Billboard’s Top 100 Women Artists of the 21st Century Chart, Nos. 100-1

Reinforcing the amount of star power ahead, five women combine to begin the countdown. The made-on-TV group, formed in 2005 on the MTV reality competition series Making the Band, scored back-to-back No. 1 debuts on the Billboard 200 with its first two releases: 2006’s self-titled set and 2008’s Welcome to the Dollhouse. In turn, the quintet – initially comprising Shannon Bex, Aundrea Fimbres, Aubrey O’Day, Dawn Richard and D. Woods – became the first female group to debut at No. 1 with its first two albums. The act scored a Hot 100 top 10-charting hit from each set, reaching No. 8 with “Show Stopper” in 2006 and the No. 10-peaking “Damaged” in 2008. –KEITH CAULFIELD

The early 2000s brought a new wave of women singer-songwriters to Billboard’s charts, following the Lilith Fair era in the 1990s that was headlined by the likes of Sarah McLachlan, Jewel and others. While guitar was a common through line, Carlton made piano especially prominent on her signature hit, “A Thousand Miles,” which traveled to No. 5 on the Hot 100 in 2002. It also topped the Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary charts. Plus, parent album Be Not Nobody likewise reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200, marking her first of four LPs that she logged on the list through 2011. –GARY TRUST

Like many of the early American Idol champions, third-season winner Fantasia began her career in the best possible way, debuting at No. 1 on the Hot 100 with her first single, “I Believe.” The singer’s contemporary R&B production and classic impassioned vocals, best encapsulated with her signature yeaaaahhhh growl, positioned her for steady success. Her debut album, 2004’s Free Yourself, opened at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and yielded three Hot 100 hits: “Truth Is” (No. 21), “Baby Mama” and the title track. Four more top 20 albums and another pair of Hot 100 hits followed, while the Grammy Award winner remains a force on the Adult R&B Airplay chart, with a dozen top 10 hits at the format. –TREVOR ANDERSON

There are only five all-women groups on Billboard’s Top Women Artists of the 21st Century retrospective, and four of them made most of their chart impact in the first decade of the 2000s. That means that Fifth Harmony is the newest such act, having debuted on the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 in 2013. Its momentum, and faithful fanbase, built over the mid-2010s, reaching a chart apex when “Work From Home,” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, and its parent album, 7/27, each hit No. 4. The group’s résumé includes three other top 10 albums and seven more Hot 100 hits, while its legacy extends to its members’ solo projects, including top 10 singles for Camilla Cabello and Normani. –ERIC FRANKENBERG

After debuting on Billboard’s charts in 1985, the band Sade – fronted by Nigerian-British singer-songwriter Sade Adu – continued its hitmaking run into the 2000s. The act’s Lovers Rock was released in 2000 and marked the group’s first studio album since 1992. Then came 2010’s Soldier of Love, which became the ensemble’s second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (after 1986’s Promise) and first to bow atop the list. Sade last released 2011’s best-of set The Ultimate Collection, and last toured that year. When Billboard caught up with Adu in the midst of that trek, the possibility of another tour was seemingly the last thing on her mind. “I have absolutely no idea what the future holds,” she said. “It’s a miracle to me we are here now. I just know I will look back on it and feel good.” –K.C.

A constant for Charli XCX has been reinvention. She broke into the mainstream via memorable guest appearances on Icona Pop’s “I Love It” and Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy,” the latter of which spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2014. She soon returned to the top 10 with her own pure-pop single “Boom Clap.” Over the last decade, she built a reputation for releasing boundary-pushing albums to critical acclaim – but it was last year’s Brat that sent her to new highs. The set reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in June, becoming her highest-charting LP, and marked one of the year’s defining albums. Six of the collection’s tracks charted on the Hot 100, including collaborations with Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Lorde, solidifying Charli XCX as one of pop and dance music’s most influential voices. –XANDER ZELLNER

Freshly freed from professional misfortunes that centered on a bankruptcy filing and lawsuit against her record label, Toni Braxton swept into the new century with a new contract and new sounds. What didn’t change, however, were her results. Teaming with producer Darkchild, the diva’s first offering of 2000, the saucy “He Wasn’t Man Enough,” shot to No. 2 on the Hot 100 and extended the run of form that put Braxton among the most successful singers of the 1990s. While the track marked Braxton’s biggest singles highlight of the era, the hitmaker landed nine new albums on the Billboard 200 over 2000-20, displaying her range through works of contemporary tunes (Pulse and Libra, for example), holiday fare (Snowflakes) and vintage R&B with her self-described “musical husband,” Babyface (Love, Marriage and Divorce). –T.A.

Lee’s status as one of Billboard’s 100 top-performing women in the 21st century dates to 1944, when she was born, fittingly during Christmastime. After making charts from the late ‘50s through the early ‘90s – and logging three Hot 100 No. 1s among 13 top 10s in the ‘60s – the 2000s have amplified her legacy, largely thanks to her 1958 holiday classic, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” In December 2023, sparked by robust streaming counts, it hit No. 1 at last. Of recording the gift that keeps on giving, she recalled, “The producer cut the air way down in the studio. He had a big Christmas tree and everyone was there – the Anita Kerr Singers and the ‘A-team’ [of Nashville studio musicians], as we called them. It was like a little touch of magic kind of sprinkled in, and it turned out to be magic. It really did.” –G.T.

While the Queen Bee’s initial buzz came through The Notorious B.I.G.’s Junior M.A.F.I.A. crew, the sharp-tongued freestyler and fashion sensation elevated her empire at the turn of the century. Album releases became events, as her three consecutive top 10s on the Billboard 200 in the 2000s decade proved, and hit singles such as “The Jump Off” (featuring Mr. Cheeks) and “No Lighters” found love in the Hot 100’s top 40. The rapper’s real ace, however, was her knack for collaborations with her fellow A-listers. Nabbing 50 Cent for “Magic Stick” earned the pair a No. 2 hit in 2003; Kim and Missy Elliott hopped on Keyshia Cole’s “Let It Go” for a No. 7 smash in 2007; and she linked with Christina Aguilera on “Can’t Hold Us Down” to get to No. 12 in 2003. Ah, and we should mention that other Aguilera team-up, also with P!nk and Myá, the seismic 2001 “Lady Marmalade” cover that ruled the Hot 100 for five weeks. –T.A.

Alt/rock in the 2000s found a leading woman in Hayley Williams, vocalist for Paramore. The Tennessee-based band thrived on charts even after mostly ditching pop-punk in favor of forays into new wave, post-punk and more. Among its four Billboard 200 top 10s, the group reigned in 2013 with its self-titled set. Meanwhile, nearly seven years after initially cracking the Hot 100 with breakthrough hit “Misery Business,” Paramore reached the top 10 for the first time with “Ain’t It Fun,” in 2014. Eight years after that, the band crossed off another honor, ruling Alternative Airplay for the first time with “This Is Why.” –KEVIN RUTHERFORD

Rexha has conquered Billboard’s charts both as a writer and recording artist, spanning a variety of genres. She co-penned Eminem’s Rihanna-featuring “The Monster,” which topped the Hot 100 for four weeks in 2013-14. She has written five top 10s, also boasting artist credit on the other four, including her and Florida George Line’s “Meant To Be” – which dominated Hot Country Songs for a record 50 weeks in 2017-18. “I never thought that I’d have a pop/country crossover song,” she said in 2018. “That just goes to show you that all the best things are unexpected. My thing is going with feel and not creating any boundaries for myself.” –G.T.

Having arrived on Billboard’s charts in 1998, the silky-voiced Myá launched her sophomore era two years later and notched the best commercial stretch of her career. The classic confrontation anthem “Case of the Ex (Whatcha Gonna Do)” climbed to No. 2 on the Hot 100 in 2000, as parent LP Fear of Flying reached the top 20 on the Billboard 200 and spent a year on the chart. Myá soon bettered her runner-up status and captured the Hot 100’s top spot for five weeks in 2001 via a Grammy-winning cover of “Lady Marmalade,” with Christina Aguilera, P!nk and Lil’ Kim. The momentum fueled Myá to a third top 20 Hot 100 hit, among seven total chart entries during the quarter century, “My Love Is Like…Wo,” which reached No. 13 and helped her Moodring album peak at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. –T.A.

There are few acts as successful as Barbra Streisand, in both the pop consciousness and on Billboard’s rankings, with a deep catalog of hit albums and singles stretching back to her chart debut in 1963. In the first quarter of the 21st century, she logged eight top 10 sets on the Billboard 200, including a trio of No. 1s: Love Is the Answer (2009), Partners (2014) and Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway (2016). Incredibly, she’s the only act with No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 in the 1960s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, 2000s and ‘10s. Her storied chart career continued into the 2020s, when Release Me 2 debuted at No. 15 in 2021, making her the only woman with new top 20-charting (or even top 40-charting) albums in every decade from the ‘60s through the ‘20s. –K.C.

