What Do Cher, Norah Jones, Britney & Madonna Have In Common?
Contributed anonymously:
Well these four ladies have typically defined the last 5 years of this decade-a decade brewing to be one where “female artists” have a growing importance in almost all field of human endeavor. Through the media we can now see the increasingly equal participation of both males & females.
I have selected these four artists for they have the most important achievement in popular music which is through innovation; Innovation that has lead to the revolution of what pop music really means-music popular to the masses. To add to this achievement all of them have also broken sales records worldwide.
Going to our four heroines of music let us start with the senior member-Cher.She has led the way to today’s so called ‘versatile performers’. She was successful in her music, television and movie career (Oscar winner). Nowadays, artist who have taken her cue are J.Lo, Eminem, & Will Smith among others. She is also the comeback queen when she released ‘Believe’ which has the record for biggest world no.1 with an accumulated airplay+sales points of over 10,000 points. Mediatraffic (with the aid of IFPI, RIAA, ARIA & others) formed the United World Charts in 1998 to track global sales of albums & singles as well as airplay and downloads for singles.
Madonna is a female icon who paved the way for female artists to be more expressive in their artistry. She flourished in MTV and has shown other females that they can enrich their music through video. She now holds the Eurocharts record for the first artist to simultaneously hold the no.1 position in every music format available there (singles sales, singles airplay, albums sales, album downloads & singles downloads). This happened when Hung Up was on its 2nd week & COAD was in its 1st week of release in Europe.
Britney Spears has introduced the teen-pop edgy image to music. While teen pop has been in existence long before, Britney has taken it to another level of mainstream pop. Soon after other teen artists like Christina Aguilera, Mandy Moore, Jesse McCartney, Lindsay Lohan, Hillary Duff & others followed her footsteps with a hope of reaching the same success. Britney Spears album ‘Baby One More Time’ is already the biggest selling debut album in history selling over 25 million worldwide (15x platinum in the US).
Last but not the least is Norah Jones. Norah departed from the bubble-gum teen music so prevalent during the late 90’s & early 2000. She stood her ground and mesmerized the world with her soothing ‘adult contemporary’ music that bent away from some over-produced tracks during that time. Thus, she has received a lot of awards in the process.
Her success has inspired the likes Michelle Branch and Vanessa Carlton. Norah has also broken the record for adult contemporary album with the biggest first week world sales at 1.9 million copies sold according to the United World Charts.
Women in music have truly gone a long way & with these four innovative female artists we have a lot more things to look forward to.
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10 thoughts on “What Do Cher, Norah Jones, Britney & Madonna Have In Common?”
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I have a question for you, did you purposely leave out Mariah carey to keep feeding the Madonna vs Mariah fire? Other than her newest release, Madonna really hasn’t done anything significant in the last 5 years and American life certainly doesn’t count. the other 3 have definitely had a significant impact, I like that you mentioned Norah Jones. I also think that female artists are honorable mentions. Such as Joss Stone, who has opened people up to a more Jazzy mainstream pop sound and Shakira who was the first latin female artist to have Spanish songs receive regular airplay on English Mtv. She even beat out English speaking female artists for awards with her Spanish cd, not to mention the fact that she was the first female to ever do an Unplugged in Spanish. Also Missy Elliot should be mentioned for her contribution to making really unique music and different videos. I think she has inspired a lot of other female artists. I know there are others, but those are the two that come to mind right now.
That’s a very well written essay. You’re right-even though they are not the only ones, those 4 women made significant contributions to music.
Norah Jones? LOL! I see you purposely left out Mariah – THE female of 2005!’, ‘You basically just want a Fadge/Mimi fight, don’t you? Next time – just say instead of trying to hide behind a ‘credible’ essay!
I have basically been ignoring the last few posts of Madonna bashing’, ‘because its tired and like others I am tired of letting children bother me with Ms. Piggy talk when I have better things to do. We all know who is “queen” regardless of how many payola #1’s they get in only (1) country out of over 100, and that is all that really matters. If Madonna was not “Queen” no one would take the time to trash her at every minute and spend ours trying to prove she is not. The fact that she can stir up this amount of bull sh@t proves without a doubt she still matters and she always will. Her place in history is secure just as Elvis’s place is secured. So lambs continue your silly attacks. It bores most of us anyways now.
If this essay is about record breakers and influence, then why leave out Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Mary J Blige, Gwen Stefani, and Kelly Clarkson? Mariah Carey has certainly broken and established almost two dozen records this year, got herself more than 30 awards this year (including 2 legend awards at age 35), and took home the biggest song of the year, and the 2nd biggest selling album released this year. Alicia Keys is sort of the “Norah Jones of r&b”. Gwen Stefani has had more influence and impact on pop in the last 5 years than Madonna, Cher, and Britney Spears. Last time I checked the world, Britney’s sales were slumping, and since Oops I did it again, she hasn’t had a top 20 song. Cher’s last big hit was “Believe”. She was completely ignored in the 21st century. Madonna suffered flops in the early 2000s, and only comeback with relative success with COADF. Remember, she was selling “Hung up” at countries that refused to play her single. A month after the release of COADF, nobody was talking about her, nobody bothered. Kelly Clarkson, on the other hand, has shifted genre and won over an entirely new audience, broke some records of her own, etc. The artists you selected, with the exception of Norah Jones and Cher, can’t even sing, unless you count shock and sex as talents.
Where do you live???’, ‘I’m really wondering where the one who submitted this horrific essay live. Cher, Norah Jones, Britney Spears and The Corpse do NOT matter here in North America. They may still be big names in Third World countries, but they certainly have NO significance here and now in this part of the world. Here in North America these names mean nothing but has-beens and the butt of jokes (especially jokes from late-night shows and spoofs, ex. SNL, MadTV, Letterman).
I somewhat agree with your essay. Here is my list for the last 25 years:’, ‘Tina Turner Shania Twain Dolly Parton Celine Dion Madonna Mariah Carey Whitney Houston and finally, Annie Lennox
Why can’t Mariah fans accept the fact’, ‘that she is nothing but a chart statistic. Except maybe Vision of Love, her songs have all been forgettable, not aged well and could never be called classics. She doesn’t have the artistry or brain capacity to create “art”. Madonna is ICON and LEGEND, Mariah will never compare……EVER. As for her fans who post on here, they now remind me of the mentally challenged puppet on Crank Yankers. “Mariah is number one…….yeay!” “Mariah is going to be at Chuck E Cheese……..yeay!” Poor things.
I don’t agree with everything you said but respect your opinion. I think there are other female artists who are more important and have contributed more than some of the ladies on your list. Women like Tina Turner, Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde & Stevie Nicks have influenced Madonna just as Madonna has influenced Britney, X-tina, Gwen, & JLo just to name a few. And even though we don’t like to admit it, Mariah has made her impact and influenced some of the younger artists today as well, just as Aretha, Patty LaBelle & Stevie Wonder (I believe) have influenced Mariah. We all don’t have to agree, but that is what makes everyone different from everybody else. but Britney………Madonna tried!
what about kelly clarkson, who has came out of the shadow of American idol with her cd breakaway having spent over a YEAR in the TOP 20 cds. I think she is only 1 of 5 who have had this success. besides that the essay is well done. I am happy you choose britney. thank you for that. and for anyone who don’t like her, that’s your business.