Beyoncé surpasses Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and Drake to be named the greatest pop star of the twenty-first century

Once more, the Swifties and the BeyHive cross paths.

As anticipated, pop music fans have had conflicting views to Beyoncé’s latest honor, which immortalizes her influence on the music industry. Billboard has been releasing its list of the Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century for the past several weeks, and Queen Bey was ranked first in their most recent release.

The Houston icon defeated other titans of the industry, including Lady Gaga (No. 5), Drake (No. 4), Rihanna (No. 3), and Taylor Swift (No. 2). Other celebrities that made the list included Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, JAY-Z, and Kanye West.

Based on “her full 25 years of influence, evolution, and impact,” the publication gave the mother of three an honor. “Few artists this period can match her in any of the most critical basic categories of pop stardom – commercial success, performance abilities, critical acclaim and accolades, industry influence, iconic cultural moments – and absolutely no one can equal her in all of them,” read an article from Billboard that outlined the reasons why Bey is in a league of her own.

One user on X written, “In a world where multifaceted talent, impact, and creativity are traded for vanity metrics, talent has won.” The BeyHive was quick to voice their joy with the music magazine’s top decision. She exemplifies the qualities of a TRUE pop star: presence, impact, talent, and grace. “Breaking records since 1998 with Destiny’s Child and since 2003 by herself!!!” another person wrote on Instagram. IMPACT, vocals, talent, and longevity.

The Swifties, however, took issue with the “Crazy In Love” singer’s ranking higher than Taylor’s. One user responded, “So f**kig annoying ttpd was the most streamed album on Apple, Taylor was the most streamed artist, and Billie Eilish won Apple artist of the year?” after other fans cited the statistics. Even if Billboard mentions Taylor’s incredible talent and how much better she is than Beyoncé, it will not list her as the top pop star.

“While Taylor Swift is the century’s biggest pop star by the numbers — from album sales to streams to touring dominance — our editorial staff chose Beyoncé,” Billboard wrote in their Bey blurb, acknowledging Swift’s remarkable statistics.

It’s important to note that although fans frequently set the two women against one another, they actually support one another. Over the years, the “Love Story” singer has continuously complimented Bey, and last October, the two went to see the premiere of the former’s Eras Tour Concert Movie.