One of the pioneers in making R&B sound popular in the mainstream pop world, The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, reached new heights that even his biggest of fans couldn't have imagined. With an already established name and reputation in the music industry, it was only about to reach the next level. The decade began with the second single off his upcoming fourth album After Hours , "Blinding Lights" debuting at #11 on the US Billboard 200, which would not be a reflection of the song's performance and legacy down the line, peaking at #1 down the line. The album was released in March, not soon after the surge of COVID-19 cases leading to a worldwide shutdown. The album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200, making it his fourth consecutive number-one album (three coming from the previous decade). It became the most streamed R&B album of all time, surpassing Tesfaye's own Starboy. In the album's first charting week, Tesfaye also became the first artist ...
In this day and age, there can't be a "biggest artist in the world" discussion and have it not include Taylor Swift. Everyone knows who Taylor Swift is, and everyone knows what Taylor Swift has done. Arguably already the biggest artist of the 2010s, even being honored with the titles of "Artist of the Decade" by the American Music Awards, and "Woman of the Decade" by Billboard. However, the biggest leap of her career was about to be taken this decade. To begin the decade, Taylor Swift had made her intentions clear to re-record the albums and songs she didn't own the masters for, those being owned by her previous record label Big Machine Records, which was later sold to Ithica Holdings for $300 million, with Swift not getting a chance to buy those herself. An act completely unheard of for an artist of this stature, it has inspired artists across the world to fight to have the right to own their music and has possibly changed the music industry for t...