The Best-Selling Albums and Songs of 2006
Television ran the albums chart: American Idol winner Carrie Underwood had the year’s biggest album and the Disney Channel’s High School Musical soundtrack finished second.
Artists of the Year
Top 10 Albums of 2006 Billboard 200
- 1Some HeartsCarrie Underwood
- 2High School MusicalSoundtrack
- 3All the Right ReasonsNickelback
- 4Me and My GangRascal Flatts
- 5The BreakthroughMary J. Blige
- 6Curtain Call: The HitsEminem
- 7Back to BedlamJames Blunt
- 8The Road and the RadioKenny Chesney
- 9The Legend of Johnny CashJohnny Cash
- 10BreakawayKelly Clarkson
Top 10 Songs of 2006 Hot 100
- 1Bad DayDaniel Powter
- 2TemperatureSean Paul
- 3PromiscuousNelly Furtado ft. Timbaland
- 4You’re BeautifulJames Blunt
- 5Hips Don’t LieShakira ft. Wyclef Jean
- 6UnwrittenNatasha Bedingfield
- 7CrazyGnarls Barkley
- 8Ridin’Chamillionaire ft. Krayzie Bone
- 9SexyBackJustin Timberlake ft. Timbaland
- 10Check on ItBeyoncé ft. Slim Thug
What the 2006 Charts Show
- The year split: Rascal Flatts led on albums while Sean Paul led on singles.
- Breakaway placed in the year-end top 10 for a second straight year, having also charted in 2005.
How the 2006 charts were compiled
Every position here is a chart placement — measured sales, radio airplay and, in the years Billboard counted it, streaming across its tracking year — not an editorial ranking. Albums come from the year-end Billboard 200, songs from the year-end Hot 100.
Billboard’s tracking year runs from roughly late October to mid-October rather than January to December, which is why a late-autumn release can win the following year and why a song can appear on two consecutive year-end lists.
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