Top 10 Pop Music Divas of All Time

Janet Jackson's success as a pop artist rivals that of her brother Michael Jackson. She has not only been successful as a singer, her dancing and the choreography in her shows has influenced a wide range of performers, and she is an accomplished actress. Five consecutive Janet Jackson albums debuted at #1 on the album chart. None of her studio albums since 1984's Dream Street have failed to reached at least #2 on the album chart. 10 of her singles have reached #1 on the pop chart in the US. She has sold over 160 million records worldwide.

Aretha Franklin is the "Queen of Soul," but major pop hits spanning over three decades prove she is one of the top pop divas of all time as well. She has reached the Billboard Hot 100 more than 75 times. Beyond her singing, Franklin is a very skilled piano player and songwriter. She has won 20 Grammy Awards in her career, and she became the first female artist to enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Rolling Stone magazine recognized Aretha Franklin as the top singer of all time.

Diana Ross began her career in the 1960s as a member of the Supremes, the most successful female group ever at that time. She went solo in the 1970s and became one of the most successful female solo artists of all time. Diana Ross was the first female solo artist in the US to release six #1 pop singles. She is an accomplished actress receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her part in Lady Sings the Blues. She has won a Tony Award for her stage show An Evening With Diana Ross. Diana Ross earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

Whitney Houston's self-titled debut album released in 1985 became the bestselling debut album by a female artist of all time. Whitney Houston also earned success as a film actress. Her second album was the first by a woman to debut at the top of the album chart. Four studio albums, a movie soundtrack, and her greatest hits collection are all estimated to have sold 10 million copies or more around the world. Whitney Houston became the first artist ever to release seven consecutive #1 singles. She died tragically at age 48 in 2012.

Mariah Carey has more #1 pop hits in the U.S. than anyone but the Beatles. She is a winner of five Grammy Awards. After her career seemed to be fading in the early 2000's, she returned with one of the biggest pop music comebacks of all time. Her hit "We Belong Together" spent 14 weeks at #1 and became one of the biggest pop hit singles of all time. Her collaboration with Boyz II Men on "One Sweet Day" is the longest reigning #1 hit in the US ever spending 16 weeks at the top. She has spent 79 weeks at number one in total, more than any other recording artist. Mariah Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide.

Mariah Carey's five-octave vocal range and melismatic style influenced a generation of pop singers who followed, particularly the contestants through fifteen years of American Idol. Mariah Carey also brought hip-hop into the pop mainstream. 

As well as being one of the top singers of all time, Barbra Streisand is accomplished as both a film actress and director. She has won nine Grammy Awards, two Oscars and four Emmys. Barbra Streisand has sold more than 240 million records worldwide. In 1974, her single "The Way We Were" became the first single by a female recording artist to be the top selling pop single of the year. She has released 33 top 10 albums, the most by any female recording artist, and they span fifty years. 52 of her albums have been certified gold.

Cher is not only an iconic singer; she is also an accomplished actress. This has enabled her to become one of the small group of artists to take home a Grammy, Oscar, and Emmy award. She began her music career as a teenage backup singer in Phil Spector's legendary Wall of Sound, was half of the highly successful duo Sonny and Cher with her husband Sonny Bono, and then fully eclipsed that success as a solo artist. Her first farewell concert tour took a phenomenal three years to complete largely due to the demand for tickets from her fans. She is the first artist to earn a #1 hit on at least one Billboard chart in every decade from the 1960s to the 2010s. Cher is estimated to have sold 200 million records worldwide.

Madonna has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Guinness Book of Records considers her the most successful female artist of all time. Madonna has sold more than 300 million records worldwide. She is the artist with the most top 10 hits in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. She has long been admired as one of the top business women in the music industry. Billboard ranked Madonna second only to the Beatles as the most successful pop singles artist of all time.

Born and raised in Quebec, Canada, Celine Dion began her career as a successful teen singer performing in French. Her first major international acclaim came in 1988 when she won the Eurovision Song Contest singing for Switzerland. Celine Dion eventually emerged as one of the top pop singers overall performing mostly in English. By 2007, Sony BMG announced that she had sold over 200 million albums worldwide. She has won five Grammy Awards. Her nearly five year stint at Caesars Palace in the show A New Day... was acclaimed as one of the top Las Vegas shows of all time earning $385 million.

Donna Summer was the undisputed "Queen of Disco." She is the first artist to hit #1 with three consecutive double albums. She is the first female artist to have five top 10 singles in one calendar year. Donna Summer has earned five Grammy Awards. Her #1 hits on the dance music chart have spanned from 1975 through 2010. Donna Summer passed away in 2012 at age 63. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.