Pop Stars, Ranked

Thriller (1982) is the best-selling album of all time and Jackson won a record 8 Grammys in a single night in 1984; he holds 13 Grammys and is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

Holds the record for most Grammy wins by any artist in history (35 wins), surpassing the previous record in 2023, and won Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter in 2025 across a 99-nomination career.

Certified by Guinness World Records as the best-selling female recording artist of all time and holds the record for most No. 1s on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart (50).

Only artist to win the Grammy for Album of the Year four times, named Time's 2023 Person of the Year and Billboard's Greatest Pop Star of 2023 off the record-grossing Eras Tour (first tour to surpass $1 billion).

One of the defining pop stars of the 2010s and beyond, with era-defining hits ('Bad Romance', 'Poker Face', 'Shallow'), massive album sales, a Best Actress-caliber acting career, and enduring cultural influence. Belongs at the very top.

A generational genius who blended pop, funk, and rock. 'Purple Rain', 'When Doves Cry', and 'Kiss' are untouchable, and his musicianship and showmanship put him among the all-time greats.

Holds the record for most Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles by a solo artist (19), and 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' became the first holiday song to top the Hot 100.

One of the best-selling music artists of all time with 14 Hot 100 No. 1 singles, and her 2023 Super Bowl LVII halftime show drew roughly 121 million viewers, the most-watched halftime show ever.

The only artist to score seven consecutive Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles, and 'I Will Always Love You' remains one of the best-selling singles of all time; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

In 2019 became the first artist since the Beatles in 1964 to hold the top three Hot 100 spots simultaneously, and has multiple No. 1 debuts on the Hot 100.

From YouTube discovery to global superstar, with a rare pop-to-adult-artist reinvention ('Sorry', 'Love Yourself', 'Peaches'). Enormous streaming numbers and staying power keep him high.

Defined the disco-pop revival of the early 2020s. 'Future Nostalgia' was a critical and commercial smash, and 'Levitating' and 'Don't Start Now' are modern standards.

A pop and R&B icon whose 'Control' and 'Rhythm Nation 1814' reshaped the genre with groundbreaking choreography and production. Consistently influential across decades.

A 10-time Grammy winner whose solo albums FutureSex/LoveSounds and The 20/20 Experience both topped the Billboard 200, the latter being the best-selling album of 2013 in the US.

Her debut '...Baby One More Time' is one of the best-selling debut albums by a solo artist, and she has sold over 100 million records with a Grammy win and a Billboard Millennium Award.

'Blinding Lights' is the No. 1 song on Billboard's all-time Hot 100 chart, having spent a record number of weeks in the top 10 of the Hot 100.

A hugely influential alt-pop voice whose cinematic, melancholic aesthetic ('Video Games', 'Summertime Sadness', 'Born to Die') shaped a generation of artists, even if she sits outside the mainstream-hits mold.

Teenage Dream tied Michael Jackson's Bad as the only albums to produce five Hot 100 No. 1 singles, though her post-2013 output has underperformed commercially and critically.

Won a Grammy and Loose (2006) was a multi-platinum global hit, but her subsequent albums saw a steep commercial decline, keeping her a one-era peak act rather than a sustained hitmaker.

'Fancy' topped the Hot 100 for seven weeks in 2014, but her debut The New Classic drew middling reviews and her follow-up album was repeatedly delayed and ultimately cancelled amid low sales.

Her 2011 single 'Friday' became infamous as one of the most disliked videos in YouTube history and was widely panned by critics, a viral novelty rather than a consensus pop achievement.