Time magazine has compiled a new pop list titled, ‘The Ultimate Ranking of Pop Stardom‘. The ranking was determined by numbers straight from the Billboard archives:
TIME went through every song that reached the top ten of the Billboard 100 back to 1960 to see which artists had both the biggest years and longest careers. We assigned points based on a song’s rank for each week it was in the top ten. Artists who collaborated on songs are both given credit for its success. Artists were chosen for this list based on all-time chart performance and contemporary significance.
Points are awarded by placement in the Top Ten, from ten points for a number-one hit to one point for a number-10 song. All artists listed by name on a track are given full points for its chart performance, but groups with members who later had solo careers are still counted as separate entities.
There are two rankings ‘By Hits’ and ‘By Debut’. ‘By Hits’ Mariah Carey trumps all. Since her debut on Billboard in 1990 her largest ranking came in 1995, Daydream, and then a decade later in 2005, The Emancipation of Mimi. Although she’s recently released an album, her charting stops in 2008. Ranking two through ten, in order: Rihanna, Usher, The Beatles, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Katy Perry, and Boyz II Men. No surprise that Rihanna‘s most successful album to date is Good Girl Gone Bad and for Usher it’s Confessions. The Beatles most successful compilation was 1964s, A Hard Day’s Night and Madonna‘s was True Blue. Janet Jackson‘s highest charting was The Velvet Rope and Whitney Houston‘s greatest was 1998’s (charted in ’99), My Love Is Your Love. Michael Jackson‘s solo career charting began in 1971 and his greatest year was over a decade later in 1983 with the prolific success of Thriller. In at #9 is Katy Perry. In the five year span of her charted career her biggest success was Teenage Dream. Boyz II Men rounded off the top 10 and their highest selling album was II.
‘By Debut’ Bruno Mars ranks #1 with Doo-Wops & Hooligans trumping his other two projects. Ranking two through ten, in order: Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Maroon 5, Rihanna, T-Pain, Chris Brown, and Kanye West. Lady Gaga‘s greatest success was The Fame Monster and Taylor’s Swift‘s was RED. Miley Cyrus‘ greatest success thus far has been her latest album, Bangerz and Maroon 5‘s was Overexposed. T-Pain‘s biggest year was 2007 with success of collabs with Kanye West, Chris Brown, Baby Bash, Flo Rida, Plies, and his solo work Epiphany. Chris Brown‘s greatest success was Exclusive and Kanye‘s was 2011 with success of ‘E.T.’ and ‘N***as in Paris’.