Canada 150: Celine Dion & Shania Twain Lead Nielsen Music Canada's Top Canadian Artists Chart

In celebration of Canada's 150th birthday — Billboard's top Canadian artists, albums and songs in the Nielsen Music Canada era

The official 150^th birthday of Canada — commemorating  confederation — is this Saturday, July 1,  known as Canada Day, but it’s been a year-long celebration with the government putting in a half-billion dollars towards the branded ”Canada 150” festivities and businesses commemorating the sesquicentennial their own way. Nielsen Music Canada, in collaboration with Billboard, has compiled its own celebratory lists of the biggest artists, albums and songs since the data-tracking system came into Canada in 1996 (and cut off Dec. 31, 2016).

“We’re excited to celebrate the success of Canadian artists at home, in partnership with Billboard, as we honour [sic] Canada’s 150th anniversary,” said Paul Shaver, Head of Nielsen Music Canada.

Nielsen Music Canada’s recap charts include all-format and radio charts (started April 1995), album sales (1996 -) and digital song sales (2005 - ). The most recent chart for streaming (July 2014 -) extends to March 2017.

The top-selling Canadian artist (by album sales in Canada) during the 20-year “Nielsen Music Canada era,” is, not surprisingly, Celine Dion when tallying up all her physical and digital sales for the Top Overall Artist chart. She’s followed by Shania Twain and Michael Bublé at Nos. 2 and 3, both of whom are massive outside Canada. Next, however, is The Tragically Hip (No. 4), the rock band that does not have the same profile in the rest of the world as it does at home but has been one of the country’s biggest acts for decades and played its final tour in 2016 following singer Gord Downie’s announcement he has brain cancer. Also among the top 25 artists: Sarah McLachlan (No. 5), Nickelback (No. 6), Diana Krall (No. 7) and Avril Lavigne (No. 8), but the appearance of DIY artists Johnny Reid (No. 17) and Loreena McKennitt (No. 20) is impressive and francophone acts Francois Perusse (No. 19) and Isabelle Boulay (No. 24) show the power of the Quebec market.

The Top Overall Albums chart — combining physical and digital album sales — finds Twain holding two positions in the top 10, Nos. 1 and 3 for Come On Over and Up!, respectively. Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love is sandwiched between at No. 2, while the diva also holds down Nos. 9 and 10 with Falling Into You and These Are Special Times, respectively. The top 10 also includes McLachlan’s Surfacing at No. 4, Lavigne’s Let Go at No. 5 and Our Lady Peace’s Clumsy at No. 8.

When we get into the digital era, the dominating names are quite different, pointing to the buying habits of a younger generation. Sitting at No. 1 on the Top Digital Songs chart (ranking the best-selling digital song downloads) is Canadian passport-carrying Robin Thicke with “Blurred Lines,” featuring T.I. and Pharrell, followed by Carly Rae Jepsen’s breakthrough hit, “Call Me Maybe” (No. 2), and East Coast rapper Classified with “Inner Ninja” (No. 3), that comes in before hits by international smashes by Bieber, The Weeknd and Magic! Bieber takes three positions in the top 10 with “Love Yourself” (No. 4), “Sorry” (No. 5) and “Beauty and a Beat,” featuring Nicki Minaj (No. 9), while pop band Hedley, which hasn’t broken the U.S. but headlines arenas at home, is at No. 6 with “Kiss You Inside Out.” The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” is No. 7 while Magic!’s “Rude” takes No. 8 and Drake’s “One Dance,” featuring WizKid and Kyla, rounds out the top 10 at No. 10.

The same familiar Canadians that have been dominating the U.S. charts lately also pepper the top 10 of the Top Streamed Songs chart: Bieber, The Weeknd, Drake and Shawn Mendes.  Bieber’s “Sorry” is No. 1 and “What Do You Mean?” No. 2, but he also takes No. 5 with “Love Yourself.” Drake takes a pair of spots in the top 10 with “One Dance” and “Hotline Bling” at Nos. 4 and 7. The Weeknd claims a trio of tracks in the top 10 (“Starboy” at No. 3, “The Hills” at No. 6 and “Can’t Feel My Face” at No. 8) while Mendes is at Nos. 9 and 10 with “Stitches” and “Treat You Better.”

When it comes to airplay, taking into account all format spins, the No. 1 on Top All Formats Songs belongs to Armin Van Burren’s “This Is What It Feels Like,” featuring Canadian Trevor Guthrie on vocals. The ubiquitous “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen comes in at No. 2, and Martin Solveigand Canadian band Dragonette with “Hello” at No. 3.  A pair of songs by rock band Finger Eleven are next at Nos. 4 and 5,  “One Thing” and “Paralyzer.” 

Scroll down to view Nielsen Music Canada's top Canadian artists, albums and songs of the Nielsen Music Canada era: