UK artists Elton John and Harry Styles took out the top positions in the Recorded Music New Zealand's end-of-year charts for best single and best album respectively. Photo: AFP / CC BY 2.0 / Lily Redman
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UK artists Elton John and Harry Styles took the top spots on Recorded Music New Zealand's end-of-year charts, but it's also been a record-breaking year for New Zealand albums reaching number one.
A new twist on an old favourite is what it took for Elton John to grab the top spot in the end-of-year singles chart with Cold Heart (PNAU Remix).
The song, a collaboration with Dua Lipa and Australian dance producers PNAU, initially charted late in 2021. It then dominated throughout 2022 and was streamed by New Zealanders more than 16 million times to date.
The top album is from a newer UK favourite, with Harry Styles' third album Harry's House sitting in the top 10 for 30 weeks straight.
Paul Kennedy is a chart compiler at Recorded Music New Zealand and said Harry Styles also scored the second top single.
It had been a diverse year for top 10 singles with artists from all over the world including the UK and Australia, he said.
"And then L.A.B. with a perennial New Zealand favourite In The Air, which was the top selling New Zealand single was there in the top 10 as well."
L.A.B. had five songs in the end-of-year rundown headed by In The Air which is a nine times platinum mega-hit.
Six60 took the top albums honours for New Zealand bands, holding the top three positions on the Official Top20 NZ Albums list.
At number 1 is the 10th anniversary reissue of the band's debut record Six60 Gold Album which was remixed, remastered and issued on vinyl for the first time this year. Six60 also had the biggest waiata reo of the year with Pepeha.
"How essential they are to New Zealand music currently, between L.A.B. dominating the singles chart and then Six60 dominating the albums chart - they're just incredibly popular with New Zealand audiences as you can see from the audiences they can attract to their shows selling out Western Springs and things like that."
A record-breaking run of eight number one albums by New Zealand artists began in January with L.A.B. and continued right through the year thanks to Don McGlashan, Aldous Harding, Tami Neilson, Marlon Williams, The Beths, Avantdale Bowling Club and finally Six60.