The list of the 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st century has been causing heated debate among the public recently.

Recently, the 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st century voted by Billboard , have officially been revealed after a period of teasing. This chart aims to honor the legacy and great contributions of these faces to the world music industry. Of course, the nature of the ranking is inherently subjective, so right from the announcement of the first names, Billboard was heavily criticized for not following any specific criteria.

After the third place went to “mixed ice cream owner” Rihanna, people held their breath waiting for the last two rankings. On November 26, the final top 2 was named Taylor Swift . This naturally made Beyoncé the greatest pop star of the 21st century. The internet immediately stirred up, dividing into two opposing opinions causing strong controversy.

Taylor Swift lands at No. 2 thanks to her influence beyond musical boundaries

Beyoncé excels in occupying the top 1 of the list of 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st century

Many people were not convinced by the above result, thinking that with her “dinosaur” influence, the throne should have belonged to Taylor Swift instead of Beyoncé. However, there was also a group of netizens who “defended” the “queen bee”, explaining that the singer’s victory was reasonable thanks to her unparalleled contributions to the world’s contemporary music scene for nearly 3 decades. Not to mention, Beyoncé did not let herself be nailed to a specific image when she always innovated her color and music genre with each album.

Although controversial, Beyoncé’s monumental legacy in contemporary music cannot be denied.

In addition, a wave of outrage has surrounded Billboard for an inexcusable reason. Specifically, the magazine’s official Tiktok page used a nude wax figure of Taylor Swift from Kanye’s Famous music video to congratulate the singer on reaching number 2 on the list of the 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st century. Kanye is her arch-rival, so this action by Billboard has further fueled the anger among the Swifties community. Many people have voiced their belief that Billboard has acted unfairly towards Taylor Swift, while criticizing the unprofessionalism of this famous magazine.

Billboard’s TikTok page was bombarded for honoring Taylor Swift with a clip from the infamous MV Famous

Furthermore, Billboard has been accused of discriminatory and misogynistic behavior. This is not the first time Billboard has done so, as the newspaper has also mentioned Chris Brown’s assault on Rihanna, Britney Spears’ abuse of her conservatorship, Nicki Minaj’s heated beefs, Ariana Grande’s accident in Manchester…

In addition, netizens were also indignant at the absence of Lana Del Rey. The “sad girl”‘s enormous legacy from her debut in the music industry until now has had a significant impact on popular culture. Her unique musical personality is honored as an ideology, with soaring, evocative lyrics and melodies that are reminiscent of Hollywood’s golden age. Recently, male singer The Weeknd also had to express his disappointment to Billboard for ignoring Lana Del Rey.

Fans are confused when Lana Del Rey is completely ignored by Billboard.

However, some believe that Billboard speaks through the numbers and achievements of artists throughout the history of this famous magazine. It is worth mentioning that although it is undeniable what “mother” Lana Del Rey has brought to the world music industry, Lana Del Rey’s artistic products do not perform well on the Billboard charts . Her highest-ranking song is Snow On The Beach – a collaboration with Taylor Swift, which landed at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Many opinions point out that because Lana Del Rey’s performance is not really good on the Billboard chart, it is understandable that she is not on the list.

Some comments from netizens:

– Yes, Beyoncé rules showbiz. Thank you, Beyoncé.

– Why isn’t Mother Lana on the list? Prepare to ask a question about culture. 

– Taylor’s influence, sales and touring are better than Bee’s, so how is she in the top 2? 

– What achievements does Beyoncé have that are better than Taylor’s? It seems so pale.

– The music may be hard to listen to, but whoever said Bee was a flop or had no voice or punch was completely wrong. She has few Asian fans, but she is an icon of world music. 

List of 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st century voted by Billboard:

1. Beyoncé

2. Taylor Swift

3. Rihanna

4. Drake

5. Lady Gaga

6. Britney Spears

7. Kanye West

8. Justin Bieber

9. Ariana Grande

10. Adele

11. Usher

12. Eminem

13. Nicki Minaj

14. Justin Timberlake

15. Miley Cyrus

16. Jay-Z

17. Shakira

18. The Weeknd

19. BTS

20. Bruno Mars

21. Lil Wayne

22. One Direction

23. Bad Bunny

24. Ed Sheeran

25. Katy Perry