Billboard names Taylor, Kanye among year's best

[December 11, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- They gave us the most memorable music moment of 2009, so it's only fitting that Kanye West and Taylor Swift have been named the king and queen of the charts.

Billboard magazine named Swift the top female artist, while West was declared top male artist. But Swift trumps West overall. She was the top artist of the year, with Beyonce coming in second and Lady Gaga third.

Swift has a sophomore CD, "Fearless," that has sold more than 4.5 million copies.

West and Swift provided one of the most talked-about episodes of the year when West hijacked her MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech.

Billboard runs its full list of the year's chart-toppers on Friday, as well as the decade's.

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On the Net:

http://www.billboard.com/

[Associated Press]

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