The Most Popular Music Artists Across America

It’s been a huge year for music, with some of the biggest names in the business heading out on tour, releasing new music, and dominating headlines, gossip, and more. 

So, we decided to take it upon ourselves to uncover the most popular musical artists according to Americans, by using Google Search Trends data. Keep reading to find out if your favorite made the cut in your state… 

1. Taylor Swift

Dominating a staggering 16 states, Taylor Swift officially takes our title of America’s favorite artist. She’s come a long way from her humble roots as a Nashville country singer, and is now comfortably one of the biggest stars in the world. 

Taylor was the favorite in a full third of US states, with wins everywhere from California to Rhode Island – including her own home state of Pennsylvania. 

It’s been a big year for Taylor, kicking off her record-breaking Eras Tour, which is on track to become the biggest in concert history – potentially grossing over $1 billion by the time it’s completed. It’s been the highest-grossing tour by a woman in history based only on the first North American leg, so her win in so many states shouldn’t be too much of a surprise! 

2. Luke Combs

Luke Combs has had a meteoric rise to fame. His major label debut was only in 2017, but he’s now probably country music’s biggest star – and in our ranking, he’s right on the tails of fellow country idol Taylor Swift, taking second place with the number one spot in a huge 10 states. 

The North Carolina native was number one in his home state, but it’s not just the Southern states where Combs reigns supreme – while he’s big in plenty of central states, he’s also number one in Alaska and Vermont. 

3. Morgan Wallen

In third place, we have yet another country star – Morgan Wallen, who’s made waves in the music industry with his success. His double album Dangerous went 6x platinum, and was the 3^rd-most streamed album in the US on Spotify in 2022, while his album One Thing at a Time debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. 

Wallen is one of the biggest artists in the country in our ranking, taking 7 states – including his own native Tennessee, as well as sweeping states from Maine to Montana. 

4. Drake 

He’s come a long way from Degrassi – Canadian rapper Drake is one of the world’s best selling music artists – in fact, he’s the highest-certified digital single artist ever in the United States. Fresh off his blockbuster ‘It’s All a Blur’ tour, he’s recently announced new tour dates with J. Cole and dropped a surprise new EP, ‘Scary Hours 3’. 

All of that success has helped propel him to the fourth spot in our ranking. He’s number one in 5 states, with a good spread across the map. He’s popular in Southern states like Louisiana and Mississippi but also won the crown in New York and Connecticut. 

5. Beyoncé

Rounding out our top five is a modern-day cultural icon: Queen Bey herself, Beyoncé. One of the most-awarded female artists of all time, she’s just finished the smash-hit Renaissance World Tour, which was the highest-grossing tour by a Black artist and was the highest-grossing tour until she was knocked off the top spot… by our own number one, Taylor Swift. 

But Beyonce is still top in our rankings in three states, including the most important for the proud Houston native: her home state of Texas, alongside Virginia and Washington. 

Other popular picks

Whilst these five artists have the highest appearance in Google Trends in the US by far, there are other artists that made it to the top spot in some states. 

For instance, despite being Spotify’s most-streamed artist of the year since 2020, the King of Latin Trap, Bad Bunny, only takes the top spot in Florida and New Mexico – but as the only artist on our list from outside the US or Canada, this showcases the growing influence of global sounds in the US. 

The trend for artists to take the number one position in their home state is also clear, showing a strong home-grown fanbase with plenty of support even when artists make it big on a national stage. 

Jack Harlow took the crown in his native Kentucky while keeping a strong influence across the tri-state area by also coming number one in Illinois. In the south, Georgia's affinity for state native Gunna highlights the strong influence of Southern hip-hop, while Detroit-born Lizzo was number one in Michigan. 

So, there you have it: the USA’s favorite musical artists have been revealed – are you surprised by any of the picks? Maybe you’ve got some new ideas for artists to listen to, or maybe you just fancy having a listen to your state’s favorite. 

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Methodology

The average monthly Google Trends data was gathered for the most popular musical artists in America on a state-by-state basis, in order to reveal the favorite artists in each state.