Who had the bigger peak? Katy Perry or Ariana Grande?

[ILikeChillinWithYou]

Serious question. I'm asking this as an unbiased pop culture enthusiast rather than a Katy Perry stan or an Ariana Grande fan I am. 

With all that's going around Ariana Grande lately she's clearly in the peak era of her career. Sweetener proved that she was a streaming force and she was slowly grasping at the root of the Main Pop Girl status when the No Tears Left To Cry performed really well on the charts. Then she chose to make one of the best commercial moves any pop star has made by halting the whole era and starting a new one within a 6 month period titled Thank U, Next. The lead single was a phenomenon, debuting at #1 while breaking streaming records on iTunes, Spotify and YouTube. 7 Rings only helped carry the era even further and is undoubtedly a defining song of 2019 and dare I say the biggest hit of the year only behind Old Town Road. 7 Rings, Break Up With Ur Gf and Thank U Next owned the top 3 of the Hot 100 at the same time was the first time any solo artist did it. The album did amazing as well, charting all 12 songs within the top 50 on the release week while also garnering critical acclaim and awards. Every appearance she made became news and she even helped a virtually unknown group called Social House get a top 10. A moderately performing tour supported the era with great reviews. She also became an internet personality surpassing Selena Gomez as the most followed person on Instagram. In 2020 she scored 2 #1 debuts, totalling to 4 to her name. She still shows no signs of stopping.

Katy Perry rose to fame with I Kissed A Girl, where she used controversy to propel her career. The song became a WW hit bring named one of the biggest breakout debuts reigning the #1 spot for 7 weeks. Her debut era would later spawn 2 more top 10s. But Perry was straying away from her Pop-Rock beginnings with the release of her second record Teenage Dream. With the album, Katy shot through to position of biggest pop star at the time with 6 #1 singles (8 top 10s in total) with California Gurls, Teenage Dream, Firework, E.T., Last Friday Night and Part Of Me. She received the Spotlight Award for this achievement, something only previously achieved by Michael Jacson. Her personal life was also a branch for the public to grab on, we Perry orchestrated a Girl Next Door popstar image, with an undeniable s3x appeal. Katy also released a moderately successful biopic Part Of Me at the time. TD was labelled as one of the most important pop albums of the time but Katy was only beginning her road to super stardom and that came with her next record Prism. The album spawned the mega hit singles Roar and Dark Horse, the former being the biggest selling solo female songs this century. Roar, DH and Firework would later be certified Diamond, making Perry the first female artist to have 3 diamond singles. The Prismatic World Tour also managed to crack the list of the highest grossing female tours of all time. Additionally, Perry was also a streaming force dominating the YouTube platform being the most viewed female channel and 2nd overall only behind Justin Bieber, Roar becoming the first female video to hit 3 Billion, and a total of 7 videos over 900 Million. Arguably, the apex of her career was the 2015 Superbowl Halftime Show, which garnered 120 Million viewers, making it the most viewed Halftime Show of all time.

There are a few similarities with the peaks of both these artists- their billboard records, their very recognisable looks (blue wig for katy and the ponytail for Ariana), and fair share of a controversial personal life. Katy's career went downhill after 2016 due to a list of very bad career moves but Ariana's shot through after 2018 because of very wise career moves. But my question is, who had the bigger peak? 

Katy Perry: 2010-2015 or Ariana Grande: 2019 and continuing?

 

[Britneyarmy8]

Nah Ariana has yet to reach Katy’s peak 

but she’s close

 

[Mxra]

I think Ariana is currently at her peak, i don't know if she'll peak much further from here. She definitely hasn't reached the kind of peak Katy reached though. No hate on Ariana or anything but i think her peak will end within the next year or two. With all the new upcoming stars and Ariana already being at the top of the scene for a few years i can't see it going any further up.  

[sullivanSP]

Katy’s peak was so much bigger. She even had brand sponsorships with the SIMS! 
Ariana’s peak is now and I don’t know if it’ll get better from here

[Blackout2006]

5 hours ago, ILikeChillinWithYou said:

Sweetener proved that she was a streaming force

Sweetener was still a flop tho 

[migeal]

katy Perry , so far Ariana has not peaked per say ... 

[ILikeChillinWithYou]

17 minutes ago, Blackout2006 said:

Sweetener was still a flop tho 

Umm sweetener has the biggest opening week for a female album on Spotify at the time of its release, NTLTC is edging in on 1B views and streams on YT and Spotify and earned a Grammy 

[Blackout2006]

54 minutes ago, ILikeChillinWithYou said:

Umm sweetener has the biggest opening week for a female album on Spotify at the time of its release, NTLTC is edging in on 1B views and streams on YT and Spotify and earned a Grammy 

Thank u, next broke that Spotify record. Plus, Ariana is the only artist that survived the streaming era, she can bake billion streams numbers in a matter of hours. The album has now only sold 2.5 million. However back In 2018, it only sold 1 million copies. Maybe flop is a overstatement. But the album underperformed otherwise.

