Photograph by John Atashian/CORBIS
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The Top 10 Pop Stars—Ever
By Gwen Gibson, May 2003
Web Exclusive
In the nearly 50 years since Elvis Presley swiveled his way to the top of the music charts, an amazing array of artists has joined the King on the list of the nation's top-selling pop vocalists of all time.
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Incredible as it may seem, the list of top 10 Pop Stars does not
include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, Nat
King Cole, and other such preeminent performers.
But we're talking quantity here and not necessarily
quality. The list of the top 10 pop artists comes from a
combination of Billboard magazine, which tracks airplay and
record sales, and the firm Record Research, Inc., of Menomonee Falls,
Wisconsin, which has analyzed the Billboard charts since
1969. Record Research published its list of the top 10 performers of
1950-1999 in its book Joel Whitburn Presents a Century of Pop
Music.
A procession of young stars leapfrogged to the top of the list in the
1980s and 1990s, thanks in large part to expanding populations,
greater worldwide distribution channels, and vast technological
innovations.
1. Elvis Presley. The raucous 1954 recording of
"Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and his Comets really
sparked the rock 'n' roll revolution. But by 1956 the world of
rock and pop music was dominated by a handsome, young southern singer
who captivated the public (especially young girls) with his bluesy
voice, earthy style, and provocative gyrations. Elvis Presley blazed
his way to the top of the pop charts with songs like "Blue Suede
Shoes," "Don't Be Cruel," "Hound Dog,"
"Love Me Tender," and "All Shook Up." And the hits
just kept coming.
Raised in abject poverty, Elvis rose to unprecedented wealth and fame,
but he never lost that personal, down-home touch that convinced his
fans he was really one of them. Today, 26 years since his death, Elvis
remains one of the world's best-selling artists. More than 600,000
fans still visit his Graceland home each year. The "Young
Elvis" stamp, issued by the U.S. Post Office, is the best-selling
commemorative stamp of all time. And the dreamy-eyed pop icon may be
one of the most written-about public figures of our time. (A dozen new
books are on the shelves this year.)
Obesity and drug addiction led to Elvis Presley's untimely death
at age 42. But in the collective memory of his fans, he reigns as the
sleek musical genius who soaked up the multiple influences of
America's vernacular music-gospel, country swing, rhythm
'n' blues—and made them his own. Bob Dylan, one of pop's
favorite poets, put it best: Elvis, he said, was "the incendiary
atomic musical firebrand loner who conquered the western world."
2. The Beatles. They were endearing, arrogant, witty,
intensely talented, and all-conquering. Small wonder that The
Beatles—John Lennon, rhythm guitar; Paul McCartney, bass guitar;
George Harrison, lead guitar; and Ringo Starr, drums—also were known
as the Fabulous Four. They were barely in their 20s when they created
the pop boom in Britain with their first singles, "Love Me
Do" in 1962, and "Please, Please Me" and "I Want to
Hold Your Hand" in 1963. They conquered America in February 1964
with three appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. And
"Beatle mania" began. The Fab Four created even greater mass
hysteria than did Elvis, whipping massive crowds of screaming
teenagers into frenzies with their mere appearance on stage.
All Liverpool natives, The Beatles always had a British sound. But
they frankly acknowledged their debt to American rock 'n' roll
and rhythm 'n' blues artists. Chuck Berry, who created the
bulk of the early rock 'n' roll repertoire, was a major
inspiration. But The Beatles became an institution of their own,
creating in the late 1960s a series of surreal rock albums like
Magical Mystery Tour and Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band. The group broke up in 1970, but they left such a continuing
soundtrack of charm and nostalgia that record companies probably still
will love them 50 years from now.
