From billboard chart toppers to most streamed albums, these are the hottest pop stars at the top of the music industry food chain.
Let’s face it — pop stars rule the media scene.
Everyone loves a good movie, but pop songs drop all the time, whereas major Hollywood movies are few and far between.
Chances are you’ve had a pop song stuck in your head before. You mouthed it as you scanned the grocery store aisles; it interrupted your thoughts as you tried to fall asleep; you even hummed the songs you didn’t like!
Pop songs are just plain catchy.
And following along with the lives of celebrities is a guilty pleasure for many of us.
Why did Miley and Liam divorce? Who is Ariana Grande feuding with? Does Zayn Malik have a new girlfriend?
We can’t answer every question you may have, but we can tell you who some of the more famous stars are today. That way you can narrow down your hunt of gossip to the select few that appear here.
Read away!
Biggest Female Pop Stars
Let’s get this list started with four favorite females that are dominating the charts (and tabloids) right now.
Ariana Grande
The tiny and tattooed Ariana Grande is making headlines for a variety of reasons.
First, she released her fifth LP — Thank U, Next — this February, and it was very well-received.
Three of the singles hit the Top 100 on Billboard’s music charts: “7 Rings,” “Thank U, Next,” and “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.” Whether you liked the songs or not, you can’t deny their great beats and memorable lyrics.
Second, she made the news recently after suing Forever 21 (for a cool $10 million) after using her likeness, without permission, in recent advertisements. Could that have contributed to Forever 21’s recent closure of stores across the U.S.?
And, unsurprisingly, she became the most-followed female on Instagram with 146.3 million followers. Sorry, Selena Gomez!
Grande also recently collaborated with Miley Cyrus. Let’s move on to her next.
Miley Cyrus
Despite what you have to say about Miley’s lifestyle, her voice is one that goes unmatched.
Her new ballad, “Slide Away,” is an ode to her newly-ended marriage with Liam Hemsworth (much to fans’ dismay). And in preparation for her soon-to-be-released She Is Miley Cyrus, she put out a six-song, 19-minute EP entitled She Is Coming. One song from the album, “Mother’s Daughter,” came with a body-positive music video that fans adored.
On top of all this music, she starred in Black Mirror‘s most recent season, playing the complex character of Ashley O.
And sticking with the movie theme, she, along with Lana Del Ray and Ariana Grande, made a soundtrack and accompanying video for the new Charlie’s Angels reboot.
Taylor Swift
Lover was the star’s seventh LP and the album we’ve all been patiently waiting for since 2017.
It contains eighteen different ballads, most on the subject of — you guessed it — love. After all, that’s worked so well for her in the past. Why change the tune now?
That goes for self-love, too. “The Man” is all about staying strong as a female in the world of men.
Visit here often for the accompanying tour we all know is bound to be announced any day now!
Billie Eilish
Seventeen-year-old Eilish became popular with the crooning “Ocean Eyes” — a song that she only intended to be a part of her dance routine in 2015.
But her siblings thought it too good to remain in dance class.
They posted it to SoundCloud in 2016 and soon, major record labels were fighting to pick it up. In only a short amount of time, the song got played by an astounding 10 million people.
Soon after, she released a music video for the song that was just as popular. This is only the beginning of her story.
Her new album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, featured a variety of hits — one of which, “Bad Guy,” came in the #1 spot on the Billboard Top 100.
Biggest Male Pop Stars
All right — time to turn it over to the guys that are making waves in the pop music scene.
Shawn Mendes
Canadian heartthrob Shawn Mendes has had 13 songs reach the Billboard Top 100 chart.
Five of them have even hit the top 10: “Señorita” with Camila Cabello, “If I Can’t Have You,” “Stitches,” “Treat You Better,” and “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back.”
“Señorita” even spent some time in the #1 spot! (It likely had a little bit to do with the popularity of Camila Cabello as well.)
Khalid
Khalid has a soulful, diverse voice that rides the line between pop and R&B.
His first and only album to date, American Teen, is just that — a collection of pop songs that describe life as a living, loving, growing and learning teenager.
He also does a number of notable collaborations with artists from Billie Eilish and H.E.R. to Halsey and Ed Sheeran.
This is another reason we’re hearing him everywhere. Play a Shawn Mendes playlist on Spotify and “Location” by Khalid is bound to pop up. He was featured on more than twenty songs with various artists in the last year alone.
It’s safe to say Khalid and his duets aren’t going anywhere!
Post Malone
Post Malone is not only the subject of many a hilarious meme, but he’s a rising star in pop, hip hop, and R&B.
He’s had a whopping 44 songs on the Billboard Top 100. Three of those became #1 hits while nine reached the Top 10.
One song, “Sunflower,” got featured in the newest Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse movie, further catapulting Malone to the top of everyone’s playlists.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little (Pop) Star
These are some — of many — of the biggest pop stars right now.
This list is certainly not exhaustive. The pop music scene is full of awesome talent. You’ll just have to turn on your local radio station to hear more.
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