#4 Drake: Billboard's The 25 Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century

[ThisGuyTony 28,959]

This list is making me nervous for Gaga cause there’s still:

Beyoncé, Taylor, Britney, Post Malone, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Pink, Drake, Ariana and who knows if Madonna (chart success thru 2008 and a touring force) and Mariah (chart success thru 2008 and recurrent AIWFCIY chart success) count.  
And who knows who else Billboard might consider  

[James Gibson 3,438]

3 hours ago, ThisGuyTony said:

This list is making me nervous for Gaga cause there’s still:

Beyoncé, Taylor, Britney, Post Malone, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Pink, Drake, Ariana and who knows if Madonna (chart success thru 2008 and a touring force) and Mariah (chart success thru 2008 and recurrent AIWFCIY chart success) count.  
And who knows who else Billboard might consider  

The Weeknd and Post were already listed.

Then you have 9 very strong contenders with Gaga (I'd add Rihanna as the 10th). I think she's safely in but hopefully in the top 5.

[Teletubby 133,315]

[LateToCult 39,594]

On 10/8/2024 at 12:49 PM, ThisGuyTony said:

This list is making me nervous for Gaga cause there’s still:

Beyoncé, Taylor, Britney, Post Malone, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Pink, Drake, Ariana and who knows if Madonna (chart success thru 2008 and a touring force) and Mariah (chart success thru 2008 and recurrent AIWFCIY chart success) count.  
And who knows who else Billboard might consider  

Pink and Post didn’t make the cut. At this rate I don’t think Madonna did either. 

[Finneas 791]

Gaga will be in #7 or #8 place

[hollywood459 11]

There's also a podcast from the Billboard team for this list (thats a really fun listen btw) , and the guys say in the first ep that Madonna is not on the list.

[LateToCult 39,594]

16 minutes ago, hollywood459 said:

There's also a podcast from the Billboard team for this list (thats a really fun listen btw) , and the guys say in the first ep that Madonna is not on the list.

That’s fair tbh. Madonna’s strongest decade was the 90s. Her presence was strong at the very beginning of the 2000s but it really ended with confessions. 
 

I think the rest of the list will look like this:

#9 Ariana Grande

#8 Lady Gaga

#7 Justin Bieber

#6 Kanye West

#5 Britney Spears

#4 Beyonce 

#3 Rihanna

#2 Drake

#1 Taylor Swift

Nvm. Forgot Abel was already named.

I don’t think Taylor has the #1 on lock though. Given how Beyonce has seen success throughout the entirety of the century, Rihanna has practically lived at the top of the Hot100, and Drake has exploded in the last decade, I think she has some tough competition. I can see any one of them at #1.

Edited October 15 by LateToCult

[Radio Ga Ga 5,648]

On 10/8/2024 at 11:07 AM, datlastfam said:

Gaga will be no. 7 in honour of her releasing LG7 

My prediction will be

1. Taylor Swift

2. Beyonce

3. Drake

4. Justin Bieber

5. Rihanna

6. Britney Spears

7. Lady Gaga

8. Madonna

9. Ariana Grande

10. Adele

 

Not mentioned but I think deserved top 15 - Mariah, Black Eyed Peas, Kanye, wtf Billboard 

Agree with the prediction! I would swap out Madonna with Kanye though 
hes way too influential to not be included (despite being extremely problematic) Madonna most likely isn’t included. She’s had great achievements this century but not enough to beat out more current artists

[nATAH 41,992]

Gaga TOP 10?!

[datlastfam 4,686]

1 minute ago, Radio Gaga said:

Agree with the prediction! I would swap out Madonna with Kanye though 
hes way too influential to not be included (despite being extremely problematic) Madonna most likely isn’t included. She’s had great achievements this century but not enough to beat out more current artists

Yup, in terms of billboard charting Kanye wins obviously. If they didnt include Mariah then obviously they wont include Madonna as well. I can see that Kanye is coming next at #9 and Ariana right after at #8. My prediction Adele at no.10 is right though so we'll see 

[Ladymars 2,949]

Hoping Gaga to be top 5

[James Gibson 3,438]

15 minutes ago, LateToCult said:

That’s fair tbh. Madonna’s strongest decade was the 90s. Her presence was strong at the very beginning of the 2000s but it really ended with confessions. 
 

I think the rest of the list will look like this:

#9 Ariana Grande

#8 Lady Gaga

#7 Justin Bieber

#6 Kanye West

#5 Britney Spears

#4 Beyonce 

#3 Rihanna

#2 Drake

#1 Taylor Swift

Nvm. Forgot Abel was already named.

I don’t think Taylor has the #1 on lock though. Given how Beyonce has seen success throughout the entirety of the century, Rihanna has practically lived at the top of the Hot100, and Drake has exploded in the last decade, I think she has some tough competition. I can see any one of them at #1.

You seem pretty spot on tho sometimes i have trouble seeing Bieber top 10 when someone like The Weeknd didnt get it but i forget how huge his peak 2010 peak was just like Gaga and he had multiple big eras ever since.

But tbh it feels kinda wrong for Adele to be "only" 10th place cause what she achieved with 21 and 25 is quite unachievable again. We will see.

[jacs vs looser 3,380]

29 minutes ago, hollywood459 said:

There's also a podcast from the Billboard team for this list (thats a really fun listen btw) , and the guys say in the first ep that Madonna is not on the list.

People seem to forget this is about the 21st century, and despite Madonna still being active and relevant, her true peak was way before.

[LateToCult 39,594]

2 minutes ago, James Gibson said:

You seem pretty spot on tho sometimes i have trouble seeing Bieber top 10 when someone like The Weeknd didnt get it but i forget how huge his peak 2010 peak was just like Gaga and he had multiple big eras ever since.

But tbh it feels kinda wrong for Adele to be "only" 10th place cause what she achieved with 21 and 25 is quite unachievable again. We will see.

I think Justin B is getting this high based on what a phenomenon he was in the middle of the tracking period and how relevant he’s managed to stay. The public still rabidly consumes his image.

I’m starting to second guess my #1 pick. It may be Beyonce. She’s seen large peaks through all of the 21st century and has received universal acclaim and recognition both from critics and the public since at least 2013 when she kinda of gained this untouchable status. Overal, I think my top 5 contenders are set in stone. Even if I got the order wrong. I don’t think Ariana deserves anything past #9 simply because her career is younger than everyone else’s. 

[A Very Gaga Holida 20,270]

On 10/8/2024 at 7:25 PM, Mister G said:

4 out of 6. Born This Way, ARTPOP, Joanne and Chromatica. I know a lot of outlets don't consider The Fame Monster as a standalone album. The Fame I think only peaked at 12 on the Hot 200 and TFM only peaked at #2. Still pretty impressive in the end because The Fame is still charting to this day. 

The Fame peaked at #2, The Fame Monster peaked at #5