Dance-pop didn’t just survive the streaming era – it got a glossy, club-ready reset, and Dua Lipa was right at the center of it. Breakout singles like “New Rules” turned her into a global name fast, then she doubled down with a sound that felt both modern and weirdly timeless. Future Nostalgia in particular became a reference point for sleek, disco-leaning pop, the kind of album that labels quietly point to when they say “we want that energy.” Between blockbuster hits, major awards attention, and a live show that grew into full arena mode, she helped steer what mainstream pop looked and sounded like through the late 2010s and early 2020s. | © Warner Records UK
You don’t build influence on hits alone – you build it on presence, and Selena Gomez has been unavoidable across music, TV, film, and pop culture for years. She moved from Disney stardom into a chart-topping pop career, then kept evolving without losing the core fan connection that makes every release feel like an event. Her songs often land because they’re emotionally direct and easy to live in, which is exactly why they travel so well on streaming and social platforms. Add in her status as one of the most-followed people online, plus a brand ecosystem that keeps her in headlines even between albums, and you’ve got a modern blueprint for celebrity-scale influence that plenty of younger artists now copy. | © Sony Music Entertainment
Some artists arrive with a slow burn; Cardi B kicked the door off its hinges. She went from internet personality to rap superstar with a breakout that didn’t just top charts – it changed what mainstream rap radio sounded like, especially for women. Part of her influence is musical (big hooks, sharp delivery, fearless features), but a lot of it is cultural: the way she talks, jokes, argues, and tells the truth in public made “authentic” stop being a marketing word and start being a survival skill. Her debut era produced multiple massive records and an award sweep that cemented her as more than a viral moment. Even when she releases sparingly, the ripple effect stays loud. | © Atlantic Recording Corporation
Reinvention can look like a gimmick until someone does it so often – and so convincingly – that it becomes their brand. Miley Cyrus grew up in front of the world, then spent the last decade treating pop stardom like a laboratory: glossy radio hits, wild provocations, rock detours, heartbreak ballads, and full-throated vocal showcases that remind people she can really sing. Her influence shows up in how younger pop stars handle image shifts without apologizing for them, and in the way she brings a rougher edge into polished pop spaces. When “Flowers” turned into a global phenomenon, it wasn’t a comeback story so much as proof that her eras can still define a year when everything clicks. | © Columbia Records
Whispery vocals used to be a quirky side lane in pop; Billie Eilish made it feel like the main road. She broke through with a sound that leaned minimalist and moody, then turned that aesthetic into a worldwide takeover – not by chasing trends, but by making the weird parts of her style feel normal on Top 40. Her partnership with Finneas helped popularize bedroom-pop production at blockbuster scale, and her visual identity (oversized fits, horror-pop vibes, unapologetic discomfort with standard fame rules) opened space for artists who didn’t want to “perform” pop-star perfection. With major awards, stadium-level reach, and songs that dominate both streaming and sync culture, she’s one of the clearest examples of influence shaping the whole industry’s taste – not just the charts. | © Interscope Records
For a stretch of the 2010s, pop felt engineered for maximum impact: neon-bright hooks, big choruses, and singles built to take over everything from radio to award shows. That era has a face, and it’s Katy Perry. She piled up chart-toppers at a pace most artists only dream about, turning every new release into a headline moment and making “pop star rollout” feel like a sport. Beyond the hits, her influence is in the playbook she helped popularize – catchy one-liners, instantly readable visuals, and songs designed to explode in stadiums and on social clips alike. Even when trends moved on, that kind of high-gloss, chorus-first pop stayed the industry’s comfort food. | © Capitol Records
One of the clearest signs of influence is when a whole generation starts singing differently, and Ariana Grande did that almost by accident – just by being that good. She arrived with a huge, elastic voice and a love for R&B phrasing, then turned it into mainstream pop dominance without sanding off the technical edges. The runs, the stacked harmonies, the effortless high notes: suddenly, even casual listeners expected that level of vocal agility from radio pop. Her catalog is packed with streaming-era giants, but what really sets her apart is consistency – albums that land as events, singles that travel everywhere, and a sound that’s instantly recognizable even in a feature. Plenty of newer pop singers borrow from her delivery, whether they admit it or not. | © Republic Records
Pop music loves a front-and-center star, so Sia flipping that script – hiding her face while making some of the decade’s biggest songs – felt like a quiet revolution. Before most people even knew what she looked like, her songwriting had already shaped the sound of modern radio, and then she stepped fully into the spotlight with choruses that hit like emotional gut punches. That raw, belted intensity became a template for “big-feelings” pop: songs that are huge but still sound bruised and human. The wig-and-bow silhouette turned into its own pop iconography, and the dance-focused visuals made her work instantly recognizable without the usual celebrity exposure. She influenced how artists think about identity, performance, and how much of themselves they owe the camera. | © Sony Music Entertainment
