As we celebrate another year coming to a close, Audacy is counting down our 2023 Most Played Artists and their impact on music and pop culture.
From Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran to Luke Combs, Dua Lipa, The Weeknd, Morgan Wallen and more, this year’s list is full of incredible artists that kept us singing and dancing throughout 2023. Did your favorite make the list? Check it out below as we present our 10 most played artists across all Audacy stations in 2023.
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10. METRO BOOMIN
While he’s long been an influential member throughout Hip-Hop, 2023 was a break-out year for Metro Boomin with the next-level success of “Creepin’” featuring The Weeknd and 21 Savage. The song, which rang familiar for many as it interpolated Mario Winans‘ “I Don’t Wanna Know,“ saw mega success and brought even more attention to his Heroes & Villains album which released December 2022. While basking in the success of Heroes & Villains, Metro continued to bring new music as he crafted Boomin Presents Spider‐Man: Across The Spider‐verse, a soundtrack inspired by the motion picture. The project featured artists including Swae Lee, Lil Wayne, Offset, ASAP Rocky, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, and many more. On top of it all, Metro is celebrating two nominations at the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards for Best Rap Album (Heroes & Villains) and Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical.
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9. DUA LIPA
Starting off the year with success from her duet with Megan Thee Stallion, “Sweetest Pie,” Dua Lipa kept the momentum (and the dance floor) goin’ with past singles that still hit the spot from Future Nostalgia in addition to her 2023 release, “Dance The Night,” which was featured in the Barbie movie and quickly became the soundtrack of the summer. Moving into the fall, all eyes were on Dua as she teased her long-awaited new music era. Now, weeks away from the new year, the Pop star is ending on a high note as she released a brand-new single, “Houdini,” which marks the the first single from her forthcoming album, due 2024.
Listen to Dua Lipa Radio on the free Audacy app
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8. JUSTIN BIEBER
While his time on the road was cut short due to health concerns, fans got a full-serving of Bieber on Audacy stations nationwide with past bangers like “STAY” with The Kid Laroi, “Peaches” and more. He also served up some fresh music as he took over the airwaves with a feature on SZA’s track, “Snooze.” The song was included on her record-breaking album, SOS.
Listen to Justin Bieber Radio on the free Audacy app
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7. SZA
It was a big year for SZA, who basked in the success of her sophomore album, SOS, which released just before the new year. The project, which featured the hit “Kill Bill,” sat at the top of the Billboard 200 chart for eight weeks in 2023 making it the longest reigning number-one by a female artist. Nearing a year from SOS’s original release, SZA has teased she’ll release a deluxe version of the project titled Lana before 2023 comes to a close. Aside from the success of her own album, SZA also had big-time features on some of the year’s biggest projects including joining Lizzo for “Special” as well as a feature on Drake’s For All The Dogs album with an appearance on the track, “Slime You Out.” A big year in 2023 and heading into 2024 set-up for even more success as she tops GRAMMY nominations with nine. There’s no stopping SZA!
Listen to SZA Radio on the free Audacy app
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6. LUKE COMBS
A three-time GRAMMY nominee in 2023 and looking ahead to another in 2024, there’s no doubt it’s been a successful year for Country giant, Luke Combs. He kicked off the year with the release of his 18-track, Gettin’ Old, which served as a follow-up to his highly-successful Growin’ Up in 2022. Included on Gettin’ Old was Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman‘s 1988 single, “Fast Car.” The song made chart history sitting at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 while also making Chapman one of a small group of Black women with writing credits on a number 1 Country single and becoming the first Black female songwriter to receive the Song of the Year award at the 2023 CMAs. Aside from the chart success, Combs also executed his very first world tour visiting stadiums across the globe. We can’t wait to see what 2024 has in store!
Listen to Luke Combs Radio on the free Audacy app
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5. THE WEEKND
The Weeked, who revealed he’ll soon ditch his stage moniker and go by his name, Abel Tesfaye, spent the year showcasing all aspects of his creativity. From the success of his track with Metro Boomin and 21 Savage, “Creepin’” to bringing music to fans on his After Hours til Dawn 2023 Tour and even debuting his own HBO Original series, The Idol, there was no lack of action when it came to the Canadian singer-songwriter. Some stand-out moments came as he joined forces with big-time stars for one-of-a-kind collabs including the aforementioned hits, as well as those released surrounding his HBO series including “Popular,” a song featuring Madonna and Playboi Carti, and “Double Fantasy,” which featured Future. Most recently, The Weeknd joined forces with Bad Bunny and Travis Scott for a new single titled, “K-POP.”
Listen to The Weeknd Radio on the free Audacy app
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4. ED SHEERAN
It was a year dedicated to lots of new music, and fans for Ed Sheeran. He closed one chapter and started a new with the release of two brand new albums less than six-months apart. The first was – (Subtract), which marked the final mathematical symbol in his series of five (+, x, ÷, = and -). The second marked the beginning of a new “season” for Sheeran who debuted Autumn Variations in September. He put fans first by recording a deluxe version of Autumn Variations from the living rooms of some of his most dedicated fans, while performing for millions more on his epic +–=÷x (Mathematics) Tour.
Listen to Ed Sheeran Radio on the free Audacy app
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3. MILEY CYRUS
Miley Cyrus reminded us all of Flower Power with her chart-topping single, “Flowers,” which was included on her 2023 album, Endless Summer Vacation, and earned the title of Audacy’s Most Played Song of 2023. The song’s success is a big reason behind her six GRAMMY nominations for 2024. While she brought us some new Miley music mid-year as we continued to rock out to past bops, she then brought the heat with her newest single, “Used To Be Young.” The track is all about self-reflection as Cyrus prompts us to honor who we’ve been, love who we are and celebrate who we will become. Now that’s the energy we’re trying to bring into the new year.
Listen to Miley Cyrus Radio on the free Audacy app
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2. MORGAN WALLEN
While Morgan Wallen has proven to dominate Country airwaves with his music over the years, 2023 marked a big cross-genre milestone for the 30-year-old who dominated both Country and Pop radio with his record breaking single, “Last Night.” The track is one of 36 from his album, One Thing At A Time, which released March 3 and contains several other top performers on radio including, “Thinking’ Bout Me,” “Thought You Should Know,” and his most recent single, “Man Made A Bar (Feat. Eric Church).” In June, Morgan celebrated making Country music history alongside Luke Combs as they occupied the top two spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with Combs’ “Fast Car,” and Wallen’s “Last Night.” Their accomplishments marked the first time in more than 42 years that songs on Country radio occupied the top two spots simultaneously. After a run like that, it’s no surprise Wallen’s One Thing At a Time was the longest-running number-one album of the year spending 16 non-consecutive weeks at #1. He’s on fire.
Listen to Morgan Wallen Radio on the free Audacy app
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1. TAYLOR SWIFT
No surprise here. 2023 is the year everybody became a Swiftie! Taylor Swift had a beyond record-breaking year with two re-release albums, her dazzling Eras Tour, a concert film, and so much more. While still coming off the high of her 2022 Midnights album, Taylor continued to keep her entire catalog relevant as she re-released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and most-recently 1989 (Taylor’s Version), which gave “Cruel Summer,” a song originally released in 2019, its time to shine on the charts. Both re-releases spent their fair share of time at #1 on the prestigious Billboard 200 album chart. The accomplishments marked Taylor’s 11th number-one album, which officially tied her for the most chart-toppers among female artists with Barbra Streisand. Taylor also brought her record-breaking music worldwide on The Eras Tour which has been the highest-grossing tour by a woman in history and isn’t even wrapped yet. No doubt Taylor rules the world and we aren’t complaining about it.
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