Top of the pops 2022

Six60 concert at McLean Park in Napier. Photographer Paul Taylor Hawke's Bay Today5th November 2022

Recorded Music New Zealand's annual End-of-Year Official Charts — Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua O Aotearoa — have been revealed.

While it has been a record-breaking year for New Zealand albums reaching #1, and there are more chart accolades for local mega-groups Six60 and L.A.B., the biggest splash on the Top40 Albums and Singles in 2022 came courtesy of two of the UK's finest.

You have to hand it to Sir Elton John. A mere 47 years since his appearance on the Official Top40 Singles Charts in 1975, the perennial favourite remains centre stage, scoring the biggest single of 2022 with Cold Heart (PNAU Remix).

The collaboration with Dua Lipa and Australian dance producers PNAU initially charted in late 2021, but went on to dominate throughout 2022, spending nine weeks at #1 and being streamed by Kiwis more than 16 million times to date.

On the Albums front — Kōpaki I Te Rārangi Motuhake 40 o Runga — it is Harry Styles who takes top honours. Released in May, Harry's House debuted at #1 and has barely shown any sign of slowing since, spending seven weeks at #1 and 30 unbroken weeks in the Top10.

Harry's closest real challenge for the annual title came late in the year as Taylor Swift entered the Official Albums Chart at #1 with the record-breaking Midnights. Her album spent six weeks in the top spot and in just eight weeks has become the second biggest release of 2022.

Among the local bands, Six60 take the top Album honours again, as they have done in previous years, holding the top three positions on the Official Top20 NZ Albums list.

At #1 is the 10th Anniversary reissue of the band's debut record, which was remixed, remastered and issued on vinyl for the first time in 2022. Six60 also had the biggest waiata reo of the year with Pepeha.

L.A.B. meanwhile set new precedents, securing the top five songs on the End-of-Year rundown, headed by the now nine times platinum mega-hit In The Air.

Both bands helped to boost the tally of homegrown chart-toppers for 2022 by book-ending what has been a fantastic year for local albums, says Recorded Music New Zealand chart compiler Paul Kennedy.

A record-breaking run of eight #1 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.

“The NZ music scene can take great pride (in the fact) that such a diverse range of uniquely talented artists have not only emerged from a country this size to international critical acclaim, but they can all reach #1 in their homeland. As a recommended listening list, that's a collection of chart-toppers which would line up admirably alongside an equivalent roll call from anywhere in the world this year,” he says.

■ The full End-of-Year charts can be found at www.nztop40.co.nz.