Before the current wave of women dominating rap felt normal, Nicki Minaj spent years making it unavoidable. She didn’t just rap well – she made versatility the point, sliding between flows, voices, accents, and punchlines with the kind of theatrical precision that turns verses into scenes. Features became her battlefield, and plenty of songs ended up remembered for the part where she shows up and changes the temperature. Her influence isn’t limited to technique; it’s also in the confidence to be loud, stylized, funny, aggressive, and vulnerable on the same record without apologizing for any of it. Look at how many newer artists build personas, build fan armies, and treat a single verse like a headline – Nicki helped write that modern rulebook. | © Cash Money Records
When people talk about “raising the bar,” they’re usually talking about the standard Beyoncé has made feel non-negotiable. Over the last decade, she’s treated albums like worlds you step into – music, visuals, choreography, symbolism, and rollouts engineered with the precision of a filmmaker. She’s also pushed the industry’s expectations around control and ambition, proving that massive success and meticulous artistry don’t have to be traded off. The live performances alone are their own category: stadium shows built like cultural events, where vocals, staging, and storytelling land with the weight of a statement. And while the accolades keep stacking, the real influence is broader than trophies – other superstars now get measured by how close they can come to that level of intention, impact, and spectacle. | © Sony Music Entertainment
Silence has never made a pop star feel bigger, but in Rihanna’s case it somehow does. Her 2010s run stacked hit after hit across dance-pop, R&B, and darker electronic moods, and she made genre-hopping feel effortless instead of messy. That adaptability is a huge part of her influence: artists now switch sounds between eras because she proved you can do it and still sound unmistakably like yourself. Add the way her features used to turn tracks into instant events, plus an image that shaped fashion and attitude as much as radio playlists, and the blueprint is obvious. Even during long gaps between albums, her presence still sets the temperature for what “cool” looks like in mainstream pop. | © The Island Def Jam Music Group
Pop didn’t get louder because of Lana Del Rey – it got moodier, slower, and more cinematic. Over the last decade, she turned melancholy into a full aesthetic language: hazy production, vintage Americana imagery, and lyrics that feel like faded photographs with sharp edges. Her influence shows up every time a modern pop song chooses atmosphere over bombast, or when an artist leans into vulnerability without polishing it into something inspirational. She also helped normalize albums as cohesive statements in the streaming era, where her work is often discussed like literature rather than a playlist of singles. Plenty of newer voices borrow that languid delivery and dreamy sadness, but what they’re really borrowing is permission: to make softness and ambiguity feel powerful. | © Polydor Records
There’s a reason “eras” became a pop obsession: Lady Gaga treated each phase like a full production, not just a new haircut and a lead single. She smashed through with maximalist hits and headline-grabbing visuals, then spent the decade proving her talent wasn’t tied to one sound – pivoting into jazz, big-ballad vocals, and acting without losing the core intensity. That range changed expectations for mainstream stars, especially the idea that ambition can be the point, not a risk. Awards across music and film are the obvious receipts, but the real influence is everywhere: the commitment to concept, the fearless performance, the belief that pop can be art and spectacle at the highest level. | © Interscope Records
In an era built on constant motion, Adele made the industry stop and sit still. She didn’t win the decade by chasing trends; she won it by writing songs that feel brutally direct, then delivering them with a voice that turns private heartbreak into something universal. Her album rollouts became genuine cultural events – massive sales, huge streaming numbers, and songs that dominated radio for months without needing gimmicks. The influence is bigger than the charts: she reminded labels and artists that patience can be a strategy, and that an “album era” can still matter when the music hits hard enough. Plenty of singers can belt; Adele’s real signature is emotional precision, and that’s why she sets the modern standard for pop ballads. | © XL Recordings
A decade in pop usually rewards whoever is loudest for the moment; Taylor Swift won it by building worlds people wanted to live in. She kept evolving sonically – from country music to glossy pop to quieter, story-first writing – while making lyrics the main event, the kind fans dissect like chapters in a series. That approach reshaped modern fandom: Easter eggs, recurring themes, and rollouts designed to keep conversation alive long after release week. Then she pushed influence beyond music, turning artist ownership and career control into mainstream talking points without losing momentum. Stadium-sized tours, relentless chart presence, and record-setting releases are the surface-level proof. The deeper impact is how many artists now treat storytelling, branding, and strategy as one ecosystem – because she showed it can all be part of the art. | © Taylor Swift
The last decade didn’t just crown new stars – it handed the microphone to women who could steer the whole conversation. Some changed the sound of pop overnight, others made genre lines feel pointless, and a few turned every release into a cultural event.
Influence isn’t only about No. 1 hits (though there are plenty of those). It’s about who people copy, who the industry has to chase, and who keeps showing up in the DNA of newer artists – long after the song leaves the charts.