The Atlanta boom of the 2000s paid huge dividends for Keri Hilson, who started as a songwriter and backing vocalist before becoming the main attraction. Though she cracked the Hot 100 as a featured act on Xzhibit’s “Hey Now (Mean Muggin),” which peaked at No. 93 in 2004, you probably first heard her through her featured role on Timbaland’s “The Way I Are,” which surged to No. 3 in 2007. It set off a prolific stretch, with all of Hilson’s subsequent Hot 100 hits logged through 2011. Among the highlights: “Knock You Down,” featuring Kanye West and Ne-Yo (No. 3), the Lil Wayne-assisted “Turnin Me On” (No. 15) and the solo cut “Pretty Girl Rock” (No. 24). As her early tracks indicated, the singer’s sunny, smooth vocals often showed up for guest hooks, earning Hilson Hot 100 entries with hip-hop heavy hitters including T.I., Nelly and Nas. –T.A.

Country music legend Reba McEntire, from McAlester, Okla., continued to earn honors in the first quarter of the 21st century, after first hitting Billboard’s charts in 1976. In 2011, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, while in 2018 she received the esteemed Kennedy Center Honors for her lifetime of contributions to American culture. She also earned five of her 10 career top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 between 2007 and 2017. In 2011, “Turn on the Radio” topped Hot Country Songs, marking her 24th No. 1, second among women all-time only to Dolly Parton’s 25. Her most recent release, Not That Fancy, hit No. 25 on Top Country Albums in October 2023. –JIM ASKER

Amid recent is R&B dead? handwringing, Summer Walker’s chart standings answer that: nah.

Let’s review. Her debut album, 2019’s Over It, launched at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and spent 272 weeks – more than five years – on the chart through the first quarter of the century. Its sequel, 2021’s Still Over It, avoided the sophomore slump by entering at No. 1 and marked the first R&B album by a woman to top the Billboard 200 in five years. More history came on the Hot 100, with the album generating 18 simultaneous hits, tying Walker with Taylor Swift for the most among women in a single week to that point. Given Walker’s limited support in traditional crossover routes, her success may surprise some, but her fanbase’s loyalty and demonstrated track record help prove that R&B is thriving. –T.A.

On her way to winning the 2018 Grammy for best new artist, Alessia Cara completed a six-month march to the Hot 100’s top five with “Here.” Meanwhile, parent album Know It All began its Billboard 200 run in 2015, at its No. 9 high, kicking off a 92-week residence on the ranking. Three more Hot 100 top 10s in 2017 further sparked her triumph on Music’s Biggest Night: “Scars to Your Beautiful” (No. 8), “Stay,” with Zedd (No. 7), and Logic’s “1-800-273-8255” (which helped increase calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline), featuring Cara and Khalid. –E.F.

Branch broke through, at 17, on Billboard’s charts with three enduring pop/rock hits off her 2001 album The Spirit Room: “Everywhere,” “All You Wanted” – her first Hot 100 top 10 – and “Goodbye to You.”  She then reached the top five as the featured vocalist on Santana’s “The Game of Love.” She followed with 2003’s Hotel Paper and a country sojourn as half (with Jessica Harp) of The Wreckers, who crowned Hot Country Songs with “Leave the Pieces” in 2006. She added her own LPs Hopeless Romantic in 2017 and The Trouble With Fever in 2022, the latter a year after a 20th-anniversary rerecording of The Spirit Room. “I had not sat down and actually listened to The Spirit Room in so many years,” Branch mused in 2022. “[It] made me just so proud of what I did at that age.” –G.T.

Fronted by lead vocalist Kimberly Perry, the group from Greeneville, Tenn., arrived rounded out by siblings Reid (bass, vocals) and Neil (mandolin, vocals). Recognized immediately for Kimberly’s striking vocals and soaring harmonies from the brothers, the threesome crossed over with its sophomore single “If I Die Young,” written solely by Kimberly. It topped Hot Country Songs in 2010 and Adult Contemporary nearly a year later, while spending more than a year on the Hot 100. The group also banked two top five entries on the Billboard 200. Following a transition to pop in 2017, the act announced a hiatus in March 2023. Last month, The Band Perry returned, playing a Valentine’s Day show at the Grand Ole Opry (with family member Johnny Costello stepping in for Neil). –J.A.

While Fleetwood Mac released only two collections of new studio recordings in the first quarter of the 21st century (2003’s Say You Will and 2013’s Extended Play EP), the band continued to profit from the chart fortunes of earlier-released albums and new archival packages – nearly all featuring vocalists Christine McVie (who passed in 2022) and Stevie Nicks. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band’s classic chart-topping 1977 studio album Rumours spent nearly 500 weeks on the chart in 2000-24. The set found new generations of fans thanks to a Glee episode dedicated to the album in 2011, as well as a gone-viral TikTok in 2020 soundtracked to the album’s “Dreams.” So popular was that clip that it prompted a resurgence for “Dreams” on the Hot 100, where it surged to No. 12 – 43 years after it led the list. Meanwhile, Rumours raced to No. 7 on the Billboard 200 – its first top 10 placement in over 40 years.

When Billboard spoke to Nicks in 2020, she said she was “tinkled pink” by the revival of “Dreams,” sharing, “If the young kids start listening to Fleetwood Mac, start with the first album and just go through them. Sit down and be in it for the long run, and you’ll have the best time.” –K.C.

Considering Chappell Roan made her Billboard 200 album chart debut in April 2024 – less than nine months before the close of the eligibility period for this ranking – she made quite the impression in a short time. The singer-songwriter’s debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, climbed to No. 2 on the chart in August, while the set spun off six charting hits on the Hot 100 before the close of 2024. She claimed her highest-charting Hot 100 hit to date with the non-album single “Good Luck, Babe!,” which peaked at No. 4 last September. Her successes on both lists helped the artist – and advocate for artists’ rights – finish 2024 as Billboard’s top new artist. –K.C.

A vocal powerhouse, the Medicine, Kan., native began her chart career in 1992, building a catalog of empowering anthems including 1994’s “Independence Day,” a fan favorite during her concerts since. She boasts five Hot Country Songs No. 1s among 20 top 10s – including half since 2000. Also in the first quarter of the 21st century, she tallied all seven of her Billboard 200 top 10s. Meanwhile, after winning the Country Music Association’s female vocalist of the year trophy in 1999, McBride scored the coveted honor again in 2002, 2003 and 2004. –J.A.

Simpson’s 2004 lip synch misstep on Saturday Night Live perhaps overshadows her success on Billboard’s charts in the mid-2000s. (Further key background: she was fighting vocal cord issues that night. She also took positives from the appearance: “Having to find at a young age that strength to be like, ‘I am good at this and I will keep going, and I will keep fighting’,” she said in 2024.) Simpson scored two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 – Autobiography (2004) and I Am Me (2005) – as well as the No. 4-peaking Bittersweet World (2008). Her biggest single, “Pieces of Me,” hit No. 5 on the Hot 100, as well as No. 1 for five weeks on Pop Airplay.

Notably, big sis Jessica is still ahead on this countdown; still, Ashlee can boast about her chart-topping performance on the Billboard 200, where Jessica hit a No. 2 high (among four top 10s, though, one more than Ashlee. So, like all good sibling rivalries, no definitive winner will likely ever be declared). –G.T.

Charts in the first decade of the 2000s made for fertile ground for American Idol contestants, a trend furthered by the show’s 2007 champion. Sparks logged a pair of top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 with her first two studio sets: her 2007 self-titled effort and 2009’s Battlefield. The former launched a pair of top 10s on the Hot 100 in “Tattoo” (No. 8) and “No Air,” with Chris Brown (No. 3). The latter single’s success on the list enabled the cut to close 2008 as the No. 6 biggest song on the year-end Hot 100 Songs ranking. Sparks scored a third top 10 on the Hot 100 with Battlefield’s title track, which reached No. 10 in 2009. –K.C.

When a then-47-year-old Susan Boyle stepped onto the stage of the U.K. TV reality competition Britain’s Got Talent for the first time in 2009, a meteoric rise to the top of the charts began for the big-voiced singer. Her audition performance – a cover of “I Dreamed a Dream,” from Les Misérables – went viral on YouTube, and previewed her debut album of the same name. The set premiered atop the Billboard 200 at the end of 2009, selling 701,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week – still the biggest opening frame for a female artist’s debut album since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. I Dreamed a Dream spent six weeks at No. 1, and Boyle followed with six more charted releases through 2016, including two more top 10s: the No. 1 holiday set The Gift in 2010 and the No. 4-peaking Someone To Watch Over Me in 2011. –K.C.

Carly Rae Jepsen has a knack for writing irresistibly catchy pop songs. The Canadian skyrocketed on charts with 2012’s “Call Me Maybe,” a song so infectious that it not only spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 but also topped charts worldwide, cementing her status as a pop powerhouse. Jepsen returned to the top 10 once more, with follow-up “Good Time,” with Owl City, later in 2012. After such mainstream chart dominance, she has evolved into a beloved cult favorite among pop aficionados, selling out shows globally and consistently releasing critically acclaimed music. She has landed four albums in the top 20 of the Billboard 200, most recently The Loneliest Time in 2022. –X.Z.

Wilson roared into the country space with a massive first single, the proud, girlfriends-in-low-places anthem “Redneck Woman,” which dominated Hot Country Songs for five weeks. She followed with four additional top 10s. Wilson, from Pocahontas, Ill., sent three LPs to No. 1 on Top Country Albums in 2004-07, including All Jacked Up – which also launched atop the Billboard 200. She has won multiple awards including female vocalist of the year from both the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association. Plus, the singer-songwriter took home a Grammy for best female country vocal performance for “Redneck Woman.”

