Biggest Pop Stars 2024 No. 8

For this yr’s replace of our ongoing Biggest Pop Big name through 12 months mission, Billboard might be counting down our editorial group of workers selections for the ten Biggest Pop Stars of 2024 all this week — having already published our Honorable Mentions, our Comeback of the 12 months and our Rookie of the 12 months artists all final week, and our No. 10 and No. 9 Biggest Pop Big name on Monday. Now, at No. 8, we be mindful the yr in Publish Malone — who resumed his previous profitable tactics with a flip in opposition to a wholly new style.

When Publish Malone rang in 2024 with an accurately 24-song set at a Las Vegas New 12 months’s Eve live performance, he pulled out his greatest hits – those that made him a famous person within the overdue 2010s through crisscrossing style strains from hip-hop to rock to pop and past – together with the Sizzling 100 No. 1s “Circles,” “Sunflower,” “Rockstar” and “Psycho.” However you needed to glance past the setlist for a forecast of what was once to come back this yr. At Fontainebleau’s BleauLive Theater within the early hours of January 1st, 2024, the clearest signal of Publish’s ingenious route was once twofold: his outfit selection of jorts, paired with a tank best, and the crimson Solo cup that hardly ever left his hand that evening. Sure, Publish was once about to move nation.

The Texas local had flirted with the style previously — making his Nation Airplay debut on a posthumous duet model of Joe Diffie’s “Pickup Guy,” final yr and acting the music along Morgan Wallen and HARDY on the 2023 CMA Awards. At the ones awards, Get entry to Hollywood requested behind the curtain if he had his personal nation mission within the works and Publish spoke back, “I feel so…sure.”

The primary true trace that mentioned mission was once in truth arriving in 2024 got here in February, when Publish shared a snippet of a Luke Combs collab that will turn out to be “Man for That.” That was once adopted through a activate Beyoncé’s personal nation mission Cowboy Carter in March, with the twangy midtempo duet “Levii’s Denims,” then a shock Hank Williams quilt at a get advantages live performance at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in April. However the whole thing kicked into overdrive later that month on the Stagecoach Tune Competition, when – following his personal 11-song set of nation covers, some together with assists from the unique artists themselves (Brad Paisley, Dwight Yoakam, Sara Evans) – Publish popped again up onstage with headliner Morgan Wallen to debut a brand-new duet known as “I Had Some Lend a hand.” From fan-shot movies of the Indio, California, efficiency, it rarely gave the impression of your standard new-song-at-a-festival reaction; through the second one refrain, the gang was once making a song each and every phrase as though the song had already been in all places nation radio.

After which it was once. “I Had Some Lend a hand” formally arrived on Might 10, and that cusp-of-summer unencumber served it smartly, because the breezy bro duet went directly to soundtrack numerous pool events and yard barbecues, debuting at No. 1 at the Sizzling 100 in a surprisingly crowded pop panorama (Kendrick Lamar’s “No longer Like Us,” Shaboozey’s “A Bar Tune (Tipsy)” and Sabrina Wood worker’s “Coffee” had been all within the best 10 that week) and retaining the highest spot for a powerful six weeks. It additionally scored seven weeks at No. 1 on Sizzling Nation Songs and 4 atop Nation Airplay, on its strategy to being topped Billboard’s 2024 Tune of the Summer season in September. The month-plus chart-topper ended a little of a business chilly spell for Posty, whose solo No. 1s had all come final decade and who hadn’t discovered successful of this dimension since smartly earlier than the pandemic.

However “Lend a hand” was once just the beginning of Publish’s nation coup. In June, he introduced that his first all-country album F-1 Trillion would arrive in mid-August – and launched the second one unmarried from the mission, a sudsy dive-bar duet with Blake Shelton known as “Pour Me a Drink” that will turn out to be his moment Nation Airplay No. 1. In July, he unveiled the entire song record, which incorporated a who’s who of honky-tonk heavy-hitters. Simplest 3 songs at the 18-track usual album didn’t come with options, and it gave the impression that everybody in Nashville – Dolly Parton, Hank Williams Jr., Tim McGraw, Chris Stapleton and (in fact) Jelly Roll – was once past satisfied to workforce up with the congenial hitmaker.

