The time has come to reflect on this past year and decide who made a major impact on Scotland’s cultural landscape. From actors to artists, writers to restaurateurs, and playwrights to pop stars, we run down our top 100. Check out our article counting entries 100-51 to find everyone who made the grade. 

There were plenty of strong candidates who didn’t quite make the cut, but we believe the following century proves that even in the face of several obstacles, our nation’s arts and culture is as vibrant as it’s ever been. Let the countdown commence . . . 

_{Writers: Becca Inglis, Brian Donaldson, Claire Sawers, Eddie Harrison, Fiona Shepherd, Gareth K Vile, Jay Richardson, Jay Thundercliffe, Jo Laidlaw, Kelly Apter, Kevin Fullerton, Lucy Ribchester, Megan Merino, Miranda Heggie, Murray Robertson, Rachel Ashenden, Seonaid Rafferty, Sheri Friers, Suzy Pope}

50 JAY CAPPERAULD 

One of the most exciting voices in classical music today, composer and saxophonist Capperauld writes powerful and emotive music tackling subjects as wide ranging as true crime, seances, religion and mental health. Also a passionate educator, he’s facilitated multi-ability engagement experiences with Scotland’s top orchestras. (MH)

49 BRIAN BAGLOW 

As someone who worked on the original Grand Theft Auto, Baglow was part of Scotland’s push to become a gaming powerhouse. Founder and director of the Scottish Games Network, this year he launched Scottish Games Week, the first event of its kind. (MR)

48 KATIE PATERSON 

As well as opening her latest solo show, Requiem, there were major milestones for Paterson’s visionary project, Future Library. In 2114, 100 unread and unpublished books written across 100 years by internationally renowned authors will be printed. The silent room in the new public library in Oslo, which safely stores the manuscripts, opened this year. (RA)

47 ARUSA QURESHI & HALINA RIFAI

AMPLIFI, a concert series created by Qureshi and Rifai, platformed the diversity of Scottish musical talent and placed undervalued acts in the spotlight. From the homebrew beats of Bemz to the sugar rush of AMUNDA, these Queen’s Hall gigs also scooped a Creative Edinburgh award along the way. (KF)

46 ANDY CANNON 

Cannon’s children’s version of Macbeth, Is This A Dagger?, was a tour de force of Scottish storytelling, and one of our Edinburgh Fringe highlights. Single-handedly showing you need nothing more than conviction and imagination to tell a fiendishly complex story, Cannon carries the torch for a proud tradition. (LR)

45 ANDREW WASYLYK

Wasylyk’s SAY Award-nominated Balgay Hill: Morning In Magnolia mined romanticism from a Dundee park, while his newest release, Hearing The Water Before Seeing The Falls, revels in wonder at the natural world. A soak in Wasylyk’s transcendent tunes has made the anxiety fuel of 2022 a little more bearable. (KF)

44 ALAN BISSETT

Downing voddy and affecting his best Falkirk twang one final time, Alan Bissett injected a much-needed working-class Scottish voice into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, bringing his character Moira Bell out of retirement with the riotously funny Moira In Lockdown. (KF)

43 BEE ASHA 

Aside from performing at numerous festivals with her hard-hitting poems and songs, Asha's Spit It Out Project (of which she’s co-director) gave us the Aye Festival which was shortlisted for a couple of Creative Edinburgh Awards for their focus on inclusion and community. (MM)

42 ROBERTA HALL-MCCARRON

A premises switcharoo resulted in newcomer Eleanore moving into The Little Chartroom’s former tiny space on Leith Walk. Meanwhile TLC’s larger premises on Bonnington Road allowed for something of an exhale, creating a more relaxed, refined dining experience, better matching Hall-McCarron’s always exemplary cooking. (JL)

41 DAVID TENNANT 

A busy year for Tennant as the tenth Time Lord was also unveiled as the 14th (confused? Try not to be) while he conjured up a scary storm at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre as a professor seduced by Nazism in CP Taylor’s Good. He squeezed in being a vicar who makes some bad decisions in BBC’s Inside Man. (BD)

40 ALYCIA PIRMOHAMED

Canadian-born Pirmohamed spent her year lifting up other writers, co-editing two anthologies (one of Asian-American women poets and another of queer poetry) and continuing her work as co-founder of the Scottish BPOC Writers Network. Her debut poetry collection, Another Way To Split Water, was also published. (BI)

39 LARRY DEAN 

Dean’s personal life seldom appears far from chaos, but such problems are grist to his mill with his show Fudnut deservedly scooping him a second Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination. Maturing as a storyteller, the likeably daft Glaswegian is also gently playing with the form, literally dancing through his pain and self-recrimination. (JR)

38 FARAH SALEH

Edinburgh-based Palestinian choreographer Saleh has gained acclaim and attention this year for her work exploring the refugee and migrant experience. Among other projects, she presented the thought-provoking PASTinuous at Dance International Glasgow in March, and celebratory A Wee Journey at Edinburgh International Festival. (LR)

