LOS ANGELES, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Newcomer British boy band
One Direction joined R&B diva Rihanna and British singer Adele
to top Billboard's year-end music charts, released on Friday.
One Direction, who topped the Billboard 200 album chart
twice this year with their debut, "Up All Night" in March and
their sophomore album "Take Me Home" in November, were named
Billboard's top new artist/group, rounding off a stellar year of
U.S. success for the band.
Adele, 24, who became the first woman top score No. 1
single, album and artist on Billboard's 2011 year-end charts,
continued her reign in 2012, when her Grammy-winning record "21"
was the top-selling album in the U.S. and she was once again
named artist of the year.
"21" has sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. since
its release in February 2011, becoming a fixture on the
Billboard 200, especially after Adele's six wins at the Grammy
Awards earlier this year.
She is the only act to be named both top artist and have the
top album in Billboard's charts for two years in a row.
Adele was also named the No. 1 female artist while R&B
rapper-singer Drake was named No. 1 male artist and pop-rock
band Maroon 5 were named No. 1 group.
Rihanna, also 24, was named the top Hot 100 artist after a
year of chart-topping hit singles such as "We Found Love" and
"Diamonds" on the Hot 100 chart, which measures top-selling
singles each week.
But Australia's Gotye picked up the Hot 100 single of the
year, with his heartbreak hit "Somebody That I Used To Know."
Billboard compile their end-of-year lists based on chart
performances between Dec. 3 2011 and Nov. 24 2012, tallying data
including album sales and streaming figures.
For more on Billboard's year-end charts, visit http://www.billboard.com/news/the-best-of-2012-the-year-in-music-1008045682.story#
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant and
Andrew Hay)