“I remember sitting down and saying, ‘I can’t really relate to what I’m seeing on CMT, GAC all the popular music video channels, and this is not real life,’ ” Wilson recalled in 2024 of the John Rich co-write. “It was like, ‘If I’m not that, then what am I?’ And the best thing I could come up with was, ‘I’m just a regular ol’ redneck woman.’ That’s a really pivotal moment, just writing that song that I knew was uniquely me. But I also knew, from a songwriter’s standpoint, it was about as honest as I could get. I knew at the same time that it was going to speak to so many women that were feeling frustrated just like I was.” –J.A.

Hilary Duff was a multihyphenate teen idol of the early 2000s. Thanks to her role as Lizzie McGuire in the Disney Channel series, and The Lizzie McGuire Movie, she captured the hearts of young women around the world. Her success has since extended beyond television, as she’s made a lasting impact in music, film and pop culture. She charted five songs on the Hot 100 in 2003-07, including “Come Clean” and “So Yesterday” from her No. 1 Billboard 200 album Metamorphosis. She has charted five total top 10 sets, including another No. 1, Most Wanted, in 2005, before largely pivoting to memorable acting roles, including in Younger, How I Met Your Father and Gossip Girl. –X.Z.

Amy Winehouse boasts a brief history on the Hot 100: one top 10 hit – “Rehab” – a No. 77 peak for “You Know I’m No Good” and one posthumous week with Tony Bennett for 2011’s “Body and Soul.” And while a few collections of B-sides, demos and remixes impacted the Billboard 200 after her untimely 2011 passing, her short career’s presence on this recap is largely owed to Back to Black. The album debuted at No. 7 in March 2007, climbed to No. 6 that July and then to No. 2 the next year following five Grammy wins. It returned to the top 10 following her death and has lingered in the years since. Recorded in 2005, released in the U.K. in 2006 and in the U.S. in 2007, the set reentered the first Billboard 200 of 2025, reflecting her legacy and already impacting the survey’s next quarter-century. –E.F.

Lana Del Rey is riding an eight-album streak of full-length albums hitting the top 10 of the Billboard 200. Two hit No. 1: 2014’s Ultraviolence and 2017’s Lust for Life. Quite the pedigree for an alt-pop singer-songwriter whose smoky timbre has graced the Hot 100’s top 10 twice, first on Cedric Gervais’ dance redo of “Summertime Sadness” in 2013, the other as featured on Taylor Swift’s “Snow on the Beach” nearly a decade later. Her influence has touched many artists on this list, from pop to alternative to full-fledged rock, both as a songwriter and as a torchbearer of the moodier pop of the ‘10s. –K.R.

Iggy Azalea hadn’t touched the Hot 100 before 2014 but was one of its most reliable hitmakers by the end of that year. “Black Widow,” featuring Rita Ora, reached No. 3, following her own featured turn on Ariana Grande’s No. 2-peaking “Problem.” The latter would have topped the chart had it not been for Azalea’s breakout smash: with its Charli XCX hook and Clueless-inspired music video, “Fancy” was No. 1 for seven weeks and later named Billboard’s top song of the summer. The New Classic had the hits to back up its title, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, but she has largely let her legacy rest, having announced in 2024 that she sold her masters and no longer has an active record contract. –E.F.

A defining singer and commercial juggernaut of the 1980s and ‘90s, Whitney Houston began the new century on a victory lap with Whitney: The Greatest Hits, which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in June 2000. Celebrations, however, slowed for much of the decade as her musical output shrank amid personal issues, but recovered in 2009 for a No. 1 album, I Look to You. Tragically, most of Houston’s brightest chart moments in recent years traced to the legend’s death in February 2012, which sparked a flurry of activity, including a No. 2 new peak for Greatest Hits and a No. 3 Hot 100 rebound for former chart-topper “I Will Always Love You” (which led for a then-record 14 weeks in 1992-93). The signature song lent its name to a second best-of collection, which became Houston’s longest-charting title on the Billboard 200, keeping Houston’s iconic voice alive across generations. –T.A.

Fittingly, the reach of Bedingfield’s 2006 smash “Unwritten” was at the time only just beginning. The song was then certainly a chart monster, hitting No. 5 on the Hot 100 and ruling Adult Contemporary for 11 weeks. Still, nearly 20 years later, it remains a pop culture staple, having hit No. 20 on the Billboard Global 200 chart in March 2024 amid a nearly year-long run on the ranking, thanks to its rediscovery among TikTokers and its evergreen lyrics about making one’s way in the world. Bedingfield went on to add a second No. 5 Hot 100 hit, “Pocketful of Sunshine,” in 2008, while the album of the same name reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200. –G.T.

As the First Lady of DMX’s Ruff Ryders crew, Eve has combined her charming swag and sharp-tongued bars to play with the top dogs on the charts – men or women. Popping onto the mainstream radar in 1999, her 2000s campaign started with a celebrated feature (also with guests Nas and Q-Tip) on a remix of Missy Elliott’s “Hot Boyz,” which cruised to No. 5 on the Hot 100 and achieved a then-record 18 weeks atop Hot Rap Songs. Another historic win narrowly eluded Eve, twice, as her Gwen Stefani-assisted “Let Me Blow Your Mind” and Alicia Keys-supported “Gangsta’ Lovin,” both peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100; had either taken the top spot, the rapper would have been only the second female MC, after Lauryn Hill, to reach No. 1. Still, her stats remain undeniable, with 14 Hot 100 hits and four albums on the Billboard 200 in the first quarter of the century, even more impressive given that she’s released only one album, 2013’s Lip Lock, in the last 20 years. –T.A.

When Twain mania was at its zenith, the Canadian-born singer-songwriter served up Come On Over, which commanded 50 weeks at No. 1 on Top Country Albums in 1997-2000, the longest rule by a woman. The set also hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The turn of the century brought new chart heights, as Up! opened atop both rankings in December 2002, marking Twain’s first Billboard 200 leader. Nearly 15 years later, she ruled the all-genre list again with Now.

From Come On Over and Up! combined, Twain rang up 12 Hot Country Songs top 10s. “You can’t rush writing good songs,” she told Billboard in 2017. “I can only speak for myself, but it just felt like, for me, that it just takes longer to make a truly great album, if you want it to be that great.” –J.A.

Jessica Simpson’s debut Hot 100 hit, 1999’s soaring ballad “I Wanna Love You Forever,” hit a No. 3 high for five consecutive weeks. It was released as the lead single from Simpson’s debut album, Sweet Kisses, which spent more than a year on the Billboard 200, reaching No. 25. She became a regular visitor to the album chart’s top 10 after that, sending four sets to the top tier in 2001-08. She logged her highest-charting album with In This Skin (No. 2, March 2004), amid her run as a reality TV star on MTV’s Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica (2003-05), which chronicled the lives of her and then-husband Nick Lachey (of 98 Degrees). Following “I Wanna Love You Forever,” Simpson scored eight more Hot 100 hits through 2008, including six that reached the top 40 (or swam to the top 40, like tuna! Or flew, or walked all wobbly, like chicken?) –K.C.

Sara Bareilles has built a decades-long career that spans music, television and theater, crossing genres and transforming her into a global star. But if there is truly one song that defines her journey, it’s her debut breakthrough single, “Love Song.” Released in 2007, the track marked her first Billboard chart appearance, hitting No. 4 on the Hot 100 and topping Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary. The song introduced her to listeners who have since followed her through an ever-evolving career. She starred on Broadway in Waitress, Jesus Christ Superstar and Into The Woods and, proving her appeal knows no depths, earned a Tony nomination for scoring the SpongeBob SquarePants musical. –X.Z.

Barely five years since her debut, Megan Thee Stallion has sprinted to a level of mainstream success that has solidified her among the most lauded female rappers ever. With just her third Hot 100 hit, 2019’s “Hot Girl Summer” collab with Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign, she revealed a savvy for converting social media moments into chart payoffs when the viral phrase yielded a No. 11 Hot 100 single. That pipeline later struck gold through her three No. 1s: “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé and her feature on Cardi B’s “WAP” (both in 2020) and her “Hiss” diss (2024). Between the buzziest moments, she has remained a consistent hitmaker, with 40 Hot 100 entries and seven top 10 albums on the Billboard 200. –T.A.

Ellie Goulding started off her Hot 100 chart career with a bang, as her debut hit “Lights” reached No. 2 in August 2012, spent over a year on the list, and wrapped 2012 at No. 5 on the year-end Hot 100 Songs ranking.  But she didn’t stop there. The English singer-songwriter claimed another 13 hits on the Hot 100 before the close of 2024, including the No. 3-peaking hit “Love Me Like You Do” from Fifty Shades of Grey. Goulding also posted a pair of top 10 efforts on the Billboard 200: 2012’s Halcyon (No. 9) and 2015’s Delirium (No. 3). –K.C.

After first appearing on Billboard’s charts in 1989, Enya continued to be a force in the first quarter of the 21st century via her signature layered and lush brand of new age. She notched four Billboard 200 top 10s between 2001 and 2015 and also reached the chart with 2009’s The Very Best of Enya, the longest-leading title in the history of Billboard’s New Age Albums chart. In 2001, “Only Time” hit No. 10 on the Hot 100, connecting in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Enya added a second Hot 100 top 10, in a featured role, in 2004, when Mario Winans’ “I Don’t Wanna Know” reached No. 2, thanks in part to its sample of her 1987 track “Boadicea.”

