Entertainment Weekly Names The 30 Greatest Artists Right Now
Filed under: Donovan, Music
Author: Donovan
Date: Apr 9, 2012
Last week Entertainment Weekly gave us a sneak peek at it’s music issue. Naturally, Adele graced the cover where the publication names the “30 Greatest Artists Right Now“. With the British Songbird selling millions of copies of her second album “21″ (what sophomore slump???) and her domination at this year’s Grammys, Adele is not only the perfect choice for the cover but also as their No. 1 musician right now. Her success is nothing short of remarkable given that she wasn’t able to promote it for months due to surgery. She truly is changing the face of music today. Everyone’s trying to find and sign the next Adele.
Ranking the “30 Greatest Artists” of the moment is a dicey situation and EW.com is certainly going out on a limb. You’re bound to piss some people off with omissions and how low their favorite artist ranks on the list, if they make the cut. For instance, Lady Gaga and Beyonce barely make the list and don’t even crack the Top 20. At least they made it. I’m sure my Seattle friends and Patrick will be annoyed that their beloved Britney Spears was snubbed from the list.
Even a bigger omission, IMHO, is Madonna. Sure, she’s prehistoric but she did just clock in her eighth No. 1 album last week. Even equally fellow geriatric Bruce Springsteen ranked on the list. Why the Madonna hate??? That being said, I’m happy that a few non marquee names made the cut- Azealia Banks, fun. and Gotye all got some loving. See who else made EW.com’s Top 30 below.
Entertainment Weekly‘s 30 Greatest Artists Right Now
- 30. Beach House
- 29. Kimbra
- 28. Calvin Harris
- 27. Gotye
- 26. Beyonce
- 25. Florence + The Machine
- 24. Lady Gaga
- 23. Bruce Springsteen
- 22. Coldplay
- 21. Azealia Banks
- 20. fun.
- 19. Jake Owen
- 18. Kelly Clarkson
- 17. Fiona Apple
- 16. A$AP Rocky
- 15. The Civil Wars
- 14. Jay-Z
- 13. Kanye West
- 12. Foo Fighters
- 11. Bruno Mars
- 10. Rihanna
- 9. Mumford & Sons
- 8. Nicki Minaj
- 7. The Black Keys
- 6. Jack White
- 5. Katy Perry
- 4. Carrie Underwood
- 3. Drake
- 2. Taylor Swift
- 1. Adele
What do you think of EW.com’s rankings? Who would you bump up or cut from the list? Loving that Drake made the Top 3 and beat out some big names. I’m so obsessed with “Take Care” right now. It’s almost unhealthy.
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SS
April 9th, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Couple of months from now I wouldn’t be surprised to see Of Monsters and Men on that list. Their star is rising fast.
Oliver
April 9th, 2012 at 5:47 pm
And Britney has become totally irrelevant for the music industry. Given the fact that she does not even sing live during her “live” shows… she has lost ALL credibility… not that she’s ever had much. And Madonna’s time is over too: Her last album is the first one I did not buy because her music has become a cheap knock-off of what’s popular at the moment. So I’d rather buy the really popular artists. I’m sure MDNA will be her lowest selling album ever… it won’t even be able to beat Hard Candy.
Brendan
April 9th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Did they mean right now as in as long as it takes to read this magazine because the music trends change pretty fast… and some of those artists are complete blanks to me and I think they might just be blips on the radar. Kinda like when EW suggests ‘If you like this artist, then you would love this artist’ and I don’t even know the artist they are suggesting I replace. >_< I mean, really… who the fuck is A$AP Rocky and why is Fiona Apple listed here at all?! How could she possibly be any more relevant than Britney Spears?
And I agree with Oliver about Madonna. She's not a real artist anymore, it's all about money and cross-marketing and her big overinflated ego.
rogelio
April 9th, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Britney Spears had a number 1 album last year. 3 singles reach the top 10, 1 was named 3rd best single of 2011. She was one of the first to introduce somekind of dubstep in the mainstream. Sure she has producers and stuff but you can’t deny her star power. So what if she doesn’t sing “live”? everyone gets helped, most of the women on that list have just decent voices… that’s it…
gato
April 9th, 2012 at 7:50 pm
This says alot about the state of music right now, and its nothing good
3isacharm
April 10th, 2012 at 12:18 am
I agree with Rogelio. No one, absolutely no one can deny Britney has the X factor that many artists wish they had. She lifts a finger and it makes news. 2011 was a really good year for her but the fact that she doesn’t overexpose herself makes people “forget” about her. Anyway, this list talks about the greatest artists RIGHT NOW. We shall see how many of those in this list are still relevant in 5 years from now
Ryan
April 10th, 2012 at 1:24 am
I agree on Adele being no.1 as let’s face it she’s gifted in singing the woes and wows of love..however Madonna not being on the list is a crime..I mean comon..she barely promoted MDNA and pre sales of the album were the highest on iTunes ever plus now that it’s out she’s breaking so many records in terms of dance chart hits, Beatles/Elvis records and closing in on Barbera and I’m sure like all her concerts the upcoming tour is gonna b a knockout..so where ye fuck is she if not on this list..motherf***ers!!!
Peter
April 10th, 2012 at 10:23 am
i agree with Ryan. say what you will about madonna “following trends” now instead of setting them or whatever, but she set the trend for the past 30 years and NO ONE on this list is as prolific an artist yet she’s still doing it. these are supposed to be the 30 greatest right now and they’re all pretty white bread –all played on Z100 so pretty f-ing mainstream and none of them really stand out as revolutionary to me.
I’m just saying don’t call out madonna and leave her out for following trends when EVERYONE on this list follows trends also.
Burton
April 10th, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Nicki minaj and Rihanna are way to low on that list, as is beyonce.
Castiel
April 11th, 2012 at 2:16 am
Oh yeahhhhhhh. My love Mumford & Sons ?
Reductive
April 11th, 2012 at 4:39 am
Yeh Guy Oseary PieFace! rigged Madonna’s album sales by giving away free MDNA album cds to everyone who bought tickets to her TOUR! So artificially inflated actual sales of the cds.