As everyone on social media yearns for a decade ago, we take a look at the landmark year for Canadian music when the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 and Canadian Albums charts were ruled by Justin Bieber, Drake, The Weeknd, Alessia Cara and more.
The year is 2016: skinny jeans are in style, Instagram photo filters are all the rage, TikTok doesn't exist and Canadian artists are ruling the Billboard charts.
A decade later, many are yearning for the recent past. Decade-old photo carousels have flooded social media feeds. Somehow, 2016 is the latest trend to take over Instagram and TikTok, nostalgically romanticizing a pre-pandemic world before AI ruled, the world, brainrot wasn't a thing and basic human rights weren’t being stripped stateside (though there was also a notable election that year).
When it comes to music, the 2016 charts were filled to the brim with Canadian hits. For avid radio listeners and fans of pop music, every single song that hit No. 1 is instantly recognizable. Homegrown artists like Justin Bieber, Drake and The Weeknd reached No. 1 spot on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 and Canadian Albums charts. At the time, the Canadian trio were the country’s biggest export artists, often landing chart placements in the U.S. and globally.
In 2016, Bieber scored three No. 1 songs on the Canadian Hot 100. Hot on the heels of 2015’s Purpose — which spent one week at the top of the Canadian Albums chart in 2016 — he brought us into the new year with the ever-apologetic “Sorry,” which spent seven weeks at No. 1. After being dethroned by One Direction alum Zayn’s “Pillowtalk” for one week, Bieber reclaimed the No.1 spot for two weeks with “Love Yourself,” penned by Ed Sheeran Benny Blanco. In the summer, Bieber returned as a featured artist on Major Lazer’s “Cold Water,” which spent three weeks at No. 1.
Three months into 2016, Drake scored his first No. 1 of the year — as a featured artist on Rihanna’s “Work.” Despite the latter singer’s Barbadian roots, the music video, helmed by Canadian auteur Director X, was predominantly filmed in one of Toronto’s favourite Caribbean restaurants, The Real Jerk. With catchy fusions of dancehall, reggae-pop and R&B, “Work” sat at the top for four weeks. The then-frequent Drake collaborator scored another No. 1 in July with Calvin Harris, as “This Is What You Came For” bagged three weeks at the top.
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For many music fans, 2016 was the year that Drake hit his biggest peak — in some ways, he was inescapable. A few months out from 2015’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late mixtape, the Toronto rapper released his long-awaited album Views in 2016, which included the catchy lead single, “Hotline Bling,” released the previous year. One of the album’s biggest hits was “One Dance,” featuring Nigerian artist WizKid and British singer Kyla — it promptly hit No. 1, topping the chart for seven weeks in 2016. Views struck a chord with listeners, spending 12 weeks at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums chart.
Closing out 2016 on the Canadian Hot 100, The Weeknd scored four weeks at No. 1 with “Starboy,” featuring French electronic music duo Daft Punk. Continuing to lean into the alternative, R&B and pop sounds of 2015's Beauty Behind The Madness, "Starboy" ushered in a new era, serving as the title track from the Scarborough native’s third studio album, released in November of that year. The album spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums chart towards the end of the year. “Starboy” would later score another three weeks at the top in 2017, bringing its total to seven weeks — it’s now tied with “Blinding Lights” for The Weeknd’s longest run at No. 1 on the chart.
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While Canadian artists made a splash on the charts, the song that spent the longest at No. 1 on the 2016 chart was The Chainsmokers and Halsey’s collab, “Closer.” The pop-EDM track scored 13 weeks at the top. 10 years on, it remains the only No. 1 for the electronic duo and alt-pop singer-songwriter in Canada.
No. 1 Songs on the Canadian Hot 100 in 2016
Week(s), Title, Artist Billing, Peak Date
7, “Sorry,” Justin Bieber, 1/2/2016
1, “Pillowtalk,” Zayn, 2/20/2016
2, “Love Yourself,” Justin Bieber, 2/27/2016
4, “Work,” Rihanna featuring Drake, 3/12/2016
4, “7 Years,” Lukas Graham, 4/9/2016
7, “One Dance,” Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla, 5/7/2016
1, “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Justin Timberlake, 6/25/2016
4, “Cheap Thrills,” Sia featuring Sean Paul, 7/2/2016
3, “That Is What You Came For,” Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna, 7/23/2016
3, “Cold Water,” Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ, 8/13/2016
13, “Closer,” The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey, 9/10/2016
4, “Starboy,” The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk, 12/10/2016
Aside from the country’s beloved trio of artists, the Canadian Albums chart allowed for an expansion of genres, the resurgence of legacy voices and the rise of newcomers.
