Say her name, say her name, Beyoncé has officially been crowned the greatest pop star of the 21st Century by Billboard. While Billboard’s 2024 awards snubs def made me want to ring the alarm, I’m giving them the green light when it comes to rightfully recognizing that Beyoncé Gizelle Knowles Carter is irreplaceable. I’m not trying to get any of the other music standoms heated, but let’s be real: your fave could never dance for you while singing stunning live vocals in a Freakum dress while remaining blissfully unproblematic for about three decades.

Sometimes I have beautiful nightmares about what life would be like if Beyoncé disappeared. Ms. Carter’s discography has made my sad times in life (soul-breaking breakups, the patriarchy’s egos, and bills, bills, bills, that won’t stop coming) a little less blue, and I know I’m not alone in that feeling. America has a problem (in fact, it has a lot of them) but Queen Bey ain’t one. Now that I have the Houston baddie all up in your mind, I think it’s only fair we countdown Beyoncé’s best moments that make her the #1 Pop Star of the Century. Let’s go, little kitty kat!

Beyoncé’s Best Moments Of The Century

Destiny’s Child

The fact that there’s still so much lore about Beyoncé’s origin story out there for us to discover… let that sink in. It all began with a girl group of four managed by Bey’s daddy, Matthew Knowles. Watching Destiney’s Child from the BTS footage of lost luggage conundrums to the glory days of BET Awards performances in matching outfits made by Mama Tina confirms I have seen three pretty best friends.

Words Beyoncé Added To The Dictionary

She’s not just a pop star, babe, she’s a linguistic icon. Bootylicious, Becky with the good hair, and surfbort are just a few of my favorite terms Beyoncé brought to life. It doesn’t stop there, though. Phrases like “drunk in love,” “I woke up like this,” and “hot sauce in my bag” has become definitive pieces of our of cultural lexicon that extend far beyond music.

Beyoncé’s Best Collabs

Beyoncé doesn’t collab often (because TBH she doesn’t have to) but when she does join forces with her peers the product is always next level. Who could forget her spicy duet with her Latin American pop counterpart, Shakira, on “Beautiful Liar”? My personal fave is the underrated “Video Phone” with Lady Gaga. Then there’s “Feelin’ Myself” with Nicki Minaj, the diva anthem by the industry’s two biggest divas. I’m not necessarily an Ed Sheeran girlie, but every time “Perfect” comes on it’s pretty much impossible not to believe in love. And, lest we forget, the dozens of times she made her husband’s music even better from “Crazy In Love” to “Apeshit.” Suffice it to say, we’re all benefiting from Beyoncé’s taste level.

Breaking The Internet With The “Single Ladies” Dance

Before TikTok dances were a thing, Beyoncé hit the choreo on her single for singles so hard it shook the world. Flipping your left hand back and forth just so became a colloquial calling card that made it all the way to The White House and Saturday Night Live (trigger warning: Justin Timberlake).

Inventing the surprise album drop with her self-titled album

Waking up to an announced Beyoncé album is a core memory for so many of us. For a pop star of her stature to not only do zero album promo but keep the entire thing a total secret was truly unheard of. And the visuals! The visuals!!! I seriously considered learning how to rollerskate for like a year. Thank you, Beyoncé.

Getting real about her marriage on Lemonade

“Beyoncé pretends to be perfect,” they said. “Beyoncé and Jay-Z are breaking up,” they said. After that elevator video sent the world into a tizzy, instead of dropping a notes app statement or brushing it under the rug with a glossy interview in a magazine, Beyoncé bore her soul about the generational trauma and infidelity she had to overcome to save her family. Yeah, Lemonade, has a happy ending and all but providing women an anthem (and an outfit) to smash their man’s car too is a major highlight for me. It also helps that it was critically acclaimed as one of the best pop albums of all time, scooping up hella Grammys.

Beyoncé’s Super Bowl Performance

Yes, Bey has performed at the Super Bowl not once but twice, and both were the best part of the entire game. Her cameo with Coldplay stole the show by interrupting the regularly scheduled programming to remind America of the power of black women. Her solo appearance was the first Destiny’s Child major reunion that healed my inner child.

Beychella: Homecoming

There’s no way I’m ever hiking through the desert to Coachella ever again unless it’s to see Beychella take two (which was the first time the name of Coachella was changed to a nickname matching the headliner, BTW). The fascinating BTS to planning the iconic performance is on Netflix.

The Inauguration

Ahh, the good old days. Beyoncé performing at an Obama inauguration feels like a sentence from an alternate reality.

What movies has Beyoncé been in?

Oh honey, do I have a movie marathon for you! Beyoncé brought her musical talents as Steve Martin’s playful love interest in Pink Panther. We have that movie to thank for the certified bop “Check Up On It” and the mandatory twerking it comes with. Beyoncé has also starred in the Oscar award-winning Dreamgirls, the live-action Lion King for which she made an incredible soundtrack, and the guilty pleasure you need on your watch list, Obsessed.