Billboard: Beyonce is the greatest popstar of the 21st century

Apologies for the bad spacing:

The Top 10

1. Beyonce

2. Taylor Swift

3. Rihanna

4. Drake

5. Lady Gaga

6. Britney Spears

7. Kanye West

8. Justin Bieber

9. Ariana Grande

10. Adele

Christina Aguilera has thoughts about this, I imagine.

Old Kanye is one of my favorite artists but Usher needs to be in that spot. Usher has had more universal pop hits along with solid album sales than Ye Kanye only has 3 number one hits on Billboard proper. Hell Eminem could actually go on his spot.

Gaga should not be number 5. Pop music wise, Gaga was a fad with a few one off hit singles since circa 2012. I said what I said and I think she is talented.

Decent list. I would put Gaga just ahead of Rihanna and both of them ahead of Drake.

Rihanna had bigger hits, but Gaga sold more albums and had more impact on music culture during her peak.

I also think Kanye should be higher based on sales and impact, but he's just too crazy to be any higher on the list I suppose.

Of the 21st century?

The 21st century has barely begun...

R5 No. Yes Gaga sold more traditional albums with the Fame and Fame Monster but that does not compensate for Rihanna’s glorious nearly 20 year run in the pop world. She also sold well as well, nearly 2 dozen number one hits, and several streaming records broken. Gaga wasn’t selling Adele type numbers. Rihanna is the goddam Janet Jackson of the 21 st century, just more striking and a better body and voice. But success wise you can compare her to Janet. Gaga is not close to Janet or Madonna.

Christ.

R6 The end of western civilization coming.

Well it’s confusing because if Kanye and Drake are on the list, that means Eminem should be included.

“Marshall Mathers LP” is at 32 million worldwide. I think “Encore” and “The Eminem Show” sold 20 million.

So it’s not a good list without him imo.

I just looked it up. Eminem’s album sales are gigantic. Way bigger than half of this list.

Here is the rest of the list:

11. Usher

12. Eminem

13. Nicki Minaj

14. Justin Timberlake

15. Miley Cyrus

16. Jay-Z

17. Shakira

18. The Weeknd

19. BTS

20. Buno Mars

21. Lil Wayne

22. One Direction

23. Bad Bunny

24. Ed Sheeran

25. Katy Perry

Has anyone checked on Madonna?

Seriously! Lourdes, honey, call your mom!

Shakira? She had 4 top 10 songs in the US in 20 years. I know she's somehow a huge Latin star, but that's more niche.

This list looks pretty accurate - considering we're only 25% through the century.

I'll never understand Drake's popularity - just went through his top songs - they're all the same.

[quote]The 21st century has barely begun...

In less than a month, we'll be a QUARTER of the way through.

I think Eminem's biggest albums came in the 90s, right?

But he should be higher regardless.

R7, Rihanna's great. I have nothing against her. She does have a ton of huge songs. But, to me, she never had the impact/gravitas Gaga had. Rihanna herself wasn't "event watching" the way Gaga was and probably could be again. Gaga is just more interesting. Also, Rihanna quit releasing music nearly a decade ago.

It's similar to Taylor v Bey. Taylor has generally out sold Beyonce by all metrics, but she doesn't have the impact/gravitas that Bey has. Bey just feels bigger and more important. I feel the same way about Gaga over Rihanna.

But I don't think putting Rihanna ahead of Gaga (or Taylor ahead of Bey) is wrong either. They are, without question, the four biggest female pop stars of the 21st century in whatever order people place them.

I was just about to post that, R16. Y2K may not feel like a long time ago, but it really was.

Does Lana Del Rey count as pop? Because if she does, she should really be on the list.

If Christina Aguilera had kept up the standard she set with Stripped, she'd deserve a place as well. Unfortunately, her other albums are patchy.

Gaga was interesting for a hot minute, but quickly cycled through her bag of tricks. I'd love to hear what impact you think she's had on music or culture, however.

I think they got the top 5 right but the order is open for debate. And what really are they basing the list from? Anyway, I think Taylor beats Beyonce in any metrics.

R17 Eminem only had one album in the 90s. Marshall Mathers came out in 2000, The Eminem Show came out in 2002 and Encore came out in 2004,

Switch Miley & Katy. Lose Shakira and replace her with Pink or Gwen or Christina

Proud to say I don't own any music from the top 10. They are all shitty.

Gwen from Hee-Haw?

R16

There are 76 years left in the century. Most of these people will be completely forgotten by then and AI musicians will have taken over.

