The Groove

The greatest pop artists of all time

560 artists ranked by the Groove — music.nw’s own measure of renown. Not an opinion, a fact computed from the record. Why?

No. 1

The Beatles

United Kingdom · 1960–1970 · rock

83.022

Why this number?

The full board · page 8

169 Jamiroquai

United Kingdom · 1992– · acid jazz 1.939

170

twenty one pilots

United States of America · 2009– · pop rock 1.936

171 Annie Lennox

United Kingdom · 1954– · pop 1.935

172 The Bangles

United States of America · 1981– · pop rock 1.923

173 Everything but the Girl

United Kingdom · 1981– · pop 1.867

174 Samantha Fox

United Kingdom · 1966– · pop 1.867

175 Wilson Phillips

United States of America · 1989– · pop 1.838

176

Dire Straits

United Kingdom · 1977–1995 · rock 1.822

177

Garbage

United States of America · 1994– · rock 1.821

178

Pavement

United States of America · 1989–2000 · indie rock 1.802

179

Joni Mitchell

Canada · 1943– · folk 1.799

180 No Doubt

United States of America · 1986– · rock 1.786

181

Placebo

United Kingdom · 1994– · alternative rock 1.777

182

Daft Punk

France · 1993–2021 · electronic 1.765

183 Black Eyed Peas

United States of America · 1995– · hip hop 1.765

184 Jack Johnson

United States of America · 1975– · rock 1.747

185 SOPHIE

United Kingdom · 1985–2021 · deconstructed club 1.742

186 Lush

United Kingdom · 1987–2016 · rock 1.727

187 The Magnetic Fields

United States of America · 1990– · indie pop 1.681

188 *NSYNC

United States of America · 1995– · pop 1.680

189

Mike Oldfield

United Kingdom · 1953– · progressive rock 1.676

190 Amy Macdonald

United Kingdom · 1987– · rock 1.667

191

The Strokes

United States of America · 1998– · indie rock 1.643

192

Drake

Canada · 1986– · hip hop 1.605