Top 20 most successful female singers in the world - The 2023 Ranking

Welcome to the sparkling world of vocal brilliance and stage presence: we present to you the 20 most successful female singers on the planet, who dominate the global music market with their extraordinary talent and tireless efforts.

Information about the rating system

The ranking was created on the basis of the current Gold & Platinum database of the RIAA. The following points were awarded: (as of June 2023) Single Gold = 1 point Single Platinum = 2 points Album Gold = 2 points Album Platinum = 3 points Single Diamond = 5 points Album Diamond = 7 points

In the event of a tie, a winner was decided based on monthly Spotify streams.

#1 Shakira

Shakira (real name Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, born 02.02.1977, Barranquilla, Colombia)

Awards: 4x Gold 46x Platinum 134x Diamond Total score: 844

Did you know? Shakira is the most successful Colombian singer of all time. Her albums have sold over 140 million copies worldwide. Shakira loves to paint, she likes to illustrate pictures of fried eggs, because eggs are one of her favorite foods. Her family is multicultural: Her mother, Nidia, has Spanish-Catalonian roots, and her father Don is a native New Yorker with a Lebanese background. Translated from Arabic, her first name means "the grateful one."

#2 Beyonce

Beyoncé (real name Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, born 04.09.1981 in Houston, Texas).

Awards: 35x Gold 149x Platinum 68x Diamond

Total score: 706

Did you know? As it turns out, Beyoncé is the maiden name of the superstar's mother—Tina Knowles-Lawson—born Celestine Beyoncé. Tina wished that her birth name would not be forgotten by future offspring and passed it on to her firstborn. Beyoncé is also not only nicknamed Queen B (German: Bienenkönigin), she is also a real beekeeper! In an interview with British Vogue 2020, she revealed that she has two beehives and that about 80,000 bees live in them.

#3 Rihanna

Rihanna (real name Robyn Rihanna Fenty, born 20.02.1988 in Saint Michael, Barbados).

Awards: 15x Gold 207x Platinum 23x Diamond

Total score: 569

Did you know? During her high school years, Rihanna was part of a short military training program and became a cadet who was ordered around by drill sergents. In Barbados, Rihanna's home country, they are so proud of her that they gave her a holiday. Since 2008, February 21 (the day after her birthday) is officially "Rihanna Day," and is celebrated nationally.

#4 Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey (real name Mariah Carey, born 27.03.1969 in Huntington, Long Island, New York).

Awards: 18x Gold 105x Platinum 23x Diamond

Total score: 487

Did you know? Mariah was named after the song "They call the wind Maria", a song from the 1951 Broadway musical "Paint Your Wagon." Despite its different spelling, the name is pronounced the same. She dropped out of high school in the 11th grade and subsequently attended a training school for beauticians. Mariah Carey is a big Marilyn Monroe fan and bought the Hollywood actress's famous "Baby Grand Piano" for more than $600,000. When she had twins, a boy and a girl, in 2011, she even named her daughter Monroe, in memory of the bold beauty of the Hollywood glamour era.

#5 Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift (real name Taylor Alison Swift, born 13.12.1989 in Reading, Pennsylvania).

Awards: 23x Gold 165x Platinum 20x Diamond

Total score: 414

Did you know? The Clive Davis Institute launched a course of study on Taylor Swift on January 26, 2022 through March 9, 2022. The course was taught by Rollings Stone Magazine writer Brittany Spanos and included evolution and influence on the singer-songwriter industry. Taylor had a guest role on the series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" in 2009. She played murder victim Haley Jones. (Episode 16 of season 9, title: "Motel to Murder" / "Turn, turn, turn").

#6 Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston (real name Whitney Elizabeth Houston, born August 1963 in Newark, New Jersey; died 11.02.2012 in Beverly Hills, California).

Awards: 23x Gold 46x Platinum 52x Diamond

Total score: 410

Did you know? Before Whitney Houston made her breakthrough as a world-famous singer, she was a sought-after model and worked on several advertising campaigns. She was also a background singer for the song "I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan in 1978, which she covered in 1993. Whitney got the nickname "Nippy" (German: spritzig) from her father John Houston when she was very small. Apparently she was a little rowdy, so her father started calling her "Nippy."

#7 Katy Perry

Katy Perry (real name Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, born 15.10.1984 in Santa Barbara, California).

Awards: 4x Gold 92x Platinum 33x Diamond

Total score: 370

#8 Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga (real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, born 28.03.1986 in New York)

Awards: 8x Gold 72x Platinum 32x Diamond

Total score: 331

#9 Madonna

Madonna (real name Madonna Louise Ciccone, born 16.08.1958 in Bay City, Michigan).

Awards: 24x Gold 52x Platinum 21x Diamond

Total score: 321

#10 Britney Spears

Britney Spears (real name Britney Jean Spears, born December 02, 1981 in McComb, Mississippi)

Awards: 4x Gold 16x Platinum 34x Diamond

Total score: 265

#11 Adele

Adele (real name Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, born 05.05.1988 in London, England)

Awards: 6x Gold 38x Platinum 25x Diamond

Total score: 261

#12 Celine Dion

Celine Dion (real name Céline Marie Claudette Dion, born 30.03.1968 in Charlemagne, Québec).

Awards: 4x Gold 38x Platinum 23x Diamond

Total score: 243

#13 Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande (civil name Ariana Grande-Butera, born 26.06.1993 in Boca Raton, Florida).

Awards: 7x Gold 84x Platinum

Total score: 185

#14 Miley Cyrus

Miley Ray Cyrus (real name Miley Ray Hemsworth, born 23.11.1992 in Franklin, Tennessee).

Awards: 8x Gold 48x Platinum 12x Diamond

Total score: 175

#15 Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys (real name Alicia Augello Cook, born 25.01.1981 in New York)

Awards: 10x Gold 65x Platinum

Total score: 160

#16 Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez (real name Selena Marie Gomez, born 22.07.1992 in Grand Prairie, Texas).

Awards: 7x Gold 56x Platinum

Total score: 123

#17 Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson (real name Janet Damita Jo Jackson, born 16.05.1966 in Gary, Indiana).

Awards: 8x Gold 41x Platinum

Total score: 116

#18 Pink

Pink (real name Alecia Beth Moore, born 08.09.1979 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania).

Awards: 3x Gold 32x Platinum

Total score: 89

#19 Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill (real name Lauryn Hill, born 25.05.1975 in South Orange, New Jersey).

Awards: 2x Gold 6x Platinum 10x Diamond

Total score: 85

#20 Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez (real name Jennifer Lynn Affleck, born 24.07.1969 in New York).

Awards: 7x Gold 30x Platinum

Total score: 78

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