Is Taylor Swift the only major pop artist to peak in her 30s and not 20s?

[ChicaSkas 22,513]

6 hours ago, HiddenWeirdo said:

Is there no fan page for Taylor Swift fans? I don't hate her, but there is at least one new thread about her every day on ggd. 

We are working on that. 

[Ziggy 11,023]

Mmmm I’d argue beyonces peak has been her 30s - 40s. She’s never had more clout and power and acclaim than 2013 onwards.

Also will add bjork’s most acclaimed albums (Homogenic and vespertine and special mention for Medúlla, also acclaimed) were in her 30s.

janet Jackson released velvet rope at 31 so she also was still skating hard.

I actually think there’s a ton of precedent for pop stars killing it in their 30s when they’re REALLY good at their ****.

[Monstermilo 4,042]

plenty of others have

 

[Monstermilo 4,042]

cher, madonna, beyonce, kylie, tina turner, whitney houston was 30 when the bodyguard literally took over the world and sold 45 million copies, something NONE of our faves will ever be able to do, and she did that when people actually had to go out ands buy albums and records, and not just download spotify and pay 11 bucks to stream the ish out of an album...... mariah repeaked in her 30s with emancipation of MIMI

 

[LadyxGaGa 1,631]

i think mariah carey realeased TEOM in her 30’s and that was a smash album with a comeback so i think ur answer is yes uwu 

[RAMROD 106,644]

Some of the replies here are mentioning repeak of an artist, which is different than what what was asked in OP 

[Economy 48,452]

18 hours ago, 4th Street said:

No actually, the height of Madonna's career was from 1989 to 1991 when she was in her early 30s. This is the one example I can think of off the top of my head and I am sure there are others.

I was thinking of Madonna too who was in her 30s, but she was definitely younger than Taylor is now

[Monstermilo 4,042]

4 hours ago, RAMROD said:

Some of the replies here are mentioning repeak of an artist, which is different than what what was asked in OP 

this isnt taylors peak, in terms of musical relevance she had one hit from midnights.... she was more musically relevant with you belong with me or with her 1989 era............. anti hero isnt as impactful as her older songs...... so idk where yall are thinking shes bigger now - shes a bigger touring force now, but she was much bigger musically with previous eras LOL, youre not gonna tell me anti hero is going to be remembered over you belong with me lol

[StrawberryBlond 14,442]

I was a teenager when Nelly Furtado (28), Fergie (31) and Gwen Stefani (35) had a chokehold on the charts with their most successful albums (really surprised no one's mentioned them thus far). They stood out at the time as they were older and it seemed like a shift was happening in how we looked at the age of popstars but then it immediately went straight into the youth market dominating again not long after their reign. Then, up until very recently, the overwhelming take on things was that you were past it if you were a female popstar over the age of 30 and your age was in correlation to where your single would fall on the charts, which I thought was so sad. Now we've seen a slew of older women get hits, some much older than 30, so I take it as a positive sign that the pendulum is swinging again. Let's enjoy it while it lasts. 

[darkgaga 4,098]

What I am mainly wondering is about what Taylor is gonna do after this? How can she get even bigger. She did a tour for a her eras, kinda greatest hits tour. Re-recorded her previous albums by the end. And then? To me it almost like this is her big Farewell tour or something

[MonsterBall13 1,213]

Mariah at 36 with emancipation of Mimi 

[Zaskar 3,829]

14 hours ago, RAMROD said:

Some of the replies here are mentioning repeak of an artist, which is different than what what was asked in OP 

In that case, Miss Jackson is the best example. From Control (16 yrs) to All for You (35 yrs) she had constant hit eras including Rhythm Nation 1814 (23 yrs) janet. (27 yrs), The Velvet Rope (31 yrs).

She couldn't maintain after All for You (no) thanks to Mr. Timberlake, but a career sustaining for 15 years with all peaks and no valleys in an achievement itself.

[AyeshaErotica 1,561]

21 hours ago, darkgaga said:

And then? To me it almost like this is her big Farewell tour or something

Sometimes I feel the same - maybe she does so many things right now because she plans to go on a hiatus later and have babies in some years? we will see in future.

21 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

I was a teenager when Nelly Furtado (28), Fergie (31) and Gwen Stefani (35) had a chokehold on the charts with their most successful albums.

[...]  if you were a female popstar over the age of 30 [...] your single would fall on the charts [...] a positive sign that the pendulum is swinging again.

I bought her (Furtado) Best of album with Night is Young a decade ago. All Good Things had somehow a sadness and nostalgia attached to it like Summertime Sadness, a song evoking a mixture of feelings. For some time during their careers, Nelly Furtado and Lana Del Ray had a similar vibe before evolving into different directions. Btw, Nelly F. reminds me of @Economy, both are of Portuguese ancestry who live in Canada.

I also think it is a positive development that the age of 30 is no more a deadline and that in the western world it is even normal to be around 30+ now as a major female pop star. Kim Petras also has gotten very big in her late 20s and 30 doesn't seem like a barrier for her anymore at all. Like it continues and that's great. I think that established pop stars have an advantage in the times of internet: they have a catalogue of songs and they can draw from their past glory and capitalize on it, which is an advantage to gain loyal fans but also it is more guaranteed single releases gain more attention. In before-internet times, people had to buy albums which costs money...so they couldn't infinitely spend their money on many albums, limiting their choice and radio stations had to make room free for new songs. People now can discover on Youtube catalogues from historic pop stars, the hits draw them to lesser known songs, and they become a fan and decide how much they want to spend on their faves.I think the YT algorithm benefits older stars as it gives a bonus to already-famous-and-liked videos, which increases their chance to be even more often seen and thus more often recommended by the algorithm, while totally new artists literally start at 0, having a competition disadvantage, something that didnt exist, when radio stations decided so much of the fate of a singer. So I think the change is less due to society valueing 30+ more, rather it is a consequence on the Matthew effect:

For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

— Matthew 25:29, RSV.

I tell you, that to every one who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

— Luke 19:26, RSV.

Thus, those who already are famous have better chances to remain somehow famous and unkown people will remain unknown because internet is enforcing the Matthew effect.

 

On the other hand, we experience in South Korea that 30  remains a strong barrier and deadline. Only a handful of active girl bands is older than 30 in SK, many disband before 30.