We’re only 25 years into the 21st century, but Billboard decided to make a special listicle: “The Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century.” It’s just engagement-bait, but a lot of fandoms fell for it and there have been many social media arguments in recent weeks as Billboard slowly revealed their top picks. Last week, Taylor Swift was named the second greatest pop star of the century. On Tuesday, Beyonce was named as the #1 pop star. Which I agree with, and the Beyhive agrees with and most people believe that ranking makes perfect sense. Here’s part of what Billboard wrote:
The greatness of Beyoncé as a pop star is both immediately obvious on its surface and worthy of extensive exploration in its vastness. You can watch her on stage for half a minute and instantly recognize that she’s an all-timer; her inherent combination of dazzling beauty, impeccable fashion, captivating staging, otherworldly physicality and simultaneously earthy and skyscraping vocals all speaks for itself. 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. Even Taylor Swift, the lone artist who really challenged Beyoncé for the top spot on these rankings – and who does have a clear statistical lead on Bey in many key categories; more on that later – simply hasn’t been around for long enough to be able to match the expansiveness of her quarter-century of dominance.
In a debate about numbers and charts, Taylor Swift will find a way to win, just as she finds a way to keep her albums at #1 by by releasing a bajillion variants. Billboard smartly points out that giving Beyonce the top ranking is about more than just numbers, it’s about cultural dominance, artistry, and an artist challenging herself and her audience. Obviously, many (but not all) Swifties have been in meltdown mode for much of the past week. Many Swifties have had a bug up their collective ass about Beyonce, and this Billboard thing brought out their worst and most racist instincts. While Taylor hasn’t said anything on the record about any of this, a curious item did appear in Page Six:
Taylor Swift is “really happy for Beyoncé” being named the greatest pop star of the 21st century by Billboard, an insider tells Page Six.
“Taylor will always support strong female artists and thinks Beyoncé is so deserving of this honor,” our source adds. The “Karma” singer is aware her fans are upset that she was not given the top honor and is the runner-up, but she feels no self-pity, according to our source.
“Taylor appreciates all the fan support she’s received but she knows Beyoncé is a legend in the music industry and Taylor’s honored to have landed in the number two spot next to her,” our source notes. “Taylor is proud of what she’s accomplished regardless of what spot she holds.”
Page Six reached out to the global superstar’s rep, who did not immediately return our request for comment.
Billboard revealed last week that the staff ranked Swift, 34, as the second greatest pop star of the 21st century. The “Single Ladies” hitmaker, 43, took the crown Tuesday. “While Taylor Swift is the century’s biggest pop star by the numbers, Beyoncé tops our staff-chosen editorial list based on her full 25 years of influence, impact, evolution,” Billboard explained of their decision.
The Swifties beef with so many people, it’s crazy that they’re trying to start sh-t with Bey or her fandom because… Taylor and Beyonce genuinely like each other and show up for each other. Beyonce even went to the premiere of Taylor’s Eras concert film! Beyonce has invited Taylor to her parties in the past, and Taylor has consistently spoken and written about how much she loves Bey. It’s weird that the Swifties always forget that.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Taylor will just have to be happy with coming in ahead of Kanye. Lost in this supposed grudge, is the fact that the top 3 are women. Of course, only about 11 overall are women on the list.
yeah, great to see the women on the list get recognised and honoured. i don’t mind anymore with these things if gender parity isn’t there numerically, i think it’s really more about IMPACT. and taylor and beyonce, individually and together, outweigh just about all the men on that list in terms of their achievements and cultural significance.
beyonce is an all-round performer, with a broader fan base and resonance than any other artist alive (there are beyonce fans on every continent on the planet), she deserves the top spot 100%.
and i’ve been a taylor fan since fearless, so glad she’s had such staying power from her country days and she’s continued to reinvent herself and stay relevant (not easy to do these days).
also, y’all give the swifties way too much airtime.
Beyoncé was around for Taylor’s come up and was there when Kanye made an ass of himself at the VMA’s. I’m sure that they are not only friendly they have mutual respect. And I agree with the conclusion of Billboard. Beyoncé is a long way from the lead of a girl group. She has really challenged herself that surprised me. I don’t always like her choices but she has really evolved as an artist. I actually own a couple of her albums and I’m cheap. 🙂
As someone who doesn’t really care for either performer (sorry) Beyonce is stilI the clear winner even though we’re barely a quarter into the century. I have yet to hear anything good about Swift fans, so they can take the top spot in worst Fandom list. Swifties have always been the ultimate mean girls.
