The Best Male Pop Singers Of 2023

Jared Baly
Updated October 3, 2023 6.7K votes 869 voters
Over 800 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Male Pop Singers Of 2023

2023's roster of male pop singers contains some of the greatest talent of the past decade, as well as a wide variety of crossover records, vocal ranges, lyrical styles, and fashion senses. From reggaetón superstar Bad Bunny to the one-and-only Harry Styles, this year's Top 40 male artists are ready to take over your streaming services and local radio stations with their latest music. English songwriting royalty Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John never cease to melt hearts with their emotional ballads; and sultry fan-favorite rappers Drake and Jack Harlow inevitably keep fans on the edge of their seats with surprise collaborations and controversial verses. Former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson finally discovers his own voice on his sophomore solo album Faith in the Future; and Lil Nas X continues to fearlessly shatter glass ceilings across the LGBTQ+ community. Furthermore, Gen Z pop icon Shawn Mendes starred in the animated feature musical comedy film, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile – so there's no doubt in our minds that he's got more music up his sleeve. 

Which trending male pop artists are you most excited to see live, and whose records are you currently listening to? Which of these artists will dethrone Justin Bieber as the next Prince of Pop? Vote below for the best male pop singers of 2023, and be sure to also check out this year's top new pop songs afterwards.

Most divisive: BTS
Ranked by
  • Harry Styles
    1

    Harry Styles

    634 votes
    Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series The X Factor. Following his elimination early on, he was brought back to join the boy band One Direction, which went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. Styles released his self-titled debut solo album through Columbia Records in 2017. It debuted at number one in the UK and the US, and became one of the world's top-ten best-selling albums of the year. Its lead single, "Sign of the Times", topped the UK Singles Chart. Styles made his acting debut in Christopher Nolan's 2017 war film Dunkirk. His second album, Fine Line (2019), debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with the biggest first-week sales by an English male artist in history, and was listed among Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2020. Its fourth single, "Watermelon Sugar", topped the US Billboard Hot 100.
  • The Weeknd
    2

    The Weeknd

    501 votes
    Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. A prominent figure in contemporary popular music, he is noted for his unconventional music production, artistic reinventions, and his signature use of the falsetto register. His accolades include 4 Grammy Awards, 20 Billboard Music Awards, 22 Juno Awards, 6 American Music Awards, 2 MTV Video Music Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, and nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. Among the world's best-selling music artists with over 75 million records sold, Tesfaye holds several streaming and Billboard chart records. Tesfaye was listed by Time as one of the world's most influential people in 2020, and was dubbed the "world's most popular artist" by Guinness World Records in 2023. An advocate for racial equality and food security, he was appointed a World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador in 2021.
  • Bruno Mars
    3

    Bruno Mars

    471 votes
    Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and dancer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical styles, including R&B, funk, pop, soul, reggae, hip hop, and rock. Mars is accompanied by his band, The Hooligans, who play a variety of instruments, such as electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums, and horns, and also serve as backup singers and dancers. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mars moved to Los Angeles in 2003 to pursue a musical career. After being dropped by Motown Records, Mars signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 2009. In the same year, he co-founded the production team The Smeezingtons, responsible for various successful singles for Mars himself and other artists. Mars rose to fame in 2010 with the release of the successful singles "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy, both of which featured his vocals on the hooks. His debut studio album Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010), peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States and reached number one in Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It spawned the international number-one singles "Just the Way You Are", "Grenade", and "The Lazy Song". The former won a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In 2011, Mars recorded the single "It Will Rain" for the film The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011). Mars' second album, Unorthodox Jukebox (2012), peaked at number one in the US, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the UK, winning a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. Its singles "Locked Out of Heaven" and "When I Was Your Man", reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2014, Mars collaborated with Mark Ronson on "Uptown Funk", which topped many music charts worldwide, including the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK. The song won Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the Grammys. In 2016, Shampoo Press & Curl replaced The Smeezingtons on the composition of Mars' third studio album, the R&B-focused, 24K Magic. The record debuted at number two in the United States, Canada, France, and New Zealand and received seven Grammy Awards, winning the major categories of Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. The album yielded the successful singles "24K Magic", "That's What I Like", and "Finesse". Mars has sold over 200 million singles and 26 million albums worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He has released seven number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 since his career launched in 2010, attaining his first five faster than any male artist since Elvis Presley. As a songwriter, he was included in Music Week and Billboard magazine as one of the best songwriters of 2011 and 2013, respectively. Mars has received several awards and nominations, including 11 Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, nine American Music Awards, 10 Soul Train Awards and holds three Guinness World Records. He has appeared in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2011 and Forbes magazine's lists of '30 under 30' in 2013, the world's most powerful celebrities in 2014, and Celebrity 100 in 2018 and 2019.
  • Ed Sheeran
    4