“I’ve always felt that success and fame are two different things, so I’ve never been a person to seek fame,” the Irish musician (born Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin, or Enya Patricia Brennan) shared in a rare interview in 2016. “I love the success, the success of the music is very important to me, but the fame side of it is something that I feel other people enjoy. They do it so well. But I like to be able to get around without being recognized too much.” –G.T.

Dido broke into the Hot 100’s top 10 with “Thank You,” which hit No. 3 in 2001. As the English singer-songwriter was establishing herself on the charts, by mid-2000, she found herself with a perhaps unexpected collaborative partner: Eminem. The rapper heavily sampled “Thank You” on his single “Stan.” He gave her featured artist credit on the track, while she also co-starred in its official video.

While “Stan” reached a modest No. 51 Hot 100 peak in December 2000 (and No. 36 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs), its legacy is far-reaching. The title became slang for a fervent fan, based on its title subject – and the name of her son, born in 2011.

In 2013, Dido told Billboard, “I first heard about ‘Stan’ when I was in a hotel in New York. I got a letter saying, ‘We heard your track. We love it. We’d like to use it for this track ‘Stan.’ Can you take a listen? I hope you like it, and can we use your song?’ I was a big Eminem fan, so it was pretty cool. And then I heard it. I had some friends staying in the same hotel. They were literally running down the hall, like, ‘You gotta listen to this – it’s just brilliant!’ ” –K.C.

No Doubt’s three-album output this century mirrors the Gwen Stefani-fronted band’s ‘90s production in terms of volume. Sonically, it’s ranged from the quintet’s trademark alternative rock mixed with ska and punk to decidedly poppier efforts such as 2001’s Rock Steady, an LP that spurred top five Hot 100 hits in “Hey Baby” and “Underneath It All” (the latter featuring Lady Saw). Another top 10, a cover of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life,” followed as part of a 2003 greatest-hits package. 2012 reunion album Push and Shove, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and its top 40-peaking lead single “Settle Down,” added to the catalog of the group, which has continued to play occasional reunion shows. –K.R.

Armed with a distinct, smoky voice, and inspired by the likes of Mary J. Blige, Cole has achieved her success mining classic R&B themes of heartbreak and desire. As with many of her contemporaries, her biggest stretch aligned with R&B’s heyday in the mid-2000s. Fourteen of the singer’s 15 career Hot 100 hits were in 2005-09, including seven top 40 hits, such as R&B staples “Love,” “Let It Go” (featuring Missy Elliott and Lil’ Kim) and “Heaven Sent,” while her biggest pop crossover, as featured on Sean Paul’s “(When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me,” resulted in a No. 3 peak. Cole’s albums, too, have drawn fans’ repeated interest: She has charted seven entries on the Billboard 200, with her first six all reaching the top 10. –T.A.

When Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in April 2008, it became only the third initial entry by a U.K.-born woman to reign. Petula Clark was first with “Downtown” in 1965 and Sheena Easton rode “Morning to Train (Nine to Five)” to the top in 1981. Lewis’ track vaulted 8-1, boosted by promotional appearances on NBC’s The Tonight Show – then hosted by Jay Leno – and Live! with Regis and Kelly. Later that April, her album Spirit launched atop the Billboard 200, making Lewis, who was discovered on Britain’s The X Factor in 2006, the first solo woman from the country to debut atop the chart. –G.T.

Lambert, from Longview, Texas, arrived on Billboard’s country charts in 2004. She has logged seven Billboard 200 top 10s, including 2014’s No. 1 Platinum. Meanwhile, her chart-topping totals on Top Country Albums and Hot Country Songs are a robust seven – out of the gate – and five, respectively. Lambert’s first LP for Big Loud/Republic, Postcards From Texas, opened at its No. 8 high on Top Country Albums last September, becoming her 10th top 10.

Beyond music, the longtime devotee of helping animals, most notably through her MuttNation Foundation, assisted relief efforts in 2024 to aid pet shelters, pets and other animals impacted by Hurricane Helene. –J.A.

The multi-faceted Australian artist didn’t initially plan to be a mainstream pop star. Sia began her career as a writer, penning songs recorded by some of the biggest stars of the 21st century, including Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson and Britney Spears. Notably, she did make her voice prominent on her song “Breathe Me,” as heard in the closing scenes of the series finale of HBO’s Six Feet Under in 2005.

In 2012, Sia scored the first four of her seven Hot 100 top 10s as a writer, including Rihanna’s No. 1 “Diamonds.” She sang on two of them: her booming David Guetta collaboration “Titanium” and Flo Rida’s similarly effervescent “Wild Ones.” In 2014, she earned her first top 10 on her own as a recording artist, “Chandelier,” and her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, 1000 Forms of Fear. 2016 brought her to the top of the Hot 100 via her own voice, when “Cheap Thrills,” featuring Sean Paul, cashed in for four weeks at No. 1. –X.Z.

Caillat buzzed to No. 5 on the Hot 100 in 2007 with her debut hit, “Bubbly,” which also ruled Adult Contemporary for 19 weeks and Adult Pop Airplay for 13 weeks. Parent album Coco likewise reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 – while 2009 follow-up Breakthrough soared in at No. 1. The singer-songwriter (and daughter of Ken Caillat, who, among other work, co-produced Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, Tusk and Mirage albums) tweaked her organic by the end of the 2010s as a member of Gone West (with then-fiancé Justin Young, and Jason Reeves and Nelly Joy, the latter two of pop duo High Dive Heart). The act’s Canyons and “What Could’ve Been” hit the top 40 on Top Country Albums and Hot Country Songs, respectively. –G.T.

Pop, rock, country, folk, R&B, blues – 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Sheryl Crow has done it all over a 12-albums-and-counting run that began with 1993’s Tuesday Night Music Club. Though the highs of Crow’s ‘90s output could have been tough to match, the Missourian had no problem with the task, rattling off four No. 2-peaking albums on the Billboard 200 between 2002 and 2008, plus a fifth that hit No. 3 in 2010. A featured turn on Kid Rock’s “Picture,” which reached No. 4 on the Hot 100 in 2003, was her high point on the chart in the first quarter of the 21st century, while she also climbed charts with her cover of the Cat Stevens-penned “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” first made a hit by Rod Stewart, and perennial warm-weather favorite “Soak Up the Sun.” –K.R.

Demi Lovato is among the many stars who have seamlessly transitioned from Disney Channel icon to pop music sensation. While she appeared in several Mouse projects, it was the 2008 TV musical film Camp Rock that catapulted her to stardom. Her breakout moment came with “This Is Me,” a Hot 100 top 10 from Camp Rock featuring fellow Disney alum Joe Jonas. The song introduced Lovato to a wider audience and led to her steady presence on the Hot 100, including three additional top 10s in 2013-17: “Skyscraper,” “Heart Attack” and “Sorry Not Sorry.” She has also collected eight top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, including 2009’s No. 1 Here We Go Again. Still always welcome on-screen, she took on acting roles after conquering charts, including a run on Glee (as alter ego Dani) in 2013-14. –X.Z.

Like Beyoncé before her and the women of BLACKPINK after, Camila Cabello has navigated the road from girl group to solo star with chart-topping hits. “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” alongside Shawn Mendes, reached the Hot 100’s top 20 in 2016, and “Bad Things,” with Machine Gun Kelly, leveled her up to No. 4. She topped the list with “Havana,” featuring Young Thug, in 2018 and reunited with Mendes for 2019’s fellow leader “Senorita.” While solo, Cabello has continued to embrace collaboration, adding more hits with Ed Sheeran, Quavo, Pharrell Williams and Willow. –E.F.

It was a steady journey to the top of the charts for the actress and singer-songwriter. She first appeared on Kid Digital Song Sales, when “Take On the World,” with Rowan Blanchard, debuted at No. 3 in June 2014. Six albums and more than a decade later, she topped the Billboard 200 with 2024’s Short N’ Sweet and led the Hot 100 with “Please Please Please,” sandwiched between top 10s “Taste” and the Grammy Award-winning “Espresso.” The album crystallized her playful persona, and has spent all but one week since its release in the top 10.

In 2021, after she had made her Hot 100 debut, Carpenter told Billboard, “Something I’ve always loved and aspired to do is not compare myself to other people, but compare myself to myself, and just try to consistently grow in a way that feels honest. And you know, that’s tricky when you’re a young girl, and you have a lot of factors weighing into it, and a lot of cooks in the kitchen. This last year, the people that have grown up with me I think were ready to just watch me go off and do my thing.” –E.F.

The Pussycat Dolls strutted onto Billboard’s charts in 2005, reaching No. 2 on the Hot 100 with “Don’t Cha,” featuring Busta Rhymes. The all-women group, led by Nicole Scherzinger, married sizzling pop hits and dazzling choreography with high-gloss music videos. Following its career-opening smash, the ensemble collected 10 further Hot 100 hits, including the Grammy Award-nominated “Stickwitu” (No. 5). The group released two albums, both of which reached the top five on the Billboard 200: PCD (No. 5 in 2005) and Doll Domination (No. 8 in 2010). –K.C.

