2011: Billboard's Top 20 artists

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2011: Billboard's Top 20 artists

Top 20 artists of 2011, according to Billboard.

20. Lady Antebellum - The country group Lady Antebellum won five awards, including the coveted Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Need You Now."

19. Ke$ha - Ke$ha, the 2010 Billboard Artist of the Year, came back in 2011 with "Blow," which accumulated more than 21 million digital single downloads in the U.S. alone.

18. Kanye West - Kanye West, touring with Jay-Z, leads the field of Grammy nominees with seven nods.

17. Pitbull - Pitbull's "Give Me Everything," the second single from his album "Planet Pit" became his first single to top the Billboard Hot 100.

16. Pink - Pink's "Greatest Hits... So Far!!!" produced two No. 1 singles.

15. Wiz Khalifa - Rapper Wiz Khalifa released his collaborative soundtrack, with Snoop Dogg, this fall. The video for the first single, "Young, Wild, and Free," premiered Nov. 28 and has earned more than 5 million views online.

14. Britney Spears - In 2011, Britney Spears returned to the charts with her album, "Femme Fatale," which included collaborations with Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Ke$ha, and an international arena tour.

13. Jason Aldean - "My Kinda Party," 2011's best-selling country album, made Jason Aldean one of the CMT Artists of the Year.

12. Eminem - Detroit rapper Eminem began the year with some buzz after starring in two Super Bowl commercials.

11. Black Eyed Peas - The Black Eyed Peas expanded their musical reach releasing a video game "The Black Eyed Peas Experience." Gamers interactively dance alongside 30 Black Eyed Peas songs while attempting to replicate the Peas' onscreen dance moves.

10. Chris Brown - Chris Brown's fourth studio album, "F.A.M.E." was released in March, debuting at No. 1. It was Soul Train Music Awards Album of the Year.

9. Justin Bieber - Justin Bieber released his chart-topping Christmas album, "Under The Mistletoe," in October. It features the single "Mistloetoe" as well a duet with Mariah Carey on "All I Want For Christmas Is You," along with other holiday classics.

8. Taylor Swift: Country star Taylor Swift earned the entertainer of the year award from American Music Awards in November, the Academy of Country Music in April and the Country Music Association in November. In May, Swift also won Billboard Music Awards for top country album, top Billboard 200 artist and top country artist.

7. Nicki Minaj - Nicki Minaj won two American Music Awards for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop artist - topping Lil Wayne and Kanye West - as well as Favorite Soul/R&B Album for her album "Pink Friday."

6. Bruno Mars - Bruno Mars' popular "Grenade" is up for Grammys Record of the Year.

5. Lil Wayne - Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter IV" sold more than 964,000 copies in its first week alone.

4. Lady Gaga - Lady Gaga was 2011's top-earning artist, raking in $90 million from album sales, touring and endorsements.

3. Katy Perry - Katy Perry had six songs from her album "Teenage Dream" top Billboard's Hot 100 charts.

2. Rihanna - "Found," the lead single from Rihanna's sixth studio album, "Talk That Talk," spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Digital Songs chart with 211,000 downloads sold.

1. Adele - Adele's album, "21," was the best-selling of the year with 4.8 million copies sold.

1/20

20. Lady Antebellum - The country group Lady Antebellum won five awards, including the coveted Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Need You Now."

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