I like BTS!

R22 oh wow. Then that makes zero sense. Eminem is the biggest rapper of all time sales wise. And impact wise. Everyone knows him.

How much do Jay-Zee and BehOunce pay oublications to list her as no. 1? It's a nonsensical list in the year 2024, yet that Cunt can go around saying she's no. 1, Good Lord these celebs are so insecure.

Her latest country album is out of the Top 100 on Billboard and she's not in the Top 100 artists streamed on Spotify.

The Beyonce propaganda is tiring....

Ha! The only one of all 25 that I've listened to more than once is Britney, because I watched MTV (it was a cable channel that showed music videos back in the olden days. And, her first single and album were released in the 20th century, so there's that). Some I've never even listened to (Ed Sheeran, BTS, Kanye). I like what I like, you like what you like, but don't tell me I should like what you like.

How many hits has Beyonce actually had?

R32 About 50 top 20 hits. 9 number ones.

OMG My local noon news had the Beyonce story as the no. 2 news item after the murder of the United Health guy. The female news anchor told the weather guy 'I agree and have all her albums!' - PATHETIC!!!!

R33, seriously???? I can't name any of them

R35 well sucks to suck.

R34 where do you live.

Billboard counts song streaming nowadays. People tend to stream entire albums, so it's ridiculous when all the top ten songs are from one album

Whatabout YouTube views? Count for anything?

R35, you're not alone.

How come Linkin Park didn't make the list? And don't say because it's only for pop music, and they are rap/rock, when you have rappers Eminem, Kanye, Drake etc. Also, was'n Lana Del Rey huge for the last 10-15 years?

And isn't Pink bigger than Miley Cyrus or whoever this Bad Bunny guy is?

Beyonce. LOL!

That girl has quite the publicity machine behind her, doesn't she?

Shows how pop has collapsed in the 21st century. Beyoncé peaked about 10: years ago and Taylor has nowhere to go but down.

R44 to be fair to Taylor, she's probably the biggest pop star since Madonna. So of course she has no where to go but down. But you have to give it to her: In a time when monoculture is dead, she somehow found a way to resurrect it for a few years.

And I have no real love for her or her music. I think I like maybe two songs (Exile and Blank Space come to mind).

As for Beyonce, she is just famous for being famous at this point. Her songs come and go in seconds. I also think she suffers more from the media deification of her than anything else. It's so easy to hate someone that we're forced to think is a goddess. We know she is very much not. But we must obey and bend the knee. It's annoying.

So much bland and unlistenable LCD.

R41 Lana Del Rey has never had a top 10 hit.

Beyoncé’s music has only gotten better since her top 40 days. And she still has hits but they just aren’t ubiquitous because she has so many signature songs that they still play. Bday was a good album. But her first truly great album was self titled and they’ve only gotten better since then. She is an album artist now. Almost like a Bruce Springsteen or Erykah Badu.

Well, with 3/4 of a century to go, I think I'll reserve judgment.

1. Jojo Siwa 2. JoJo Siwa 3. JoJo Siwa 4. JoJo Siwa 5. JoJo Siwa 6. JoJo Siwa 7. JoJo Siwa 8. JoJo Siwa 9. JoJo Siwa 10. JoJo Siwa

R47 But still, everyone knows at least 5 Lana's songs, even if they don't listen to her. Who the hell knows even a one song from Bad Bunny, The Weekend, Lil Wayne and a few more if these "artists"? I don't even know how these people look.

Or is this just the most successful stars of the 21st century, the ones that made the most money? I thought it was the most influential ones. If it's the former, shouldn't Linkin Park be on the list? I'm sure they've sold a lot more albums then most of these people. Or even The Beatles? I'm sure they are still among best selling artists

More of America knows those artists catalogue than Lana Del Rey. Where you live. In the village?

R51 I'll give you Bad Bunny (because of the Spanish) and Lil Wayne (because it's rap), but The Weeknd has arguably some of the biggest pop songs of all time and definitely some of the biggest songs of the last 15 years.

Blinding Lights and Save Your Tears, in particular, were everywhere. Absolutely everywhere.

Rihanna doesn't give a fuck about some twat on DL, as she counts her fucking BILLIONS from her fashion line, it's more than silly music now.

Lana Del Rey songs are not more known than Lil Wayne or Bad Bunny. Just because you like them and they are indie artists, they just aren’t. And I like a few of her songs especially summertime sadness. She doesn’t get radio play, never had a number one hit, not one of the top streamers, album sales were never astronomical. By any metric her songs are not more well known.

r51 "everyone knows at least 5 Lana's songs"

BWA HA HA HA. No.