I know that people always like to compare the two, but really they are so different that its hard to make a direct comparison IMO. They have different styles of music, different styles of performing, etc.
I do think of Beyonce as a more “mature” artist because of how she pushes the envelope and is willing to take risks and try something new in a way that Taylor does not.
But this explains why I was seeing social media comments about the Swifties attacking Beyonce.
She’s more mature in the sense of having demonstrated more growth and…she can sing, man. That’s key. I’m sorry, you just shouldn’t be listed as the #1 artist if you’re not actually a singer. Taylor can hold a tune and that’s about it.
Although I do think that’s Taylor has a healthy sense of competitiveness, I can’t really see her being upset about this. Beyonce has had a top 10 hit, been in a movie, or changed how we approach album releases, inclusion and genres, and yes even word usage ( bootylicious, etc.) for the past 25 years. What I can see is a contingent of her fandom( I know I know not all fans) who seem to believe that Taylor can’t be wrong but only wronged pitching a fit about this.
I concur. I think Taylor will have a twinge of- i should have won! – because that’s part of what drives her. But i also think she would congratulate Beyonce, who supported her always, and as Taylor got BIG they supported each other. Including going to each other’s movie premieres (last year?).
Also- Taylor sings a song called You Need to Calm Down.
A lot of it is about laying off the bigotry on gay and trans people.
But there’s a verse where she specifically talks about the media instigation with rivalry between women pop stars. Goes something like:
And we see you over there on the internet
Comparing all the girls who are killing it
But we figured you out
We all know now, we all got crowns
You need to calm down
She was speaking to this.
I’m a swiftie- but also- i won’t have people coming for Beyonce, she is a generational talent (same goes for Kendrick Lamar).
Most swifties know this and respect it.
It harkens back to Vienna, there was a contingent of “swifties” who were all up in arms that TS had not addressed the terrorist threat immediately, and did not reschedule the concert.
It was insane. Like she should put people’s lives at risk of a violent bombing death- to make sure the show went on, or somehow she had wronged them.
The Swifties i saw on the internet at the time were like- are those actually swifties- or are those just basement troll boys who love to start shit.
In this case, it is probably a little troll action, and some immature swiftie action.
Beyonce deserves every accolade she gets.
Yeah. Internet Swifties make me embarrassed to be a TS fan. I’m convinced that many of them don’t actually enjoy or appreciate her in the normal sense. It’s like they want to own her, or live vicariously through her or something. They think that, if they had her looks, talent, and money, they could be as awful to people as they’d like (nevermind that you rarely, if ever, hear about Taylor herself being unprofessional or rude in personal interactions), but since they’ve convinced themselves that they have some weird parasocial relationship with her, they figure that’s close enough. I’ve been a TS fan since I was like 15, I’ve seen her on every tour, and I’ve never once encountered any of these unhinged fans in person. Their existence is undeniable, so clearly even they know that their behavior is f–ked up and can hide it when they actually want to.
You mean crappy movies that flopped. I think they both suck but I guess I’m in the minority.
I don’t see anything wrong with compiling the best artist of the 21st Century (so far). Give them their flowers while they’re alive. Beyonce wins by sheer longevity in a savage business. She has reinvented herself multiple times without gimmicks (I’m looking at you, Gaga and Madonna) and has put out one great album after another.
Beyoncé is a philosopher; Taylor is not.
All albums have multiple variants these days. Cowboy Carter, Hit Me Hard and Soft, Brat… you name ‘em, they got variants.
Taylor just outsells and is a very convenient punching bag over a whiole range of issues. Like – data was released on celeb private jet usage the other day. Not much of a peep media-wise… and interestingly enough Taylor wasn’t anywhere near the top. But still, she’s the one everyone takes a swing at and associates with it.
I like both artists. And I appreciate the mutual respect that they have for each other. Beyoncé so far has been more experimental with different sounds and she’s done it successfully. I look forward to seeing where Taylor goes next with her music.
