Who Was July 2026's Pop Star? Tallying a Month Packed With Madonna, Taylor Swift, and Charli xcx
Billboard's Greatest Pop Stars podcast reviews the month of July: Madonna's "Confessions II" album, Taylor Swift's wedding, Lollapalooza, and the star-studded halftime show at the World Cup final.
It's hard to believe the Fourth of July weekend was only a month ago. Madonna releasing 'Confessions II,' Taylor Swift marrying Travis Kelce, and Toby Keith getting played so much during America's 250th-anniversary celebrations that he re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at his career-high position — all of that happened in a single weekend.
That alone would be enough for a whole month's worth of pop-star news, but more followed. Several of the year's most anticipated albums dropped in July, Lollapalooza went off with a stacked lineup, and in the middle of it all there was a World Cup capped by a star-studded halftime show at the final.
Billboard's Greatest Pop Stars podcast boils this jam-packed month down to a single question: who won the month? The discussion weighs the cultural weight of Madonna's comeback, the pull of Swift's headlines outside of music, and Charli xcx's dominance on festival stages.
The podcast team also digs into the month's surprise winners: names climbing the charts unexpectedly, catalog songs going viral, and new signings signaling what's ahead for fall.