums tally, as well as social media data and touring revenue from Billboard Boxscore, while genre-focused Top Artists rankings blend acts’ decade-spanning performance on each genre’s main song and album charts (such as, for country, Hot Country Songs and Top Country Albums).

Billboard‘s decade-end touring charts are based on Billboard Boxscore data for performances between Dec. 1, 2009, and Sept. 30, 2019.

Additional reporting by Eric Frankenberg.