The revered vocalist first hit Billboard’s charts in 1990 and logged her four Hot 100 No. 1s between 1994 and 1999. Still, the 2000s and beyond brought more of her chart achievements, including eight of her 13 career top 10 albums on the Billboard 200. Among them, Courage became her fifth and most recent No. 1 set in 2019. Dion, who, among health struggles, has offered encouraging updates this decade, won the Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards in 2016. A year later, she performed “My Heart Will Go On” at the ceremony in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Titanic theme, which topped the Hot 100 in 1998. Ahead of her appearance, she beamed of the beloved ballad, “It’s still No. 1!” –G.T.

In her all-too-brief life, Aaliyah’s charisma and self-assured confidence captivated audiences and critics alike. Already a star thanks to her 1994 debut, Age Ain’t Nothin’ but a Number, and its 1997 follow-up, One in a Million, Aaliyah glided into the 21st century by expanding into film. It paid off. The singer co-starred in 2000’s Romeo Must Die, and one of her soundtrack cuts, “Try Again,” blazed a trail to No. 1 on the Hot 100, becoming the first single to claim the top spot solely through radio airplay and no sales. Plans for the singer’s third, self-titled 2001 album, however, were tragically derailed. Eight weeks after its release, Aaliyah, aged 22, and eight others died in a plane crash on Aug. 25, 2001. Fan response sent Aaliyah to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 – her sole chart-topper – setting the stage for continued support for years to come. 2002’s posthumous release, I Care 4 U, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 while single “Miss You” achieved the same Hot 100 peak.

Decades later, enthusiasm for Aaliyah hadn’t waned. The long-awaited streaming arrival of her catalog in 2021 sent One in a Million back to No. 10 on the Billboard 200, nearly 25 years after its release. –T.A.

Along with five No. 1s on Hot Country Songs and three on Top Country Albums in the first quarter of the century, the duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush led the Billboard 200 with three collections in 2008-10: Love on the Inside, Live on the Inside and The Incredible Machine. Following a hiatus in 2012, Sugarland reunited in 2017, though Nettles and Bush have always embraced individual projects. Notably, Nettles teamed with Bon Jovi on “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” a Hot Country Songs No. 1 in 2006. An accomplished producer, Bush has produced artists including rising country star Megan Moroney. –J.A.

While Shakira’s commercial success began in the 1990s, 2001’s Laundry Service, her fifth studio set, sparked her global musical explosion. The bilingual album became the Colombian’s first of five top 10s on the all-genre Billboard 200, debuting at its No. 3 high. “Whenever, Wherever,” the album’s first single (co-written by Gloria Estefan), soared to No. 6 on the Hot 100 in her first visit to the chart. Enthralling fans with practiced and seductive moves that remain central to her style, Shakira crowned the Hot 100 with “Hips Don’t Lie,” featuring Wyclef Jean, in 2006. In 2023, she upped her count to six top 10s on the chart, with her first two since 2007: “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” with Bizarrap, and “TQG,” with Karol G. –PAMELA BUSTIOS

A teenaged New Zealander was the coolest thing in pop and alternative music in 2013, when Lorde’s “Royals,” a song that decried the very scene into which the electropop newcomer was suddenly thrust, debuted on multiple Billboard charts and ultimately ruled the Hot 100 for nine weeks beginning that October. Follow-up “Team” rose to No. 6, and Lorde has remained a formidable musical tastemaker and critical darling, from curating the soundtrack for 2014’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 to her work with Jack Antonoff on her 2017 Billboard 200 No. 1 Melodrama and 2021’s Solar Power. –K.R.

Nelly Furtado soared in with “I’m Like a Bird,” which hit the Hot 100’s top 10 in May 2001. Follow-up “Turn Off the Light” fared even better, rising to No. 5 that November. Both were released from her debut album, Whoa, Nelly! She returned with Folklore in 2003 before rising to her loftiest chart heights with 2006’s Loose, which blasted in atop the Billboard 200 that July. The same week, she notched her first Hot 100 No. 1, “Promiscuous,” featuring Timbaland. The set also yielded the No. 1 “Say It Right,” while Furtado added a third leader, “Give It to Me,” by Timbaland featuring Furtado and Justin Timberlake, in 2007.

Born in Victoria, B.C., to Portuguese parents, the musically adventurous artist has also earned two No. 1s on Hot Latin Songs and led Top Latin Albums with the Spanish-language Mi Plan in 2009. –G.T.

Lizzo has been a force on Billboard’s charts since the closing months of the 2010s. Her breakthrough hit, “Truth Hurts,” released in 2017, became her first Hot 100 entry, dominating for seven weeks in 2019. She led the Hot 100 again for two weeks in 2022 with “About Damn Time.” She has also hit the Billboard 200’s top 10 with her albums Cuz I Love You and Special.

In 2019, Ricky Reed, who co-wrote and co-produced “Truth Hurts,” told Billboard, “You can cheat your sound to find an entry point, to get nice placements on Spotify or Apple Music or on the radio. You say, ‘[What’s popular] sounds like this,’ and you can get some success sooner. But with Lizzo, it was about patience. The process was slow, but the payoff when you don’t compromise your art is that you sound like no one else.” –X.Z.

Jackson sealed her legend status in the 1980s and ‘90s, but the diva’s ambitions for shining in a third decade hardly slowed. With 2000’s “Doesn’t Really Matter,” she became the first artist to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100 in the ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s, while 2001’s “All for You” also hit the top spot, while its parent album ruled the Billboard 200. We all know what happened next. Jackson’s momentum slammed to a screeching halt after her wardrobe malfunction at Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, and while her automatic hitmaking days ceased, the superstar still added career highlights. 2008’s Discipline and 2015’s Unbreakable both debuted atop the Billboard 200, and she notched more Hot 100 hits, including the top 20 “Feedback” in 2008 and collaborations with Nelly (“Call on Me,” 2006), J. Cole (“No Sleeep,” 2015) and Daddy Yankee (“Made for Now,” 2018).

More importantly, her halftime show appearance would be rightfully reconsidered in subsequent years with far greater compassion. –T.A.

A jill-of-all-trades, Missy Elliott initially captured industry attention as a songwriter and producer, most notably for Aaliyah, before graduating to center stage. A seemingly endless supply of sleek, futuristic beats, witty wordplay that appeared near-effortless and her fashion-forward, creative videos combined for a streak of hits in the mid-1990s. By 2000, Elliott was in full swing, with her “Hot Boyz” hitting No. 5 on the Hot 100 and setting a then-record with 18 weeks atop the Hot Rap Songs chart. Six more Hot 100 top 10s followed in 2001-07, including a pair of No. 2 hits: “Work It” and Ciara’s “1, 2 Step,” on which she’s featured. Meanwhile, three of her four albums in 2001-05 landed in the top 10 of the Billboard 200. Despite a 14-year gap between projects due to personal and health issues, Elliott’s most recent collection, 2019’s Iconology EP, opened in the Billboard 200’s top 25. –T.A.

Gothic metal had its moment on the Billboard charts in the mid-2000s thanks to the Amy Lee-fronted Evanescence, torchbearers for a poppier, nu metal-indebted take on the genre that snagged a trio of Hot 100 top 10s and kicked off a career for the band that continues as a touring stalwart. Lee’s operatic vocals mixed with brooding, battering riffs drove the group’s debut album, Fallen, to a No. 3 peak on the Billboard 200 in 2003, with No. 1s to follow in 2006’s The Open Door and 2011’s self-titled LP. Fallen produced two top 10 Hot 100 classics: “Bring Me to Life” (featuring Paul McCoy) and the delicate “My Immortal.” –K.R.

Ciara Princess Harris was the undeniable queen of the crunk&B scene, the mid-2000s R&B extension of crunk music’s stranglehold on hip-hop, and really, popular music at large. Striking at the sound’s peak, Ciara sent her debut single, “Goodies,” featuring Petey Pablo, to No. 1 on the Hot 100 for seven weeks in 2004. “1, 2 Step,” featuring Missy Elliott, and “Oh,” featuring Ludacris, both reached No. 2 the next year. That top-level trio started Ciara on a run of eight top 10s, among 21 total entries through her latest in 2018. Longevity, of course, requires adaptation, and Ciara expanded her foundation beyond the crunk era to other sounds, finding Hot 100 success with her pop-friendly top 10 “Love Sex Magic,” with Justin Timberlake, and the sultry “Body Party.” –T.A.

After charting two songs on the Hot 100 in 2015, Halsey returned with a guest appearance on the Chainsmokers’ “Closer,” her vocals helping the track become a massive 12-week No. 1 smash “Closer” in 2016. Halsey has since landed five additional top 10s, including the solo No. 1 “Without Me” in 2019. The singer-songwriter has endeavored more experimental sounds, all while collecting five top five albums on the Billboard 200, including 2017’s No. 1 hopeless fountain kingdom. Just before the close of the first quarter of the 21st century, Halsey hit No. 2 in November with The Great Impersonator. –X.Z.

While Madonna established herself as the Queen of Pop in the 1980s, and her royal reign continued into the ‘90s, she earned six of her nine No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 in the first quarter of the 21st century. In that span, she led with Music (2000), American Life (2003), Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005), Hard Candy (2008), MDNA (2012) and Madame X (2019). In 2022, when her dance singles retrospective Finally Enough Love debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, she became the first woman with newly-charted top 10 albums in the ‘80s, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s.

