PPL has announced that Pink is the most-played female artist of the 21st century (so far) within this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, beating Madonna, Katy Perry, Rihanna and Lady Gaga to the top spot.
We know this because of a new PPL airplay chart that has just been published, the first in a series being launched by the UK record industry's collecting society in the run up to this year's National Album Day on 16 Oct. The chart is compiled using music usage and airplay data from British radio stations and TV channels.
"It's such an honour to be one of the UK's most played female artists of the 21st century and to be in such great company", says Pink. "It's mind blowing to me and I'm so touched to know my music is continuing to be enjoyed by so many people!"
PPL CEO Peter Leathem adds: "National Album Day is a fantastic platform to showcase the importance of the album format and PPL is proud to be part of the celebrations this year with our chart of the century's most played female artists. This chart brings together an incredible array of talent who have recorded some of the UK's favourite music, including a number of the biggest and most influential albums of all time".
Yeah, albums. Even though you could argue that this chart is technically celebrating artists who have released some very successful singles, Pink's albums have done quite well too. In fact, seven of her eight albums have gone platinum at least once in the UK - her second album 'Misundaztood' having six platinum certifications from record industry trade group BPI. Three of them, meanwhile, went to number one in the UK albums chart, including the last two: 2017's 'Beautiful Trauma' and 2019's 'Hurts 2B Human'.
Pink has had so many hit songs too. I'd name them, but they're so fucking catchy that I've got three of them stuck in my head simultaneously after just thinking about them and I don't want to inflict that on you too. Also, this is about celebrating albums, remember, not singles. The songs those radio and TV stations were playing were all from albums, and don't you forget it!
Anyway, enough waffle, I bet you'd like to know who else is on this list, and whether any British female artists are getting any airplay on any British radio stations. Well, some are. Here is the top 20 most-played female artists in the UK during the 21st century (so far). All of whom have released albums, please note, lots of lovely albums.
- Pink
- Madonna
- Katy Perry
- Rihanna
- Lady Gaga
- Adele
- Beyonce
- Kylie Minogue
- Little Mix
- Whitney Houston
- Taylor Swift
- Sugababes
- Kelly Clarkson
- Dua Lipa
- Ellie Goulding
- Christina Aguilera
- Diana Ross
- Jess Glynne
- Rita Ora
- Ariana Grande