Personally, the Dixie Chicks were the artist of the year for me.

Dylan, Gnarls top Rolling Stone’s 2006 picks
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Bob Dylan’s first album in five years, “Modern Times,” and the infectious Gnarls Barkley single “Crazy” topped Rolling Stone’s picks for 2006, the magazine said on Tuesday.
Rolling Stone hailed the weirdness of “Modern Times,” and said Dylan has not sounded so frisky since his underrated 1968 album ” John Wesley Harding.”
Number two on its albums list was the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Stadium Arcadium” — “a confessional and creative triumph” — followed by Sonic Youth’s “Rather Ripped” — “a light, simple, terse, almost-pop album.”
On the singles list, Rolling Stone said “Crazy” was a song “nobody even pretended not to like.” Garage rock band the Raconteurs’ “Steady As She Goes” came in at No. 2, followed by rapper Chamillionaire’s “Ridin.”‘