On the Hot 100 since Y2K, Madonna has notched six top 10s: “Music” – her 12th career No. 1 – in 2000; “Don’t Tell Me” (No. 4, 2001); “Die Another Day” (No. 8, 2002); “Hung Up” (No. 7, 2005); “4 Minutes,” with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland (No. 3, 2008); and “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. – her 38th top 10 (No. 10, 2012). In 2023, nearly 40 years after Madonna first sent material onto the Hot 100, she returned with “Popular,” with The Weeknd and Playboi Carti. –K.C.

Originally from Ridgeland, Miss., and married to fellow country music superstar Tim McGraw since 1996, Hill crowned country and pop charts during the first quarter of the century. After peaking at No. 2 on the Hot 100, ballad “Breathe” earned top honors on the 2000 year-end chart. It also commanded Adult Contemporary for 17 weeks and Hot Country Songs for six frames. Plus, buoyant follow-up “The Way You Love Me” hit No. 6 on the Hot 100 in 2001. After parent album Breathe debuted as her first Billboard 200 No. 1 in late 1999, she led again with Cry in 2002 and Fireflies in 2005. In 2017, Hill and McGraw’s The Rest of Our Life opened at No. 2. –J.A.

The threesome of vocalist Natalie Maines and multi-instrumentalists, and sisters, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer experienced highs and lows over the first quarter of the century, from the act’s well-chronicled political outspokenness, and resulting major backlash, to a 2020 name modification. Still, chart success followed them thanks to their loyal fan following. After first topping the Billboard 200 with Fly in 1999, they led with Home in 2002 and Taking the Long Way in 2006. In 2020, the group’s Gaslighter hit No. 3.

Meanwhile, The Chicks, who scored 14 Country Airplay top 10s in 1998-2003, ended a five-year break from touring in 2022. “I hate when people get too off,” Maines mused. “It’s no fun if you go to a concert you love to sing along to, and they’ve changed it all up. We keep that in mind. It’s not about changing melody or anything. We want our fans to be able to enjoy it and recognize it and sing along.” -J.A.

“You know how the bass guitar in a song is like its ‘thickness,’ the ‘bottom’? I kind of related a body to that,” Trainor told Billboard in 2014 after her debut hit, “All About That Bass,” entered the Hot 100. “I said, ‘What about a booty? Let’s talk about that!’ From there, it turned into, ‘Let’s do a song about loving your body … and your booty.’ ”

The song kickstarted Trainor’s career, with her debut album, Title, likewise topping the Billboard 200 and generating two more Hot 100 top 10s. Trainor has traversed artistic platforms since, including serving as a coach on NBC’s The Voice and authoring the self-help book Dear Future Mama. Her chart accolades further include co-writing Rascal Flatts’ 2016 Country Airplay No. 1 “I Like the Sound of That” and ruling Adult Pop Airplay in 2023 with another entry in her trademark playful catalog, “Made You Look.” –G.T.

The appetite for solo music from Gwen Stefani was clear from the moment she ventured beyond No Doubt via featured turns on Eve’s “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” and Moby’s “South Side,” Nos. 2- and 14-peaking songs on the Hot 100 in 2001. Both tunes sidestepped the ska-inflected alternative rock for which she’d come to be known as a band frontwoman, and previewed the pop focus of her 2005 debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. and 2006 follow-up The Sweet Escape. Four top 10s on the Hot 100 – including the four-week No. 1 “Hollaback Girl” – further established Stefani as a star in her own right who also became a TV fixture in the 2010s and into the ‘20s thanks to eight seasons as a coach on NBC’s The Voice. –K.R.

In the first 10 years of the 21st century, Jones racked up more weeks atop the Billboard 200 than any other woman – 13 – across three No. 1 albums. Her debut set, Come Away With Me, spent four weeks atop the list in 2003. It also brought home Grammy gold, as Jones won five trophies off the back of the project, including album of the year, record of the year (for the set’s breezy “Don’t Know Why”) and best new artist.

One of the album’s four weeks at No. 1 followed Jones’ Grammy haul. “Just when I thought it couldn’t go [any higher],” she recalled to Billboard in 2022, “the Grammys happened, and [the album] just went into the stratosphere.” Her next two LPs also topped the Billboard 200: Feels Like Home (six weeks at No. 1 in 2004) and Not Too Late (three, 2007). Through 2024, she sent six collections to the top 10. –K.C.

Following her breakout role in Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place, Selena Gomez has conjured hit after hit, dating to her breakthrough single “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” in 2009. She logged seven Hot 100 entries with her band The Scene and reached the top 10 for the first time in 2013 with her own “Come & Get It,” her first of nine top 10s. In 2019, ballad “Lose You To Love Me” took her to No. 1. Gomez – who has maintained her acting presence via Hulu’s Emmy-winning Only Murders in the Building and the Oscar-nominated film Emilia Pérez – has also tallied a trio of No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200: Stars Dance (2013), Revival (2015) and Rare (2020).

Gomez releases her new album, I Said I Love You First – with fiancé Benny Blanco – Friday (March 21). “I want to continue working towards my goals,” she told Billboard last year. “In the acting field, I feel like I haven’t even started. And with music, it’s always evolving. It’s such a therapeutic experience for me.” –X.Z.

In November 2001, a fresh-faced rookie singer named Ashanti crept onto the Hot 100 by tackling the hook of Ja Rule’s “Always on Time,” which debuted at No. 84. By 2002, Ashanti surged to become a Hot 100 powerhouse, occupying or circling the No. 1 spot for months. In addition to the two-week No. 1 “Always on Time,” the singer’s feature on Fat Joe’s “What’s Luv?” helped it reach No. 2, and her own, proper debut release, “Foolish,” was the biggest of all, ruling the Hot 100 for 10 weeks. Moreover, as all three titles landed in the Hot 100’s top 10 at the same time, Ashanti became the first woman – and only third act to that point, after The Beatles and Bee Gees – with three simultaneous top 10s.

After that scorching start, Ashanti added 15 more Hot 100 hits to her account through 2020, upping her career count to 10 top 10s. Similarly, all five of her standard studio albums have reached the Billboard 200’s upper tier, led by her No. 1 self-titled 2002 effort and 2003 sophomore LP, Chapter II. –T.A.

In the middle of her tenure with The Black Eyed Peas (No. 23 on Billboard’s Top Artists of the 21st Century recap), Fergie released an album and established herself as a solo leading lady. Before her group could reach the top of the Hot 100, Fergie landed three leaders: “London Bridge,” “Glamorous,” featuring Ludacris, and “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” Including “Fergalicious” and “Clumsy,” both of which hit the top five, parent album The Dutchess forged one of the most successful runs of singles of the 2000s. It can’t be a coincidence that immediately after Fergie established her own pop star bona fides, her return to The Black Eyed Peas yielded the biggest era of their career, with a record-setting 26 consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100 in 2009 thanks to “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling.” –E.F.

A self-described “regular, schmegular” girl from the Bronx achieved the extraordinary in 2017, becoming the first unaccompanied female rapper to top the Hot 100 since Lauryn Hill’s barrier-breaking “Doo Wop (That Thing)” in 1998. Beginning with “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves),” Cardi B was an instant A-lister, powering to 49 Hot 100 appearances by the end of the quarter-century. Her five No. 1s – a record among female rappers, okkurrrr? (sp?) – are the stars of the show, each with their own flair: In addition to “Bodak Yellow,” check out the Latin-tinged “I Like It” with Bad Bunny and J. Balvin; a feature on a straightforward pop track, Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You”; the unabashed “WAP,” featuring Megan Thee Stallion; or the feisty, confrontational “Up.” Echoing her singles success, her debut album, 2018’s Invasion of Privacy, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for four years. –T.A.

The first Hot 100 entry for Kesha (then Ke$ha), “TiK ToK,” started the clock on her run of feel-good chart hits, ruling for nine weeks and topping the 2010 year-end ranking. She added five other top 10s that year, and a debut Billboard 200 No. 1, Animal. Though momentum was halted by a decade-long legal battle with producer Dr. Luke, she reappeared with heat behind her, sending 2017’s Rainbow to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The set also generated a 20-week stay on the Hot 100 for its emotive lead single, “Praying,” and scored Kesha her first two Grammy nominations.

In 2020, High Road became Kesha’s fourth Billboard 200 top 10. She told Billboard of the musically diverse set, “I didn’t want to have any boundaries. Hopefully it sounds cohesive, because my brain is a wild place. It’s not the most cohesive place in the world, but in my brain, it makes sense.” –E.F.

After Dua Lipa established herself a pop star-on-the-rise in 2016 with her first Hot 100 hit, “Blow Your Mind (Mwah),” the singer-songwriter became a superstar during her Future Nostalgia album cycle and its string of effervescent hit pop/dance singles in 2019-21. Among them: the No. 2-peaking “Levitating,” which went on to become the No. 1 song on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 Songs recap for in 2021. In the first quarter of the century, Dua Lipa logged 11 top 40 hits on the weekly Hot 100, plus four top 40 albums on the Billboard 200, including Future Nostalgia (No. 3) and Radical Optimism (No. 2). –K.C.

