From crowning Beyonce‘s ‘Love on Top‘ as the “greatest love song of the 21st century” to naming Nicki Minaj the greatest female rapper of all time and putting her hit ‘Super Bass‘ as the greatest female Hip-Hop song ever on its ‘500 Best Pop Songs List,’ Billboard is the king of turning heads and causing tongues to wag over the their debate-igniting “best-ever” music tallies.
That trend of making jaws drop is one that seems poised to continue ahead of the launch of their newest list – ‘The 25 Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century.’
Set to be rolled out incrementally over the next four months (until the end of the year), Billboard is not only basing the ranking on commercial performance and chart stats but also subjective criteria like cultural impact.
Before unveiling who made the cut, the Music Bible sent some of music’s most beloved fan bases into an uproar by revealing some big names who only made “honorable mention.”
Look inside to see who was omitted from the coveted count.
Admitting that “25 was not nearly enough” nods to give some of the century’s biggest movers and shakers, Billboard not only lifted the lid on who made #26-#50 but also why they didn’t quite make the cut.
In no particular order, see the honorable mentions below.
Billboard’s ‘Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century’
*Honorable Mentions*
- 50 Cent
- Billie Eilish
- Alicia Keys
- Carrie Underwood
- Cardi B
- Chris Brown
- Dua Lipa
- Doja Cat
- Christina Aguilera
- Olivia Rodrigo
- P!nk
- Post Malone
- Kelly Clarkson
- Future
- Kendrick Lamar
- Lorde
- Jennifer Lopez
- Kesha
- Maroon 5
- Missy Elliott
- Megan Thee Stallion
- Nelly
- Post Malone
- Sean Paul
- SZA
Curious about Billboard’s explanations for the omissions? Read them here.
Chris was living under Micheal Jackson shadow
pink has best female pop music
And Somebody at MTV needs to be fired
50 was all over MTV with Candy shop 21 questions.
Who cares. All of them have successful careers.
They don’t want to be erased from history .
This list is b*******.
With all respect I don’t get why
Doja Cardi P!nk Chris and SZA are on there.
They have made an impact.
Shoutout to Bey & Nic & Rih though.
I don’t see the problem here. Yeah they have successful careers, but none of these people have made any major impact on pop culture in the last 25 years.
First Rolling Stones omitting Celine, now Billboard? Pfft when you put 2000-born
millennials in charge of a music magazine, they WILL revist history.
MTV and Billboard have strong opinions but I doesn’t mean we have to agree with them. Don’t be surprised as some artist buy their awards. It doesn’t mean they deserved it.
INSTANT no respect. I did not think BB would disrespect their publication to such a level. Chris Brown is the greatest performer and dancer in modern music history. I’ve lived through the Michael Jackson era and even he could not perform or dance as a Chris Brown. I’ve never seen anything like him. He’s a phenom. Genius level acumen of dance. The man has a Gift and it didn’t come from any of us. On top of that he works so extremely hard and is a talented vocalist. And his performances on shows are award worthy. Like MJ they are etched in the memory. The MTV VMA awards of 07. The BET Awards of 2010. The MTV show where he performed the acrobatics. Bat ish crazy creativity and show! UNBELIEVABLE! So omitting Chris Brown looks as if theres an undertone of discrimination. The origin or reason I don’t know but omitting one of The Greats is not just a mere discrepancy but it’s looks like a blaring intentional omission and because of so, their list is automatically invalid.
INSTANT no respect. I did not think BB would disrespect their publication to such a level. Chris Brown is the greatest performer and dancer in modern music history. I’ve lived through the Michael Jackson era and even he could not perform or dance as a Chris Brown. I’ve never seen anything like him. He’s a phenom. Genius level acumen of dance. The man has a Gift and it didn’t come from any of us. On top of that he works so extremely hard and is a talented vocalist. And his performances on shows are award worthy. Like MJ they are etched in the memory. The MTV VMA awards of 07. The BET Awards of 2010. The MTV show where he performed the acrobatics. Bat ish crazy creativity and show! UNBELIEVABLE! So omitting Chris Brown looks as if theres an undertone of discrimination. The origin or reason I don’t know but omitting one of The Greats is not just a mere discrepancy but it’s looks like a blaring intentional omission and because of so, their list is automatically invalid.
Wait a minute, we only just finished the first quarter of the 21st century, and Billboard already decided and made up “the greatest” lists? Wait till 2099, then you can tell. Not sure if the publication is around or if it is still relevant by then.