Very few singers have the ability to stay popular for long periods of time; many of them experience a brief period of stardom or maybe just make it big as a one hit wonder. Artists like Daniel Powter, with “Bad Day” in 2006 and Carly Rae Jepsen with “Call Me Maybe” in 2012, for example, achieved high success with only one song and quickly declined. However, a select few artists seem to continue to make popular music over many years.

Beyoncé, an incredibly popular and influential music artist for our generation, has continuously made successful music over the years. She released her first solo album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003 and has had continued success all over the world. Her top singles from that album, including “Crazy in Love” and “Baby Boy”, are both still played on the radio, along with many other older hits. Beyonce’s career has shown no signs of slowing down. She won acclaimed awards early in her career including Best Original Song at the Satellite Awards in 2003, 2006, and 2008, and nearly ten years later, she performed at both the 2014 and 2015 Grammy Award shows and completed numerous worldwide tours. She has also earned a variety of other awards such as Forbe’s 2014 Most Powerful Celebrity. Regarding Beyoncé’s popularity, Sam Huo ’18 said, “Beyoncé for sure has definitely has stayed popular in my opinion because her songs didn’t degrade women, and she really has her own style to her music that is really makes her unique. Her music also has a really broad spectrum that can appeal to everyone, from her old soulful music like Halo to her recent releases that are pop and rap related like ‘Drunk In Love’.”

Another famous artist who has built a strong fan base over the course of many years is Kanye West. Since releasing his first album, The College Dropout in 2004, West has continued to make popular music. The College Dropout debuted at number 2 on the The Billboard Charts and was even nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. His most recent album, Yeezus, has achieved nothing short of that original success. Billboard Online reported that Yeezus sold over 327,000 copies in its first week. Henry Gise ’17 credits some of West’s sustained popularity to his recent relationship with Kim Kardashian: “Kanye was already popular, but when he started dating Kim, and they had a kid together it really spiked people’s interest in him again. All of the publicity revolving around their relationship has really made an impact on how much attention is being paid to Kanye’s music.” Since 2004, the official website for the Grammy Awards says that West has won twenty-one Grammys. Clearly, West has remained at the top of music charts for over ten years.

Occasionally, a member of a band or group breaks off and tries to make it on his or her own as solo artist. Sometimes the result is a tragedy for the band’s fans, but other times it can result in huge success for one or more members of the group. For instance, Nick Jonas decided to break away from his two older brothers and their band, The Jonas Brothers, and form his own career. The band of brothers instantly became a hit in 2006 when they released their first album, It’s About Time. Just this past year, Nick released his first solo single, “Jealous”, and it was an instant hit. Lydia Yeatman ’17 believed Nick Jonas breaking off from the Jonas Brothers was a smart choice: “Nick Jonas made a good decision to start a career on his own because now he is seen as a talented, individual singer, and he has obviously had a lot of success with his new song.” Nick Jonas has become a very well known and respected artist, and it seems as though breaking off from his brothers has helped him in the long run. His new album, Nick Jonas, continues to climb the charts and songs from it play frequently on the radio.

Many artists are unable to stay at the forefront of the music industry for a long period of time. Some select artists, however, have been able to capture America’s attention for years. Their choices in publicity stunts and high quality have allowed them to maintain success and will probably keep them in the spotlight for a while longer.