Farewell, 2016.

So here we are. After 815 songs and 6,174 blurbs, we’ve come to the end of our year of coverage. Now presenting your 2016 Jukebox Champions, Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks:

We will be on hiatus until the 3rd of January. Until then, you can catch up on our coverage via our archives. Additionally, our own John Seroff put together a massive Spotify playlist of all the tracks we covered this year (songs not available on Spotify but on YouTube can be found here).

As some of you have noticed, this has been our highest scoring year to date, with our top 10 all rated above [8.10] (here’s a YouTube playlist of our top 50). It seems appropriate; for a year that was tough on so many people, a year that at so many turns hurt marginalized communities, there was amazing music to help us get by, to feel empowered, to heal. Whether it was Beyoncé’s and Solange’s powerful affirmations of Black womanhood, Alex Anwandter’s celebration of queer spaces, Jamala’s pertinent reflection on xenophobia, and so much more, there was music that spoke to the experience of people whom the year otherwise ignored.

There’s always uncertainty in facing the new year, and 2017 will no doubt have its challenges. One thing we do know, however, is that music will still be there, and we will be too, celebrating it and lifting it up together. See you then.