It’s taken six months but the numbers have finally been crunched, with Radiomonitor revealing the top 40 songs that Australian radio drilled into our eardrums last year.
The head bean counters tracked airplay across both metro and regional commercial stations, as well as some community stations and, of course, the ABC’s all-important youth broadcaster, triple j to reveal the top 40 songs heard right across the country in 2021.
And turns out — it was a real shit sandwich for Aussie artists.
Despite a push for more widespread radio support for homegrown artists in the wake of Covid-19 wiping out live music and touring, just six of the top 40 most-heard songs on Australian radio in 2021 actually featured Australian artists.
Kamilaroi rap superstar The Kid LAROI took out the number #1 spot with ‘Without You’ sweeping both commercial radio and triple j, while his Justin Bieber collab ‘Stay’ came in at #4.
Kiwi-born and Melbourne-based DJ Jolyon Petch’s cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ was 6th most played tune on our airwaves, while Tones And I charted at #8 on the list with ‘Fly Away’, the lead single from her debut album Welcome to the Madhouse.
Vance Joy’s ‘Missing Piece’ came in at #15 while Dean Lewis nabbed the 25th spot with his tune ‘Falling Up’.
The other 34 songs were from international artists.
You can peep the full list below!
40 Most Heard Songs on Aussie Radio in 2021
1 – The Kid Laroi – “Without You”
2 – Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits”
3 – Glass Animals – “Heat Waves”
4 – The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber – “Stay”
5 – Banners – “Someone To You”
6 – Jolyon Petch – “Dreams”
7 – Tiësto – “The Business”
8 – Tones And I – “Fly Away”
9 – Sigala x James Arthur – “Lasting Lover”
10 – Jason Derulo x Nuka – “Love Not War (The Tampa Beat)”
11 – Doja Cat feat. SZA – “Kiss Me More”
12 – Elton John & Dua Lipa – “Cold Heart”
13 – Joel Corry x MNEK – “Head & Heart”
14 – 24kGoldn feat. iann dior – “Mood”
15 – Vance Joy – “Missing Piece”
16 – Olivia Rodrigo – “good 4 u”
17 – Dua Lipa – “We’re Good”
18 – ATB x Topic x A7S – “Your Love (9PM)”
19 – Joel Corry x RAYE x David Guetta – “Bed”
20 – Pink + Willow Sage Hart – “Cover Me In Sunshine”
21 – The Weeknd – “Save Your Tears”
22 – Tate McRae – “you broke me first”
23 – Tom Grennan – “Little Bit Of Love”
24 – Justin Bieber feat. Daniel Caesar And Giveon – “Peaches”
25 – Dean Lewis – “Falling Up”
26 – Dua Lipa – “Levitating”
27 – Ed Sheeran – “Shivers”
28 – Taylor Swift – “willow”
29 – Jason Derulo – “Take You Dancing”
30 – Justin Bieber – “Anyone”
31 – Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”
32 – Ava Max – “My Head & My Heart”
33 – Justin Wellington feat. Small Jam – “Iko Iko (My Bestie)”
34 – Riton x Nightcrawlers feat. Mufasa & Hypeman – “Friday”
35 – Marshmello x Jonas Brothers – “Leave Before You Love Me”
36 – Miley Cyrus – “Midnight Sky”
37 – Justin Bieber – “Hold On”
38 – Topic feat. A7S – “Breaking Me”
39 – Pink – “All I Know So Far”
40 – The Weeknd – “Blinding Lights”