    Ed Sheeran

    477 votes
    Edward Christopher Sheeran, (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actor. He attended the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford as an undergraduate from the age of 18 in 2009. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project. After signing with Asylum Records, his debut album, + (pronounced "plus"), was released in September 2011. It topped the UK and Australian charts, reached number five in the US, and has since been certified eight-times platinum in the UK. The album contains the single "The A Team", which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. In 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act. "The A Team" was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards, where he performed the song with Elton John. His second studio album, x (pronounced "multiply"), was released in June 2014. It peaked at number one in the UK and the US, and was named the second-best-selling album worldwide of 2015. In 2015, x won the Brit Award for Album of the Year, and he received the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. His single from x, "Thinking Out Loud", earned him two Grammy Awards at the 2016 ceremony: Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. Sheeran's third album, ÷ (pronounced "divide"), was released in March 2017. The album debuted at number one in the UK, the US and other major markets, and was the best-selling album worldwide of 2017. The first two singles from the album, "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill", were released in January 2017 and broke records in a number of countries, including the UK, Australia and Germany, by debuting in the top two positions of the charts. He also became the first artist to have two songs debut in the US top 10 in the same week. By March 2017, Sheeran had accumulated ten top 10 singles from ÷ on the UK Singles Chart, breaking the record for most top 10 UK singles from one album. His fourth single from ÷, "Perfect", reached number one in the US, Australia and the UK, where it became the Christmas number one in 2017. Released in 2019, his fourth studio album, No.6 Collaborations Project, debuted atop the UK and US charts. Sheeran has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. Two of his albums are in the list of the best-selling albums in UK chart history: x at number 20, and ÷ at number 34. Beginning in March 2017, his ÷ Tour became the highest-grossing of all time in August 2019. An alumnus of the National Youth Theatre in London, as an actor Sheeran has portrayed a recurring role on The Bastard Executioner, and in 2019, he appeared in the Richard Curtis/Danny Boyle film Yesterday.
  • Lewis Capaldi
    5

    Lewis Capaldi

    310 votes
    Lewis Capaldi (born October 7, 1996) is a Scottish singer and songwriter originating from Whitburn, West Lothian. Capaldi rose to prominence following the self release of his first track 'Bruises' in the middle of 2017. The song quickly amassed close to 28 million plays on Spotify worldwide making him the fastest ever unsigned artist to reach 25 million plays on the platform. Shortly afterward, he was signed to Virgin Records and Capitol Records. Capaldi was longlisted for BBC Music’s Sound of 2018. He was joined on the list by music stars such as Sigrid (singer), Khalid (singer) and Billie Eilish.
  • Shawn Mendes
    6

    Shawn Mendes

    408 votes
    Shawn Peter Raul Mendes (born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He gained a following in 2013, posting song covers on the video-sharing application Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gertler and Island Records A&R Ziggy Chareton, which led to him signing a deal with the record label. Mendes went on to release an EP in July 2014 and his debut studio album Handwritten (2015), whose single "Stitches" reached the top 10 in the United States and Canada, and number one in the United Kingdom. His second album Illuminate (2016) was supported by the singles "Treat You Better" and "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back", which reached the top 10 in several countries. His self-titled third studio album was released in 2018. All three albums debuted atop of the US Billboard 200, with the first one making Mendes one of five artists to ever debut at number one before the age of eighteen. Mendes has headlined three concert tours: ShawnsFirstHeadlines, Shawn Mendes World Tour and Illuminate World Tour. In 2018, Mendes was included on Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Currently, Shawn Mendes is the first artist to land four No. 1s on the Adult Pop Songs chart before age 20. Among his accolades, Mendes has won an American Music Award and three Juno Awards.