Which artists were megastars for an era or two and then completely fumbled their career and declined into shocking irrelevancy?

 

Normani and other girls who were never big don't count.

Paula abdul

Xtina 

Nelly Furtado, Halsey

Beyonce. She doesn't have a hit bigger than Kelly Rowland (see my latest thread) or ever owned a year as the top female artist according to Billboard.

Meghan Trainor

Iggy Azalea

Ashlee Simpson

 

Edited September 22, 2025Sep 22 by Lethal

katy perry, ed sheeran

Fergie not releasing a follow-up to The Dutchess after the BEP's peak was truly baffling. She was an A-list global pop star with a string of hits both solo and with the group. Everyone would have been checking for a Fergie album in 2012 and she could have nabbed a couple more hits. She totally just let it all fizzle away. By the time she came back with LA Love and Milf Money it was too late (and the songs were also garbage.)

Edited September 22, 2025Sep 22 by Beyonnaise

Miley's post bangerz career could have been much huger. Miley is not irrelevant as a celeb but musically she is lately outside of flowers

 

I feel doja is on the same route, disavowing every era, not building a big fanbase and eventually the gp gets bored of the whiplash and antics

 

I like both their music too 

Christina deserved a much bigger career and stronger legacy

Janet   She gets the Danii Minogue treatment when really she should get as much respect as Madonna does 

Chappell Roan may suffer this fate I fear 

Edited September 22, 2025Sep 22 by Miss Fortune

Camilla Cabello

Havana was huge but she ****** up wanting to be artistic so soon instead of going full commercial with her first 3 albums

 

Xtina and maybe Avril Lavigne 

Sky Ferreira would've dominated the 2010s if her discography had been…

 

Cry Baby (2011)

Ghost (2012)

Night Time, My Time (2013)

Masochism (2016)

Aaliyah is the real answer. She was giving quality albums and visuals and had just entered a creative peak/MPG era when she passed away. Who knows what she would have accomplished or what sounds she would have explored?
 

I'm going Azealia Banks.

 

In that 2011-2016 time-period she had:

- record deals with Interscope / Polydor / XL at various times

- endorsements with MAC Cosmetics and ASOS

- Beyonce (Self-Titled - potential "Partition" remix with Busta Rhymes), Kanye (G.O.O.D. Music compilation Cruel Winter), and Lady Gaga (ARTPOP - "Red Flame") features on the table

- writing sessions with Hit-Boy for Rihanna's ANTI album (you can find demos for "La Dominadora", "Kilo", "Let You In", "Can't Do It Like Me" online)

- Fashion Houses using her music for shows, fashion week, brand activations, etc.

- Surprise-released Fantasea, 1991 (EP), Broke With Expensive Taste to acclaim

- performed at Coachella to an impressive crowd

- Lone, Machinedrum, Boddika, MJ Cole, Pearson Sound, Oak, Future Recording Academy President Harvey Mason, and Interscope exec Jimmy Iovine in her corner

- filmed debut film role Love Beats Rhymes (before that ill-fated encounter with RZA + Russell Crowe at one of his parties)

- set up a potential girl-band side project with Cara Delevingne (titled ABCD - 'Azealia Banks Cara Delevingne') - lead single "Blossom" leaked.

 

 

Normani. There is big DEARTH of black POP stars (not r&b, not hiphop, im talking POP) and throughout the past 25 years on beyonce and rihanna have filled that lane and one of them's gone, the other is too busy making esoteric culturally critical works, we need a black pop girl that makes hits for RADIO.

 

Normani had EVERYTHING, industry backing, radio, an online audience willing to go bat for her. I know personal circumstances hit her hard but god I wish none of that happened.

 

 

Normani

54 minutes ago, D.M.F said:

Beyonce. She doesn't have a hit bigger than Kelly Rowland (see my latest thread) or ever owned a year as the top female artist according to Billboard.

A thread that's easily debunked by the fact Halo and CIL have more certifications and streams around the world.

 

Let's talk about how Beyoncé is one of the top 10 selling female artists ever and Xtina is out of top 30.

 

Or why 4 has more units than B2B, Bionic, Lotus, Liberation and Aguilera combined.

Edited September 22, 2025Sep 22 by SoundsandSongs

Dasha Nekrasova

Gwen Stefani with her solo career. That long ass hiatus ruined everything and when she came back, the magic just wasn't there anymore.

 

Maybe Zara Larsson. Her first album is so meh.

 

Tove Lo. I don't know what went wrong after her first hits. The quality is still there. I guess people just moved on and the playlisting and radios did it too.

Edited September 22, 2025Sep 22 by Drowned8World

1 hour ago, Beyonnaise said:

Fergie not releasing a follow-up to The Dutchess after the BEP's peak was truly baffling. She was an A-list global pop star with a string of hits both solo and with the group. Everyone would have been checking for a Fergie album in 2012 and she could have nabbed a couple more hits. She totally just let it all fizzle away. By the time she came back with LA Love and Milf Money it was too late (and the songs were also garbage.)

Sorta but I also think that her preferred style of making music was way out of fashion. I don't think she wanted to make electro-pop like the BEP were doing in 2009-2011 and as a result her comeback made her seem out of touch & dated. Better to be real than fake.

 

That said, this is a huge bop:

 

Although still wouldn't fit on radios in any part of the 2010s. 

53 minutes ago, Frappucino said:

Janet   She gets the Danii Minogue treatment when really she should get as much respect as Madonna does 

I agree but your Dannii comparison made me laugh 😂 

58 minutes ago, Frappucino said:

Janet   She gets the Danii Minogue treatment when really she should get as much respect as Madonna does 

Janet has been a megastar for more than an "era or two"…she's not relevant to this thread question