Biggest Female Era

[collegedropout]

I was having this discussion with a friend. I think most would agree Thriller is the biggest era in popular music. But what would be the closest a female has come to that level? Some of the eras we mentioned: Like A Virgin, The Bodyguard, Jagged Little Pill, Britney's debut, Fame/Fame Monster (if you consider it one continuous era), 21, and 1989. He also mentioned Beyonce's Self Titled because she basically broke the internet for a good month or so. But it was too short lived that we agreed it was a lower tier. I was leaning toward Like A Virgin because it had the sales, hits, and pop culture impact. My friend was leaning towards The Bodyguard because she was also a legit movie star on top of it. What would you say is the biggest era by a female artist?

[Deleted]

Teenage Dream
Breakaway

[jenglisbe]

No female era is close to what Thriller was, but some of the biggest eras in terms of album sales, hit singles, radio play, popular videos, and general impact (i.e. TV appearances, awards, etc) would be:

Adele - 21
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
Whitney - The Bodyguard
Mariah Carey - Daydream (or possibly TEOM)
Britney Spears debut

Madonna with Like a Virgin could be in there but I wasn’t old enough to feel that impact.

It’s easier for era to feel bigger now because of social media and the like. It was more impressive when it happened before.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Of the ones I've lived through and experienced first hand, Jagged Little Pill and 21 were the two single biggest eras since the mid 90s.

[Glove Slap]

The Bodyguard, JLP & 21 were my first thoughts as well. They were huge globally for a long time.

A part of this depends your scope, whether you're just talking about the US or Globally. It's tough to call Daydream the biggest globally for Mariah, when the Music Box period was bigger (Mariah's peak year internationally success wise was arguably 1994). In the US, it'd count. The Like A Virgin project is the same in that it didn't really get massive globally in moving units until ITG came out over halfway into it and got added to International editions of the album. At the time, I think True Blue was the biggest selling album worldwide by a female artist (and its singles were bigger than the LAV singles in international markets), so it deserves a mention. But then again, Whitney Houston's debut was just behind, and was bigger in the US, so it should be mentioned too, even though she'd outdo it with The Bodyguard.

Some artists also have their peak split between projects. I think Britney is one because her second album pretty much continued the hype from the debut, and even if it didn't move as many units, its still sold a ton. I'd also consider Madonna's peak when everything is taken together to be the period of 1989-1991 (Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson's late 80s efforts did better in the US, but internationally Madonna was much bigger) that included the LAP video controversy, the Blond Ambition Tour, the Justify My Love video controversy, and Truth or Dare, but it was technically split across three projects.

[leonagwen]

Madonna during her first 2 album's eras she was on top of the world.Then I would say maybe Alanis' Jagged little pill era in the late 90s.Then of course Britney in the late 1990s to early 2000s with Baby one more time and Oops I did it again and then Katy and Gaga from 2008 to 2015.

[die Lotterie]

This felt huge when I was younger.

[Deleted]

[Juanca]

Interesting question
My first memory is definitely the extended LAV era, because Madonna was sort of the new representation of pop, in terms of music, style, image. It exceeded the also big She’s So Unusual era (with 6 hits in a row from the album and the Goonies soundtrack hit, plus the whole image and personality of a rock chick that was quite big at that time)
The important point for me is that the era had multiple components, as she had Vision Quest and Desperately Seeking Susan, with arguably 3 hits (I’m including Gambler, as it was a successful single in some places), plus she had the Sidewalk Talk feature, so she had like hit after hit after hit; every couple of months there was something new from her. There were also extended mixes of every single, which brought some new life to every release. It was really something else in the lapse of a year and a half. Plus, there were so many new chicks that appeared, influenced by that sound, like Stacey Q, just to mention a few. Hey, there was even a song with that sound that was about Madonna’s eyes!!
So yeah I consider LAV as the biggest female “era”

[rainie]

From a chart POV? Probably Teenage Dream, six #1s and 8 top 3s from one era is INSANE!

From an impact POV? Probably 21, at least of the more recent ones since they’re the only ones I actually lived through.

[Exclusive]

In the 2000s

Christina Aguilera's Debut did well locally. 3 #1s and a number 3 single and the album is probably eligible for diamond status. It depends on the perspective though. Because Britney's first two albums outsold individually with the only number 1 coming from her debut.

Beyonce's debut was huge as well.
Kelly Clarkson's Sophmore.
Mariah's emancipation

[Sherane Lamar]

Teenage Dream seems like an obvious answer, but I don't know the exact numbers.

1989 was pretty huge too.

[NeRD]

The ones I was old enough to experience the impact first hand..

The Emancipation of Mimi
Breakaway
The Fame/The Fame Monster
Teenage Dream
21


Honorable mentions include Bey's debut, GGGB and LOUD. I think what separates the eras above is that it was just total domination. There was arguably no artist bigger male or female.