Doja Cat has made the most of her five years as a Billboard-charting hitmaker. In 2019-24, the rapper/singer sent 25 songs onto the Hot 100, including eight top 10s and two No. 1s: “Say So,” featuring Nicki Minaj, in 2020 and “Paint the Town Red” in 2023. She also landed eight No. 1s on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart, including four in 2022 alone – as she joined Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga as the only women in the chart’s history to tally that many in a single year. Doja Cat has also sent her three most recent albums into the top 10 of the Billboard 200: Hot Pink (2020), Planet Her (2022) and Scarlet (2023). –X.Z.

Dubbed The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige reshaped the boundaries of a classic sound, marrying soul’s pained heartbreak and pursuits of love with streetwise, autobiographical storytelling that resonated with a rap-raised generation.

From the jump, Blige connected with audiences, landing four top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 and 17 Hot 100 hits – including three top 10s – in the 1990s. In the new century, Blige’s brand peaked with two massive hits: Her first Hot 100 No. 1, 2001’s Dr. Dre-produced, thumping “Family Affair” that introduced “hateration,” “holleration” and “dancery” to many vocabularies, and “Be Without You,” a romantic ode that spent a then-record 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in 2006. Big as they were, they weren’t the only crown jewels in her royal collection, as she notched 26 Hot 100 hits and 11 top 10 Billboard 200 albums in the first quarter of the century. –T.A.

After the release of her second studio album, J.Lo, the Bronx native continued her path to superstardom via a vast array of talents. Lopez delivered a one-two punch in 2001, placing her sophomore project at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, her first of two champs, and the romantic comedy The Wedding Planner at the top of the U.S. box office – becoming the first entertainer ever to achieve such a concurrent rule. She also scored three of her four career Hot 100 No. 1s in the 21st century: “I’m Real” (2001) and “Ain’t It Funny” (2002), both featuring Ja Rule, and “All I Have” (2003), featuring LL Cool J. –P.B.

Few artists have soared in the way that Olivia Rodrigo did in 2021. Outside of one Disney Channel soundtrack cut, her first proper single – the ubiquitous “Drivers License” – debuted atop the Hot 100 and her first album, Sour, bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The LP also generated the Hot 100 No. 1 “Good 4 U,” while Rodrigo topped the chart again in 2023 with “Vampire” and GUTS, respectively. What Rodrigo has accomplished in such a short time is stunning: to find an artist on this list who debuted more recently, scroll back up nearly 60 positions for fellow best new artist Grammy winner Chappell Roan at No. 80. –E.F.

Christina Aguilera gave the Hot 100 its first new No. 1 of the 21st century when “What a Girl Wants” replaced Santana’s “Smooth,” featuring Rob Thomas, atop the list in January 2000. She landed another leader later that year, one in 2001 and one more in 2011, as featured on Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger.” In addition to posting five of her six top 10s on the Billboard 200 this century, she diversified her portfolio with a Spanish-language album, a holiday record, a greatest hits collection, the soundtrack to her starring turn in Burlesque and a round-up of early demos. –E.F.

Per a 2018 Billboard cover story, Lavigne’s “gloriously unapologetic sense of whatever-dude entitlement and jagged pop sound has inspired artists from Taylor Swift (see: the Lavigne-esque breakdown of ‘Shake It Off’) to an ascendant new generation of indie rockers like Soccer Mommy.”

The singer-songwriter made her Billboard chart arrival with 2002’s “Complicated,” her first of five top 10s on the Hot 100, a total that includes the 2007 No. 1 “Girlfriend.” Her debut LP, Let Go, became the first of her six top 10s on the Billboard 200, a haul most recently rounded out by Love Sux in 2022. She boasts two No. 1 sets: 2004’s Under My Skin and 2007’s The Best Damn Thing. –G.T.

Gotta love when someone lives up to the hype. Since her first independent release in 2012, SZA’s growing profile of EPs and co-writing credits elevated her among the industry’s most-anticipated prospects. But between delays and public disagreements with her label, questions mounted. Would her debut album meet expectations? Would it even come out? Well, yes.

Released in June 2017, Ctrl opened at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and never exited the chart for the rest of the first quarter of the 21st century, while singles “Love Galore” (featuring Travis Scott) and “The Weeknd” put her on her way to 30 top 40 Hot 100 hits in 2017-24. Despite a five-year gap until 2022 for her next album, any concerns of a sophomore slump were handily erased. SOS stormed to a No. 1 debut and didn’t surrender top slot for 10 weeks. It housed five top 10 Hot 100 hits, including her first leader, “Kill Bill,” and the No. 2 “Snooze,” and broke several R&B chart records. Who knows when SZA’s third album will surface, but based on that track record, it’ll certainly be worth the wait. –T.A.

The hitmaking Houston quartet of Beyoncé Knowles, LaToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson and Kelly Rowland strutted into 2000 on top of their game. The Writings on the Wall, having already produced a 1999 Hot 100 No. 1, “Bills Bills Bills,” sparked another chart-topper with “Say My Name” in 2000, while “Jumpin’ Jumpin’ ” reached No. 3. That winning run, however, nearly collapsed as Luckett and Roberson departed the group and filed a lawsuit against Matthew Knowles, the group’s manager and Beyoncé’s father. A potential career-ending drama turned into a minor speed bump, as two more No. 1 anthems, “Independent Women, Part I” and “Bootylicious,” and 2001’s Billboard 200 leader Survivor – all with new member Michelle Williams – reaffirmed the group’s standing. After a brief hiatus for solo projects, the trio reunited for 2004’s Destiny Fulfilled and released a 2005 best-of collection, #1’s, which fittingly debuted in the Billboard 200’s top spot. –T.A.

A review of the stat sheet for Nicki Minaj shows that she’s beyond a candidate for the most successful female rapper of all time; she’s simply among the most successful female artists – rapper, singer, whoever. Dating to her 2010 Hot 100 debut, Minaj logged 148 entries on the chart through the end of the first quarter-century, and in the process, became the first woman to ever reach the triple-digit mark. Of that collection, 22 titles spent time in the top 10, and in addition to her own tracks, the rapper shares credits with some legendary pop figures, including Madonna, Britney Spears and Ariana Grande. Let’s not forget her historic album achievements, too. All seven of her Billboard 200-charting titles have reached top 10, including three No. 1s – Pink Friday (2011), Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012) and Pink Friday 2 (2023) – the most leaders among female rappers. –T.A.

Though she’s still a relative newcomer to the Billboard charts this century after making her first ranking in 2017, Billie Eilish has wasted no time in establishing herself as one of this list’s frontrunners come next update. After she first made the Alternative Airplay chart in 2018, Eilish already boasts four No. 1s – the most among soloists in the chart’s 36-year history. A genre chameleon with a foot firmly planted in the pop world, as well, she has racked up seven top 10s on the Hot 100, her pinnacle so far a 2019 ruler in “Bad Guy.” In 2024, she scored her third top-two album on the Billboard 200, Hit Me Hard and Soft. –K.R.

Though Spears started her career in grand fashion in the late 1990s, her towering success continued into the 2000s. Within months of the beginning of the century, Oops…I Did It Again logged the biggest first-week U.S. sales for an album by a woman in Luminate history – a record it held for 15 years. Spears’ longevity carried her into another decade, as she achieved two Hot 100 No. 1s in the first half of 2011, the same year that she collected her fifth Billboard 200 No. 1 album of the century. Most recently, Elton John joined Madonna and Rihanna among Spears’ high-profile collaborators, adding a Hot 100 top 10 in 2022 via “Hold Me Closer.” –E.F.

Following her triumph on American Idol in 2005, Underwood sent “Jesus, Take the Wheel” to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for six weeks. The darling of Muskogee, Okla., has rolled up 16 leaders on the list, the most among women since the tally launched in 1990. Her success in the first quarter of the 21st century includes four No. 1s, among 10 top 10 albums, on the Billboard 200, with the singer having come full circle as the newest judge on Idol. –J.A.

In the 1990s, Carey forged one of the most successful decades for any artist in Billboard chart history. Among her achievements, she became the first artist to send her first five entries to No. 1 on the Hot 100, in 1990-91. She also led the chart in every year of the ‘90s, a first for any act in any decade.

By the turn of the century, Carey was again rewriting records. She added five more Hot 100 leaders, including “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Released in 1994, the carol has led for 18 weeks, easily the most among holiday songs and one away from the chart’s overall record. She has earned 19 Hot 100 leaders, the most among soloists and second only to The Beatles’ 20.

“I don’t know what I think about that!,” Carey told Billboard, with a laugh, in 2024. “I don’t know. I think it’s astonishing. On one level it’s like, ‘[I] don’t really care.’ But it’s not. To have 19 No. 1 singles and be one away from The Beatles … I don’t know how I can’t acknowledge that. One away from The Beatles … that’s a lot. I think it’s a little hard to wrap my head around.” –G.T.

Clarkson translated her coronation as the original American Idol champion to immediate Billboard chart success. In 2002, “A Moment Like This” became her first of three Hot 100 No. 1s, among 12 top 10s that she tallied in the first quarter of the century. On the Billboard 200, she boasts three No. 1s among nine top 10s, from Thankful in 2003 through Chemistry in 2023. “I never thought that would happen. Then it happened,” Clarkson recalled to Billboard in 2017 of winning the inaugural Idol season and topping the Hot 100 for the first time. “Then you’re like, ‘Wow, I’m that person in the story …’ It sounds cheesy, but that night [winning Idol] changed my life.” –G.T.

