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    1. David Bowie

    The year 2016 was an extraordinarily tragic one in terms of losses in the music world — with the untimely death of one of rock's most revered icons, David Bowie, hitting in January. Just two days after his 69th birthday, Bowie passed away from liver cancer; he had been diagnosed with the condition 18 months earlier but decided not to make the news public, choosing instead to continue work on what would be his last album, "Blackstar." His 25th studio album — which was released on his birthday — would go on to be his only album to top the Billboard 200 in the United States. It earned four Grammy nominations at the end of 2016. (Photo: Jo Hale/Getty Images)

    2016 Year in Review: The 10 Most Popular Artists on Yahoo Music

    Wendy Geller
    Writer, Yahoo Entertainment

    As 2016 comes to an end, Yahoo has unveiled our Year in Review, a detailed look at what captured the hearts and minds of our users across the globe this year, drawing from billions of searches on Yahoo, Polyvore, Tumblr, and Flickr. We've been doing Year in Review for 15 years, and each report gives us an incredibly introspective look at what people, issues, and trends were top of mind for the 1 billion and counting visitors across the Yahoo platforms.

    In the music world, 2016 was, sadly, a year of many goodbyes: to David Bowie, to Prince, to American Idol. But the year also brought about career rebirths for Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, and even the reclusive and ailing Randy Travis. All of these artists, for very different reasons, made our list of 10 most popular artists on Yahoo Music for 2016. Take a look.