Music fans love a good argument. Nothing gets the internet moving quite like a "best of" list, especially when it comes from a heavyweight like Billboard. Recently, the publication dropped their definitive ranking of the Billboard top 25 artists of the 21st century, and honestly, the reactions were... intense.
Some people were thrilled. Others were basically ready to riot in the comments.
Here is the thing about this specific list: it isn’t based on who has the "best" voice or who is the most "influential" in a vacuum. It is about cold, hard data. We are talking about chart performance on the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100 from January 1, 2000, through the end of 2024.
The Heavy Hitters: Who Actually Made the Top 10?
You probably expected to see Taylor Swift near the top, and you'd be right. She didn't just make the list; she dominated it.
Even though she didn't even show up on a Billboard chart until July 2006 with "Tim McGraw," she has managed to rack up 14 No. 1 albums. That is a record for women. It’s also kind of insane when you think about the sheer volume of music she puts out.
But the top five isn't just a pop girl summer. Drake sits comfortably at No. 2. Love him or hate him, the "certified lover boy" has been a permanent fixture on the charts for over a decade. He actually holds the record for the most top 10 hits in the history of the Hot 100.
Rihanna takes the No. 3 spot. This is wild because she hasn't released a full studio album since Anti back in 2016. It just goes to show how much of a stranglehold her singles had on the 2000s and early 2010s.
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Post Malone and Eminem round out the top five.
Eminem is an interesting case because he’s one of the few on this list whose career actually began in the late 90s, yet his 21st-century output was so massive—think The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show—that he outpaced almost everyone else.
The Full Billboard Top 25 Artists of the 21st Century Breakdown
If you're looking for the specific order, here is how the numbers shook out for the top 25. It’s a mix of legacy acts that survived the transition to streaming and new-age titans who built their empires on it.
- Taylor Swift (The undisputed chart queen)
- Drake (The king of streaming)
- Rihanna (The singles juggernaut)
- Post Malone (The genre-blurring hitmaker)
- Eminem (The rap titan)
- The Weeknd
- Beyoncé
- Justin Bieber
- Bruno Mars
- Usher
- Maroon 5
- Adele
- Morgan Wallen
- Ed Sheeran
- Katy Perry
- Lady Gaga
- P!nk
- Chris Brown
- Ariana Grande
- Ye (Kanye West)
- Miley Cyrus
- Alicia Keys
- The Black Eyed Peas
- Justin Timberlake
- Nelly
The Beyoncé Debate
You might notice Beyoncé at No. 7.
Wait, what?
Yeah, that caused a lot of drama. Billboard actually released two different lists recently. One was "The Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century," which was an editorial ranking based on impact, culture, and "vibe." Beyoncé was No. 1 on that list.
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But this specific list—the Billboard top 25 artists of the 21st century—is strictly about chart points. Because Beyoncé often prioritizes "the art" and visual albums over traditional radio-friendly chart-topping singles these days, her pure "points" total landed her at seventh. Still legendary, obviously, but it shows the difference between cultural impact and chart math.
Why Some Legends Are Lower Than You Think
Adele at No. 12? That feels wrong until you remember how she operates. She drops an era-defining album, breaks every record known to man, and then... she disappears for five years.
Billboard’s ranking rewards consistency.
Artists like Drake and Taylor Swift are constantly in the ecosystem. They release "Taylor's Versions," mixtapes, and features almost every year. Adele's "quality over quantity" approach is great for her legacy, but it makes it harder to stay at the very top of a 25-year cumulative chart.
Then you have the rock problem. Notice something?
There are basically no rock bands in the top 25. Maroon 5 is there at No. 11, but many would argue they’ve been a pop act for a long time. Linkin Park and Nickelback (yes, Nickelback) appear later in the top 100, but the 21st century has undeniably been the era of Hip-Hop, R&B, and Pop.
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The Country Crossover Effect
Morgan Wallen coming in at No. 13 is a huge signal of how much the industry has changed. Ten years ago, a country artist would struggle to hit the top 20 of an all-genre list like this.
But with the way streaming works now, country fans are "power-listening" just as much as pop stans. Wallen’s One Thing at a Time stayed at No. 1 for so long it basically became part of the furniture.
What This Tells Us About the Future
This list is a snapshot of a massive transition. We went from buying CDs at Target to downloading songs for 99 cents on iTunes, to now just "adding to library" on Spotify or Apple Music.
The artists who "won" the first quarter of the century were the ones who could adapt.
Rihanna moved from dance-pop to moody R&B. Taylor Swift moved from country to pop to indie-folk and back to synth-pop. Drake basically turned himself into a human playlist.
If you want to keep up with how these rankings shift, pay attention to "chart longevity" rather than just peak positions. A song that stays at No. 40 for a year often earns more "points" for an artist than a song that debuts at No. 1 and vanishes three weeks later.
To see the current leaders of the next decade, check the Billboard "Year-End" charts every December. You can also track real-time data on the Billboard Hot 100 to see if new contenders like SZA or Olivia Rodrigo are climbing toward that all-time top 25.
Keep an eye on the "Weeks on Chart" metric—it’s the secret sauce for these long-term rankings.