Billboard released its annual list of the top critically acclaimed albums of the year and the number one spot might surprise you.
The list, which is formally called the 50 Best Albums Of 2018, names the 50 most widely popular and subjectively quality albums released in the past 12 months. Not all of them are necessarily chart toppers. However, they are considered to have meaningfully impacted the landscape of popular music in some way, shape, or form. (RELATED: Fans Don’t React To R Kelly’s Sexual Abuse Allegations The Way You’d Probably Expect)
And according to this year’s list, Ariana Grande’s “Sweetener” album hit the number one spot in a landslide.
“As its album cover suggests, Ariana Grande’s world was turned upside down following the tragic 2017 bombing outside of her Manchester tour stop. But on her first album since the attack, she didn’t let her past define her, and she didn’t dwell on what her future may hold, either. Instead, Sweetener captured a very specific time in the life of a 25-year-old pop star — from an unprecedented national tragedy to a whirlwind celebrity romance,” Billboard writes. The album debuted at number one and managed to produce three top-20 songs in the U.S.
Consequently, Grande was also named Billboard’s Woman of the Year. So you could say she’s having a pretty good 2018.
Other notable albums included in the list were Travis Scott’s “Astroworld,” late Mac Miller’s “Swimming,” Drake’s “Scorpion,” and The 1975’s “A Brief Inquisition Into Online Dating.”