2021 “Best of the Year" music: albums and songs

It took five years for Adele to finally bless her fans with more music, but after only four weeks in stores, Americans are already prepared to crown her the “Best of 2021.” 

Our latest survey asked a panel of 2,000 people to choose their favorites from both this year’s Billboard Hot 100 singles and 200 number-one albums lists.

Adele topped both charts with “30,” her fourth studio album, and her latest single “Easy on Me,” which tied for first place with “Essense” by Wizkid, Justin Bieber and Tems.

The other hit album of autumn, “Red (Taylor’s Version),” also made an appearance, along with Taylor Swift’s previously re-recorded album “Fearless” and her 10-minute, 13-second version of “All Too Well” which broke records as the longest song to ever top the Hot 100 chart. 

Other top albums included “Dangerous” from Morgan Wallen, which was dropped from its label earlier this year after video surfaced of the country singer shouting a racial slur, and “Donda,” which rapper Kanye West put the finishing touches on while residing in the locker rooms of Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium this summer.

While Lil Nas X’s debut album “Montero” didn’t make the cut, two of his singles did, including the song that achieved viral fame online via its music video’s depiction of the artist giving Satan a lap dance. 

The Internet shaped this year’s list in other ways, elevating singles like “Levitating” by Dua Lipa, which gained a huge resurgence in 2021 thanks to its memetic popularity on TikTok, and “Astronaut in the Ocean” by Masked Wolf, which topped the social media’s platform own global listening charts.