Interesting that the question is even being asked. Another “pit the girls against each other” because that is what women do thing? Ugh
Anyway. I think Billboard had an agenda regardless of who “ won”
Adding that dreadful naked photo ( from the Kanye days). is a big clue.
These are two strong women being their amazing selves for all of us to see. We all get to enjoy and benefit and grow from their brilliancy and Lights that they shine.
Thank you both.
Agree. Giving Beyoncé the title and using that gross clip from Kanye’s video feels like someone at billboard holds a grudge from 2009.
They used the bad moments for a lot of female artists in the list, not just Taylor. They wrote about Chris Brown while talking about Rihanna, for example. They didn’t give the title to Beyonce to get back at Taylor for some imaginary reason, come on now. She is still number 2.
@Sevenblue yeah, but they didn’t include the leaked photo of her face while discussing the Chris Brown thing. they used revenge porn of Taylor in their video highlighting her achievements. it’s gross.
I think both of these women are extremely talented and have changed the music industry in different ways. they also really like and respect each other, so I doubt Taylor is mad.
I do laugh that they reference Beyonce’s longevity as a reason though, because Taylor has been doing this since she was 15 and she turns 35 in a few days. so…25 years vs 20 years? 🤷
@Arizona, Taylor had a rising career. She didn’t start at the top, it was gradual like most artists. When they say “longevity”, they are talking about keeping the same or creating better art for a long time (better art, not better sales). Otherwise, there are artists with longer careers than Beyonce still releasing music, but they aren’t relevant anymore. They stated all these and more in the article, I suggest you to read it. Especially after lots of hate comments from swifties, it seems like they gave a detailed reason about their choice as a defense, which imo not needed but whatever.
Of course, it was gross they included that video while celebrating Taylor’s success and it is good that they retracted it and apologized. But, it is weird to say Billboard has a vendetta against Taylor, so they put her in number 2? Taylor called the MV “revenge p*rn”, however as far as I know, it is still up online since that isn’t the legal term for it. It is weird to compare it to the real photo of Rihanna’s battered face, which thank God they didn’t publish.
Absolutely. Another ‘pit two women against each other’ idea, make it a WOC vs a white woman, and let’s add a morally offensive picture. We deserve better than this. And how did Drake make it to #4? Jeez.
The part I agree with is choosing Beyonce. In a year where Kendrick and Taylor seemed to get the most pop culture moments, Beyonce deserves this. And we know damn well the Grammys won’t give her her due.
Of course she’s mad. Have you seen her and her father the few times she hasn’t won an award?
Or her winning AOTY and being smugly entitled when it really should have gone to other people, one of them being Bey.
Billboard made the right choice. I say this as a fan of both, Taylor was my #1 and Bey was #2 on my Spotify wrapped this year. I think some Taylor fans suffer from recency bias. These last 5ish years Taylor has really been dominate – added 2 more AOTYs to her previous 2, 5 album releases and the re-records, top artist on most streaming services, and a record breaking tour and movie. Not that Beyonce has not been dormant – she has absolutely been killing it but has not had the commercial success/dominance of Taylor.
As Gen Xer I remember the cultural and commercial chokehold early Bey had on the pop culture space. This award was looking at achievements and milestone since 2000. Bey has been in the game longer and is still producing at such a high level which is an incredible achievement. I feel she is deserving of the top spot.
Taylor and Bey have been supportive of one another and stan wars are stupid.
I suspect Taylor doesn’t care much about this but I do think Billboard has purposefully done some things to drive clicks and engagement. Their video for #2 including the Kanye video with the fake naked Taylor was nasty, nasty work and I realize a lot of people don’t like Taylor for many valid reasons – but it is never never never ok to do what he did with that video and for billboard to use it in something celebrating her already had fans primed to be angry. It’s functionally revenge porn in my mind and absolutely disgusting anyone would use it. Then the #1 article about Beyoncé used Taylor in it and compared. Like just celebrate Beyoncé! I don’t think you really need to justify or compare to the #2 whoever it is. You chose her – celebrate HER. But they wanted that engagement on the internet.
I wish more fans of all artists, sports and stars would recognize that a lot of stuff is bait to drive clicks.