37 MARK COUSINS 

Filmmaker and cinema historian Cousins leaned into the world of art with Like A Huge Scotland, a debut exhibition at Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket which celebrated both a glacier in Switzerland and Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham. And as a passionate cineaste, Cousins was prominent in the campaign to rescue Edinburgh’s Filmhouse. (BD)

36 DEAN BANKS

In a year of empire building, Banks firmly established his team at The Pompadour. He also opened Dulse, a laid-back bistro celebration of Scottish seafood that’s quietly making a name for itself as a place equally good for a couple of oysters and a beer as a full blowout. (JL)

 35 KRYSTY WILSON-CAIRNS 

Glaswegian Wilson-Cairns had cache to burn after an Oscar nomination for co-writing WWI epic 1917 with Sam Mendes, followed by her work on Edgar Wright’s stylish Last Night In Soho. She’s still in demand, adapting Charles Graeber’s best-selling medical thriller The Good Nurse, with Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain starring. (EH)

34 BRIAN COX 

The end of 2021 featured the shattering climax of Succession’s third season while Cox completed 2022 announcing he’ll play JS Bach in a Trevor Nunn-directed play. In between, he produced a Fringe production, She/Her, was interviewed by the First Minister at the Edinburgh Book Festival and helmed a Channel 5 documentary series, How The Other Half Live. (BD)

33 KEVIN BRIDGES 

We know the Clydebank comedian is never short of words, but in 2022 he served up even more than usual. Not only did The Overdue Catch-Up show sell out 16 nights at Glasgow’s Hydro, Bridges’ debut novel, The Black Dog, hinted at a hitherto untapped talent for characterisation and pathos. (KA)

32 NOEL JORDAN

Edinburgh International Children’s Festival was back on glorious live-action form this year, helmed by its director Jordan. Tackling subjects from grief and mental health to neurodiversity, through dance, theatre, music and even live acrobatic painting, the press were unanimous on its triumph. (LR)

 31 CHARLOTTE MCLEAN 

Dancer and choreographer Mclean first found her feet in the world of Highland dancing, before turning her attention to contemporary dance. At the Fringe she combined both worlds to create the powerful, critically acclaimed And, a work in which she laid herself raw personally as well as digging deep politically. (KA)

30 GRAEME MACRAE BURNET

Longlisted for the Booker Prize, the Kilmarnock writer’s Case Study featured a woman seeking out a psychotherapist whom she believed to be responsible for her sister’s death. Judges hailed the tale for being ‘forensic, elusive and mordantly funny’. (BD)

29 RONA MUNRO

The fourth instalment of Munro’s chronicles of Scottish royal history arrived with James IV: Queen Of The Fight. The playwright chose to balance the King’s narrative with that of the ‘two Moorish lasses’ who came to his court in 1504, and in doing so created an ensemble piece with Shakespearean intricacy and flair. (LR)

 28 SUSIE MCCABE 

Looking completely at home supporting Kevin Bridges on his recent arena tour, McCabe has joined the UK’s top rank of storytelling comedians, raising her profile with appearances on Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, Have I Got News For You and even Question Time. (JR)

27 REBECCA VASMANT

The producer and DJ’s debut album, With Love From Glasgow, secured Vasmant a spot on this year’s SAY Award Longlist, while she progressed further with numerous festival appearances joined by her new jazz ensemble. (MM) 

26 HANNAH LAVERY

Lavery was already a tour de force in the Scottish literature scene, and she has now penned her much anticipated debut poetry collection, Blood Salt Spring. That’s on top of being named Edinburgh Makar in 2021. (BI)

25 DAVID MARTIN

As the founder and director of Hidden Door, Martin spearheaded the transformation of Edinburgh’s former Royal High School from a derelict building to an artistic hub (one day it will be Scotland’s National Centre For Music) with another vibrant festival of music, art, theatre, film, dance and spoken word. (MM)

24 GRAEME CHEEVERS 

It takes lots of self-confidence to open a restaurant and tell everyone you’re going for a Michelin star. Some might call it gallus. Yet Glaswegian Cheevers (with plenty of Michelin experience) brought home the star earlier this year within eight months of opening his Unalome in Finnieston. (JT)

23 ALAN CUMMING 

Not only did our very own Hollywood icon take fresh strides with the dance/theatre production of Burn which played the Edinburgh International Festival before touring Scotland and the US, he was even gifted his very own bagel, a tasty vegan treat created by Bross Bagels. Its name? The Holesome Cumming. (BD)

22 FERN BRADY

A standout appearance on Taskmaster has cemented Bathgate-born Brady’s status as a rising star. From the moment she shared her autism diagnosis on social media, she’s become a compelling representative for neurodivergence, with her acclaimed stand-up show Autistic Bikini Queen bringing Brady her biggest gigs to date. (JR)

