Taylor Swift ranked no. 2 pop star of the 21st century by Billboard

On November 27, 2024By Littum

Taylor Swift doesn’t know about you, but she’s feeling No. 2.

The singer has been appointed to the second biggest pop star of the 21st century by Billboard magazinewhich has gradually unveiled its location in a number of articles. Billboard describes the list as consisting of “the artists who have most defined pop stardom in the past 25 years.”

Swift comes immediately ahead of Rihanna (No. 3), Drake (No. 4), Lady Gaga (No. 5) and Britney Spears (No. 6). She’s also five spots higher than Ye, formerly Kanye West, with whom she’s famously been banging for more than a decade. Other artists Swift is ahead of include Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Adele and Usher.

Swift was previously Billboard’s top artist in 2023.

In an op-ed explaining the choice, Billboard’s Hannah Dailey said that Swift, “by honoring all the qualities that made her different,” was “able to forcefully, gravitationally bend the culture to her will and become one of the world’s biggest undisputed pop stars, despite her eight-year late start in country music.”

But Dailey predicted backlash over Swift not getting the No. 1 spot.

“The fact that controversy is likely to rip through the internet that she’s just one spot below No. 1 is just another testament to her power, but regardless, her ranking shouldn’t leave Swifties upset for too long — especially considering how much later in the millennium she got her start, both in the genre and in music in general.”

The honor comes at the end of another huge year for Swift, who in February made history by becoming the first person to win a Grammy for album of the year four times. She was named Time Magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year, and in October Forbes estimated her to be the richest female musician with a net worth of $1.6 billion.

Swift is also wrapping up her hugely successful Eras Tour, the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. Her latest album “The Tortured Poets Department” dropped in April and became the first album to receive more than 300 million streams on Spotify in a single day.

Billboard’s choice as no. 1 of the biggest pop star of the 21st century has not been revealed, but fans widely believe it will be Beyoncé, who is yet to be listed.

As Billboard predicted, some Swifties took issue with the ranking on social media.

“What a joke, she’s the biggest,” a reply to X said.

Others who assumed Beyoncé would be No. 1, was fine with the location.

“Taylor has been bigger in recent years, but Beyoncé has been huge since the beginning of this century,” a person who said they are a fan of both singers, wrote on Reddit.

Who Are Billboard’s Biggest Pop Stars of the 21st Century?

Here’s the full list of Billboard’s picks so far for the biggest pop stars of the 21st century:

25. Katy Perry
24. Ed Sheeran
23. Bad Bunny
22. One Direction
21. Lil Wayne
20. Bruno Mars
19. BTS
18. The Weeknd
17. Shakira
16. Jay-Z
15. Miley Cyrus
14. Justin Timberlake
13. Nicki Minaj
12. Eminem
11. Usher
10. Adele
9. Ariana Grande
8. Justin Bieber
7. Kanye West
6. Britney Spears
5. Lady Gaga
4. Drake
3. Rihanna
2. Taylor Swift

Cast: Jay Stahl