[jenglisbe]

Apr 28, 2018 21:10:06 GMT -5 Exclusive said:

In the 2000s

Christina Aguilera's Debut did well locally. 3 #1s and a number 3 single and the album is probably eligible for diamond status. It depends on the perspective though. Because Britney's first two albums outsold individually with the only number 1 coming from her debut.

Aguiler's debut had hits, but not impact. She wasn't everywhere, wasn't iconic, etc.

Apr 28, 2018 23:49:21 GMT -5 Sherane Lamar said:

Teenage Dream seems like an obvious answer, but I don't know the exact numbers.

It had hit singles, but the album wasn't all that huge. She also didn't win major awards. So, that era lacks whereas other eras had hit singles and more.

[Bwol]

Lol @ loud being mentioned and not 1989

[leonagwen]

Adele had 2 great eras but her eras were too short.

[Sherane Lamar]

Apr 29, 2018 9:58:53 GMT -5 Codex said:

The Fame / The Fame Monster is the biggest era I've lived through

Although Adele had bigger numbers, but people didn't talk about her as much. She sold 25 million copies of 21 "quietly" in comparison.

Apr 29, 2018 9:36:02 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Aguiler's debut had hits, but not impact. She wasn't everywhere, wasn't iconic, etc.

It had hit singles, but the album wasn't all that huge. She also didn't win major awards. So, that era lacks whereas other eras had hit singles and more.

It had plenty of iconic music videos. All of them were hyped up events, at least the first 6 minus the title track. I think I remember someone here showed once that Teenage Dream is the biggest singles era ever after maybe Thriller, using an inverse point system.

OP didn't say anything about award shows. 

Award shows have nothing to do with whether an era is big. 

And a lot of them tend to be laughingstocks, but I try to support them anyways, because they're good for the industry. 

[deepston]

The Fame/The Fame Monster
Teenage Dream
21
1989

Are the ones I can remember and each one of them impacted pop culture in a different way.
There isn't a pop girl that has come even close to those eras since 2015.

[jenglisbe]

Apr 29, 2018 10:04:40 GMT -5 Sherane Lamar said:

Award shows have nothing to do with whether an era is big. 

Of course they do. They help sales and add to the overall feel/impact (let's not act like Adele's sweep meant nothing), especially if there's a great performance to go with wins. Madonna's VMAs performance certainly adds to her Like A Virgin impact, Thriller winning a ton added to its impact, Jagged Little Pill winning AOTY and performing "YOK" gave it a big boost, etc.

I can also tell that with so many of the answers being from the past 10 years that many of you are so young you don't understand how big some past eras were.

Another era that needs to be mentioned is Carole King with Tapestry. Landmark album, and to this day people know almost every song on it.

[Zach]

Apr 29, 2018 10:04:22 GMT -5 leonagwen said:

Adele had 2 great eras but her eras were too short.

[jenglisbe]

Apr 29, 2018 10:04:22 GMT -5 leonagwen said:

Adele had 2 great eras but her eras were too short.

How was the 21 era short?

[Sherane Lamar]

Apr 29, 2018 10:17:40 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Apr 29, 2018 10:04:40 GMT -5 Sherane Lamar said:

Award shows have nothing to do with whether an era is big. 

Of course they do. They help sales and add to the overall feel/impact (let's not act like Adele's sweep meant nothing), especially if there's a great performance to go with wins. Madonna's VMAs performance certainly adds to her Like A Virgin impact, Thriller winning a ton added to its impact, Jagged Little Pill winning AOTY and performing "YOK" gave it a big boost, etc.

I can also tell that with so many of the answers being from the past 10 years that many of you are so young you don't understand how big some past eras were.

Another era that needs to be mentioned is Carole King with Tapestry. Landmark album, and to this day people know almost every song on it.

Well yeah, the publicity may help boost the success of the songs, but Katy Perry clearly didn't need that (assuming she didn't do well in the awards circuit, I really have no idea). 

A lot of little things can impact the success of a song or album, but it's not as if an era can't be huge without them.

It's like saying One Dance isn't bigger than Hotline Bling because it didn't have a video. Like... it was bigger than Hotline Bling. It didn't need a video. 

[leonagwen]

Apr 29, 2018 10:35:20 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Apr 29, 2018 10:04:22 GMT -5 leonagwen said:

Adele had 2 great eras but her eras were too short.

How was the 21 era short?

It lasted about 1 year maybe a year and a half.

[Envoirment]

I'd throw in Spice Girls' debut album. It's the biggest selling album by a female group and was certainly a massive era.

Overall, I'd definitely say Adele's 21.