…I had not seen these pictures of Taylor Swift, with shorter hair; she looks great! much better than with her long hair
I don’t believe for a second, neither Beyonce nor Taylor cares about an opinion list. Billboard was looking for attention and stan wars and partially got that. Although I agree with the premise that a great artist shouldn’t be about numbers, sales. Otherwise, Marvel movies would sweep the Oscars every year. There are so many iconic live performances of Beyonce that it is obvious she is the most talented performer of our time. Watch her tribute to Stevie Wonder at Grammys. I can’t think of anyone who will do such great tribute to Beyonce in the future. She is the whole package as an artist, live performer. The best decision she made was firing her dad as her manager and stopping paying attention to charts.
As someone who is outside the US I don’t get the Beyoncé “dominance”. She really is not that well known or has much of a prominence anywhere else in the world but the States.
At least not like Taylor is.
Besides, Apparently Swift has even more numbers 1 in both albums and songs. Beyonce has 14 and half of them are with either Destiny’s Child or with a collab.
Beyonce’s tour while it did well in the States, Europe wise didn’t do so good. For example, the June 24 concert in Frankfurt had a 58.7% occupancy rate. Paris and Stockholm did better but most of the other dates around Europe had between the 70 and 90% attendance.
So by all metrics, I do think Swifts wins over Beyoncé.
or please, people from the US, please tell me what’s the obsession you have over her.
I am going to make a generalization that Bey’s more recent work has focused on her experience as a black women in America and the overall black American experience. So to me it tracks that her popularity would be more centered in the US music market vs the European music market. I think Beyonce has global appeal but it is not in the same league as Taylor’s.
It isn’t always about winning. Both artists are top tier and each has a loyal fan base that supports their success. Billboard’s list is just that, a ranking of artists based on many factors, some subjective, some quantitative. There’s room for everyone and no one should take it too seriously.
Because the list isn’t the best selling artist or the most popular artist? They said in the article the criteria they used. Sales, numbers, charts was only one part of it. If you want to understand why Beyonce is considered one of the greats, just watch her live performances. She had many moments that will be part of the music history: Beychella (Homecoming), the whole Lemonade project with visuals and music, the three part project (Renaissance, Cowboy Carter) she is currently working on. It is weird to measure the art itself with sales. We don’t do that for movies or any other art.
Also, Taylor is number 2, she wasn’t snubbed or anything.
Numbers are a driver of cultural dominance but they aren’t the totality of it. They can’t be cuz things like race and class make a difference on raw numbers. Plus many times you have to remove the edges and uniqueness to appeal to so many people. Part of Taylor’s current dominance (and unique skill) has been in maintaining a strong base of young people that are willing to buy each variant and stream the songs for 24hours and then spend a lot (or have their parents spend a lot ) for concert tickets. They don’t have other responsibilities to spend their money on. She also has a strong hold on middle/upper class white women. Obv she has a diverse fan base. She’s too big not too, but a big reason for her success is the type of people her music tends to target. They have the disposable income to shower her with money. Beyonces power is in her cultural capital as much as in her raw numbers. She has done so much experimenting with her sound that she can’t sell like the Destiny’s child days. Her music has also gotten so much blacker.
The reason she’s number 1 is her cultural capital. She literally changed the album release rollout for a decade with the surprise self titled. Now everyone also wants to attach visuals or a film like lemonade to their albums. Even the way she utilizes history like at beychella. She was literally able to tell Anna wintour she will only do a photoshoot no articles for a September issue the most prestige month in the magazine calendar. Other major celebs go crazy for her. Adele and Harry styles had to apologize for winning AOTY at the Grammys. Adele was crushed to win that year and called the Grammys put on stage. Beyonce no longer focuses on the numbers and that has made her more powerful then ever.
It’s what I wish I could tell Taylor. You don’t need to please everyone. You don’t need to sell a billion copies for proof that you are the best. Ive been with Taylor since I watched Tim McGraw premiere on CMT as a black teen. But as she has ascended to her peak her quality control over the actual artistry has gone down. (Thou tbf she has some interesting ideas that have come with age and she could never have written during Red or 1989). Eras is the biggest tour of all time and has major impacts on the economies of BIG cities but the last 2 albums were overworked, repetitive and boring. Esp after the high of folklore. I hope one day she has the courage to ignore the numbers game and Push herself like she has in the past. She very clearly has the talent. Her best work is absolutely great. Beyonce has freed herself from the chase and it’s why she has been able to go that extra mile.
