Lin-Manuel Miranda Tops Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 Songwriters Chart

Lin-Manuel Miranda is this year’s songwriter of the year…

The 42-year-old Puerto Rican songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker leads Billboard’s 2022 year-end Hot 100 Songwriters chart.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Miranda, a Pulitzer Prize, Grammys, Tonys and Emmys, finishes the year at No. 1 due to his work on Disney’s Encanto soundtrack, including its five-week Billboard Hot 100 leader “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” credited to Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and the Encanto cast.

Miranda is credited as the sole songwriter on the track, helping boost his chart points (as he does not split chart points with multiple writers).

During its 20-week run on the chart, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” earned the distinction as the biggest Disney song of all time, based on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time methodology.

In total, Miranda earned eight songwriting credits on the Hot 100 in the 2022 chart year, all from Encanto, which all contributed to his placement on the year-end ranking.

Here’s a look at where each song peaked on the Hot 100—Miranda is the only credited writer on each song:

Peak Position, Artist Billing, Title
No. 1, Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”
No. 8, Jessica Darrow, “Surface Pressure”
No 20, Stephanie Beatriz, Olga Merediz & Encanto Cast, “The Family Madrigal”
No. 27, Diane Guerrero & Stephanie Beatriz, “What Else Can I Do?”
No. 36, Sebastian Yatra, “Dos Oruguitas”
No. 48, Stephanie Beatriz, “Waiting On A Miracle”
No. 71, Stephanie Beatriz, Olga Merediz, John Leguizamo, Adassa, Maluma & Encanto Cast, “All of You”
No. 100, Carlos Vives, “Colombia, Mi Encanto”

Prior to 2022, Miranda had only landed seven songs on the Hot 100 as a songwriter (he’s billed as an artist on four of them). He first charted in July 2016 with “Love Make The World Go Round” with Jennifer Lopez (No. 72 peak), and then with four songs from Moana soon after: Opetaia Foa’l and Miranda’s “We Know The Way” (No. 93 peak), Alessia Cara’s “How Far I’ll Go” (No. 56), Dwayne Johnson’s “You’re Welcome” (No. 65) and Auli’I Cravalho’s “How Far I’ll Go” (No. 41). After that, he charted with “Almost Like Praying,” featuring Artists for Puerto Rico (No. 20) and “Found / Tonight” with Ben Platt (No. 49)

His work on the Moana songs helped Miranda finish as the No. 28 Hot 100 Songwriter of 2017.

Miranda is also credited as a producer on all eight of his Encanto chart hits.

“Colombia, Mi Encanto” was produced by Miranda and Carlos Vives, while the other seven entries were produced by Miranda and Mike Elizondo.

Miranda’s production work enables his finish as the No. 12 Hot 100 Producer of 2022, while Elizondo finishes just behind him at No. 13.

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts dated November 20, 2021 through November 12, 2022. The rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology details, and the November-November time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.

The Associated Press Names Miranda Its Entertainer of the Year

Lin-Manuel Miranda isn’t just the man of the hour… He’s the man of the last 8,000-plus hours.

The 36-year-old Puerto Rican actor, playwright, composer, rapper, and writer, bested Beyonce, Adele and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, among others, to earn the honor of The Associated Press Entertainer of the Year, voted by members of the news cooperative and AP entertainment reporters.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Best known for creating and starring in the Broadway musicals Hamilton and In the Heights. Miranda has had a banner year, winning a Pulitzer Prize and a pair of Tony Awards.

The Hamilton writer-composer also earned a Golden Globe nomination, won the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History, wrote music for a top movie, and inspired a best-selling book, a best-selling album of Hamilton covers and a popular PBS documentary.

“There’s been more than a little good luck in the year itself and the way it’s unfolded,” Miranda said after being told of the honor. “I continue to try to work on the things I’ve always wanted to work on and try to say yes to the opportunities that I’d kick myself forever if I didn’t jump at them.”

Miranda joins the list of previous AP Entertainer of the Year winners who in recent years have included Adele, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lawrence, Lady Gaga, Tina Fey and Betty White.

The animated Disney juggernaut Frozen captured the prize in 2014, and Star Wars won last year. (Miranda wrote one of the songs in The Force Awakens.)

When he hosted Saturday Night Live in October, he somewhat tongue-in-cheek acknowledged the rarity of having a theater composer as host, saying: “Most of you watching at home have no idea who I am.”

