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Billboard's Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century

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"The Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century" is a ranked list of the 25 most important and impactful popular music artists of the 21st century, compiled by Billboard in 2024. The list is based on a variety of factors, such as cultural importance, industry influence and overall omnipresence over the first 25 years of the century.

American singer-songwriter Beyonce is named No. 1 Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century.

History

American music magazine Billboard had previously named the greatest pop star of every year since 1981, with essay tributes for each artist. In 2024, to mark the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, Billboard decided to make a list of the artists who have defined popular culture, music and stardom, and been the "most important and most impactful" over the past 25 years.

Billboard launched the project in on August 14, 2024, releasing a list of 25 honorable mentions. From August to December, Billboard incrementally rolled out the full ranked list. For each artist, an essay was released recapping their careers and explaining why they have "exemplified pop greatness" over the period, as well as podcast and video discussions of the chosen stars’ careers and legacies.

Criteria

The Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century list is not mathematically determined using chart position, streams or sales numbers. The ranking is determined using factors such as acclaimed works, music videos, live performances, social media presence, cultural importance, industry influence and overall omnipresence. These factors are measured over all 25 years of the century so far.

List

The full ranked list of the 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st century are as follows:

  1. Beyoncé
  2. Taylor Swift
  3. Rihanna
  4. Drake
  5. Lady Gaga
  6. Britney Spears
  7. Kanye West
  8. Justin Bieber
  9. Ariana Grande
  10. Adele
  11. Usher
  12. Eminem
  13. Nicki Minaj
  14. Justin Timberlake
  15. Miley Cyrus
  16. Jay-Z
  17. Shakira
  18. The Weeknd
  19. BTS
  20. Bruno Mars
  21. Lil Wayne
  22. One Direction
  23. Bad Bunny
  24. Ed Sheeran
  25. Katy Perry

Honorable mentions

The 26-50th greatest pop stars on the 21st century were listed alphabetically as honorable mentions.

Controversy

Billboard's ranking of certain artists was met with some criticism, including:

  • After American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift was placed at number 2 on the list, her fans, Swifties, were accused of sending racial abuse to Beyoncé, the assumed number-one pick. The hashtag #SwiftieRacism later trended on X, with the Swifties facing backlash for racist behavior in the past.
  • Swifties also criticized Billboard for including a clip from Kanye West's 2016 music video for "Famous", which included a nude wax figure resembling Swift, in a tribute video. In response, Billboard removed the clip and apologized on social media.
  • After Canadian singer Justin Bieber was placed at number 8 on the list, his wife, American model Hailey Bieber, commented on Instagram: "Billboard is a fucking joke as per usual!"
  • Canadian singer-songwriter The Weeknd (number 18) criticized the omission of Lana Del Rey, who was included as an honorable mention, posting on X: "Where is Lana on that billboard's greatest pop star list?"

References

  1. ^ Unterberger, Andrew (2024-08-14). "The 25 Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century: Honorable Mentions". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
  2. Unterberger, Andrew (2024-10-16). "Best Pop Singers, Rappers & Groups of 21st Century". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
  3. Bond, Nick (2024-11-27). "Winners and losers in ranking of greatest pop stars of the 21st century". news.com.au.
  4. "Swiftie racism against Beyoncé after Billboard ranking controversy, #SwiftieRacism trends on X". The Express Tribune. 2024-11-29. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
  5. Jennn, London (2024-11-28). "Beyoncé's Beehive Swarms Racist Taylor Swift Fans Over Top Pop Nod". AllHipHop. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
  6. "Taylor Swift fans enraged as Billboard uses Kanye's 'Famous' naked clip in her tribute video; apology issued". The Economic Times. 2024-11-28. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
  7. Craighead, Olivia (2024-11-22). "Hailey Bieber Is Defending Justin's Honor in the Comments". The Cut. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
  8. Simpson, Will (2024-11-22). ""Where is Lana?": The Weeknd is miffed at Del Rey's absence from Billboard's Greatest Pop Stars of the Century list". MusicRadar. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
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