On today’s (Nov. 6) episode of the Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century podcast , we kick off the top five of our list with a pop star who lit up the entire music world of the late ’00s and early ’10s — with a string of chart smashes accompanied by blindingly brilliant music videos, live performances and fashion statements — and, after a murkier middle to the decade, reconfirmed her status as one of pop’s best and brightest with a turn-of-the-’20s comeback to cross-platform stardom. (Read our No.
5 Greatest Pop Star essay about Lady Gaga here .) See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard Pride editor Stephen Daw and BB executive digital director Katie Atkinson to remember all the ups and downs of Lady Gaga’s 16-year pop journey. First, we compare her case to that of Britney Spears, our No.
6 Greatest Pop Star, and discuss if being the No. 1 pop star from a period as stacked as turn of the 2010s should be weighed differently than other pop star reigns. Then, we wax nostalgic about that Gaga era — how she was able to detonate upon impact with her 2009 arrival to top 40 stardom, and how her ’09 just kept getting bigger and weirder and more all-consuming until it ended up perhaps the greatest rookie season in pop music history.
We also recall how Gaga’s early-career peak raised the bar for all of her pop peers moving forward, in everything from her TV interviews to her headlining tou.
