Billboard’s slow rollout of its Top Pop Stars of the 21st Century sparked controversy among fans last week when it gave the number two place to Taylor Swift, whom many Swifties believed deserved the top spot over Beyoncé.
Billboard writer Hannah Dailey, anticipating such a reaction from the famously intense fanbase, emphasised that Swift’s late start – she crossed over into pop stardom in late 2008, just two years after debuting in country – made her second-place finish all the more impressive. Beyoncé, by comparison, has been at the top of the pop game since Destiny’s Child’s first single charted in 1997.
Despite these different trajectories as well as their divergent sounds and aesthetics, the two singers have been pitted against each other for the better part of two decades. Who could forget Kanye West jumping on stage to interrupt then 19-year-old Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV VMAs, in order to proclaim that Beyoncé had the better video? (When Beyoncé went on to win Video of the Year for “Single Ladies,” she invited Swift back up to finish her speech – emphasising the amity between the two leading women of pop.)
Rounding out the top 10 are Rihanna, Drake, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Adele. The complete top 25 list can be found at Billboard, along with a number of honourable mentions.
[See more: Calling all Swifties: Taylor Swift’s ‘Songbook Trail’ exhibition now open at the London V&A]
While the Billboard announcement of Beyoncé’s no. 1 spot has yet to be formally made, it’s no mystery why the 43-year-old would take the crown. The magazine previously named her Greatest Pop Star of the Year in 2003, for her solo debut Dangerously in Love which became one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century, and again in 2014, after the singer dropped her eponymous fifth studio album on an unsuspecting public in December 2013. The groundbreaking album sold over 5 million copies and drew widespread critical acclaim, ranking 81st in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2020.
In August 2022, she became the first artist in history to chart simultaneously at #1 on 23 different Billboard charts, driven by Renaissance and its lead single “Break My Soul”. Beyoncé doesn’t hurt for accolades either, as the most awarded artist in Grammy history with 32 wins and 99 nominations, she is also the most awarded artist of the BET Awards, NAACP Image Awards, Soul Train Awards and MTV VMAs – the last of which she shares with Swift at 30 each. She’s also broken some big records as a touring artist, as the only female act with the most tours (4) grossing over US$200 million each, as well as being the first touring artist in history to gross over US$100 million in three separate calendar months.
When NPR crowned Beyoncé the Most Influential Woman Musician of the 21st century in 2018, contributors praised her willingness to speak out, her power as a role model for young Black girls and her ability to “expand our definition of what a musician can be.”
Said one: “Beyoncé is a rare artist who can mediate commercial and critical sensibilities with style and ease. Easily one of the greatest legitimate vocalists to grace the radio, Bey is an absolute force to be reckoned with and a yardstick against which to measure the artistic and commercial viability of her peers. A queen indeed.”