But that has definitely changed… Miranda was virtually everywhere in popular culture this year — stage, film, TV, music and politics — engaging on social media as he went. Like a lyric he wrote for Alexander Hamilton, it seemed at times that the non-stop Miranda was working as if he was “running out of time.”

Julio D. Diaz, of the Pensacola News Journal, said Miranda “made the whole world sing, dance and think. Coupled with using his prestige to become involved in important sociopolitical issues, there was no greater or more important presence in entertainment in 2016.”

Among the things Miranda did this year are asking the U.S. Congress to help dig Puerto Rico out of its debt crisis, getting an honorary doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, performing at a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton on Broadway, lobbying to stop gun violence in America, and teaming up with Jennifer Lopez on the benefit single “Love Make the World Go Round.”

He and his musical Hamilton won 11 Tony Awards in June, but perhaps his deepest contribution that night was tearfully honoring those killed hours before at an Orlando nightclub with a beautiful sonnet: “Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love, cannot be killed or swept aside,” he said. “Now fill the world with music, love and pride.”

He started the year onstage in the Broadway hit Hamilton (which in 2015 had won a Grammy and earned Miranda a MacArthur genius grant) and ended it with a Golden Globe nomination for writing the song “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana, which was on top of the box office for three weeks this month, earning $165 million.

“I’ve been jumping from thing to thing and what’s been thrilling is to see the projects that happen very quickly kind of exploding side-by-side with the projects I’ve been working on for years,” Miranda said.

Though theater fans have long cherished his fluency in both Stephen Sondheim and TupacHamilton helped Miranda break into the mainstream in 2016. The groundbreaking, biographical hip-hop show tells the true story of an orphan immigrant from the Caribbean who rises to the highest ranks of American society, performed by a young African-American and Latino cast.

The cast went to the White House in March to perform songs from the show for the first family and to answer questions from school children. A version of the show opened in Chicago in October and a production is slated to land in California next year and in London soon.

Erin O’Neill of The Marietta Times said Miranda dominated entertainment news this year but, more importantly, “opened a dialogue about government, the founding of our country and the future of politics in America.”

There’s more Miranda to come in 2017, including filming Disney‘s Mary Poppins Returns with Emily Blunt (due out Christmas 2018) and an ambitious TV and film adaptation of the fantasy trilogy The Kingkiller Chronicle.

“I’m back in a planting mode after a harvest,” Miranda said, laughing.

Lopez Working on New, All-Spanish Album Alongside Marc Anthony

Jennifer Lopez is switching tongues…

The 47-year-old Puerto Rican singer/actress is hard at work on a new, all-Spanish album, alongside ex-husband Marc Anthony, who will act as executive producer, according to Billboard.

Jennifer Lopez

The album is scheduled for release in 2017, with the first single from the new production set to drop in November.

It will be Lopez’s first all-Spanish album in a decade. Back in 2007, she released her Spanish-language debut, Como Ama una Mujer, which debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart and, at the time, was only the fifth Spanish-language album to debut in the top 10 of the all-genre chart.

Como Ama una Mujer was co-produced by Anthony, who now comes in as an executive producer on Lopez’s new album via an alliance with his entertainment company, Magnus Media, and Sony Music Latin, which will release the effort.

Magnus also will provide consulting services to Lopez for the Hispanic market in marketing, content development and touring.

“I am so excited and really looking forward to this new musical journey and to celebrate my Latin roots with Marc Anthony and the Sony/Magnus family,” Lopez said Thursday in a statement.

Lopez hasn’t really stopped celebrating her Latin roots. In the past few years, she’s had several high-profile collaborations with Latin acts, including Pitbull (“On the Floor”), Wisin y Yandel (“Follow the Leader”), Wisin and Ricky Martin (“Adrenalina”), Prince Royce and Pitbull (“Back It Up”) and, of course, Anthony.

Most recently, Lopez recorded “Love Make the World Go Round” with Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“[Jennifer] has had enormous accomplishments in her career and has been representing our culture all over the world from day one,” Anthony said in a statement. “Her artistry, professionalism and passion for music are just some of the many attributes that have earned her a unique place in the entertainment world that very few people have been able to obtain. I am looking forward to our creative collaboration and to be part of continuing her musical legacy.”

Expectations are high surrounding Lopez’s new Spanish set. At the time of its release in 2007, Como Ama una Mujer set the record for the largest sales week for an act’s debut Spanish-language album. That mark would later be topped by Romeo Santos, but Lopez still maintains the record among female artists.

