Sizzling sounds A16-17
Leona Lewis’ heartfelt jam and that unforgettable chorus hook. The bestselling single of 2008 worldwide, Bleeding Love remains Leona Lewis’ most successful song to date.
2009
The song: Poker Face
The artist: Lady Gaga
The second single from Lady Gaga’s seminal debut album The Fame, Poker Face is a tribute to Gaga’s bisexuality. After her first single Just Dance, Poker Face confirmed her as an unstoppable pop talent.
2010
The song: Black Box
The artist: Stan Walker
New Zealand was incredibly proud to see homegrown talent Stan Walker win the seventh season of Australian Idol, and his debut single went on to spend 10 weeks at the top of the New Zealand Radio Airplay Chart.
2011
The song: Grenade
The artist: Bruno Mars
This lyrically dark song comes from Bruno Mars’ debut album Doo-Wops & Hooligans. The No 1 song in 15 different countries, Grenade went double-platinum in New Zealand, spending 29 weeks on the charts.
2012
The song: Wild Ones
The artist: Flo Rida ft. Sia
A No 1 track in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Norway, this Flo Rida song was one of a number of hits this year that introduced mainstream audiences to Australian singer-songwriter Sia.
2013
The song: Thrift Shop The artist: Macklemore & Ryan
Lewis
This comedic hip hop track was a sleeper hit that went on to spend nine weeks at No 1 in New Zealand. The song made a star out of Macklemore, who later chose to shoot a music video here.
2014
The song: Happy
The artist: Pharrell
Written for the film Despicable Me 2
and released with a 24-hour, continually looping music video, Pharrell Williams’ viral hit Happy
enjoyed a 12-week consecutive run at the No 1 spot on the New Zealand charts in early 2014.
2015
The song: Uptown Funk The artist: Mark Ronson ft. Bruno
Mars
Legendary British DJ and record producer Mark Ronson released Uptown Funk, featuring Bruno Mars, for his fourth studio album Uptown Special. Despite a copyright lawsuit alleging it copied Zapp’s Mo Bounce to the Ounce, Uptown Funk became a rapid global phenomenon.
2016
The song: Love Yourself
The artist: Justin Bieber
This is where Ed Sheeran’s hat-trick begins — he has a writing credit on Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself, the third single from his fourth album Purpose.
No 1 in 15 countries, the mostly acoustic track was named 2016’s best performing single on the Billboard Hot 100.
2017
The song: Shape of You
The artist: Ed Sheeran Released just six days into 2017, Shape of You has remained undefeated ever since — with more than 2 billion streams, it’s still Spotify’s moststreamed song of all time.
2018
The song: Perfect
The artist: Ed Sheeran
The fourth single from Sheeran’s 2017 album Divide, Perfect peaked at No 1 in 16 countries, spending no less than 36 weeks at the top of New Zealand’s charts.