Beyoncé Crowned Billboards’s Greatest Pop Star Of The 21st Century

December 4, 2024

Beyoncé RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR - Los Angeles

Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty

World stop! Carry on…

Billboard has crowned Beyonce the greatest pop star of the 21st century, and we are honestly not surprised.

Over the last several months, Billboard has been gradually unveiling its rankings and announced on Tuesday that Queen Bey secured the top spot on its list of 25 greatest pop stars.

“Since late August, we’ve been rolling out our picks for the artists who have most defined pop stardom for the last 25 years,” Billboard said. While noting the leading pick, the music and entertainment magazine said, “The reasons why Beyoncé captured the top spot on our list were beyond numerous — ranging from her 25 years of timeless albums and singles, to her incalculable industry impact and influence on other artists, to her peerless raw talents as a singer and performer. But perhaps the most important of all was her singular ability to create moments: indelible pieces of pop culture history that she has generated over the course of her quarter century of superstardom, which are first and foremost all quintessentially Beyoncé.”

The songstress was previously named Billboard’s Greatest Pop Star of the Year in 2003 and 2014. Beyoncé beat out Taylor Swift, who was named second greatest followed by Rihanna at number three, Drake at number four, Lady Gaga at number five, and Britney Spears at number six. Jay-Z also landed a spot and was ranked No. 16 on the list.

Beyoncé, who is already the most-decorated Grammy artist in history with a total of 32 wins, recently became the most Grammy-nominated artist of all time after receiving 11 nominations at this year’s award show for her acclaimed album, “Cowboy Carter.” She now has a total of 99 nominations throughout her career. Previously, she was tied with her husband at 88.

Since her debut, she has become one of the best-selling musicians of all time and racked up a list of accolades. In the 2000s and 2010s, she was deemed artist of the decade by many outlets and recognized as the Recording Industry Association of America’s top certified artist of the decade in the 2010s.