10 pop stars with reasons to celebrate 2016

2016 has been a bit of tough old year, with Kanye West being the latest star to face a public struggle with health problems.

He has been hospitalised for exhaustion and has been forced to cancel the remaining dates on his Saint Pablo tour.

But rather than dwell on the negatives (of which there are many from the past 12 months), we're taking a look at some of Radio 1's favourite stars who absolutely have reason to look back on 2016 as a very good year for their career.

Silver linings and all that...

Zara Larsson has fast become one of the hottest young pop stars on the planet - even though she is still yet to release her debut album.

Like seriously, hurry up. We need it.

She scored two huge UK solo hits with Lush Life and Ain't My Fault along with her Olympic collaboration - which did the business on charts across the world.

On top of that? She supported her idol Beyoncé during her Formation tour. Not bad for an 18-year-old, not bad at all.

And since we've already mentioned Queen Bey, we reckon she will also look back on 2016 with fond memories (career-wise).

Beyoncé added another 4 million global album sales to her tally with the success of her sixth studio album, Lemonade.

It was her most political record to date and she embraced black heritage with tracks like Formation. Her performance at the 2016 Super Bowl also sparked debate as she performed in a costume inspired by the Black Panther freedom movement.

Then of course, there was her Formation world tour, which saw Beyoncé perform 49 sold-out shows and gross $256 million,

You'd have been hard pushed to find many people outside of France who were familiar with the work of Héloïse Letissier before this year, but at the end of 2016, it feels like her work has soundtracked the past 12 months.

Tilted gave Christine & The Queens her first hit single and sent her debut album, Chaleur Humaine, to No.2 in the UK charts.

Oh, and she gave Jools Holland one of the show's most talked-about performances ever.

There really is no stopping Jade, Jesy, Leigh-Anne and Perrie. Their career gets bigger every year and 2016 was their most successful yet for Little Mix.

Not only did they score a No.1 single with Shout Out To My Ex (no big deal, they've had LOADS of No.1s) but they broke their own album sales record with fourth release, Glory Days.

Their previous album, Get Weird, was the fastest selling of their career, shifting 60,053 copies in its first week of release.

Glory Days? That sold 64,000 in just three days.

Every year is good year if you're a member of The 1975, but the band really smashed it in 2016.

Their single The Sound became their highest charting song yet and their second album, I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, went to No.1.

Then, of course, there was their emotional performance with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra - which Matty Healy admits moved him to tears.

“It’s the first time I’ve wanted to do another run through of a soundcheck," he told Radio 1. "It was incredible.”

Adele released her third album 25 in 2015 but people loved it so much, it has been the biggest selling record of 2016.

Not only did she put everyone else to shame with how many albums she was selling, she also conquered her stage fright.

How did she do that? Well, by headlining Glastonbury and embarking on a huge global tour, making $150 million from 90 shows.

Yeah, that'll do it.

At the start of 2016, James Arthur had been a little forgotten about. His career hit the skids in 2013 when he made homophobic comments in a rap track he released online.

Three years later, a more humble (and deeply apologetic) James returned with one of the year's biggest love songs, topping the charts with his comeback track, Say You Won't Let Go.

James worked hard to win over a cynical British public - and it worked. Welcome back Mr Arthur.

You probably haven't heard Drake's single One Dance. After all, it was only No.1 for 15 consecutive weeks in the UK.

One Dance was Drake's first chart topper in the UK and the US, where it also spent 10 weeks at the top.

Then there's his 2016 hits Controlla, Too Good and Fake Love to think about AND his chart-topping, multi-platinum album Views.

Yeah, he's had a good one.

Honestly, the pop world is a better place with Olly Murs in it and like Little Mix, he's proof that X Factor can produce massive stars (even if, like Olly, you don't win).

Not only did he rule the radio with his pop banger You Don't Know Love, but he also scored his fourth No.1 album with 24 HRS.

Let’s see if Honey G can do the same.

Ah JT - a man so talented he can dominate a year with just one hit single. But oh, what a single it is.

Can't Stop The Feeling is taken from the animated Trolls movie and is the biggest selling song in America for 2016, with more than 2.16million downloads.

The song has sold another million copies in the UK, making it his most successful song in the UK charts, ever.

And it's not even a 'proper' single. We're still none the wiser as to when his next album is out either.