3. Mariah Carey. She had it all: timing, talent,
luck, looks, and a stunning vocal range of five to seven octaves. From
the start, Mariah Carey wrote her own songs, injected them with drama
and excitement, and promoted them with exotic videos. She shot to
superstardom with her first albums, the eponymous Mariah
Carey and Emotions, released in 1990 and 1991. She
followed with mega-hit albums like Music Box, Daydream, and
Butterfly. By 1999, Carey had become the best-selling female
vocalist of all time. Some 185 million of her albums and singles had
sold worldwide, as of October 2002.
Carey was born in 1970, the year the Beatles broke up. Her mother, a
former opera singer, is Irish-American. Her late father, an aeronautic
engineer, was part African-American, part Venezuelan. Endowed with
perfect pitch, Carey was singing R&B backup in New York City
before age 20. A five-year marriage to Tommy Mottola, head of Sony
Music and Columbia Records, may have jumpstarted her career as a
singer. But she was ambitious, hard-working, and, in her own words,
"totally disciplined." Fatigue from overwork probably led to
her widely publicized emotional and physical breakdown in 2001. So,
perhaps, did the poor showing of her Glitter album, from the
lackluster movie of the same name. But don't cry for Mariah. Fully
recovered, she is on a whirlwind comeback tour, promoting her new
album Charmbracelet and no doubt betting it will work like
one.
4. Madonna. Before Mariah there was Madonna, the
multi-talented material girl who used her knack for business and
scandal to become a self-made tycoon. Madonna was the most successful
female singer-songwriter of all time before Carey shot past her on the
charts. But Madonna's credits are endless. A brilliant pop singer
and songwriter, she also has been an actress, publisher, TV executive,
merchandising magnate, film producer, and relentless iconoclast. She
has changed personas in her videos with each change of her sexy and
outlandish costumes. Her albums have titillating titles like
Erotica and Bedtime Stories. In her albums Like
a Virgin and Like a Prayer, she challenged social and
religious mores. Her photo book Sex shocked millions and sold
like hotcakes.
She was born Madonna Louise Ciccone in 1958 in Bay City, Michigan, and
raised a Roman Catholic. The oldest of eight children, she was named
for her mother who died when she was five. Madonna won a dance
scholarship to the University of Michigan but left after a year for
New York City, arriving—legend has it—with $35 in her jeans pocket.
She played in rock bands, made sex-kitten videos, and broke through
with her album Madonna in 1983 to become an international
household name. Today, the pop star once known for her conical bras
and bold crotch-grabbing acts has assumed still another persona—as a
mainstream wife and mother. Madonna lives in London with her husband
(film director Guy Ritchie) and her two children.
5. Michael Jackson. A natural dancer, he had the
moves that teenagers around the world still copy. Michael
Jackson's exciting break dancing and his contagious moonwalk,
accented with the single white sequined glove, are part of pop legend.
And so are the singles, albums, and breakthrough videos that Jackson
has been churning out for 35 years. Jackson was only 5, kindergarten
age, when he started his show-biz career as lead singer with the
Jackson Five. Michael and his four brothers recorded hit after hit for
Motown in the 1970s, then switched to the Epic label in 1975.
His 1979 Off the Wall album, produced by Quincy Jones, was an
unbeatable blend of rock and soul with a boogie beat, and it turned
the child star into an adult superstar. His 1982 album Thriller sold
over 50 million copies and changed the face of pop with its movement
and beat. The video The Making of Michael Jackson's
Thriller, in which Michael becomes a werewolf, showcased his
fantastic skills as a dancer and choreographer. Still childlike at 45,
Michael sometimes confounds his fans with his cosmetic surgeries; his
Peter Pan existence at Neverland, his enormous California ranch; and
such outrageous stunts as dangling his infant son from the
fourth-floor balcony of a Berlin hotel. But his legacy also includes
his charity work, the Grammy Legend Award that he won in 1993, the
four Grammy awards that he won in one night in 1983, and his induction
in 2001 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
6. Janet Jackson. She was a late starter, compared to
brother Michael who broke into show biz at age 5. Janet Jackson, the
youngest of the nine Jackson children, was all of seven when she made
her professional debut at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Performing with
her brothers, the Jackson Five, Janet did her Mae West imitation.