F-1 Trillion debuted atop the Billboard 200 following its Aug. 16 unencumber and spent six weeks at No. 1 on Most sensible Nation Albums, with Publish touchdown 18 songs at the Sizzling 100 from the mission all the way through unencumber week. One of the crucial many keys to the mission’s colossal good fortune seems to be the best way Publish totally immersed himself within the nation international this yr, between functioning at each the ACM Awards in Might and CMA Awards in November; taking part in Nashville’s vaunted Bluebird Café in June; and making his Grand Ole Opry debut in August, flanked through Vince Gill, John Michael 1st viscount montgomery of alamein, Lainey Wilson and extra nation all-stars. He’s been completely enveloped into what can every so often be an insular house, proving another time what a style chameleon he will also be when the musicianship, robust songwriting and love for the craft is so obviously there.

And this can have been an enormous yr for Publish Malone despite the fact that he hadn’t effectively ingratiated himself into but any other new style. Again in February, an afternoon after Taylor Swift had surprise-announced a brand-new album known as The Tortured Poets Division, she unveiled the mission’s song record – together with album opener “Fortnight” that includes Publish Malone. It ended up now not best being the hole song, but in addition the lead unmarried, arriving along the album on April 19 with a cinematic black-and-white track video starring Swift and a tattoo-free Malone as ex-lovers. Publish gushed concerning the enjoy on Instagram, writing, “It’s as soon as in a life-time that any individual like @taylorswift comes into this international. I’m floored through your middle and your thoughts, and I’m past venerated to had been requested that can assist you along with your adventure.” The music spent two weeks atop the Sizzling 100, and the duo approved the video of the yr prize in combination for “Fortnight” at September’s 2024 MTV Video Tune Awards, the place Malone was once Swift’s right-hand guy for her newest VMAs victory lap.

Malone’s awards adventure may simply be getting began too, as a result of in November, he earned seven new Grammy nominations – a tie for the second-most this yr – that span each his nation album and his collabs with Swift and Beyoncé, and feature him in just right form to in the end take house his first-ever statue in 17 profession tries. Subsequent yr may even mark Publish’s greatest excursion but: After taking part in a 21-date mini-tour round F-1 Trillion q4, the megastar introduced the aptly titled Giant Ass Stadium Excursion in November, set for subsequent April to July. 

Oh, and Publish by accident let a few different dates slip when he made the announcement, sharing a poster that incorporated April 13 and 20 stops in Indio, California, with Coachella confirming the next day to come that Publish could be again within the wilderness to headline along Girl Gaga, Inexperienced Day and Travis Scott subsequent spring. After 2024 headlining slots at Bonnaroo, Rolling Loud, Governors Ball, World Citizen Competition and Outdoor Lands that each one skewed closely towards his previous, non-country subject matter, it is going to be fascinating to look what sort of similarity the Publish Malone who presentations up at Coachella will undergo to the person who confirmed up on the identical grounds for Stagecoach a yr earlier than.

Publish Malone isn’t simply diversifying with regards to style, both; he additionally made inroads in Hollywood this yr, together with a bloody boxer position within the Jake Gyllenhaal-starring Street Area remake in March and a cheeky cameo as himself within the new Jack Black Christmas film Pricey Santa. In different giant accomplishments: His 2018 Spider-Guy: Into the Spider-Verse damage “Sunflower” with Swae Lee become the first-ever double-diamond unmarried in RIAA historical past in February, that means it’s reached an an identical of 20 million gross sales; that very same month, he carried out “The us the Stunning” forward of the 2024 Tremendous Bowl, which reached a document 123.7 million audience; and he got here face-to-face together with his very personal wax determine behind the curtain at Gov Ball in June (even mistaking it for an actual individual).

As Malone wraps his epic yr through dotting 2024 best-of lists (together with each our preferrred albums and preferrred songs group of workers scores), his nation mission ends on a prime, celebrating platinum certification from the RIAA for F-1 Trillion and five-times platinum standing for “I Had Some Lend a hand,” as of Dec. 12. It as soon as once more turns out like the whole thing he touches turns to gold (or, truly, platinum), in order Publish’s 2024 turns to his 2025, stay your eyes peeled for any cloth wardrobe clues that may sign which a part of the highest 40 international he has his attractions on taking up subsequent.

Test again later as of late for the disclose of our No. 7 Biggest Pop Big name, and keep tuned all week as we roll out our best 10 — resulting in the announcement of our best two Biggest Pop Stars of 2024 on Monday, Dec. 23!