As expected, Beyonce has claimed the title after Taylor Swift took the No. 2 spot weeks ago.
The magazine, which has been gradually unveiling its rankings crowned Queen Bey the overall Queen off its list of 25 greatest pop stars. The outlet revealed:
“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.”
“If you go by the sheer numbers, Taylor would easily top this list — and she will undoubtedly reign on many of the chart-based quarter-century rankings we’ll publish in 2025.
But when you’re talking about greatness, and when you’re talking about greatness for the 21st century specifically, no one has a longer or fuller track record than Beyoncé.”
Beyonce was previously named Billboard’s Greatest Pop Star of the Year in 2003 and 2014.
Bey beat out other major stars such as Rihanna (No. 3), Drake (No. 4), Lady Gaga (No. 5), and Britney Spears (No. 6).
Just some of the factors weighing on why Bey was crowned No. 1 were the fact that she is 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 nods 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.
Her success with Destiny’s Child, one of the world’s best-selling girl groups, was also a big factor.
Additionally, all of her solo albums have debuted at No. 1, with chart-topping sales, made chart history, making her one of the best-selling musicians of all time, and racked up a list of accolades along the way.
Here’s the full list of Billboard’s picks for the greatest pop stars of the 21st century:
