In 2021 we've seen actors, musicians, pro athletes, k-pop stars and more shatter record after record. We can barely keep up!
Here are some of our most famous record holders and the Guinness World Records titles they were awarded this year.
Ariana Grande
Rumour has it that her song "thank u, next" was actually written about all of her Guinness World Records titles, after achieving her 20th this year.
Five singles from her 2020 album Positions went on to top the charts, setting a new record for the most songs to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
In addition to Ariana’s many music-related records, her global fan base of ‘Arianators’ have helped her earn several social media records, such as most followers on Instagram for a musician.
Cristiano Ronaldo
In September, Cristiano Ronaldo broke the record for most goals scored in international soccer matches (male).
The Portuguese forward bagged both goals for his team in a 2-1 victory over the Republic of Ireland, bringing his total to 111 goals in 180 matches.
He has scored more goals for his country than most players have for their club team!
Ronaldo holds many record titles, but this one is extra special as it was 17 years in the making; ever since he scored his first goal for Portugal in 2004 as a teenager.
We’re sure his Guinness World Records certificate takes pride of place in his trophy cabinet (or trophy warehouse, rather) alongside his five Champions League winners medals and five Ballon d’Or awards.
SIIIUUUUU!!!
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift added four more record titles to her collection this year.
In March, she won Album of the Year at the Grammys for her 2020 surprise release Folklore. Taylor now has the most Album of the Year awards won at the Grammys (female).
Upon the release of Red (Taylor's version) in November, she swiftly crushed her own record for the most simultaneous US Hot 100 entries by a female. 26 tracks from the album made the Hot 100 chart, surpassing the record of 18 songs from Lover in 2019.
This feat also earned Taylor the record for the most simultaneous US Hot 100 new entries.
Her song "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" from the same album also became the longest song to reach No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100, a record previously held by Don McLean’s "American Pie".
Beyoncé
Also at the Grammys, Beyoncé won the Best R&B Performance for "BLACK PARADE" and Best Music Video for "BROWN SKIN GIRL", breaking the record for the most Grammy awards won by a female artist.
She now has 28, which is also the most Grammy awards won by a vocalist.
Queen Bey didn’t stop there though, she also secured another Grammy and record title with the help of…
Megan Thee Stallion
She’s a savage. She’s classy, bougie and …Officially Amazing!
Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé became the first female artists to win Best Rap Performance at the Grammys, after the viral success of "Savage Remix".
Megan also won the Grammy for Best New Artist.
BTS
With the support of an entire ARMY behind them, BTS continued to smash world records in 2021.
BTS’ official accounts dominate the most Twitter engagements (average retweets) for a music group – a record they’ve set four times in the past and no doubt will improve upon again in the future.
In May, the Bangtan Boys scooped up five more records upon the release of their single "Butter”; including most viewers for the premiere of a music video on YouTube and most streamed track on Spotify in the first 24 hours.
Now boasting an impressive 23 record titles, BTS were inducted into the Guinness World Records Hall of Fame this year.
Randy Orton
He’s won 10 WWE Championship titles, but this is his first Guinness World Records title.
Randy Orton (USA) made his 177th pay-per-view appearance at Survivor Series 2021, surpassing Kane’s record for the most WWE PPV appearances (male).
Orton made his PPV debut at SummerSlam 2003, participating in a six-man Elimination Chamber match won by Triple H.
Natalya (Canada) also set the record for most WWE PPV appearances (female) with 68.
Billie Eilish
Her second studio album, Happier than Ever, became the most pre-added album on Apple Music, with 1.028 million pre-adds ahead of its 30 July release date.
Eilish first held this record with 800,000+ Apple pre-adds for her 2019 debut album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, which was dethroned by The Weeknd’s After Hours in 2020.
2022 is going to be another amazing year for the 19-year-old superstar as she is set to become the youngest Glastonbury Festival headliner in history.
Moon Tae-il
Known simply as Taeil, the main vocalist of South Korean boyband NCT broke the record for the fastest time to reach 1 million followers on Instagram on 16 July 2021.
After the opening of his account (@mo.on_air) was announced on the app bubble, fans flocked to Instagram to follow Taeil.
He reached a seven-figure follower count just 1 hour 45 minutes after his first post.
"I never imagined myself becoming a Guinness World Records title holder, and am truly grateful for all the love and support. I would not be here without my members and our NCTzens." – Taeil
Rosé
2021 saw BLACKPINK member Rosé launch her solo career with the single "On The Ground", which topped both the Global Billboard 200 and Billboard Global Excl. US.
Having previously accomplished this with her band, Rosé became the first artist to reach number one on a Billboard Global chart as a soloist and as part of a group.
The song’s music video premiered via YouTube on the same day, becoming the most viewed YouTube music video in 24 hours by a solo K-pop artist with 41.6 million views. However, this record was soon broken by…
Lisa
Fellow BLACKPINK bandmate Lisa also released her first solo single this year, titled "LaLisa".
It smashed Rosé’s record for most viewed YouTube music video in 24 hours by a solo K-pop artist, with 73.6 million hits.
What's more, it became the most viewed YouTube music video by a solo artist in 24 hours overall, getting over 12 million more views than the previous record set by Taylor Swift’s "ME!".
William Shatner
He boldly went where no 90-year-old had gone before…
In October, at the age of 90 years 205 days, William Shatner became the oldest person in space (male).
The 11-minute journey in the New Shephard suborbital spacecraft took him past the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space, and back again.
Louis Tomlinson
One Direction member Louis Tomlinson (UK) broke the record for most tickets sold for a livestreamed concert by a solo male artist.
After kickstarting his solo career with debut album Walls, Louis sold 160,000 tickets worldwide for his 2020 Live from London charity concert.
Louis performed 18 songs during the virtual event, raising over $1 million (£755,000).
Dua Lipa
By this metric, she is more popular than every musician mentioned above: Dua Lipa (UK) has the most monthly listeners on Spotify (female).
She set the record in September with 64,966,102. As of December 2021, this number has further increased to 66,686,104.
Last year she also broke the record for the most tickets sold for a livestreamed concert by a solo female artist, selling 284,000 tickets worldwide for her Studio 2054 concert.
Jay-Z
He’s got 99 problems but breaking records ain’t one.
Last, but by no means least, is Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z, who now has the most Grammy nominations ever.
In November, the 51-year-old rapper received three Grammy nominations for his contributions to Kanye West’s album Donda and the late DMX’s song "Bath Salts".
Jay-Z has won 23 Grammys over the years and now has 83 nominations , after previously being tied with Quincy Jones at 80.
And with that A (riana) to (Jay) Z of 2021’s records, we have reached the end of our celebrity celebration.
We can’t wait to see what records they will smash in 2022!
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