Trending on Billboard
(In 2018, the Billboard staff released a list project of its choices for the Greatest Pop Star of every year, going back to 1981 — along with a handful of sidebar columns and lists on other important pop star themes from the period. Find one such sidebar below about the 10 greatest pop stars who our list just couldn’t find a year to give them No. 1 honors for, and find our Greatest Pop Star picks for every year up to present day here.)
Related
Derek Jeter, Drew Brees and Dwyane Wade can all tell you: Just because you never won MVP for a single season doesn’t mean you weren’t an all-timer. Here are the 10 greatest pop stars who we didn’t award a year to in this project.
10. New Kids on the Block
Resumé: The biggest boy band — or pop group of any kind — at the turn of the ‘90s, using the formula manager Maurice Starr established with New Edition to even greater success, thanks to gigantic hooks, fun and imitable dance moves, and a crossover-friendlier (read: whiter) image.
Why Never MVP? The George H.W. Bush era was simply a massive one for iconic solo stars — George, Madonna, Janet — all of whom had broader all-ages appeal than NKOTB’s teen-courting megapop.
9. P!nk
Resumé: A major star since her debut at the dawn of the 20th century, spending time as a rapper, a diva, a rocker, a pop star, an anti-pop star, and an adult contemporary fixture — with the only consistent factor being her chart success, scoring 15 top 10 hits, including three No. 1s.
Why Never MVP? Perhaps because of her unfailing production and constant presence, P!nk has never quite seemed like the defining artist of any one specific period this century.
8. Bruce Springsteen
Resumé: The ‘70s rock star who had by far the easiest time pivoting to the MTV era, Bruuuuuce had no problem playing at pop’s highest level in the mid-’80s, when his Diamond-selling Born in the U.S.A. album became just the second album to ever spawn seven top 10 hits.
Why Never MVP? Mostly because the first LP to spawn that many hits was still going at the same time — Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the most important album in pop history — as were superstar-minting sets from Prince and Madonna.
7. OutKast
Resumé: In the early ‘00s, no act married critical acclaim with commercial success like Big Boi and Andre 3000, ruling the Grammys and the charts — and releasing perhaps the most universally beloved pop song of the century so far with 2003’s “Hey Ya!”
Why Never MVP? The timing just didn’t quite align for OutKast, who split their post-“Hey Ya!” dominance between 2003 and 2004, and had to contend with Beyoncé’s debut and Usher’s peak, respectively.
6. Bruno Mars
Resumé: Hard to find a pop star with more achievements checked off in the past 15 years than Bruno Mars — No. 1 singles, multi-platinum albums, Grammy sweeps, two Super Bowl halftime performances — without a single major personal or professional blunder of note.
Why Never MVP? Perhaps in part because of his spotless record (and consummate showmanship), Mars’ greatness has felt undeniable, but never truly transcendent.
5. Nicki Minaj
Resumé: With the lone exception of her superduperstar labelmate, the most consistently successful rapper of the 2010s, with over 100 Hot 100 hits — and one whose big pop swings not only resulted in 17 top 10 hits, but felt like natural extensions of her larger-than-life personality.
Why Never MVP? Minaj has spread those pop smashes out pretty evenly over the decade, never concentrating them within any one year — possibly because she didn’t really care for a bunch of ‘em in the first place.
4. Guns N’ Roses
Resumé: Along with Nirvana, the most iconic rock band of the last 40 years; hard-edged enough to remain vital through the decades, but accessible enough to top the Hot 100 and sell tens of millions of records.
Why Never MVP? GnR burned bright but incredibly short, bursting out of the underground with historic velocity in the late ‘80s, but already showing signs of fatigue by the time their scale matched their popularity in the early ‘90s.
3. Kendrick Lamar
Resumé: The most venerated MC of his generation — both from peers and critics — and one whose commercial stats have, since 2017’s blockbuster LP DAMN. and its chart-topping lead single “Humble,” finally swelled to match his critical hosannahs.
Why Never MVP? Boy, he came close in 2017, but even with a greater willingness to play the game — big singles, big videos, big live performances — Kendrick has mostly still felt just the slightest bit removed from pop’s center. (Until 2024, anyway.)
2. Destiny’s Child
Resumé: Rivaled only by TLC and Boyz II Men among the most successful R&B groups of the past 25 years, Destiny’s Child notched three multi-platinum albums and four Hot 100 No. 1s around the turn of the century — and oh yeah, spun off maybe the greatest pop star of the 21st century.
Why Never MVP? At the height of the TRL era, so many acts were putting up Barry Bonds numbers that a couple big sluggers couldn’t help but come up short.
1. Jay-Z
Resumé: Widely considered the greatest rapper of all-time.
Why Never MVP? Jay’s best-selling album (Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life in 1998), his most acclaimed album (The Blueprint in 2001) and his most top 40-impacting album (The Blueprint 3 in 2009) all came years apart, helping his unprecedented longevity but hindering a singular peak.
(Read on to our Greatest Pop Star of 2007 here, or head back to the full list here.)