French-speaking artists had their time to shine, first with the La Voix: IV soundtrack, which featured a selection of performances from contestants on the fourth season of the Quebec-based singing competition show, a spin on the long-running series, The Voice. The compilation album spent one week at the top in April, marking the first of two Francophone works on the albums chart.
In September, Celine Dion snagged the top spot for three weeks with Encore un soir. While Dion has mastered the art of charming both English and French-speaking audiences, the Canadian icon went back to her roots on the 2016 album, and it clearly captured the attention of listeners. As it stands, Encore un soir is Dion’s most recent Francophone effort. In the past few years, Dion has dealt with a wealth of health struggles and personal hardships, but has maintained her top spot in Canadian culture, releasing one-off singles, a documentary and most recently, joining TikTok.
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Some of Ontario’s biggest bands scored spots on the albums chart, including Kingston heroes The Tragically Hip. The rock group spent two weeks at No. 1 throughout the year, for separate releases. In July, Man Machine Poem, the band’s final album, before former frontman Gord Downie’s passing in 2017, spent one week at No. 1. That year, the group embarked on a cross-country tour, which ended in August 2016 and was broadcast on CBC. A month later, it was their 2005 compilation album, Yer Favourites, thatscored one week at the top. In between the Hip’s No. 1 placements, in August, Mississauga group Billy Talent snagged the No. 1 spot with Afraid of Heights. The album marked their first record without drummer Aaron Solowoniuk, who had suffered health complications, as they tapped Alexisonfire’s Jordan Hastings to step in.
After Dion’s reign, the Canadian Albums No. 1 crown was taken by then-rising singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes. In 2016, the Pickering, Ontario native released his second studio album, Illuminate, which spent one week with the illustrious title. It featured hits like “Mercy” and “Treat You Better,” the latter of which cracked the top 10 on the Canadian Hot 100. Despite Mendes’ emerging artist status, his debut album, Handwritten, had snagged No. 1 for a sole week back in 2015 — proving his impact at such a young age.
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In November, one of the country's most celebrated songwriters, Leonard Cohen, died at the age of 82. A month prior, his 14th studio album, You Want It Darker, hit the albums chart, spending three weeks in the coveted spot. Following Cohen’s death, his most immortal song, "Hallelujah," peaked at No. 17 on the Canadian Hot 100. But it wasn’t the last we had seen of Cohen on the charts. In 2019, his estate released the artist’s posthumous final album, Thanks For The Dance, which hit No. 1 for a week.
No. 1 Albums on the Canadian Albums Chart in 2016
Week(s), Title, Artist Billing, Peak Date
9, 25, Adele, 12/12/2015
1, Blackstar, David Bowie 1/30/2016
1, Anti, Rihanna, 2/20/2016
1, I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It, The 1975, 3/19/2016
1, Untitled Unmastered, Kendrick Lamar, 3/26/2016
1, Purpose, Justin Bieber, 12/5/2015
1, La Voix: IV, Soundtrack, 4/9/2016
1, Mind of Mine, Zayn, 4/16/2016
1, Lukas Graham, Luka Graham, 4/23/2016
1, Cleopatra, The Lumineers, 4/30/2016
1, The Very Best of Prince, Prince, 5/7/2016
1, Lemonade, Beyonce, 5/14/2016
12, Views, Drake, 7/21/2016
1, Man Machine Poem, The Tragically Hip, 7/9/2016
1, California, Blink 182, 7/23/2016
1, Afraid of Heights, Billy Talent, 8/20/2016
2, Suicide Squad: The Album, Soundtrack, 8/27/2016
1, Yer Favourites, The Tragically Hip, 9/10/2016
3, Encore un soir, Céline Dion, 9/17/2016
1, Illuminate, Shawn Mendes, 10/15/2016
1, 22, A Million, Bon Iver, 10/22/2016
1, Revolution Radio, Green Day, 10/29/2016
1, Walls, Kings of Leon, 11/5/2016
3, You Want It Darker, Leonard Cohen, 11/12/2016
1, The Stage, Avenged Sevenfold, 11/19/2016
1, Hardwired... to Self-Destruct, Metallica, 12/10/2016
