Pop music is messier — for the better — because of Chappell Roan, Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter

While long-established stars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé still ruled, pop music saw a changing of the guard as Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan broke through. The artists were accessible to fans, toured prolifically and won listeners over with confessional lyrics.

This year brought us new albums from some of the biggest artists in the world: Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift all put out music that thrilled fans. And yet some of the most impactful pop music of 2024 came not from Tay or Bey, but from three rising pop stars whose songs took us out to the clubs (Pink Pony and otherwise) and back home to the bedroom. They embraced romantic ugliness and cutting self-reflection — and pushed pop forward. The year arguably belonged to Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter. “People like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, who’ve dominated for so long — they have a sheen and a polish to them that’s somewhat unrelatable as a listener,” said Sam Murphy, a music curator who analyzes and dissects pop on his popular TikTok account. “What people really craved this year, the TikTok generation, was to see more mess and chaos in people’s lives. We wanted pop stars that we were able to see the flaws within and the charisma coming out.” The year saw Charli, a boundary-pushing yet oft-overlooked pop veteran, finally escape what the New York Times once called “pop’s middle class” with her defiant, sweat-soaked, goopy-green opus, “Brat.” This year, Carpenter went from a supporting act on the highest-grossing tour in history to a leading lady herself, with her endearingly silly, sexy songs topping the charts. (Here’s where she’d make a sex joke.)