Thousands of albums are released annually, but only a select few leave an indelible mark that last for years to come. These female artists achieve the feats of producing some of the decade's most important albums – some more than once! Let's check out who they are!
Lana Del Rey’s Born To Die (2012)
2012 has no shortage of excellent albums, but none achieved the staggering feat that Lana Del Rey’s major label debut did. Born To Die is only one of two albums by a female artist ever that managed to spend 400 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart (the other album? 21st century’s biggest selling album '21' by Adele). THAT’s how groundbreaking Born to Die was.
Back in 2012, it was hard to miss Lana’s wispy haunting voice singing hits like Summertime Sadness, Blue Jeans, and Born to Die. She was credited with popularizing 'sad girl' music, thanks to her cinematic music videos depicting somber love stories set in hazy, Americana-infused aesthetic. Fans, especially young girls, immediately took to Lana’s distinctive vintage-inspired look and moody lyrics. To say she was a cultural reset is an understatement.
Beyonce’s Beyonce (2013)
A Beyonce album is always an event, but Beyonce made an extra splash when she surprise-dropped her fifth solo album at midnight on December 13, 2013. In addition, Queen Bey simultaneously released short films for all 14 songs in the album, dubbing it her first visual album. Her stealth move has since been copied by many other artists – true pioneer behavior.
Led by first single Drunk in Love, the album is chock full of R&B, soul and electronic-infused tracks that felt more experimental compared to what fans were used to. '***Flawless' catapulted the phrase “I woke up like this” to pop culture prominence, while 'XO' is the kind of heartwarming anthem that definitely works the crowd up at concerts.
Taylor Swift’s 1989 (2014)
The country-turned-pop star has no shortage of brilliant albums. The singer-songwriter extraordinaire had already won Grammys Best Album honor for Fearless in 2009. But 1989 is significant because it marked Taylor’s complete transformation from country ingénue to full-on pop artist. With cheeky tunes like the chart-topping Shake It Off, Blank Space, and Bad Blood, Taylor was at her most deviant in deploying her lyrical genius to roast everything from haters to incessant rumors about her love life. The result? 10 million copies sold and another Album of the Year at the Grammys.
Adele’s 25 (2015)
Following up the biggest selling album of the century could not have been a more daunting task. Yet, Adele pulled it off brilliantly with 25. In the album - so named because it represented her frame of mind at 25 - the British songstress retained her signature soulful ballads. Lead single Hello was an immediate sensation, debuting at number 1 at the Billboard Hot 100 and achieving 1 billion Youtube views in just 87 days. Second single When We Were Young has proven to be an enduring crowd pleasing favorite. The album ended up giving Adele her second Album of the Year in a row.
Beyonce’s Lemonade (2016)
Over a decade into a solo career marked by incomparable accomplishments, Beyonce proved she ain’t done smashing records yet. Lemonade topped music critics’ list of Best Album of 2016, selected into many prestigious best album of the decade lists, and became the best-selling album of 2016. Her Hold Up music video, where Bey wore a yellow dress while smashing a car window with a baseball bat (rumored to be about husband Jay Z’s infidelity), instantly became one of the most recognizable iconographies in modern pop culture.
Billie Eillish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019)
Monster rookie is a term popularized by K-Pop’s ever-growing global impact. But nobody embodies this term better than Billie Eilish. The debut album, which was a robust collaboration between the then-17-year-old and her brother Finneas O’Connell, went on to be one of the year’s most critically lauded and best-selling albums. The electronic pop single bad guy exploded worldwide and the next year, Billie became the youngest artist to sweep all four top categories at the Grammys - bagging Album, Record, and Song of the Year as well as Best New Artist trophy.
Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next (2019)
Fresh off of her hit 2018 album Sweetener, Ariana wasted no time and launched an even bigger hit with Thank U, Next. The result is an energetic, deeply personal album with chart-topping tracks like 7 Rings and Thank U, Next. To date, the album remains the singer’s highest selling album. It was all the more impressive considering the album was conceived during Ariana’s struggles following ex-boyfriend Mac Miller‘s death and her broken-off engagement to Pete Davidson.
Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour (2021)
Olivia is yet another Disney teen star making the jump to mainstream stardom. But there’s something special about this Filipino-American songbird. For starters, Olivia writes her own songs. The result is tracks after tracks of emotionally raw, instantly relatable anthems that are very of the moment. With hits like Good 4 U, Deja Vu and Drivers License, Olivia joins Billie Eilish in the shortlist of Gen-Z’s earliest superstars.
