Greatest Pop Stars

On this Who Won the Month episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard staffers Michael Saponara and Emily Fuentes to discuss the big pop stars, rising prospects and veteran greats who were heard from loudest in October 2026 — who got us through Halloween and into the early stage of Mariah Season. We each choose our top fives for the month that was, then we talk some disappointing recent performances, and look ahead to who we're most anticipating hearing more from in the last two months of 2026.

If you enjoy the pod, check out out our Who Won the Month recaps for the first nine months of 2026 and all 2025 here:

https://www.billboard.com/t/who-won-the-month/

And please consider donating to the following causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Destination Tomorrow

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Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Human Rights Campaign – In Your Area

https://www.hrc.org/in-your-area

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠5Calls.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

https://5calls.org/
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As America was reeling from the unthinkable horrors of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the No. 1 album in the country was a chaotic, incredulous and absolutely incendiary alt-metal LP — System of a Down didn't write or record 'Toxicity' with 9/11 or any of the events that followed in mind, but it became one of the defining soundtracks for the moment. In this final episode of our annual Vintage Almost-Pop Stardom mini-series — looking at close-but-not-quite pop stars during their biggest years — Craig Jenkins of Vulture joins to talk about System's culturally seismic 2001, the year of "Chop Suey!" and the 'Toxicity' LP and Serj Tankian's "Understanding Oil" essay, all of which still reverberates 25 years later.

Find Craig's essential writing at Vulture here:

https://www.vulture.com/author/craig-jenkins/

Check out our 2001 System of a Down YouTube playlist here:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA1oo0ZSEjec&si=XG16hfU3y85VE3Ex

And if you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Destination Tomorrow

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/destination-tomorrow-inc

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Human Rights Campaign - In Your Area

https://www.hrc.org/in-your-area

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠5Calls.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.
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In 1997, stateside alt-rock was in an unsure enough place that very briefly, a group of ex-ravers from the U.K. were considered the future — with explosive singles, controversial videos, incendiary statements and a truly unprecedented amount of pop star power for a dance act. In this third week of our annual Vintage Almost-Pop Stardom mini-series — looking at close-but-not-quite pop stars during their biggest years — Tom Breihan of Stereogum joins to talk about The Prodigy's year of MTV dominance, with "Firestarter," "Breathe," "Smack My Bitch Up" and the 'Fat of the Land' album, which the group disappeared immediately after topping the charts with.

Check out Tom's Number Ones column here:

https://stereogum.com/category/columns/the-number-ones

And buy his 'The Number Ones' book here:

https://www.dacapopress.com/titles/tom-breihan/the-number-ones/9781668611326/

Check out our 1997 Prodigy YouTube playlist here:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVr6c53SbsHI&si=bqCRpyAAXdCat57X

And if you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Destination Tomorrow

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/destination-tomorrow-inc

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Human Rights Campaign - In Your Area

https://www.hrc.org/in-your-area

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠5Calls.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.
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In 1995, other alt-rock bands had bigger albums and bigger hits than Hole, but none dominated media and pop culture in quite the same way — mostly due to the increasingly high profile of explosive frontwoman Courtney Love, who became a celebrity thanks to her marriage to late rock icon Kurt Cobain, and spent '95 proving herself an equally iconic and brilliant artist in her own right. In this second week of our 2026 kickoff to our annual Vintage Almost-Pop Stardom mini-series — looking at close-but-not-quite pop stars during their biggest years — Lina Morgan of the Song vs. Song podcast joins to talk about Hole's and Love's greatest year of pop culture centrality, with "Doll Parts," "Violet," MTV Unplugged, Lollapalooza '95, and a particularly unforgettable showdown with Madonna at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Listen to the excellent Song vs. Song podcast here:

https://www.patreon.com/songvssong

Check out our 1995 Hole YouTube playlist here:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDSujJgL70RA&si=5MfavVmk6GTyuqPf

And if you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Destination Tomorrow

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/destination-tomorrow-inc

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Human Rights Campaign - In Your Area

https://www.hrc.org/in-your-area

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠5Calls.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.
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In 2006, Arctic Monkeys served as the culmination of a half-decade worth of much-hyped U.K. buzz bands, and finally experienced the biggest breakthrough any group had in its home country since Oasis a decade before — although it took them nearly a decade to make anywhere near the same impact stateside. In this second half of our 2026 kickoff to our annual Vintage Almost-Pop Stardom mini-series, looking at close-but-not-quite pop stars during their biggest years — also be sure to check out part one about 2006 Lily Allen— Thomas Smith of Billboard UK joins to dive into Arctic Monkeys during the group's once-in-a-generation year of 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' setting records and trends, even though the band couldn't avoid backlash even for the full year.

2006 Lily Allen Playlist:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQcYuiBTg6VU&si=95K_2zIBEqVgCTM3

And if you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following causes:

Transgender Law Center

https://transgenderlawcenter.org/

Trans Lifeline

https://translifeline.org/

Destination Tomorrow

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/destination-tomorrow-inc

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising

Human Rights Campaign - In Your Area

https://www.hrc.org/in-your-area

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠5Calls.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.
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