She wins because streaming numbers and concert attendance isn’t the only metric that they are going off of. Literally having a word added to the Oxford dictionary? Beyoncé. Doing the no promotion album release that has been copied for years now? Beyonce. Visual album? Beyoncé. Creating cultural conversations around black American influence in multiple genres, addressing misogynoir in the awards system, influencing how live performances are curated all areas she has led in. As someone else pointed out it’s like saying every award from the Bafas, Oscars, to Cesar awards should have gone to Marvel because they dominated the past 10 years. Sales isn’t the only factor of someone’s impact.
Taylor IS the music industry right now and has been for a long time. She should have been #1 and is more successful. But I do not like pitting women against each other. Taylor’s songwriting skills alone are phenomenal. But Billboard can choose who they want of course and people are free to agree or disagree. I
@Aleja
I think it was clearly stated that numbers were not the only consideration, and if it were, Taylor Swift at the moment would be number 1. Your whole argument seemed to be about the numbers?
Both women are amazing, and there are differences in their appeal. Both women create out of their own life experiences and those experiences are are poles apart. Both are certainly marketing geniuses. I think the reasons for Beyonce being number however, one are very sound. And to my mind, Beyonce has reached a mature stage in her artistry, but continues to explore new boundaries. There are fans who are in both camps. it would be interesting to see who they are.
As someone who spends a fair amount of time in Swiftie spaces of the internet, I have seen very few people genuinely upset about the rankings. We knew for weeks it would be a 1-2 between the two of them, and it just came down to who was on top. Of course people are disappointed, but the rage emanating from Swiftie circles is not at Beyonce, it’s at whoever decided at Billboard to release that creepy video. Given that Taylor has hundreds of millions of fans, I’m sure there were a handful who were awful and racist and very loud about it, but trying to paint the entire fanbase that way is utterly inaccurate.
Ohhhh I am detecting some shade as far as those “performance abilities” and I am here for it. Sorry! Beyonce can sing AND dance like a true great and well, …
I’m glad both amazing artists were recognized.
A little off topic but Billboard’s explanation for why Rihanna was ranked ahead of Drake was shockingly shady and hilarious.
Billboard explains why Rihanna ranked ahead of Drake on their ‘Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century’ list:
“Anytime these people are together, Rihanna looks like the most glamorous and desirable woman on the planet and Drake looks like a simp. Rihanna is always burnt into your brain, like, she’s Cleopatra of the 21st-century music. Drake has 13 #1s but his first two #1 hits are ‘What’s My Name’ and ‘Work’. Those are not Rihanna’s first two #1 hits, those are her eighth and fourteenth. She’s like, ‘Here my Canadian friend, have a couple of my #1 hits on me.’ 14 #1 hits that’s more than Drake has in his entire career. By the time, he started racking them up as a lead artist, she’s gone. She’s like ‘I’m done with the game.’ She has the most #1s this century…She’s been innovative. None of Rihanna’s #1s are cheap #1. A lot of Drake’s #1s are racked up in the streaming era when he can debut at #1 but it slowly slides down. Rihanna never had that advantage. She had to build up to a #1 hit and it became the #1 biggest hit of the decade. I don’t think there’s any of the 14 that you would say, ‘I don’t remember that one.’”
They are both the best at what they do, but they do different things. Beyonce deserves the No. 1 spot, and Taylor the No. 2 spot.
I love them both, and hate when two amazingly talented women are pitted against each other. I’m guessing they hate it, too, because they seem really supportive of one another.
I like Taylor but I don’t feel like she’s the “best” at anything she does, I think she’s kind of mid at everything but songwriting and managing her empire. She has mediocre vocals, mediocre performance ability, but she does know how to write a song that resonates with the GP.
Taylor is still too busy counting her money from her Eras tour to care.
@ Aleja , Kelly and olliesmom
I see you racism is showing up big time
Someone is branded a racist for liking Taylor Swift? Give it a rest.