[Blackout2006]

6 hours ago, ILikeChillinWithYou said:

the biggest hit of the year only behind Old Town Road

What about bad guy? Despite being released one year ago, it’s still Top 40 in ITunes global charts 

[Blackout2006]

Well, here’s my take.

Katy Perry peak was much higher, because when she came out it was CRAZY. You can ask any GenZer about Katy Perry and they will get instant memories of bopping to her. In the teenage dream era, she just became HUGE. I mean,  Katy might have not had 3 singles dominating the top 3, but is the only artist to have 6 #1s in one era. Some people (like Britney, ugh ) don’t even have that much no.1s despite being 10 years in their career, yet Katy managed to have out-reached that within a year and era. Fireworks is arguably, the most covered song on earth. Everyone knows that song, kids used to (and still to this day) sing that song for functions or competitions. Prism just furthered the success of Katy Perry more. She released Roar and again, that was the end of other pop stars . 2 billion views, straight no.1 debut shot, and 14 million copies sold. Even Taylor Swift at that time couldn’t beat Katy during the Prism era, and yes...I said it  Everyone rememberers that era. Even Beyoncé was over-shadowed by the era. Plus, the Halftime...the Halftime....The FREAKING Halftime performance  that was just, legendary.  that drew NFL, it’s most viewership (120 FREAKING MILLION VIEWERS ). At that point, Katy Perry was unstoppable, no one could be her obstacle as she could easily tackle and in fact, kick them to the galaxy.THAT was untillllllllll......

Spoiler

Witness 

(Katy’s career)

 

 

However, you can still say that Katy’s peak era lasted for very long. From 2008-2015. That’s like 8 years. She managed to rule a quarter of the last decade.

However, props to Ariana Grande. People act like she has just got popular, when she has been since 2014. Just that she has reached her peak. T,UN was definitely Aris Teenage dream era. Plus, Ariana revived pop at a time when it had died and when hip-hop and rap and trap were thriving.Now look where we are, pop is the most populous genre than hip-hop.

@ILikeChillinWithYou

[ILikeChillinWithYou]

4 hours ago, Blackout2006 said:

Thank u, next broke that Spotify record. Plus, Ariana is the only artist that survived the streaming era, she can bake billion streams numbers in a matter of hours. The album has now only sold 2.5 million. However back In 2018, it only sold 1 million copies. Maybe flop is a overstatement. But the album underperformed otherwise.

Biggest female debuts for albums on Spotify:

1. Thank U Next

2. Lover

3. Chromatica

4. WWAFAWDWG

5. Sweetener

Sweetener came out first in 2018 compared to all these albums so thus broke the Spotify record the first time. But yeah I definitely agree that the album underperformed compared to the standards set by the pop girls before her.

4 hours ago, Blackout2006 said:

What about bad guy? Despite being released one year ago, it’s still Top 40 in ITunes global charts 

Omg I remember that song dominating the top 10 for who knows how long. After all it was the one who dethroned OTR. Damn we took 2019 for granted. Also there was Senorita.

 

4 hours ago, Blackout2006 said:

Well, here’s my take.

Katy Perry peak was much higher, because when she came out it was CRAZY. You can ask any GenZer about Katy Perry and they will get instant memories of bopping to her. In the teenage dream era, she just became HUGE. I mean,  Katy might have not had 3 singles dominating the top 3, but is the only artist to have 6 #1s in one era. Some people (like Britney, ugh ) don’t even have that much no.1s despite being 10 years in their career, yet Katy managed to have out-reached that within a year and era. Fireworks is arguably, the most covered song on earth. Everyone knows that song, kids used to (and still to this day) sing that song for functions or competitions. Prism just furthered the success of Katy Perry more. She released Roar and again, that was the end of other pop stars . 2 billion views, straight no.1 debut shot, and 14 million copies sold. Even Taylor Swift at that time couldn’t beat Katy during the Prism era, and yes...I said it  Everyone rememberers that era. Even Beyoncé was over-shadowed by the era. Plus, the Halftime...the Halftime....The FREAKING Halftime performance  that was just, legendary.  that drew NFL, it’s most viewership (120 FREAKING MILLION VIEWERS ). At that point, Katy Perry was unstoppable, no one could be her obstacle as she could easily tackle and in fact, kick them to the galaxy.THAT was untillllllllll......

  Reveal hidden contents

Witness 

(Katy’s career)

 

 

However, you can still say that Katy’s peak era lasted for very long. From 2008-2015. That’s like 8 years. She managed to rule a quarter of the last decade.

However, props to Ariana Grande. People act like she has just got popular, when she has been since 2014. Just that she has reached her peak. T,UN was definitely Aris Teenage dream era. Plus, Ariana revived pop at a time when it had died and when hip-hop and rap and trap were thriving.Now look where we are, pop is the most populous genre than hip-hop.

