The first year in chart history when women got more number ones than men
We all knew change was in the air, but now it’s confirmed: women are officially more successful in the charts than men.
Of course, it should be clear that many of us will say that this is a long-overdue feat, and hardly an achievement that should be lauded as a symbol of society’s progressiveness: the fact that it took so long for such a simple piece of music equality to arrive is more an indictment, if you were to label it anything.
But nevertheless, the legions of female acts out there have finally won the battle fair and square, which should not be ignored any longer. In an era of pop dominance and girl power, it was seemingly no surprise in itself that women got more number ones than men in 2024 – the only shocking thing was the fact that this was the first year it had ever happened.
In terms of the album leagues, women tipped the scales by spending a total of 34 out of the 52 weeks of the year at the top of the charts, whether that was in a solo capacity or in collaboration with other artists. According to the British Phonographic Industry, this was also the longest length of time that female artists had spent at number one since chart records began in 1952.
With this, the pendulum had officially swung in one particular direction, with the pop-loving masses latching on to the zeitgeist of feminine power and letting it run wild, and say what you like about the songs and the artists individually, but there was no doubt that this force was both completely unmistakable and something that needed to happen for so long.
What were the top hits by women released in 2024?
With the top hits of the year coming from the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Beyoncé, and Billie Eilish, it was clear that moods had shifted in terms of flocking towards female-oriented pop music. Six of the top ten albums of the year were made by women, which truly told you all you needed to know.
That’s without even mentioning the two biggest juggernauts of them all. If it hadn’t been clear to this point already, 2024 was fully the year of Taylor Swift domination, with her record-breaking Eras Tour breathing new life into the vast majority of her back catalogue in the modern chart leagues, on top of her releasing The Tortured Poets Department during the eye of the storm.
Then summer rolled around, and the lights of the world turned neon green when Charli XCX unleashed her Brat beast onto the masses, which they were all too quick to lap up. Both of these unmistakable cultural behemoths undeniably left their imprint on the music industry forever – but along with Carpenter, Roan, and all the rest, there was also an air of revolution.
The surge of women taking the reins in the pop music realm was something anecdotally acknowledged for some time now, but to witness it being solidified with cold, hard evidence only proves to cement what has been known all along – female artists are the force of the business, and it would fade to nothing without them.
