Music
Annual charts ’23: “Komet” hits the top
“Komet” became Udo Lindenberg’s first number one hit. photo
© Marcus Brandt/dpa
2023 is a year of triumph for older rockers. There is also a lot of German language in the annual hit parade. And women are much more present in the annual singles charts.
Old rockers are great in 2023: Udo Lindenberg – together with the rapper Apache 207, who is a good 50 years younger – is in the ranks Top of the annual singles charts. When it comes to albums, the Rolling Stones are at the top. “Yeah, if the experts from the panic family let the “comet” rise higher and higher, far beyond the stratosphere into space… Hey, that’s crazy!” Lindenberg was quoted as saying. “Totally blown away.”
Germany’s longest number one hit, “Komet”, is now, as expected, the hit of the year. In the annual evaluation of the Official German Charts, the catchy song by the duo Lindenberg (77) and Apache 207 (26) made it to number one, as GfK Entertainment announced. The lovesick pop song “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus landed behind it, followed by “Sie weiss” by the duo Ayliva feat. Mero.
Several records for “Comet”
“Comet,” released in January, was streamed more than 275 million times in this country, explained GfK Entertainment. “With 21 number-one weeks, it is the song most frequently placed at the top of the Official German Charts and with 42 weeks, together with “Ein Stern (… that bears your name)” by DJ Ötzi & Nik P., the most frequently featured title in the top 10.”
Stones will be album of the year in just a few weeks
When it comes to albums, the Rolling Stones came in first with “Hackney Diamonds”, which was only released at the end of October – it is the Rolling Stones’ first complete album with only new songs since 2005. Mick Jagger (80) told the station Hit Radio FFH an interview: “We definitely didn’t want to make a nostalgic, do-you-know-what record, but something contemporary, modern!” That’s why there was a deliberate collaboration with musicians and producers who were often much younger.
GfK Entertainment quoted Ron Wood on Friday saying it was “an honor” to have landed the “Album of the Year” in Germany. “I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did making it.”
The English synth-rock band Depeche Mode created the second most successful album of the year in Germany with “Memento Mori”. Third place went to the US rock band Metallica (“72 Seasons”).
German share of albums remains high
The most popular German-language records of the past twelve months are by rapper Apache 207 (“Gartenstadt”, fourth place) and pop veteran Herbert Grönemeyer (“Das ist los”, sixth place).
With 64 productions, German-speaking acts occupy almost two thirds of all positions in the annual album charts. That was pretty much the same in the past few years. The most successful artist in the hit segment this time was Roland Kaiser (“Perspectives”, 13th place).
A lot of Taylor Swift in the annual album charts
Superstar Taylor Swift – “Person of the Year” according to “Time” magazine – took fifth place in the annual charts with “Taylor’s Version” of her previous album “1989”; Swift had more albums than anyone else in the top 100 of 2023: seven.
Single Top 100 are much more female
With a total of six songs, the musician Ayliva was able to include more titles in the year-end evaluation of the individual songs than anyone else. Thanks to Nina Chuba and Taylor Swift, the proportion of female artists in the single top 100 increased significantly: While only 13 songs by female acts made it into the annual top 100 in 2022, this time there were twice as many: 26.
Single top 100 are also much more German
Overall, more than half (51) of the hundred most successful singles of the year came from German (or German-speaking) acts. In 2022 there were 42, before that 39. German-language hip-hop alone makes up almost a third of all singles positions this year, reported GfK Entertainment.
In 2022, the controversial Ballermann hit “Layla” by DJ Robin & Schürze became the hit of the year. When it came to albums in 2022, Rammstein was at the forefront with “Zeit”.