Mars Named Billboard’s Artist of the Year

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There’s no denying Bruno Mars has had an incredible year in 2013…

Not only did the 28-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer earn four Grammy nominations earlier this month and land on three of Spotify’s year-end streaming charts, he’s just been named Billboard‘s top artist of the year.

Bruno Mars

Mars, the first man to claim the title since 2008, beat out several of this year’s breakout stars like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Imagine Dragons, pop divas like Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry, and R&B stars like Justin Timberlake and Robin Thicke for the honor.

Mars’ sophomore album Unorthodox Jukebox, which commanded a steady presence on the Billboard 200 following its No. 2 debut last December, is one of the main reasons he’s the artist of the year.

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Remaining in the top 20 every week since then through the Sept. 14 issue, the Atlantic Records album hit No. 1 in its 12th week. To date, Unorthodox Jukebox has sold 1.8 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The year-end top artist tally also factors in activity on the Billboard Hot 100, where Mars landed three top 10 singles: “Locked Out of Heaven” (six weeks at No. 1), “When I Was Your Man” (No. 1 for a week) and “Treasure” (No. 5).

Also figured into the equation are social, ringtone and Billboard Boxscore data. In the lattermost instance, Mars’ Moonshine Jungle world tour finished at No. 23 on Billboard’s Top 25 Tours list. Kicking off June 22 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., the sold-out arena trek has thus far logged 48 dates in North America-including two nights at the Staples Center-posting a total attendance of 667,000 with a gross of $46.4 million.

And Mars isn’t slowing down in 2014…

His world tour resumes on February 28 with 10 dates in Australia and New Zealand before heading to Asiaand later to Mexico City. Another North American leg, which starts this summer, will be announced shortly. In the meantime, Mars has several other engagements to fulfill.

First up, his two-day residency at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on December 29 and December 31. Next it’s on to the 56th annual Grammy Awards before playing the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show on February 2 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

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