30 million+ copies sold
Most certified album in the world
3 massive singles
Dominated award shows across the world
Multiple world records

etc.

[Sherane Lamar]

"Good Girl Gone Bad" and "Anti" would both be in the hall of fame, if you included the loose/promotional songs associated with the era.

[jenglisbe]

Not sure why Shania’s Come On Over hasn’t been mentioned.

And if hit singles and videos are all some of you require, Janet Jackson has had several eras that qualify.

[collegedropout]

Apr 28, 2018 11:02:09 GMT -5 Glove Slap said:

The Bodyguard, JLP & 21 were my first thoughts as well. They were huge globally for a long time.

A part of this depends your scope, whether you're just talking about the US or Globally. It's tough to call Daydream the biggest globally for Mariah, when the Music Box period was bigger (Mariah's peak year internationally success wise was arguably 1994). In the US, it'd count. The Like A Virgin project is the same in that it didn't really get massive globally in moving units until ITG came out over halfway into it and got added to International editions of the album. At the time, I think True Blue was the biggest selling album worldwide by a female artist (and its singles were bigger than the LAV singles in international markets), so it deserves a mention. But then again, Whitney Houston's debut was just behind, and was bigger in the US, so it should be mentioned too, even though she'd outdo it with The Bodyguard.

Some artists also have their peak split between projects. I think Britney is one because her second album pretty much continued the hype from the debut, and even if it didn't move as many units, its still sold a ton. I'd also consider Madonna's peak when everything is taken together to be the period of 1989-1991 (Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson's late 80s efforts did better in the US, but internationally Madonna was much bigger) that included the LAP video controversy, the Blond Ambition Tour, the Justify My Love video controversy, and Truth or Dare, but it was technically split across three projects.

I agree. I initially thought LAV was up there, but you're right that her peak is really split into multiple eras. Her actual prime may arguably be the biggest as a female artist but each individual era in said peak wasn't.

Some of the eras mentioned I think belong in a lower tier. (Daydream, Emancipation of Mimi, Whitney's debut, Teenage Dream). I feel like during these eras, the artist in question wasn't really on top of the world. When you look at 21 or The Bodyguard, their performances were the "main event" at award shows etc.

Some probably don't really belong in this thread at all like Breakaway. She was all over radio but I don't think anyone really cared  about her as an artist. And you really can't mentioned Christina's debut when it overlaps with Britney's debut. I think even her fans know she was in Britney's shadow. 

Spice Girls debut, Come on Over, and She's So Unsual are good mentions.

I didn't specifically mention awards but I think it does play a big part. If you are winning every award it means you are the most successful (Billboards), popular (VMA), or loved and respected by peers (Grammys)

I definitely think Jagged Little Pill, Baby One More Time, The Bodyguard, 21 are the top tier. Spice Girls debut is probably up there too. Gaga's debut is a tough one because it's not really fair to include two albums but it did feel like one continuous era.

[jenglisbe]

“Wannabe” was the only huge single in the U.S for the Spice Girls, and it was the only #1 from that album. I don’t see how that era can compare to albums with a lot of #1s and/or a lot of top 10 hits. Outside of the U.S. is a different story, of course.

[Deleted]

Carole King - Tapestry

[deepston]

Apr 30, 2018 1:58:41 GMT -5 Codex said:

Apr 29, 2018 10:17:40 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Of course they do. They help sales and add to the overall feel/impact (let's not act like Adele's sweep meant nothing), especially if there's a great performance to go with wins. Madonna's VMAs performance certainly adds to her Like A Virgin impact, Thriller winning a ton added to its impact, Jagged Little Pill winning AOTY and performing "YOK" gave it a big boost, etc.

I can also tell that with so many of the answers being from the past 10 years that many of you are so young you don't understand how big some past eras were.

Another era that needs to be mentioned is Carole King with Tapestry. Landmark album, and to this day people know almost every song on it.

I can’t imagine a single era being that much bigger than The Fame / The Fame Monster. (Which, btw started 10+ years ago. Just Dance came out on April 8th, 2008)

I tried getting some reciepts from Google Trends



Lady Gaga (Blue)
Rihanna (Red)
Adele (Purple)
Katy Perry (Green)
Taylor Swift (Yellow)

I’m not sure what the exact methodology is for this, but it seems to show that: 21, 25, Loud, 1989, Teenage Dream, PRISM, etc neither came close to the media domination and interest that Gaga had in 2009-2010.



Edit: If you add Britney though, she was slightly higher in 2004. I’m not sure if that was still for her music at that point, but I think BOMT/Oops are good choices as well.

The biggest era isn't solely based on media domination though. That would be the most controversial era which Gaga has the crown for.
In my opinion it's a combination of controversy, singles performance, album performance, cultural impact and touring.