(Among those watching from backstage were Elvis Presley and his
daughter Lisa Marie, who would later marry Michael Jackson. It's a
small world, after all.) As a youngster, Janet continued to perform
with her brothers, but her career as a solo recording artist got off
to a slow start. Her early albums with A&M Records, made when she
was only 15, were not major sellers. The youngest Jackson was better
known for her appearances on the TV shows Good Times,
Diff'rent Strokes, and Fame. But once she hooked up
with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis in 1986, the sparks began to
fly.
Jam and Lewis helped Janet to develop such a sexy "bad girl"
image that her pictures on billboards have been known to stop traffic.
Jam and Lewis also helped their protégé to develop
dynamic material. Little sister Janet made it big in 1986 when her
album Control climbed to the top of the charts.
Control and her subsequent album, Rhythm Nation
1814, produced an unprecedented series of hit singles and won
four platinum awards each. By the time she signed with Virgin Records
in 1991, Janet's albums were climbing the charts faster than
Michael's. She signed a new contract with Virgin in 1996 for a
reported $80 million, a record at the time. Fame brought emotional
problems that she dealt with in her 1997 album The Velvet
Rope. This was another hot hit, perhaps because it was so candid
and from-the-heart.
7. Whitney Houston. At age 11, Whitney Houston could
bring the congregation of the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J.,
to tears with her stirring gospel singing. Steeped in music, endowed
with exotic looks and a powerful soprano voice, she seemed destined
for a show-biz career. Houston was raised by her mother, Cissy
Houston, a gospel, soul, and R&B singer. Dionne Warwick is her
cousin. Young Whitney was trained in acting, dancing, and voice, but
modeling was the trick that first brought her to public attention. In
her versatile early career, she posed for the covers of magazines like
Glamour and Seventeen, sang backup for Chaka Khan
and Lou Rawls, and worked in television commercials and sitcoms, most
notably Give Me a Break.
Clive Davis, then head of Arista Records, groomed Whitney for two
years before producing her 1985 eponymous debut album. This topped the
charts for 14 weeks, spinning off hit singles like "Greatest Love
of All" and "Saving All My Love for You." Her 1987
album, Whitney, was the first by an American female artist to
debut at number one in the United Kingdom. It contains a duet with her
mother, Cissy, on the haunting song "I Know Him So Well."
Houston's bestselling single, "I Will Always Love You,"
was written by Dolly Parton and used in the soundtrack of
Houston's first movie, The Bodyguard. But for sheer
emotional impact, nothing tops Houston's stirring rendition of
"The Star-spangled Banner" at the 1991 Super Bowl in Tampa.
She sang it again at welcome-home ceremonies for troops returning from
the Gulf War. Houston recently admitted that the pressure of
superstardom and her stormy 10-year marriage to troubled R&B
artist Bobby Brown caused her to abuse alcohol and drugs. But she has
gotten beyond that, she says, through prayer.
8. Perry Como. His cardigan sweaters and incredibly
relaxed style were the fodder for comics for decades. Even his good
friend, Bing Crosby, dubbed him "the man who invented
casual." But Perry Como, the mellow baritone crooner, always had
the last laugh—well, the last easy smile. During his seven-decade
career, Como turned out scores of hit recordings and enjoyed immense
popularity in clubs, theaters, movies, radio, and television. His
first big hit, the 1945 recording of "Till the End of Time,"
sold a million copies—a huge success in those days. By the 1970s,
thanks to singles like "It's Impossible," "For the
Good Times," and "Catch a Falling Star," his record
sales had passed the 60-million mark. Not even the rock 'n'
roll revolution elbowed the king of cool off the charts. His
ultra-smooth records were always a mainstay of easy-listening radio.
