Beyoncé won the “Biggest Pop Stars of the 21st Century” ranking prepared by the music magazine “Billboard”. The remaining places on the podium were taken by Taylor Swift and Rihanna. This order caused considerable controversy among the artists' fans. The 25 honored singers also included Britney Spears, Eminem, Adele, Ed Sheeran and Miley Cyrus.
Billboard hailed Beyoncé as “The Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century.” Since August, the magazine has been successively revealing the names of the winners of subsequent positions in its ranking of the 25 best pop artists of the last 25 years. Gradually he indicated, among others: on Miley Cyrus, Eminem, Britney Spears or Lady Gaga. After he placed Rihanna in third place, it became obvious that the fight for victory would be between Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
When Taylor Swift was ranked second on Tuesday, the Internet went into an uproar. In the comments posted under the “Billboard” post on Instagram, the artist's fans expressed their outrage. “Taylor deserved to win”, “I was convinced she would win”, “she deserved first place” – they wrote. Some also drew attention to the number of different records she had achieved. They argued that “Taylor beats Beyoncé in every numerical category” and her results “speak for themselves.”
“Billboard” justifies Beyoncé's choice
Billboard responded to this argument, explaining that “although Taylor Swift is the biggest star of the century in terms of numbers,” the magazine's editors decided to put Beyoncé in first place because of her “25 years of influence” on the shape of pop music. . “Few 21st century artists can compare to (Beyoncé) when it comes to (…) commercial success, stage prowess, critical acclaim and accolades, industry influence or number of iconic cultural events, and absolutely no one can match her equal when it comes to all of them,” said the magazine.
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BeyonceMichael Kovac/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
“Billboard” also added that what he appreciates most about the star is his consistency. “(Beyoncé) was still a teenager supported by her father when 'Say My Name' hit No. 1 on the charts, and a 42-year-old, married mother of three when she released 'Texas Hold 'Em.' There was exactly zero in between. (…) periods of failure or hiding in the shadows. There were no obvious mistakes. (…) There were only varying degrees of success,” said the magazine's editors.
There are 25 artists on the Billboard list
In addition to Beyoncé and Taylor Swift ranked 1st and 2nd, Billboard also rated Rihanna highly. The Barbadian took 3rd place in the magazine's ranking of “The Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century”. Next came Drake and Lady Gaga. Also in the top ten were: Britney Spears, Kanye WestJustin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Adele.
Place 11 went to Usher. Next came Eminem. Nicki Minaj was ranked behind him. The top twenty also included: Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Jay-Z, Shakira, The Weeknd, the band BTS and Bruno Mars. The last five places on the list went to Lil Wayne, One Direction, Bad Bunny, Ed Sheeran and Katy Perry. The magazine also prepared a list of 25 artists who, although not included in the main ranking, are worth mentioning. They included: 50 Cent, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez and P!nk.
Main photo source: Doug Peters/PAP/EPA, DFree/Shutterstock