We’re now over a month in 2025, and it’s been an absolutely packed beginning to the year in pop stardom. We’ve already gotten plenty big album drops, tour announcements, breakout hits and viral moments — and then of course, in the last week alone, we’ve gotten two major star-studded events in the FireAid benefit concert last Thursday (Jan. 30), and a truly unforgettable Grammys ceremony on Sunday (Feb. 2).
It’s been busy enough that it’s probably already time to do a Greatest Pop Stars look back at the year so far. And so this week, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard staffers Kyle Denis and Stephen Daw to recap a very pop-starry first month-plus of 2025. We each pick our our personal top five pop stars so far this year, and debate a couple of the bigger questions already surrounding the year in pop: How are we feeling about this new Weeknd album? What about the recent run of Lady Gaga singles? Is Tate McRae trending up or down or neither?
Then we give some tough love to a couple artists whose early returns we’re a little more disappointed in, and offer some thoughts on what we’d like to see and hear more from the year to come. And finally, we close with some predictions and queries about the February ahead, including about the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show, and how a certain rapper with vested interest in that show’s setlist is looking to make his own comeback not long after.
Check it out above — along with a YouTube playlist of some of the most memorable moments of the pop year so far, all of which are discussed in the podcast — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!
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The post “Which Pop Stars Won the First Month of 2025?” by Andrew Unterberger was published on 02/06/2025 by www.billboard.com