One of 13 children of Italian-immigrant parents, Como was born in the
mining town of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1913. In the 1930s, after
his legendary start as a singing barber, Como became one of the most
popular male vocalists on the big band circuit. Playing New York City
clubs and theaters in the 1940s, he attracted as many or more
screaming teenage fans than Frank Sinatra. He also had a top-rated
radio series in the 1940s. In 1955, he signed with NBC-TV for the
one-hour, prime-time Perry Como Show. It was a phenomenal
success. Through it all, the old joke goes, Como never broke a sweat.
Television specials, like his Christmas shows, and globe-circling
personal tours kept Como in the limelight and on the charts until
illness forced him to retire in the early 1990s. A family man, he was
married 65 years to his childhood sweetheart, Roselle. Como died May
12, 2001, at age 87, in his sleep.
9. Stevie Wonder. A boy wonder, he sang like a pro as
a toddler, mastered harmonica and drums, and began recording on the
Motown label at age 12. Motown marketed him as "Little Stevie
Wonder," the 12-year-old boy genius. He soon dropped the
"little," but he was obviously a genius. In 1963, his
single, "Fingertips, Part 2," hit number one on the charts
and established the 13-year-old musician as a commercial success.
Brilliant hit singles recorded by Wonder in the 1960s include Bob
Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," Ron Miller's
"A Place in the Sun," and songs of his own like
"Uptight," "Castles in the Sand," and "My
Cherie Amour."
When his Motown contract expired in 1971, Wonder made two albums on
his own, playing most of the instruments himself. Motown lured him
back with a contract giving him artistic control over his work, and
the classic albums produced by the multi-talented Wonder took soul,
rock, gospel, pop, and even funk music in new directions. He pioneered
the use of the synthesizer in black music. His lyrics, meanwhile,
addressed social and racial issues, not with anger but eloquence. Hit
singles that emerged included "You Are the Sunshine of My
Life" and "Sir Duke," a tribute to Duke Ellington.
Other unforgettable Wonder hits include "Ebony and Ivory," a
duet with Paul McCartney, and "I Just Called to Say I Love
You," from his soundtrack for the movie The Woman in
Red. Although blind almost since birth, Wonder always has been an
irrepressible optimist and a tireless activist. He has fought world
hunger, opposed drunk driving, advocated stiffer gun control laws, and
lobbied effectively for the establishment of a Martin Luther King,
Jr., national holiday. As one of his hit songs puts it,
"That's What Friends Are for."
10. (Sir) Elton John. "And it seems to me you
lived your life like a candle in the wind." The line is from
Elton John's ballad "Candle in the Wind," which he wrote
in the 1970s as a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. When his close companion
Princess Diana died in 1997, John rewrote the lyrics, except that
title line, and sang his heartfelt song at her funeral to a worldwide
audience of two billion people. The record became the
second-biggest-selling single ever, surpassed only by Bing Crosby's "White Christmas."
Proceeds went to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.
This was surely the height of his long and tumultuous career. But
Elton John, Britain's highest-earning pop artist of all time, has
recorded scores of hits including "Rocket Man," "Tiny
Dancer," "Don't Go Breaking My Heart,"
"Crocodile Rock," and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."
More recently he teamed with lyricist Tim Rice to give us "Can
You Feel the Love Tonight" from the movie The Lion King
and "Written in the Stars" from the stage version of
Verdi's Aida. A flamboyant performer, John is known for
his outlandish costumes and lavish lifestyle—and for all those
enduring, award-winning songs. John was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
in 1998, which allows him to put Sir before his name. A very rich man,
Sir Elton recently announced that his future royalties will go to the
Elton John AIDS Foundation. And because Sir Elton, like so many other
top 10 artists, is still creating hits, that could mean big bucks
indeed.
Gwen Gibson is a freelance writer, specializing in arts and
entertainment.
Now, check out AARP The Magazine's online jukebox, read
about Les Paul, Father of the Electric Guitar, and find out how Chuck
Berry ignited the rock and roll revolution.
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