Alicia Keys arrived as an automatic sensation in fall 2001, as her debut single, “Fallin’,” rose to the Hot 100’s apex and parent album Songs in A Minor was a major hit, topping the Billboard 200 for three weeks. Her brand of piano-backed, smooth soul struck a repeated chord with listeners: Six of her first seven Hot 100 entries reached the top 10, as did eight of her first nine albums on the Billboard 200. While mid-tempo R&B tunes dominated her early catalog, Keys added dynamic anthems to her repertoire, most notably in teaming up with JAY-Z for a Hot 100 No. 1 salute to New York, “Empire State of Mind,” and, fittingly for this feature, “Girl on Fire.” –T.A.

After finishing her run on the Disney Channel as Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus has achieved numerous chart wins, via both billings. The singer-songwriter first reached the top 10 of the Hot 100 in 2008 with “See You Again,” ushering in a run of 12 total top 10 hits, including a pair of No. 1s: her breakup anthem “Wrecking Ball” in 2013 and the eight-week leading smash “Flowers” in 2023. In total, Cyrus charted 60 songs on the Hot 100 between 2006 and 2024 – 20  in character as Hannah Montana. She also earned 14 top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, including five No. 1s, with four billed as Hannah Montana. (As of 2021, Cyrus and Montana were still in touch.) –X.Z.

Before she was casting spells as Glinda in Wicked, Ariana Grande achieved an impressive chart history, with 91 Hot 100 entries beginning with “The Way,” featuring Mac Miller, in 2013. Through the end of 2024, she raked in 22 top 10s and nine No. 1s — the latter placing her in a tie with Beyoncé and Katy Perry for the seventh-most all-time among solo women. She has also earned six No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, from 2013’s Your Truly through Eternal Sunshine in 2024. –X.Z.

P!nk has soared to chart heights, mirroring the acrobatic skills with which she wows audiences in concert. From two Hot 100 top 10s in 2000 to a tour that grossed more than $700 million in 2023-24, P!nk has been a high-flying act on Billboard charts throughout the 21st century. In between, she scored 13 additional top 10 singles, including four No. 1s, and nine top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, including three chart-topping sets. Greatest Hits…So Far!!! was released in 2010 and lived up to its name, collecting many of her most iconic songs, but arriving before she logged more top 10s. P!nk has traversed the CD, iTunes and streaming eras, while bouncing across genres via collaborations with Eminem, Nate Ruess and Chris Stapleton. –E.F.

Unveiling a unique and striking sense of style and sound, Lady Gaga arrived with seven top 10s on the Hot 100 in 2009-10. Her debut album, 2008’s The Fame, landed in the top 10 of the Top Billboard 200 Albums of the 21st Century roundup (and surpassed 400 weeks on the chart into the second quarter of the century). Chart honors continued: “Born This Way” became her longest-leading Hot 100 hit (six weeks, 2011); the A Star Is Born soundtrack became her longest-leading Billboard 200 album (four weeks, 2018-19); and, reflecting her musical evolution, she simultaneously topped Jazz Albums and Top Dance Albums in 2021 with Love for Sale and, to come full circle, The Fame.

“I’ve seen Little Monsters be so amazing for almost 20 years,” Gaga told Billboard upon the release of her new album, MAYHEM. “All I ever want to do is make something that you press play and you feel good for the duration of the record, and maybe you play it again.” –E.F.

Perry made a fab Billboard chart entrance: “I Kissed a Girl,” from her album One of the Boys, led the Hot 100 for seven weeks in 2008 –  tying The Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand” for the longest reign for a first hit among Capitol Records releases. 2010 follow-up LP Teenage Dream, her first No. 1 on the Billboard 200, took her to further heights, joining Michael Jackson’s Bad as the only albums ever to generate five No. 1 singles each on the Hot 100. The eventual American Idol judge also ruled the Billboard 200 with Prism in 2013 and Witness in 2017. She added her sixth and most recent top 10 with 143 in October 2024.

“I like songs that make you move,” Perry said of her sound last year. “And I hope that you will be moving with me in the future.” –G.T.

After Adele’s debut album 19 introduced her in 2008, with its hit single “Chasing Pavements,” each subsequent album from the entertainer has been an event unto itself. Her sophomore project, 21, spent a staggering 24 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2011-12 – the most weeks atop the list for any album by a woman. It became the first album to be No. 1 on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums chart in two different years (2011 and 2012) since Michael Jackson’s Thriller ruled in 1983 and 1984. 21 also spun off a trio of Hot 100-topping singles in “Rolling in the Deep,” “Someone Like You” and “Set Fire to the Rain.”

Adele returned in 2015 with 25, which sold 3.38 million copies in its first week in the U.S. – the single-largest sales week for an album since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. 25 spent 10 weeks atop the Billboard 200, was the year-end No. 1 Billboard 200 album for 2016 and spawned the 10-week Hot 100 No. 1 “Hello.” Her fourth album, and most recent studio project, 30, arrived in 2021, spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and brought us the No. 1 Hot 100 hit “Easy On Me,” which ruled for 10 weeks.

When will we see new music from Adele? Well, it could be a while. At her final night of her 100-date Las Vegas residency on Nov. 24, 2024, she told the audience, “I don’t know when I’m next going to perform again … I’m actually s–ing myself about what I am going to do. I don’t have any f–ing plans.” –K.C.

From “‘03 Bonnie and Clyde” to “7/11,” “1+1” and “16 Carriages,” Beyoncé’s done it all. Beginning the quarter-century as a member of Destiny’s Child, she catapulted into solo superstardom in 2003 with her debut single, “Crazy in Love,” featuring then-boyfriend and future husband JAY-Z, soaring to No. 1 on the Hot 100 for seven weeks. It marked the first of her nine solo leaders, through 2024’s “Texas Hold ‘Em.”

While her 2000s output was predicated on making hits, Beyoncé shifted in the 2010s to experimenting with albums in form and sound. She eschewed traditional release strategies with the surprise release of her 2013 self-titled set, expanded into visual artistry with Beyoncé and 2016’s Lemonade, and injected new sounds into her discography through 2022’s dance-heavy Renaissance and 2024’s country-focused Cowboy Carter. Through all the exploration, a single truth remained: A Beyoncé album was an event. All eight of her standard studio albums, from 2003’s Dangerously in Love to Cowboy Carter, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The latter also enjoyed a historic dimension by becoming the first set by a Black woman to rule the Top Country Albums chart. –T.A.

A sonic chameleon, Rihanna built a musical legacy through her command of dynamic sounds and collaborators, and turning nearly every effort into a smash hit. Her abilities were on display off-rip, as her debut single, “Pon de Replay,” cruised to No. 2 on the Hot 100 in 2005. She didn’t play second fiddle for much longer. By her third visit, with 2006’s “SOS,” Rihanna unlocked the coveted No. 1 spot, and a decade later, she had claimed 14 total No. 1s, the most of any artist in the first quarter of the century, and third-most all-time. Versatility was instrumental to her success, as her chart-topping collection embraced pop, R&B, dance and dancehall tunes, and, as perhaps the most sought-after featured artist of her era, helped singles by Eminem (twice) and T.I. capture the penthouse.

Rihanna’s work translated into repeated album success, too. She released eight studio albums in 2005-16, and all eight of her studio collections reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200, highlighted by two No. 1s: 2012’s Unapologetic and 2016’s Anti. While she’s yet to release an album since the Obama administration (but who’s clocking?), her No. 1s, 32 top 10s and 63 total Hot 100 hits are more than enough material for fans to Rih-play. –T.A.

“This is a song called ‘Tim McGraw.’ For those of you who haven’t heard it and think I’m weird right now, I’m just gonna go ahead and explain myself.”

Taylor Swift, then 16, previewed her performance of her debut hit in the kitchen of Billboard’s New York office in 2006. “It’s not really about Tim McGraw, and I’m not a stalker,” she reassured staffers. Before starting to strum the song, she added, “This is a song that’s on your charts right now.”

Hundreds of charted songs later, Swift reigns as the No. 1 name on Billboard’s Top Women Artists of the 21st Century retrospective. In January, she was revealed as the top artist overall of the past 25 years. Her chart achievements include those that shattered prior marks. Her 14 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 tie her for the most among soloists, while she claimed the entire top 14 titles on the Hot 100 dated May 4, 2024, all from her latest LP, The Tortured Poets Department. Along the way, while segueing from country to pop, she has cradled 14 Grammy Awards (becoming the first act to win album of the year four times), staged the record-breaking The Eras Tour and advanced artists’ rights by rerecording four of her first six LPs.

In 2019, Swift was named Billboard’s Woman of the Decade. In a longform interview, she reflected on her career arc and her love and appreciation for all who have been by her side (including her cats). “I wouldn’t give myself any advice. I would have done everything exactly the same way. Even the really tough things I’ve gone through taught me things that I never would have learned any other way,” she reasoned.

Swift also discussed how women artists are often treated differently than male counterparts. “I hope people can call out … if you see a Grammy prediction article, and it’s just two women’s faces next to each other and feels a bit gratuitous,” she said. “No one’s going to start out being perfectly educated on the intricacies of gender politics. The key is that people are trying to learn, and that’s great.” –G.T.