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Billboard stirred a fan war after announcing Taylor Swift the 2nd Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century. Although the crowning artist has not yet been declared, internet speculations project Beyoncé could be the one.
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Some media outlets including, Buzzing Pop on X and news.com.au reported Beyoncé already grabbed the 1st spot. However, it is to be noted that at the time of writing this article, Billboard has not made any official announcement about the No. 1 artist on their Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century lineup.
Swifties have expressed disapproval of Billboard’s ranking, regardless of the online assumptions. They argued Taylor should have won the 1st ranking. Some others are only tuning in for the potential drama between Taylor and Beyoncé's fanbases that could enfold if the latter actually grabs the No.1 ranking. One X user commented under Pop Base's tweet:
"seated for the beyhive vs swifties stan war that is about to happen"
"This is like trump winning over kamala… im sorry Taylor", joked another.
Swifties are left wondering.
"????? Im sorry but Taylor deserves to be #1… wdym she has the highest grossing tour of all time and multiple best selling albums… this is a joke fr", wrote one X user.
"LMFAOOOO Billboard is embarrassing omg", one person called out.
"Beyoncé number one is crazy cuz her stats don’t add up.. Taylor and Rihanna are way ahead of her in ALL fields but hey that Jay Z check cleared", said another.
"oh i need to know how much they paid billboard for this because taylor only being 2nd is EXTRAORDINARILY FISHY", noted one.
On the other hand, Beyoncé's fans celebrated her supposed No.1 placement.
"WE WON QUEEN BEYONCÉ ON TOP", rejoiced one fan.
"swifties were so sure she was gonna be #1", one person mocked Taylor's fans.
"beyoncé has way more music industry impact than her set records for over 20 years so not surprising", wrote another.
Fans compare Taylor Swift and Beyoncé's recent Billboard chart performances
Swifties are now questioning Billboard's basis for ranking Taylor Swift as the No.2 artist on its Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century series. Several fans shared screenshots of recent chart data showing a parallel comparison of how Taylor Swift and Beyoncé's latest albums performed over the weeks.
According to a screenshot of a supposed chart history, nine tracks by Beyoncé have topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She has had 24 Top 10 hits with a total of 106 songs making it to the charts.
A parallel screenshot of Taylor Swift's chart record shows the Anti-Hero hitmaker had 12 of her songs topping the Billboard Hot 100 list. Alongside, she has had 50 more songs to reach the Top 10 and 264 songs in total to make it to Billboard.
Billboard also released their picks for the Greatest Pop Stars from the year 1981 to 2023. For 2003 and 2014, they named Beyoncé the No.1 artist while Taylor Swift was crowned the same for 2015, 2021, and 2023.
Hailey Bieber also called Billboard out after Justin Bieber was placed at No.8 on the lineup. The lineup includes Rihanna (3rd), Drake (4th), Lady Gaga (5th), Britney Spears (6th), Kanye West (7th), Ariana Grande (9th), and Adele (10th).