“Jennifer is one of the most iconic Latina superstars of all time and a longtime member of the Sony family,” added Afo Verde, chairman and CEO, Latin America, Spain and Portugal, Sony Music Entertainment. “We’re very excited to partner with her and Marc on a project that is all about spotlighting her spirit and soul.”

Aside from her recording career, Lopez is currently working on season 2 of her hit NBC series Shades of Blue. In December she will complete the first year of her All I Have residency in Las Vegas at the AXIS Theater in Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

Miranda to Receive Star on Puerto Rico’s Walk of Fame

Lin-Manuel Miranda is getting an enchanted star…

The 36-year-old Broadway star will be honored in Puerto Rico with his very own star in the island’s Walk of Fame.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

The Hamilton creator and award-winning artist is set to reveal his star on Wednesday, July 27 on La Isla del Encanto’s iconic Ashford Avenue.

“For us, it is great news that Lin-Manuel Miranda will join us during this ceremony. He is an international artist who has given Puerto Rico great pride because of his success with Hamilton. It’s an honor and much happiness that he has accepted our invitation to be present when we reveal his star,” said founder of Puerto Rico’s Walk of Fame Santiago Villar in a statement.

Miranda recently performed for the last time with Hamilton’s original cast.

He also recently released the peace and love anthem “Love Make The World Go Round” with Jennifer Lopez, which was inspired by Orlando Shooting victims; proceeds will benefit the Hispanic Federation‘s Proyecto Somos Orlando initiative, which pledges to “address the long-term needs for mental health services that are culturally competent and bilingual.”

Lopez & Miranda Perform Tribute to Orlando Shooting Victims on “Today”

Jennifer Lopez & Lin-Manuel Miranda are making the world go round…

The 46-year-old Puerto Rican singer/actress and the 36-year-old Broadway star performed their new peace anthem entitled “Love Make the World Go Round,” inspired by the Orlando Shooting, on Today on Monday morning.

Jennifer Lopez & Lin-Manuel Miranda

The track, made available for download on July 7 on iTunes, benefits the Hispanic Federation‘s Proyecto Somos Orlando initiative, which “will address the long-term needs for mental health services that are culturally competent and bilingual.

The initiative will enable care to be delivered to those affected directly in the communities in which they live. Beyond emergency assistance, they will be provided with case management, crisis intervention and mental health services, among other needs.

Fifty survivors and family members of the victims of the Orlando tragedy were present in the Rockefeller Plaza crowd for the performance.

Beginning with a clip of the Hamilton creator’s “Love is love” speech at the Tony Awards, the dance track features Miranda rapping about peace and love (“A generation of innovators enabled to patiently wait for change ’cause change is what they’ve been afraid of / the malevolence can wait, raise a level of debate, celebrate, elevate”) while Lopez sings the titular line to ring in the chorus: “We’re not staying inside today / they’re not taking our pride away.”

How did the song come to be? Lopez explained on Today that she’s had the song for eight months, but “when everything happened in Orlando, I heard it in a different way for the first time. I was like, ‘The world needs this right now. The world really needs the message of love being the answer. That’s what really matters; that’s what really makes the world go round, nothing else. Hate, anger, it’s not gonna get us anywhere.'” She then approached Miranda about rapping on the bridge of the track.

Lopez Collaborating with Lin-Manuel Miranda on New Song to Benefit Orlando Shooting Victims

Jennifer Lopez is spreading the love, all for charity…

The 46-year-old Puerto Rican singer/actress is joining voices with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda on new single to benefit the Orlando shooting victims.

Jennifer Lopez & Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lopez and Miranda tweeted on Monday about their new track, entitled “Love Make the World Go Round.”

The song will benefit the Hispanic Federation‘s Proyecto Somos Orlando initiative, which “will address the long-term needs for mental health services that are culturally competent and bilingual. Proyecto will enable care to be delivered to those affected directly in the communities in which they live. Beyond emergency assistance, they will be provided with case management, crisis intervention, and mental health services, among other needs.”

Miranda teased the track on Twitter as “a taste of some new music you don’t need tickets to hear.”

The accompanying video features Miranda rapping about peace and love (“A generation of innovators enabled to patiently wait for change ’cause change is what they’ve been afraid of / the malevolence can wait, raise a level of debate, celebrate, elevate.”) while Lopez sings the titular line to ring in the chorus: “We’re not staying inside today / they’re not taking our pride away.”