21 LEWIS GRIBBEN 

After popping up in various minor roles since co-starring in 2019 Edinburgh Film Festival opener Get Duked!, Gribben scored his first lead in Channel 4’s darkly comic Somewhere Boy. His gloriously awkward portrayal of outsider Danny marked him out as one to watch. (SR)

20 HANNA TUULIKKI &TOMMY PERMAN 

This bat-loving duo executed a sonic and performance project called Echo In The Dark which culminated in a series of silent raves. In collaboration with Arbroath’s Hospitalfield, they gathered public recordings of bat calls to create a set of new dance tracks. (RA)

19 JENNI FAGAN

Fagan followed up the ‘haunted panorama’ of 2021’s Luckenbooth with Hex, a fictionalised take on the tragic true story of Geillis Duncan, who was convicted as part of the North Berwick witch trials of 1591. The book arrived as the ongoing Witches Of Scotland campaign gained pace in clearing innocent victims’ names. (BD) 

18 SUZIE MWANZA & SHIRLEY MCPHERSON

Mwanza and Mcpherson’s high-calibre banter, pop-culture savvy and in-depth discussion on Black issues has made their weekly podcast Black Scot Pod a must-listen. Started during lockdown, it hit its stride this year thanks to its consistently intelligent, regularly hilarious patter. (KF)

17 JACK LOWDEN 

The Dunkirk star has been prominent on our televisions of late, opposite Gary Oldman in spy drama Slow Horses, but it was his role as war poet Siegfried Sassoon in Terence Davies’ film drama Benediction that won him a BAFTA Scotland nomination. (EH)

16 PAUL & CHRIS CHARALAMBOUS 

Following years of near-stardom with Cail Bruich, the Charalambous brothers’ wee empire has fully bloomed. After opening their wine bar Brett, then bagging a Michelin star in 2021 (retained this year) at Cail Bruich with head chef Lorna McNee, they revitalised Epicures in Hyndland and opened Shucks earlier this year. (JT)

15 CHRISTOPHER HAMPSON 

Scottish Ballet’s artistic director continues to lead with astute flair and vision. This year, the company staged Kenneth MacMillan’s hot and steamy The Scandal At Mayerling, commissioned Jess & Morgs’ ground-breaking Coppélia, and scooped Best Dance Film for Starstruck at the 2022 National Dance Awards. (KA)

14 CORA BISSETT 

Bissett proved the pandemic hadn’t blunted her directorial edge when she helped turn Peter Mullan’s 1998 film Orphans into a stage smash. Witty, outrageous and tear-jerking, this National Theatre Of Scotland production is the latest in a string of theatrical triumphs under Bissett’s belt. (KA)

13 NICK STEWART

No stranger to this list, Sneaky Pete’s head honcho has continued to lead Edinburgh’s independent music scene through the toughest of times. Aside from giving bands and DJs of the future a platform to perform, Sneaky Pete’s also took over the incredible warehouse space in the Fruitmarket to bring us the Installation series. (MM) 

12 PAUL HIGGINS

Between The Meaning Of Zong and This Is Memorial Device (a special residency at the Edinburgh Book Festival), Paul Higgins‘ performances demonstrate the potential of theatre to combine rich characterisation and an urgent commentary on contemporary issues, whether through the legacy of slavery or (fictional) Scottish bands. (GKV)

11 ANDREW FLEMING-BROWN 

No resting on laurels for the founder and managing director of SWG3. In addition to securing funding to further develop the former Customs & Excise bonded warehouse and environs into a cultural district with support for local artists, Fleming-Brown commissioned Bodyheat, a quirky renewable energy system to store heat generated by the venue’s sweaty clubbers. (FS)

10 ADURA ONASHILE

Onashile has been making waves as an actor, director and writer for some time now, but no one who saw her performance as Medea in the NTS production at the Edinburgh International Festival will ever forget it. (LR) 

9 DOUGLAS STUART 

Following a Booker Prize-winning debut novel can’t be easy, but Stuart handled that pressure with literary aplomb, as Young Mungo raked in the plaudits and earned him a key gig at the Edinburgh Book Festival where he was interviewed by Val McDermid. Next up is his own adaptation of Shuggie Bain for the BBC. (BD)

8 MARJOLEIN ROBERTSON

This Shetland-born comedian is on the up, from delivering a successful Fringe run with her show Thank God Fish Don’t Have Hands to being a BBC New Comedy Award finalist. Throw in a Scots Speaker Of The Year Award for good measure and you can begin to understand the splash she’s made in 2022. (MM)

7 ALBERTA WHITTLE

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6 CHARLOTTE WELLS

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5 BEMZ

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4 FERGUS MCCREADIE

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3 ISOBEL MCARTHUR

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2 NICOLA BENEDETTI

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1 NCUTI GATWA

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The List's Hot 100 was announced on 1 December in the December/January issue, available now.