Billboard's top pop artists of the 21st century are in
Billboard's Top 25 Popstars of the 21st Century
Billboard has released its list of artists who have defined pop stardom since the turn of the century and some of the rankings are unexpected — especially since first place is still unannounced.
Click through to see where Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, and other crowd favourites landed.
25. Katy Perry
Katy Perry's rule over 2010s pop culture is unmistakable, with Billboard naming her "one of the names most synonymous with pop music".
The star went mainstream in 2008 with her Billboard Top 10 hits 'I Kissed a Girl' and 'Hot n Cold', but her 2010 album Teenage Dream would cement the singer's place in the halls of pop stardom.'California Gurls', 'Teenage Dream', 'Last Friday Night', 'Firework', and 'E.T' all scored Billboard No. 1 spots and became defining pop hits of the decade.
Prism (2013), which included the anthem 'Roar', was Perry's final album as a definitive superstar, and though she is no longer an overwhelming presence in pop culture, her impact shines through today's pop queens like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan.
23. Bad Bunny
Foreign language artists have always struggled to top the Billboard chart, yet Puerto Rican artist born Benito Antonio Martinez — aka 'Bad Bunny' — has infiltrated the pop mainstream like no other Spanish language singer during his six year rise to fame.
After scoring a record label deal while working as a supermarket bagger, Ocasio released 'Soy Peor' in 2017, his first solo hit on the Hot Latin Song charts.
But his feature on Cardi B's 'I Like it' (2018) would make him a definitive star in the US pop world.
Following on from several successes, his album Último (2020) made history by debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming the first entirely Spanish-language No. 1 album in the chart's then-64-year existence.
Since then, he has won three Grammy awards and four Latin Grammy awards. He was crowned Billboard's Artist of the Year in 2022 and has shifted what it means to be a US popstar.
22. One Direction
This group needs no introduction.
Formed on the survival show X Factor in 2010 by producer Simon Cowell, One Direction proved that the boy group formula could still have massive success in the 21st century.
Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Niall Noran, and Louis Tomlinson became household names with the massive commercial success of their first single 'What Make You Beautiful' in 2011, spurred on by their first album Up All Night, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart.
But although 1D followed in the footsteps of last century's boybands — Backstreet, NSYNC, The Beatles, etc. — it had something they didn't; a massive fanbase calling itself 'Directioners', fuelled and connected by the internet.
In just five years, 1D released five albums that brought uptempo British pop-rock to the US and laid the foundation for today's international pop groups.
While the group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016 and have since been working on independent projects, they were recently united again after the tragic passing of member Liam Payne.
21. Lil Wayne
Billboard dubs Lil Wayne "one of the most influential hip-hop artists of all-time" and its easy to see why.
With a profound impact on the sound and visual style of hip-hop over the last 25 years since he first entered the Billboard charts, Weezy — born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. — has collaborated with megastars like Beyonce, DJ Khaled, Chris Brown and more.
His influential five-part album series Tha Carter would spawn Billboard hits throughout the '00s and '10s and he has won 5 Grammys in total.
At the same time, he signed hip-hop protégés Drake and Nicki Minaj to his label Young Money Entertainment by the end of the 2000s and helped build them into superstars that would eventually surpass him in fame.
20. Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars making this list will come as a surprise to no one. A household name with 15 Grammys under his belt, Mars — born Peter Gene Hernandez — has solidified his place in the 21st century pop hall of fame over his twenty year career.
Mars first made his name with features on iconic tracks like Flo Rida and Kesha's 'Right Round' (2009), before properly launching his recording career with chart topper 'Just the Way You Are' (2010).
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