List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2012
{{short description|None}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2013}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2012}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Gotye.jpg
| width1 = 130
| alt1 = Musician Gotye
| caption1 =
| image2 = Anais photography Auckland concert Kimbra (cropped).jpg
| width2 = 164
| alt2 = Musician Kimbra
| caption2 =
| footer = Multi-instrumentalist and producer Gotye (left) and vocalist Kimbra spent 16 weeks at number one with the song "Somebody That I Used to Know".
}}
Adult Contemporary is a chart published by Billboard ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the adult contemporary music (AC) market. In 2012, nine different songs topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weekly airplay data from radio stations compiled by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.
On the first chart of the year, the number one position was held by Michael Bublé with "All I Want for Christmas Is You", the song's fifth consecutive week at number one. The following week it was replaced in the top spot by British singer Adele's song "Someone like You", which had first reached number one the previous December{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/2011-12-03/adult-contemporary|title=Adult Contemporary – Week of December 3, 2011|magazine=Billboard|date=December 3, 2011|access-date=September 18, 2019}} and now returned to number one for a further four weeks. Adele would return to the top spot in March with "Set Fire to the Rain", and was the only act to achieve more than one AC number one in 2012. After four weeks, "Set Fire to the Rain" was displaced by "Just a Kiss" by the country music trio Lady Antebellum. The song had reached number one on Billboard{{'}}s Hot Country Songs chart the previous summer,{{Cite web|url=https://knue.com/lady-antebellums-just-a-kiss-is-still-number-one/|work=KNUE|publisher=Townsquare Media|date=August 20, 2011|access-date=September 18, 2019|first=Jeff|last=Giles|title=Lady Antebellum's 'Just a Kiss' Is Still Number One
}} but was not serviced to adult contemporary radio until August 2011,{{cite web|title=R&R :: Going For Adds :: AC |url=http://gfa.radioandrecords.com/publishGFA/GFANextPage.asp?sDate=8/17/2011&Format=3 |publisher=Radio & Records |access-date=September 18, 2019 |format=Week Of: August 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630052011/http://gfa.radioandrecords.com/publishGFA/GFANextPage.asp?sDate=8%2F17%2F2011&Format=3 |archive-date=June 30, 2015 }} and subsequently took 24 weeks to reach the top spot on the AC listing.
The longest unbroken run at number one on the Adult Contemporary listing during 2012 was 16 weeks, achieved by "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter Gotye and New Zealand singer Kimbra, which reached the top of the chart in August. Although both acts had experienced success in their native countries, the song was the international breakthrough for both.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gotye-mn0001471865/biography|title=Gotye Biography & History|publisher=AllMusic|first=Mark|last=Deming|access-date=September 18, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kimbra-mn0002593754|title=Kimbra Biography & History|publisher=AllMusic|first=Matt|last=Collar|access-date=September 18, 2019}} In the United States it was successful across multiple genres, topping a number of Billboard charts, including Alternative Songs and Dance/Mix Show Airplay, as well as reaching number one on the magazine's all-genre chart, the Hot 100.{{cite magazine |first=Gary |last=Trust |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/486833/carly-rae-jepsen-jumps-to-no-2-on-hot-100-gotye-still-no-1 |title=Carly Rae Jepsen Jumps to No. 2 on Hot 100, Gotye Still No. 1 |magazine=Billboard |date=May 23, 2012 |access-date=September 17, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2018/04/19/dont-ask-kimbra-to-sing-somebody-that-i-used-to-know/|title=Don't ask Kimbra to sing 'Somebody That I Used to Know'|first=Gregory E.|last=Miller|work=New York Post|date=April 19, 2018|access-date=September 18, 2019}} It was replaced at number one on the AC chart in the issue of the magazine dated December 8 by veteran British singer Rod Stewart's recording of the 1945 song "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", which went on to be the year's final chart-topper, holding the top spot for the final four weeks of 2012. Stewart's song continued a trend of Christmas-themed songs topping the AC chart at the end of the year, reflecting the fact that adult contemporary radio stations usually switch to playing exclusively festive songs in December.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8491346/katy-perry-cozy-little-christmas-no-1-adult-contemporary-chart|title=Katy Perry's 'Cozy Little Christmas' Hits No. 1 on Adult Contemporary Chart|magazine=Billboard|first=Gary|last=Trust|date=December 24, 2018|access-date=April 10, 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/jingle-bell-rock-lots-of-radio-stations-go-all-christmas-in-december-heres-why/2015/12/21/5b2a5836-a442-11e5-ad3f-991ce3374e23_story.html?noredirect=on|title=Jingle bell rock: Lots of radio stations go all-Christmas in December. Here's why.|newspaper=Washington Post|first=Maura|last=Judkis|date=December 21, 2015|access-date=April 10, 2019}}
Chart history
File:Adele - Live 2009 (4) cropped.jpg was the only artist to achieve more than one number one in 2012.]]
File:Kelly Clarkson 2018 DoD Warrior Games Opening Ceremony 11.jpg" was a chart-topper for Kelly Clarkson.|alt=Musician Kelly Clarkson singing into a microphone]]
File:657105w.jpg ended the year at number one.|alt=Musician Rod Stewart singing into a microphone]]
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
|+Key | style="background-color:#FFFF99" |{{dagger|alt=Best performing AC song of 2012}} |Indicates best-performing AC song of 2012{{Cite magazine|title=Billboard Adult Contemporary Year End, 2012|magazine=Billboard |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2012/adult-contemporary-songs|access-date=September 12, 2020}} |