Taylor Swift named Billboard’s top artist of the 21st century

FILE – Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium as part of her Eras Tour June 21, 2024 in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)

She did it again— a record-breaker though and through and a defining artist of the 21st century.

Grammy-award winning superstar Taylor Swift continues to dominate the music industry, breaking yet another record as she claims the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s prestigious Top Artists of the 21st Century chart. 

This 100-position retrospective, covering data from January 2000 through December 2024, highlights artists whose albums and singles performed exceptionally well on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts – and the “Cruel Summer” singer-songwriter emerged as the ultimate leader.

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Despite making her Billboard debut relatively late, on July 1, 2006, with her self-titled album and the hit single “Tim McGraw” at just 16 years old, Swift has amassed 14 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. 

This achievement marks the highest tally ever recorded by a female artist.

Additionally, Swift also has an impressive 12 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100.

Moreover, Swift continuously pushes boundaries as she made waves in October 2022 when she became the first artist ever to occupy the entire top 10 on the Hot 100 chart, courtesy of her album “Midnights.” 

Remarkably, she shattered her own record in May 2024, holding the top 14 spots with tracks from her 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department.”

Beyond individual chart-topping feats, the platform further revealed Swift has also led Billboard’s year-end Top Artists chart four times – in 2009, 2015, 2023 and 2024 – becoming the only act in history to claim the annual title four times since the category’s introduction in 1981.

Recently, Swift has also proven her dominance in the streaming world, topping Spotify Wrapped as the most-streamed artist of 2024.

The streaming platform’s annual report, which highlights individual listening habits and global music trends, revealed that Swift garnered over 26.6 billion streams worldwide.