The answer, is more than obvious. Yes, considering that she was the best-selling female albums artist of that decade.

Yes.

seY 

Yes - the sales make it obvious it was no.1 Britney, no.2 Beyoncé and no.3 P!nk.

 

The people Britney was being compared to in early 2000s don't even make the top 20 artists of the decade. 

No. She only spent 6 weeks on top of the biggest chart in the world (the Hot 100), she doesn't have a high brow Grammy win, she's never went #1 on the UK Official Album Chart, she hasn't had a top 20 hit on the Hot 100 Year End Chart since 1999, and she's never gotten a #1 song on the Radio Airplay Chart.

1 minute ago, D.M.F said:

No. She only spent 6 weeks on top of the biggest chart in the world (the Hot 100), she doesn't have a high brow Grammy win, she's never went #1 on the UK Official Album Chart, she hasn't had a top 20 hit on the Hot 100 Year End Chart since 1999, and she's never gotten a #1 song on the Radio Airplay Chart.

These Khia metrics

 

 

Easily.

 

Honestly, anyone who says no is just an OTH. Britney was THEE mpg of the 2000s and has been hailed as the Princess of Pop for a reason. Even legends like Madonna and Michael Jackson gave her flowers.

 

She paved the way for most of our faves. Taylor was a massive stan of hers before she was famous. Rihanna, Miley, Ariana, Gaga, Lana, Selena, Kesha, Sabrina, Katy, Tate, Charli, etc. have all mentioned as being inspired by her at some point. Her impact is undeniable. Most of us on ATRL lived through her peak too and know it. (Whether some want to admit it or not.)

Edited September 1, 2025Sep 1 by Lethal

2 minutes ago, D.M.F said:

No. She only spent 6 weeks on top of the biggest chart in the world (the Hot 100), she doesn't have a high brow Grammy win, she's never went #1 on the UK Official Album Chart, she hasn't had a top 20 hit on the Hot 100 Year End Chart since 1999, and she's never gotten a #1 song on the Radio Airplay Chart.

Britney's 2000s albums:

Oops I Did It Again - 25.3m

In The Zone - 13.8m

Britney - 14.5m

Blackout - 6.4m

Circus - 9m

 

Total: 69 m

 

Xtina's 2000s albums (who you've claimed dominated the decade)

My kind Christmas - 1.9m

Stripped - 13.6m

B2b - 6.9m

Bionic - 1.5m

 

Total: 23.9m (OUT of top 20 female artists for 2000s releases, below Mariah, Madonna, Celine etc.)

 

8 minutes ago, Anticipating said:

These Khia metrics

 

 

Oops I Did It Again: 25.3m

 

Xtina's entire 2000s catalogue: 23.9m

 

No.

 

Britney's first 2 album were released before the impact of illegal downloads, which had a horrific impact. 

 

People rarely gave af about her after 2001. 

39 minutes ago, LegaMyth said:

No.

 

Britney's first 2 album were released before the impact of illegal downloads, which had a horrific impact. 

 

People rarely gave af about her after 2001. 

We need to add this to the biggest lies anyone has ever said on ATRL thread.

She's the zeitgeist of 2000's so obviously and I wasn't even into pop culture back then I'm on elementary. I already heard about her everywhere 

Edited September 1, 2025Sep 1 by Odette Violet

Absolutely yes

1 hour ago, D.M.F said:

No. She only spent 6 weeks on top of the biggest chart in the world (the Hot 100), she doesn't have a high brow Grammy win, she's never went #1 on the UK Official Album Chart, she hasn't had a top 20 hit on the Hot 100 Year End Chart since 1999, and she's never gotten a #1 song on the Radio Airplay Chart.

You forgot the never having a #1 tour, girl, don't disappoint me again.

Yes yes yes

No because she lacks "Looking hot on Instagram" posts on ATRL

She peaked in early 200s when sales were juggernauts. It's like calling Adele the queen of 2010s due to 21 alone, while Artists like Taylor, Rihanna were more consistent. I would say Beyonce was. She was more consistent, and had 3 successful eras with iconic moments.

This is undebatable 

When it comes to the image of 00s, I don't know how anyone can deny that it was Britney. 
 

That said, we have to give our flowers to Beyoncé, who had 3 massive eras and established herself as a titan from the moment she left her group. 
 

Also shout out to avril and Pink, who were the "anti-pop pop girls" who broke yet also made a lot of 00s trends and topped the charts. 

Edited September 1, 2025Sep 1 by BowWow

Yes obviously 

I think Britney breaking through so massively in 1999 then having two successful eras straight after made it impossible to anyone beside her be seen as the embodiment of 00s despite how hard they may have tried. But they did try! And they did pretty well too. So many 00s MPGs deserve their flowers. 

To have three blockbusters teen-pop album is an incredibly hard feat. ATRL completely misses that point, probaby on purpose. Look at Alanis, Nora or Dido, they were all making music for a more mature audience. Britney's sales were so high that the peak of her contemporaries (11-13 millions) were considered an underperformance for her!

 

Also, even though Blackout was a bit of a flop for her, it's still more influential and important to the course of pop music than 90% of the successful albums from 2006-2007.

 

Circus was a good resurgence to close the decade, with minimal, one week promo. To this day, it still has better streaming numbers than several more successful '08 albums. 

 

But the numbers are only a fraction of Britney's impact. When the 00s are referenced or there's a Y2K flashback in a movie, TV show or song, it's her they go back to. There's nothing more important than that because it creates a collective memory. It's like old Hollywood had tons of stars but only Marilyn has become the go-to figure to represent that era. 

Back in the 2000s yes, nowadays she is 3rd

But in the next 10 yrs Beyonce and Shakira will surpass her easily overall in total units, they get more than double the streams Britney gets and r bigger touring and relevant artists to Gen z

 

Wish streaming existed in Latin America during the 2000s like it does now. How bad bunny dominates over all American artists except drake and Taylor swift, Shakira would have done something similar. We would have gotten the real units for shakira added back then, but its all good as in the end she is getting her due in the last 5 yrs

Edited September 1, 2025Sep 1 by hrjox97

Obviously. She was literally Taylor before Taylor (based on fame, etc.)

 

No one was doing it like THE Britney Spears.

Edited September 1, 2025Sep 1 by JustHoran