2012 saw many new pop stars emerge from out of nowhere to grab our attention but it also saw many of our proven favorites continue to dominate. So which musicians did we find the most fascinating? Yahoo determined which artists were the most searched online throughout the year so we could find out.

Britney Spears was number five, buoyed by her stint on “The X Factor“. Justin Bieber grabbed enough headlines with his new album and romance with Selena Gomez to land at number four, while Katy Perry was the third most searched. Coming in second was Jennifer Lopez who released her greatest hits this year. But the number one most searched artist is a bit bittersweet as the late Whitney Houston, who we lost this year fittingly finished on top.