2017 was the year of Ed. With monumental sales for his third studio album Divide (÷) as well as its titanic lead single, Shape of You, Sheeran reignited traditional Pop as a mainstream genre worldwide. The magnitude of this influence was far reaching, as his singles and album redefined pop culture during the year making a massive impact on various global charts and paving the way for other Pop artists to achieve chart success. However, Sheeran was not the only influence in 2017.
The year also witnessed the resurgence of Latin music which seeped into the mainstream in the form of Spanglish remixes. The foundation of the Latin dance mega hit Bailando, which Enrique Iglesias laid in 2014 was exponentially heightened by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee this year with a Spanglish reworking of their song Despacito with Justin Bieber. This proved to be extremely successful, commercially and critically, breaking many records all over including tying with the 22-year old record held by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men’s One Sweet Day for the longest streak at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and also becoming the most-watched music video in the world.
The year was also marred by death and destruction, tragedy and commotion throughout the industry. As a result several charity songs also achieved chart success although none of which managed to enter here. Apart from Ed Sheeran, several artists who have been in the industry managed to release their biggest hits i.e. Kygo, French Montana, Kendrick Lamar, DJ Khaled and Demi Lovato and some of the newer artists such as Post Malone, Dua Lipa and Camila Cabello achieved immense success. Moreover, another point to note is that all the former One Direction members (excluding Zayn who already proved that he had potential for a solo career in 2016) released hit singles out of which only Louis Tomlinson failed to achieve enough success to be included in this list.
In terms of genres, Rap and R&B took over the mainstream initially as Reggae Fusion and Dancehall which was popular in 2016 disappeared from the mainstream. Later on Pop and Latin music took over the charts globally and their stronghold could not be swayed as Rock, EDM and Country took the backseat this year. However, mainstream music in general seemed to be influenced with a very tropical flavor, possibly a remnant from the Dancehall of yesteryear as genres ranging from Pop, House and Rap seemed to inculcate the new sultry beats.
Ed Sheeran, Taylors Swift and Alessia Cara have the highest number of entries with 3 followed by Zayn, The Chainsmokers, DJ Khaled, Quavo, Justin Bieber, Post Malone, Beyonce, Lil Uzi Vert, Katy Perry, Clean Bandit, Imagine Dragons, The Weeknd and Daft Punk with 2 each. The list this year was compiled based on worldwide charts alone mainly considering the US and UK charts but also giving weight to the success achieved in the European markets as well as Canada and Oceania. So here are the best 50 songs of 2017:
- Ed Sheeran – Shape of you
- Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – Despacito
- Bruno Mars – That’s what I like
- DJ Khaled ft. Lil Wayne, Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper & Quavo – I’m the one
- Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug – Havana
- French Montana ft. Swae Lee – Unforgettable
- The Chainsmokers & Coldplay – Something just like this
- Taylor Swift – Look what you made me do
- Kendrick Lamar – Humble.
- Dua Lipa – New rules
- Kygo & Selena Gomez – It ain’t me
- Shawn Mendes – There’s nothing holdin’ me back
- Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert – Bad and boujee
- Calvin Harris ft. Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams & Big Sean – Feels
- Post Malone ft. 21 Savage – Rockstar
- Clean Bandit ft. Anne Marie & Sean Paul – Rockabye
- J Balvin & Willy William ft. Beyoncé – Mi gente
- DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller – Wild thoughts
- Sam Smith – Too good at goodbyes
- Pink – What about us
- Ed Sheeran & Beyoncé – Perfect
- The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – I feel it coming
- Zayn & Taylor Swift – I don’t wanna live forever
- The Chainsmokers – Paris
- Charlie Puth – Attention
- Liam Payne ft. Quavo – Strip that down
- Logic ft. Alessia Cara & Khalid – 1-800-273-8255
- Imagine Dragons – Believer
- Clean Bandit ft. Zara Larsson – Symphony
- Ed Sheeran – Castle on the hill
- Zayn ft. Sia – Dusk till dawn
- Zedd & Alessia Cara – Stay
- Future – Mask off
- Harry Styles – Sign of the times
- Julia Michaels – Issues
- The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – Starboy
- Imagine Dragons – Thunder
- James Arthur – Say you won’t let go
- Niall Horan – Slow hands
- Cardi B – Bodak yellow (money moves)
- The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – Closer
- Lil Uzi Vert – XO Tour Llif3
- Drake – Passionfruit
- Demi Lovato – Sorry not sorry
- Rag n’ Bone Man – Human
- Portugal. The Man – Feel it still
- Alessia Cara – Scars to your beautiful
- Taylor Swift - …Ready for it?
- Katy Perry ft. Skip Marley – Chained to the rhythm
- Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane – Black Beatles
At Ease!!!
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