Ketchabrick

An interoffice e-mail hit our inboxes one morning: “Have any favorite songs for 2011?”

After a nail-biting seven-week wait at No. 2, LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It” at last struts to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 as the chart’s top Digital Gainer during the robust sales week leading up to Christmas Day.

After a nail-biting seven-week wait at No. 2, LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It” at last struts to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 as the chart’s top Digital Gainer during the robust sales week leading up to Christmas Day.

After a nail-biting seven-week wait at No. 2, LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It” at last struts to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 as the chart’s top Digital Gainer during the robust sales week leading up to Christmas Day.

An interoffice e-mail hit our inboxes one morning: “Have any favorite songs for 2011?” The responses, unsurprisingly, piled in. Before lunch was fully digested it was born: the Wired Top 100 Songs of 2011 playlist. The vetting process had simple criteria: 1) Be submitted by a Wired staffer. 2) Be verified as from 2011. 3) [...]

How much do remixes affect Billboard Hot 100 chart positions? And, readers share their top songs, albums, tours and more of 2011.

Hear a mix of what the year sounded like to us — funny, joyful, heavy and always surprising.

Hear a mix of what the year sounded like to us — funny, joyful, heavy and always surprising.

Hear a mix of what the year sounded like to us — funny, joyful, heavy and always surprising.