Billboard Names Beyoncé #1 Pop Star of the 21st Century
Source: Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers / Getty
Taylor Swift fans, I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé has been named the top pop star of the 21st century. The 32-time Grammy winner was awarded the distinction by the music trade publication Billboard as the dominant artist of the…era.
“There are no flop eras for Bey, no periods where she disappeared for a half-decade, no clear missteps that were not immediately and emphatically course-corrected. There are only varying degrees of winning for over two decades,” Billboard said in their piece honoring her career and legacy.
Though Billboard acknowledges Swift’s dominance in sheer numbers – outpacing Beyoncé in everything but Grammy wins, the publication says the Houston-born superstar has the edge in consistent pop culture dominance from her #1 hit ‘Say My Name” with Destiny’s Child in 2000 to her historic chart-topping song “Texas Hold ‘Em” from her 2024 album Cowboy Carter.
Per Billboard, “But to understand the full scope of her impact also requires a deep knowledge of 21st century American pop music and culture, and the ways in which she has dominated it, elevated it and transformed it over the past 25 years. Few artists this period can match her in any of the most critical basic categories of pop stardom – commercial success, performance abilities, critical acclaim and accolades, industry influence, iconic cultural moments – and absolutely no one can equal her in all of them.”
As far as numbers go, Billboard’s decision recognizes Beyoncé’s 10 #1 albums including two with Destiny’s Child – Survivor and their #1’s compilation. The rest are eight solo albums that reoriented pop culture – 2013’s surprise self-titled visual album and 2016’s Lemonade, which came with an HBO film. Beyoncè is the top Grammy honoree of all time and has won 27 Billboard Awards. They say her closest peers are not even musicians but other pop culture sensations who’ve proven themselves over time, like LeBron James and Serena Williams.
Billboard recognized Beyoncé for her total impact on the culture including iconic performances, tours, social justice initiatives and her recordings, videos and movies. She performed at both of Barack Obama’s inaugurations and Kamala Harris chose her song “Freedom” for her theme music during her truncated presidential run. What they say most makes Beyoncé stand apart from her peers is her consistency over time.
“The longevity of Beyoncé remains continually awe-inspiring,” Billboard said. “In 2023, a full 20 years after her first year of being awarded Billboard’s Greatest Pop Star status, she finished No. 3 in our yearly ranking: an endurance at pop’s forefront that not even solo Michael Jackson, our Greatest Pop Star of 1983 and Bey’s closest 20th-century predecessor, can rightly claim. At a time when most of her pop peers – even the best ones – have either retired from music, faded from the limelight or simply contented themselves with recreating past glories, Beyoncé remains steadfastly committed to pushing forward. She does not chase trends or youth; even when collaborating with newer artists, she is able to meet them on common ground that does not result in either party being compromised or contorted. Instead, she chases greatness: fully realized artistic works that will add not only to her legacy, but to the culture and to the history of popular music.”
The domination continues in 2024. Queen B set a milestone no other artist has reached as the most nominated Grammy artist of all-time. She added 11 nominations this year for Cowboy Carter, for a total of 99. On Christmas Day, she’ll perform on the halftime show for Netlix’s first streaming broadcast of an NFL Christmas game when B’s native Houston Texans will face the Ravens. And, she’ll be the topic of a class at Yale University on all things Beyoncé, studying her career and impact.
In case you need a reminder, here is a compilation of Beyoncé’s top 20 live performances over the years.