@ILikeChillinWithYou

Where are the lies tho? Besides, I do think Katy was more of a visionary artist than Ariana. She delivered quality top notch videos, photoshoots, interviews, red carpet outfits, performances and tours compared to Ariana imo. Katy was never a dancer or the best singer, but she could write bops and what she lacked in performance qualities she made up for in providing a visual spectacle and production. I remember the backlash when NFL announced she was headlining halftime. But then she came and delivered a quality performance and she had the perfect hit setlist to course her through the show (although I'm still salty E.T or LFN didn't make it instead of one of Missy Elliott's songs ). And back then Taylor had an evenly matched rival but now she's undeniably at the top even though she's well past her prime. I remember when Shake It Off came out and made a global impact while Dark Horse was still dominating the 2014 music scene, a song from a year back. Had she made some wise career decisions post 2015 she'd still be relevant as others but being the visionary that she is, she did a 180 and turned political with the whole 2016 dedicated to Hillary Clinton's campaign, and then, Witness 💀

[ILikeChillinWithYou]

At the end of the day it's just a question of who's songs will be remembered more actually. Songs like I Kissed A Girl, California Gurls, Firework, Roar and Dark Horse or Problem, Focus, thank u next, 7 rings or Rain On Me 

[ILikeChillinWithYou]

Also ty @Blackout2006for giving your very valuable opinions on every one of my threads <3 

This is probably the last time im making a dissertation of a thread in this section because seemingly no one seems to care 

[ILikeChillinWithYou]

Also Katy is the most followed woman on Twitter and Ariana is the same on Instagram 🙃

[Daddy O]

Katy

Spoiler

Sorry, didn't read it all, it's too big for me 

 

[none]

I think Ariana has a had a longer peak but Katy's was bigger

[Blackout2006]

1 hour ago, ILikeChillinWithYou said:

Biggest female debuts for albums on Spotify:

1. Thank U Next

2. Lover

3. Chromatica

4. WWAFAWDWG

5. Sweetener

Sweetener came out first in 2018 compared to all these albums so thus broke the Spotify record the first time. But yeah I definitely agree that the album underperformed compared to the standards set by the pop girls before her.

Omg I remember that song dominating the top 10 for who knows how long. After all it was the one who dethroned OTR. Damn we took 2019 for granted. Also there was Senorita.

 

Where are the lies tho? Besides, I do think Katy was more of a visionary artist than Ariana. She delivered quality top notch videos, photoshoots, interviews, red carpet outfits, performances and tours compared to Ariana imo. Katy was never a dancer or the best singer, but she could write bops and what she lacked in performance qualities she made up for in providing a visual spectacle and production. I remember the backlash when NFL announced she was headlining halftime. But then she came and delivered a quality performance and she had the perfect hit setlist to course her through the show (although I'm still salty E.T or LFN didn't make it instead of one of Missy Elliott's songs ). And back then Taylor had an evenly matched rival but now she's undeniably at the top even though she's well past her prime. I remember when Shake It Off came out and made a global impact while Dark Horse was still dominating the 2014 music scene, a song from a year back. Had she made some wise career decisions post 2015 she'd still be relevant as others but being the visionary that she is, she did a 180 and turned political with the whole 2016 dedicated to Hillary Clinton's campaign, and then, Witness 💀

This whole thing! ❤️ Chained to the rhythm was a huge hit, and she could have had another huge era if she chooses a good 2nd single follow up to Chain to the rhythm. However, yr right. The moment she shaved half of her hair, colored her from black to blonde, that was the end. Katy Perry’s performances are very entertaining. Even if she doesn’t have the props as usual for example the Mumbai one, she still manages to put on a show and interact with her fans. Even my mom, who isn’t a fan of English music, found the concert very entertaining. That’s one of the many things Katy too has, charisma. 

Quote

album underperformed compared to the standards set by the pop girls before her.

Otherwise, 2018 was not a very good year for female artist. The reason, people deemed Sweetener as a success was only because that was the only female album dominating at the time (Star is born would come only in October). That’s why I felt, T,UN was a strong comeback. Reminiscent to of Britneys circus.

In my honest opinion, I don’t even think Taylor could take Katy down at that point, at one point, Katy was like...VERY huge. She was basically everywhere. You would hear Katy’s songs all the time in radio, kids (like 7 year old me, ugh ) were singing her continuously, her singles were huge hits and she was just BIG. But o’ well.

Im telling you, the moment she colour her hair black and gets Max Martin, her next album will sell millions of copies 
I

[Blackout2006]

1 hour ago, ILikeChillinWithYou said:

Also ty @Blackout2006for giving your very valuable opinions on every one of my threads <3 

This is probably the last time im making a dissertation of a thread in this section because seemingly no one seems to care 

[Urbanney]

Featured! 

I think Katy had a much larger peak. She was everywhere from like 2009-2013. Almost every one of her singles were a hit. Ariana was everywhere last year, but not for 4-5 years straight. She didn’t have as much success in as many of her singles either. I also just like Katy’s peak better. A lot of her music and music videos were just fun, happy, creative, and entertaining. She was more likable than Ariana ironically. The main reason Ariana became so popular is because she was having such a rough personal life and she intersected that with her music. But I see it as a darker, sadder, and therefore less enjoyable peak compared to a Katy’s because of that.

[MSTAR]

We can see that just by seeing the amount of views of Katy's YouTube VEVO videos, just look at Roar. So yeah, it's Katy who win but still Ariana might be really close.