R52 Europe. More well known than Linkin Park??

R55 Lana Del Rey isn't indie.

R56 I meant, have heard at least a few of hers songs

Okay, it makes sense if this is only focused on the US. Cause there's is no way that more than half of these people would sell more tickets than Pink. And that's in 2024. Not Pink at her height.

Yes R13!

The Queen of Pop, Madonna, is still the highest selling female music artist of all time and has held the title for 4 decades now.

She is the 5th highest music artist of all time with The Beatles (#1), Michael Jackson(#2), Elvis Presley(#3) and Elton John(#4) ahead of her.

BOO!

Most people only know Lana Del Ray for giving the worst performance ever on SNL.

Beyoncé about to be taken down by her husband’s underage rape scandal.

If true - has she got anything to do with it R64? Did it happen while they were together?

R63 Lana Del Rey songs are played everywhere. Everyone under the age of 40 in the western world has heard Summertime Saddens, Video Games or Bien to Die. I honestly don't know a single Bad Bunny (?) or Weekend song.

*Sadness

R63 no they most certainly weren’t together and the shit might not even be true. Anyone can make up claims about people who are now billionaires after not saying nothing for the past year 20 years. I want to see some corroborating evidence. Truth always prevails. If it is true, the victim deserves every penny and he is trash.

R66 LOL.

Lana Del Ray:

0 #1 hits

2 top 10 hits

Bad Bunny:

1 #1 hit

12 top 10 hits

R69 I right. personally like Solange and Maxwell. I would never pretend they are more popular than Ed Sheeran or Sabrina Carpenter.

Right. I*

R69 Yet, if you stopped a random person on the street and asked them if they know any songs by this Bunny person I am sure 99.8% of them couldn't name one. Unlike Lana. Also, there's no way he is more famous or successful in the last 25 years than Linkin Park. Unless you the USA is a whole different planet than the rest of the world

Oh god. We have a Lanabot 😂 . It’s trolling at this point; he’s funny though. There is a whole swath of the population under 40 who knows Bad Bunny songs. I doubt many of any age in the general public can name a Lana Del Rey song.

That and quarter will get you a cup of coffee.

#5 is a joke. Big for 2/ 3 years then hit and miss. She's nowhere near the top 10. To ignore Eminem, and others, over her?

Madonna should be top 20. Worldwide, she had huge, gargantuan years in 2000/2001 and 2005/06, and 2008. She also had some of the biggest tours in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008- 09, 2012, 2016.

I would say Mariah got cheated out of the top 20, but touring wise she was a disaster.

r66 Bless your heart

r72 "stopped a random person on the street and asked them if they know any songs by this Bunny person I am sure 99.8% of them couldn't name one. Unlike Lana"

100% incorrect. 98% of random people on the street could not at all name a Lana song. Seriously - you are way out of touch. I'm 38, and quite into music. I can't name a single one.

Come 2094, not a single one of them will make the list.

Christina Aguilera should absolutely be on this list. Genie In A Bottle came out in late June 1999, and the bulk of her first album/era (which is 9x platinum) took place in 2000. Not to mention "Lady Marmalade," "Stripped," or "Back to Basics" all being big records. Hell, "Burlesque" even had a bit of a resurgence recently!

R78 You never heard Video Games or Born to Die. Yeah, I call bullshit on that one. And you can name a song/s by this Bunny character, whatever his name is?

Bruno Mars deserves to be in the top 5 for real for real.

R82 No. Top 20 is a stretch

r81 I'm 100% sincere - but to clarify, I cannot name a single Bunny song, either. I think you might be mixing up several posters here.

Who's Bunny? Never heard of her.

R83 yea right. We are in 2024 now. Since 2009 Bruno Mars has successfully put out number one albums, hit albums, Grammy award winning albums across all genres, and super successful world tours. I would say he actually has the most diverse fanbase and most well liked by the general public. He might not have the most fans but a lot of these gals are polarizing amongst the general public. He also has been a successful songwriter and producer for other artists. Hell if not for the first decade when Bey just dominated as the princess of pop r&b, he would be number one.

Ladies and gentlemen of DL, introducing Lana Del Ray, the greatest performer of the 21st century:

Beyonce is a no talent skank and her hubby is a pedo.

R88 I love it when Solange comes to DL.

I love it when a crazy comes to DL with no facts to back up their claims 😂.

R87 Kill it with fire!