Billboard Names Bruno Mars Artist of the Year

Credit: Getty Images

Bruno Mars has reached the top of the charts, and now he has claimed Billboard's highest honor.

Mars has been named Artist of the Year by Billboard magazine, in recognition of the tremendous 2013 he's had.

Mars' latest album, Unorthodox Jukebox, delivered three huge top 10 singles: "Locked Out of Heaven" (which spent six weeks at No. 1), "When I Was Your Man" (which held the top spot for a week) and "Treasure" (which peaked at No. 5). In addition, Billboard factored social, ringtone and Billboard Boxscore data into the decision. Mars' Moonshine Jungle world tour finished at No. 23 on Billboard's Top 25 Tours list, and has tracked 48 dates in North America since launching in June, and has drawn a total attendance of 667,000 with a gross of $46.4 million.

"It's been an incredible year," says manager Brandon Creed when asked about Mars' rise to the top of the pop culture pedestal over the past year. "We definitely had goals going into this project to support the artist, his music and performance. But we tried to do everything for a purpose, nothing gratuitous. And we're continuing to lay and build the foundation for him to evolve musically and continue to connect with the audience."

"No one is handing Bruno Mars a record to make," Atlantic Records Group chairman/COO Julie Greenwald says of Mars' incredibly creative capacity. "He's writing, producing with collaborative partners, singing, playing, choreographing-a quintuple threat who's great at executing his vision."

Mars is essentially one of the most famous musicians on the planet, and his output in 2013 has been exceptional and numerous, so I can't really argue with this decision, although Justin Timberlake would have been my choice, personally.

Is Bruno Mars a good choice? If not, who would you have picked for Artist of the Year? Sound off in the comments!

Via: Billboard