Kiwi music giants Benee and Six60 joined Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X at the top of the local charts. Photo / Getty Images.
Kiwi music giants Benee and Six60 joined Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X at the top of the local charts. Photo / Getty Images.
New Zealand's most popular songs have been revealed with Kiwi music giants Benee and Six60 joining international stars Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X at the top of the local charts.
After winning four Tui at the New Zealand Music Awards last month, 19-year-old pop singer Benee was the breakthrough local star of 2019.
Her single Soaked entered the Top20 NZ Singles Chart at number 20 in November 2018, before slowly climbing to the top of the charts and spending 22 weeks in the main Top40 Singles.
As a result, she managed to top the annual NZ Singles list ahead of a Top20 featuring Six60, DRAX Project, Kings, Songs Of Zion, Mitch James and Church & AP.
They may have missed the top spot in the Singles front, but Six60 were the clear front-runners when it came to the Top20 NZ Albums for 2019.
After claiming four of the Top Five NZ Album spots, the Dunedin five-piece well and truly dominated the New Zealand album charts this year.
Recorded Music NZ Chart Compiler Paul Kennedy says the prominence of new young artists is a sign of innovation in the local music scene.
"It's really pleasing to see new artists like our own Benee and Church & AP as well as global newcomers like Billie Eilish, Tones And I, Halsey and Lewis Capaldi making their mark," he said.
"In the streaming world, up against the combined repertoire of every legacy superstar to ever grace the stage, being able cut through and top the charts is no mean feat."
Recorded Music NZ CEO Damian Vaughan echoed this sentiment, pointing to the innovation and creativity displayed by local artists to compete with international talent.
"As a country, we can always rely on our up-and-coming musicians to experiment with genre and sound," said Vaughan.
"The local and global success of our artists is a testament to the quality and calibre of Kiwi music in 2019. I can't wait to see what our creative musicians create in the next decade."
Meanwhile, 17-year-old US pop star Eilish achieved what nobody else could in the last two years and kept Ed Sheeran from the top spot on the End of Year Albums Chart.
Her album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? entered the Top40 at #1 in March this year and has not left the Top10 since.
UK pop star Sheeran held on to second place with his No. 6 Collaborations Project album while Ariana Grande took the third spot with thank u, next.
On the Singles Chart, 20-year old Lil Nas X tops the list with what was probably the biggest viral hit of 2019, the genre-defying Old Town Road.
The fusion of hip hop and country enjoyed an unbroken 11-week run at number one, helped along the way by the release of several remixes – including features with Billy Ray Cyrus, Diplo and Korean boy band BTS member RM.
The Chart is produced by Recorded Music New Zealand from statistics gathered from data collection agency RadioScope.
