Mariah Carey, Madonna, And Rihanna: A Bad Month For Pop Stars

Mariah Carey, Rihanna and Madonna are three of the hottest pop stars the world has ever seen. However, the past month has not been kind to any of them. All of these pop stars have released good material (according to both fans and critics), but the material is being ignored by the general public.

Let’s start with Mariah Carey, whose song “Infinity” was revealed this Monday after being one of the most hyped singles in years. Christopher Rosen from Entertainment Weekly thinks “Infinity” is a great throwback single and the one we have been waiting for from Mariah. Many of the commenters agree with Rosen’s assessment. As a matter of fact, “Infinity” is universally loved from Mariah’s die-hard fans, whom she refers to as her “lambs.” Unfortunately, “Infinity” is currently crashing down the iTunes chart at No. 51. Perhaps the release of the music video can save the song.

Mariah Carey is a pop music legend whose pop music status won’t be taken away because of a poorly performing single. The same can’t be said about Rihanna, however, since she has been active for only about eight years. Rihanna has been building a career based on hit singles, but her latest single, “American Oxygen,” has struggled for air. Rihanna’s new single, which has been critically acclaimed, makes a slow rise to No. 78 this week at Billboard. It’s the follow-up to another chart disappointment for Rihanna, “Bi*ch Better Have My Money.” All of this indicates that Rihanna’s constantly stalled RH8 album may be the first commercial flop of her career.

Madonna isn’t faring much better on the charts than Rihanna or Mariah Carey, even though Madonna’s career hasn’t crashed so badly as to maker her play Vegas gigs. Her latest single, “Ghosttown,” has received universal critical acclaim and seemed to be slowly gaining momentum when first released. Many people thought “Ghosttown” would become a sleeper hit. The song has performed decently on the Adult Contemporary charts, but it hasn’t debuted on Billboard‘s Hot 100. Madonna’s tongue-tying incident with Drake at Coachella probably didn’t help things out.

Why are pop stars such as Mariah Carey, Rihanna, and Madonna having a hard time finding a current audience, especially when their new material is considered among their best? In the age of social media, are their antics destroying the potential for hits? When talking about Mariah Carey or Madonna, is it ageism that is preventing them from topping the charts? Are people sick of pop stars in general? In any case, let’s hope that Mariah Carey, Rihanna, and Madonna are only experiencing temporary career setbacks that will only be seen as a blip on their career meters in years to come.

[Photo Credits: The Daily Mail,Madonnalicious andWewomen]