Pop Stars, Your 2024 Report Cards Are In — And Not Everyone Is Getting a Gold Star

Look, 2024 was a lot. Between surprise album drops, stadium tours that broke Ticketmaster (again), and more beef than a Texas BBQ competition, the pop landscape was simultaneously thrilling and deeply chaotic. We at BuzzScreen USA have done the cultural heavy lifting — rewatching music videos, dissecting outfit choices, and arguing in the group chat until 2 a.m. — and we're ready to deliver verdicts.

Buckle up. Some of these are going to sting.

Sabrina Carpenter: A+ (Obviously)

Let's get the easy one out of the way first. Sabrina Carpenter spent 2024 absolutely feasting while the rest of the industry was still figuring out what to have for breakfast. Short n' Sweet wasn't just an album — it was a cultural event, a meme generator, and a masterclass in being unapologetically yourself. "Espresso" became the song of the summer before summer even officially started, which is genuinely impressive and a little unfair to everyone else.

Her fashion era? Immaculate. The retro-pinup aesthetic she's been cultivating felt fully realized this year, and she wore it with the confidence of someone who absolutely knows what she's doing. Extra credit awarded for the SNL performance and for making "Please Please Please" sound both desperate and powerful at the same time. That's hard to pull off. She pulled it off.

Grade: A+. The curve-setter. Everyone else is graded against her now. Sorry.

Chappell Roan: A (With a Standing Ovation)

The unlikely MVP of 2024? We're calling it: Chappell Roan. A year ago, half of America couldn't spell her name. By August, she was headline news, a meme, a movement, and the most talked-about artist at every music festival she touched. The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess era technically started in 2023, but 2024 is when it exploded into the mainstream stratosphere.

What separates her from a typical breakout story is the sheer commitment to the bit — the drag-inspired fashion, the theatrical performances, the unapologetic political candor. She didn't just have a moment. She built a world. Minus one half-grade for the social media turbulence mid-year, but honestly? Points back for handling it on her own terms.

Grade: A. Our dark horse MVP. We said what we said.

Taylor Swift: B+ (Yes, Really — Put Down the Pitchforks)

Here's our unpopular opinion, and we're defending it in the comments if necessary: Taylor Swift had a good year, not a great one. The Eras Tour wrapped up in spectacular fashion, the NFL storyline reached peak saturation, and The Tortured Poets Department debuted to the kind of numbers that make record labels weep with joy.

But here's the thing — TTPD was divisive in a way that felt uncharacteristic. The double album rollout was ambitious, the prose occasionally tipped into self-parody, and the cultural conversation around her started to feel more exhausting than electric by Q4. None of this makes her anything less than a generational talent. It just means 2024 wasn't her cleanest era. The tour, however? Unimpeachable. That part gets an A+++ and its own separate trophy.

Grade: B+. Wildly successful by any normal standard. Just not her personal best, and we hold legends to their own bar.

Beyoncé: A- (Points Deducted for Leaving Us Wanting More)

Cowboy Carter was a statement, a reclamation, and a history lesson wrapped in rhinestones and country twang. Beyoncé did what Beyoncé does — she expanded the definition of a genre, sparked necessary conversations about Black artists in country music, and delivered an album that demanded to be taken seriously as art.

So why not a full A? Because after Renaissance and Cowboy Carter, we were promised a trilogy, and album three remains a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a Swarovski crystal. The anticipation is thrilling. The waiting is, frankly, rude. Dock accordingly.

Grade: A-. Docked purely out of emotional desperation for what comes next.

Ariana Grande: C+

Okay. Deep breath. We love Ariana. We always will. But 2024's Eternal Sunshine era felt oddly muted for someone of her caliber — like a cashmere sweater when everyone else showed up in sequins. The music was pleasant, the visuals were pretty, and the press tour was... fine. Nothing felt urgent or necessary, which is a strange word to use about pop music, but here we are.

The Wicked press run late in the year injected some genuine excitement back into her public presence — that pink-and-green carpet moment was a look — but it felt like a borrowed energy rather than her own. We're rooting for a full comeback swing in 2025.

Grade: C+. We believe in her. This just wasn't the year.

Dua Lipa: B

Radical Optimism arrived with big expectations and delivered a solid, if not seismic, pop record. Dua is one of the most consistently stylish artists working today, and her live performances remain genuinely thrilling. But the album cycle felt like it peaked at the singles stage and never quite built into a cultural conversation the way Future Nostalgia once did.

Still very good! Still a top-tier pop star! Just operating below her own ceiling, which is a frustrating place to grade from.

Grade: B. Good, but we've seen what great looks like from her.

The Verdict

If 2024 taught us anything, it's that the pop landscape rewards specificity, authenticity, and the willingness to be genuinely weird. The artists who swung big — whether they connected or not — were infinitely more interesting than those who played it safe.

Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan didn't accidentally have the best years. They built them, brick by sequined brick, with a clear vision and the nerve to see it through.

As for the artists who coasted? 2025 is right there. The reset button exists. Use it. We'll be watching — grades in hand, comments section fully loaded.

Disagree with our rankings? Good. That's the point. Drop your hot takes below.