So who out of pop's biggest megastars of now will still be relevant in some way in 2027, as in still known and perhaps still releasing hit singles to the public? Will Drake still be a big name in the hip-hop scene at age 40? Will Adele's '39' album be another massive seller? Will Bieber be packing out arena tours to screaming fans at age 33? And will we be flying into London Ed Sheeran Airport by then, a huge statue of his grinning face the first thing international tourists see on arrival?

 

Let's quickly look back at some of the biggest names of a decade ago, and whether they could still feasibly be called musical A-listers today. All of these had either a yearly top ten album or single in 2007:

 

* Rihanna (she'd get even bigger!!)

* Leona Lewis (no)

* Mika (hell no)

* A reformed Take That (still touring to huge crowds with a recent top 20 single)

* Sugababes (fizzled out into ridiculousness)

* Timbaland (not the producer of the moment anymore)

* Mark Ronson ('Uptown Funk' probably ended up making him a millionaire for life)

* Kaiser Chiefs (the British public still hasn't quite embraced guitars the way they did in the noughties)

* Amy Winehouse ( :( )

 

Remind me to bump this thread in ten years...

Nelly Furtado, Gwen Stefani, Fergie, Akon, Justin Timberlake, Pink and Shakira remind me of 2007 too.

Edited July 12, 20178 yr by Euphorique

Little Mix have split but they all have successful solo careers by then.

I can see Adele, Drake and Ed Sheeran all still being reasonably big in 2027, more album artists though than singles artists though.

 

I don't think Beiber will still be big then in the music world, as another similar singer (like a more successful version of Conor Maynard) will probably arise before then to take most of his market share. The pure pop market is more fickle than the singer songwriter or hip hop genres. I assume he will have become a successful actor though by then or at least remain well known for something.

Edited July 12, 20178 yr by Hissmeister

The Chainsmokers. :kink:

Maroon 5 are another quite big one that have managed to maintain relevancy, perhaps not what some of us expected at the time given how their album sold so much less than Songs For Jane! Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Pink, Fall Out Boy and (possibly when they actually make more music) Arctic Monkeys (+ Beyonce obvs) seem to be some other names that have maintained their relevancy from the YE top 40s, but a lot of those names seem to have vanished. Still crazy how big Akon was back then and then he just VANISHED, I remember him being played all the time in my school days, would school kids today even know who he is?! :o

 

As for the question, I think Ed Sheeran and Adele have a timeless (read: safe) sound that will always find some appeal so will last through the decades. Rihanna and Beyonce feel like they're big enough at this point to maintain relevance for a long time yet, possibly Justin Bieber and Drake as well but they fit into current sounds very well which leads me to think they may become dated in time (this is why I think the Chainsmokers will not still be around at this point in a decade).

Edited July 12, 20178 yr by Chez Wombat

The Chainsmokers. :kink:

 

The Chainsmokers will have moved on to a trance or hardstyle sound by then as Europe finally finds nostalgia for its early 00s dance past and that revival makes its way to America.

Ed and Adele will definitely be popular still if they're still actually releasing (the doubt there lies more with Adele than Ed). Bieber definitely COULD if he keeps up with the trends, although I'm much less certain of Drake. The Chainsmokers will be forgotten much sooner than 2027 :lol:

I think Bieber is going to stick around, bear in mind he has maintained relevance for 8 years already and actually got bigger over that time and made a transition from being a bit of a joke to being a reasonably well respected artist, I'm sure in 2009 it would have sounded farfetched that Bieber's career would be peaking in 2016/17. Drake is pretty much the same. And of course Adele and Ed Sheeran have a pretty good chance of staying relevant in the long term.

Possibly Taylor Swift

Adele will still be going in some capacity I'm sure. People forget how young she is, she won't even be 40 by then and many of today's crop near that age are still going fairly strong in pop where you have to be sexy, Adele doesn't even have that limitation with the kind of music she makes.

 

Looking at those artists who are super-big nowadays is tricky though, we should be looking at the young ones coming through. Rihanna was only a year and a bit into the game and not even 20 yet in 07.

 

Bands will tend to have more longevity. So the likes of Royal Blood, Alt-J, and Bastille will probably be safe as houses, having acquired legacy status like e.g. Green Day or The Killers have today.

 

The real test in pop will be for the likes of Selena Gomez, Demi, Halsey and Hailee Steinfeld. I'm also intrigued to see how Nicki Minaj ages and what she chooses to diversify into, whether she stays in music and trailblazes for a milf generation or diversifies into another field.

can't see Chainsmokers lasting more than a couple years, not easy for dance acts to stick around... even Calvin, not sure if he can stick around so long...

 

if they wanna stay relevant, I'd say Ed or Drake have to slow down a bit or they risk over-kill :)

A few of the obvious ones already listedwill still be making music to some success, I also imagine Ariana Grande will probably be bigger.

Also curious to see if popular acts like

The XX, Lana, Bon Iver, Lorde, Florence,

London Grammar, Mumfords

still trouble the charts in 10 years

Alt-J lmao lmao lmao they are struggling even now to sell 50k worldwide

Haven't Chainsmokers already lasted more than a couple of years?

Well their first hit was in 2014 but they only really got big last year.

Little Mix have split but they all have successful solo careers by then.

 

I wouldn't be so sure they'll all have successful solo careers.

At least one of them will have a solo career I think. They're as big as Girls Aloud were and Cheryl got a great career following their hiatus.

Justin Bieber will be to 2027 what Britney Spears is to the present year. Doing a Vegas stint of some description, but spaced out to hell and a long way away from her former chart slaying - pardon the pun - glory.

 

My smart money is on Ed Sheeran and Adele still doing the business, although I think it'll be a good five more years before Adele does another album given all that's happened to her lately. I'd say we'll have an equally long wait for the next Ed album.

 

I can't really see any of Little Mix with big solo careers TBH. No one truly stands out as a Geri, Beyoncé or Cheryl to me at this stage.