In 2024, the pop music scene looks starkly different from just a decade ago. While female artists dominate headlines, album charts, and social media feeds, male pop stars seem conspicuously absent. Gone are the days when icons like Michael Jackson or Prince, and even more recent stars like Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Harry Styles, and Chris Brown, ruled the airwaves. Today, it’s hard to name a single male pop artist who has achieved the same level of success and cultural impact as his female counterparts.
So what happened to the male pop star?
The 2024 Grammy Awards painted a clear picture of the rise of female pop stars, with artists like Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sabrina Carpenter dominating both the charts and awards season. As NPR music critic Ann Powers notes, “When we say ‘pop star’ in the 2010s, we almost always mean a woman.” This trend has only grown stronger in recent years, as female artists continue to create cultural moments that extend far beyond their music. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, for example, shattered records with their 2023 tours. Cities extended public transit hours to accommodate Beyoncé’s fans, while Swift’s tour became the highest-grossing of all time, securing her a spot in the history books. Their impact felt beyond just album sales and streaming numbers, cementing their roles as cultural icons.
“Females are sort of the new rock stars of this generation,” says music manager Adam Leber. “I think women are feeling more comfortable with themselves and more empowered than ever, and it’s exciting for the culture to see them doing what they want.”
It’s not that male artists aren’t present. They are—Hozier, Noah Kahan, and Future who continue to make an impact in folk, indie, and hip-hop. But within the pure pop genre, where have all the male stars gone?
Some have migrated to other genres. Bruno Mars, for example, started in mainstream pop but has since leaned into R&B and funk with his Silk Sonic project. Others, like Justin Bieber who sold all his masters and took a hiatus from music, and Ed Sheeran, maintain pop success but without the same cultural impact as their female peers.
Bobby Campbell, Lady Gaga’s manager, offers insight into the challenges faced by male pop stars: “It’s such a fashion- and spectacle-dominated world right now that I don’t think that men have as much that they can really do to stay at the forefront of the conversation.”
The disparity between male and female pop stars may also stem from the different standards applied to them. Taylor Swift articulated this pressure in her 2020 documentary Miss Americana: “Female artists have to reinvent themselves 20 times more than male artists. They have to, or else you’re out of a job. Constantly having to reinvent, constantly finding new facets of yourself that people find to be shiny.”
While female artists are expected to constantly evolve their image and sound, male artists often face less pressure to do so. This expectation of reinvention may contribute to the heightened visibility and cultural resonance of female pop stars, particularly in today’s social media-obsessed age. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok have amplified the need for artists to be not just musicians, but also fashion icons, activists, and influencers—roles that female artists have embraced successfully.
Despite the current scene, it’s premature to declare the death of the male pop star. Artists like Troye Sivan and K-pop stars Jimin and Jungkook have found success by embracing the visual and performative aspects traditionally associated with female artists.
And as the music industry evolves, we may see a new breed of male pop star emerge – one willing to chart hits, master the art of creating cultural moments that extend far beyond the music itself, engage with fashion, spectacle, and constant reinvention in the same way their female counterparts have been doing for years.
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Written by Angel Joanne Okonkwo
