Mariah Carey is the ultimate pop star…
The 44-year-old half-Venezuelan American singe ranks at the top of Time magazine’s The Ultimate Ranking of Pop Stardom list of artists/musicians when it comes to generating hit songs.
The artists were chosen for this list based on their all-time chart performance and their contemporary significance.
Time looked at every song that’s been in the Billboard Top 10 since 1960, the number of hits by each artist present on that list, and how long those musicians’ careers have lasted, and used that information to determine which artists are ultimately the most successful pop-hit generators.
Carey – who stormed onto the music scene with her self-titled debut album in 1990, which landed four No. 1 songs on Billboard Hot 100 and earned her Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance honors at the 1991 Grammy Awards, tops the list with 1,901 points. Her best years include 2005 (341 points), 1995 (300) and 1993 (222).
Carey – a five-time Grammy winner – ranks ahead of Rihanna (1,800), Usher (1,778), The Beatles (1,537) and Madonna (1,414).
But Carey isn’t the only Latin artist to make the list…
Bruno Mars, who broke onto the scene in 2010, ranks No. 17 on the list with 882 points.
The 28-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer-songwriter earned 410 points in his first year on the charts after lending his vocals to the songs “Nothin’ on You” by B.o.B, and “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy, as well as releasing his first two singles “Just the Way You Are” and “Grenade.”
Meanwhile, Fergie comes in at No. 25 with her Grammy-winning group Black Eyed Peas, earning 733 points.
The 39-year-old part-Mexican singer and female vocalist for the hip hop group and her fellow BEP members registered their biggest point haul in 2009 with their singles “Boom Boom Pow,” “I Gotta Feeling” and “Meet Me Halfway” earning a combined 355 points that year.
The final product is a colorful infographic that proves Michael Jackson had a consistently successful career from 1971 to 1995, while Santana’s career, though long, hasn’t been witness to nearly as many hits.
The artists are awarded points for each song of theirs that made it into the Top 10—for example, Michael Jackson gets 10 points for “Beat It” topping the chart at No. 1 while Taylor Swift gets three points for “Speak Now” peaking at spot No. 8.
Usher had the best single year out of everyone when, in 2004, he racked up 639 points for having five songs in the Top 10 for a combined 88 weeks, while Barbra Streisand made just two points in 1997 for “I Finally Found Someone,” which peaked at No. 9 and only had a one-week stay in the Top 10.
Head over to Time.com to see how other musicians, ranging from Cher to T-Pain, stack up against one another.
Here’s a look at all the Latino artists on the list:
No. 1 Mariah Carey (1,901)
No. 17 Bruno Mars (882),
No. 25 Black Eyed Peas (Fergie)
No. 30 Jennifer Lopez (658)
No. 36 Christina Aguilera (603)
No. 48 Santana (457)
