Greatest Pop Stars

In 1966, Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys realized all their greatest artistic and commercial ambitions -- though not always at the same time -- with their 'Pet Sounds' album and "Good Vibrations" single, making for one of the greatest years in U.S. pop history. On this Vintage Pop Stardom episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard's Katie Atkinson to pay tribute to the late Brian Wilson with a look at his greatest year, one whose music and lore continues to reverberate in pop music and culture multiple generations later.

And if you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠⁠5Calls.org⁠⁠.

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On this week's Great Moments in Pop Star History episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard's Rebecca Milzoff to talk about her recent cover story subject, 'Weird Al' Yankovic, and his 1984 breakout hit "Eat It." We dive into the context that allowed "Weird Al" to crash the charts and MTV over 40 years ago and has allowed him to remain pretty much consistently popular for every decade since, and also dive into Yankovic's history with Michael Jackson and with junk food, and break down the feud between "Eat It" guitarist/producer Rick Derringer and Eddie Van Halen.

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On this week's episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard charts staffers Trevor Anderson and Eric Frankenberg to discuss the big pop stars and rising prospects who dominated May 2025 in pop stardom. We each choose our top fives for the month that was, then we talk some disappointing recent performances, and look ahead to who we're most anticipating hearing more from in the months to come.

If you enjoy the pod, check out our first three 2025 recaps:

Greatest Pop Stars of January 2025:

https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/greatest-pop-stars-podcast-who-wan-january-2025-1235894372/

Greatest Pop Stars of February 2025:

https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/greatest-pop-stars-podcast-who-won-february-2025-1235916447/

Greatest Pop Stars of March 2025:

https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/greatest-pop-stars-podcast-march-2025-who-won-the-month-1235938460/

Greatest Pop Stars of April 2025:

https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/greatest-pop-stars-podcast-who-won-april-2025-1235959818/

And please consider donating to the following causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠⁠5Calls.org⁠⁠.

https://5calls.org/

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It was the Year of Hootie: In 1995, an unassuming group of good-time frat-rockers unexpectedly became the biggest thing in popular music, with hit after hit and over 10 million in sales -- but their fall from pop stardom would come just as quickly and dramatically as their rise. On this Vintage Pop Stardom episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard's Christine Werthman to look at the wildest one-and-done crossover year of any mid-'90s artist, and whether Hootie and the Blowfish deserve a better legacy than they currently have.

And if you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠5Calls.org⁠ -- and if you're in the D.C. area this weekend (May 30-31), definitely check out Liberation Weekend, a music festival supporting trans rights with an incredible lineup of trans artists and allies.

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In addition to releasing his 37-track 'I'm the Problem' album last weekend (May 16), Morgan Wallen also headlined the first installment of his self-curated Sand in My Boots Festival in Alabama. On this week's Pop Star Performance Review, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by music and culture writer Meaghan Garvey -- who both recapped Sand in My Boots for Billboard and reviewed 'I'm the Problem' for Pitchfork -- to go over the weekend in Wallen, and how (if at all) it's changed our perception of him as an artist and as a pop star.

Meghan's Sand in My Boots recap and 'I'm the Problem' review:

https://www.billboard.com/music/country/sand-in-my-boots-fest-morgan-wallen-1235975456/

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/morgan-wallen-im-the-problem/

If you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following trans rights causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Also, please consider subscribing to the trans legislation journalism ⁠⁠⁠of Erin Reed⁠⁠⁠ and

giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠⁠⁠5Calls.org⁠⁠⁠.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/

https://5calls.org/

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On this week's Greatest Pop Stars, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by country writer Marissa Moss to size up the career of the country hitmaker Maren Morris, and ask the fundamental question: Is Maren a pop star? Along the way, we relive the major moments in her career, from becoming a country phenom the mid-'10s, to scoring massive crossover hits in the late decade and ultimately falling out with the country world -- but now reinventing herself with the fantastic new 'Dreamsicle' album.

If you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following trans rights causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Also, please consider subscribing to the trans legislation journalism ⁠⁠of Erin Reed⁠⁠ and

giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠⁠5Calls.org⁠⁠.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/

https://5calls.org/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's Great Moments in Pop Star History episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard's Hannah Dailey to talk about one of the most beloved pop non-singles of this century (and an unlikely recent Billboard Hot 100 debut): Lorde's "Ribs." We share when we first came to connect to the song, what makes it such an important song for the generation of pop fans who grew up with it, and whether it might one day pass "Royals" to be seen as Lorde's most-acclaimed, most-beloved song.

If you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following trans rights causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Also, please consider subscribing to the trans legislation journalism ⁠of Erin Reed⁠ and

giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠5Calls.org⁠.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/

https://5calls.org/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard staffers Stephen Daw and Eric Frankenberg to discuss the pop stars who dominated a live-heavy April 2025 in pop stardom. We each choose our top fives for the month that was, then we talk some disappointing recent performances, and look ahead to who we're most anticipating hearing more from in the months to come.

If you enjoy the pod, check out our first three 2025 recaps:

Greatest Pop Stars of January 2025:

https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/greatest-pop-stars-podcast-who-wan-january-2025-1235894372/

Greatest Pop Stars of February 2025:

https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/greatest-pop-stars-podcast-who-won-february-2025-1235916447/

Greatest Pop Stars of March 2025:

https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/greatest-pop-stars-podcast-march-2025-who-won-the-month-1235938460/

And please consider donating to the following causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Also, please consider subscribing to the trans legislation journalism ⁠of Erin Reed⁠ and

giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠5Calls.org⁠.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/

https://5calls.org/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this Pop Star Performance Review of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard deputy editor Joe Lynch -- a Minnesota native who was in attendance for the show at Minneapolis' U.S. Bank Stadium on Saturday (Apr. 19) -- to go full "30 for 30" on the kickoff of Kendrick Lamar & SZA's Grand National tour, the year's most anticipated pop trek. Joe answers all our questions about the experience, from the crowd to the staging to the pacing to the energy to the "A minorrrrrrrrr.....," and concludes whether or not this felt like a proper stadium tour from two of the greatest pop stars of the 2020s.

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After became the hottest rapper in the game in 2003, 50 Cent returned in 2005 arguably bigger and more omnipresent than ever -- but after two years where it felt like he couldn't miss, 50's strike rate was finally starting to slip a little. On this Vintage Pop Stardom episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard Hip-Hop's Carl Lamarre and Michael Saponara to continue celebrating our 2005 Week -- with 2005-themed content all this week (Apr. 14-18) on Billboard.com -- with a look at the year when 50 Cent still ruled all of hip-hop and pop, but where his fall from superstardom was now on the horizon.

Find all of Billboard's 2005 Week stuff here:

https://www.billboard.com/t/2005-week/

And if you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Also, please consider subscribing to the trans legislation journalism of Erin Reed and

giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on 5Calls.org.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/

https://5calls.org/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices