Pop stars don't typically have the longest shelf life.
In the age of social media celebrities, stars have to work extremely hard, release work
often, and reinvent themselves enough times to stay relevant and not be swept away in
a wave of newer, shinier singers with more Instagram followers and YouTube streams.
But these pop stars can't seem to accept the fact that stardom is fleeting and they've
fallen by the wayside.
Here are the stars who haven't realized they're not famous anymore.
Fergie
Fergie has come a long way down since the days of The Dutchess, which spawned five top
10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — three of which hit Number 1 — in 2006 and 2007.
Unfortunately, Fergie waited a really long time to release a follow-up, dropping "L.A.
Love" in December 2014.
The song peaked at Number 27 on the Billboard charts, but due to its lackluster performance,
she delayed the release of Double Dutchess, which was slated to hit shelves in 2015.
She enlisted some famous faces for her "M.I.L.F. $" music video in July 2016, but the song
stalled at Number 34.
And her following single "Life Goes On," didn't chart at all.
When her album finally dropped in September 2017, it peaked at Number 19, despite her
best publicity stunts — including a disastrous national anthem in February 2018.
She revealed in a European radio interview that she paid for her music videos herself,
saying,
"I am still paying for all the videos that I did for the album so I think I might be
about to go on credit.
I have things that I could sell.
It's fine."
Katy Perry
Some of Katy Perry's recent struggles on the charts might be due to her feud with Taylor
Swift.
On June 8, 2017, Swift's catalog was released on all streaming services — stealing the
thunder from Perry's album release for Witness on June 9, one day later.
The album debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200 but dropped off the charts after 21 weeks.
Witness just didn't have any hits.
"Chained To The Rhythm" peaked at Number 4 in March 2017 but dropped off the Billboard
Hot 100 entirely after just 15 weeks.
"Swish Swish" peaked at a dismal Number 46 that June and dropped off the chart within
10 weeks.
"Bon Appétit" fared even worse, peaking at Number 59 and disappearing after only six
weeks.
Capitol Records chairman Steve Barnett told Variety,
"I talk about how engagement is so important and I don't believe you can have big cycles
between projects [as Perry did]."
Hey, at least she's got American Idol, right?
Azealia Banks
Azealia Banks' hit "212" garnered her an incredible amount of industry hype.
But Banks squandered whatever buzz she'd gained with petty social media beefs — leading
to her permanent ban from Twitter and Facebook.
Her antics also cost her a collaboration with Lady Gaga, who told fans that Banks had "a
bad attitude."
By July 2014, The Guardian reported that Banks left her record deal with Universal, and Vice
reported that she had to cancel a Norway performance the same month because no one showed up.
Add that to her legal troubles, and Banks' outlook is bleak.
Banks may have signed a new record deal in February 2018, but it remains to be seen if
she'll actually release any music.
Iggy Azalea
Iggy Azalea had a massive hit with "Fancy," which stuck to the top of the Billboard Hot
100 for seven weeks in 2014.
But by March 2015, Azalea's heat was cooling.
The Wrap reported that she refused to do press to promote what would have been her first
arena tour, leading to its cancellation.
In January 2016, Azalea lashed out at her label for not letting her drop a video for
"Azillion," and her single "Team" flopped, leading most to abandon hope for her sophomore
effort, Digital Distortion.
"Can't Lose" wasn't a chart winner, and her spring 2017 single, "Mo' Bounce," flopped
as well.
In July 2017, Azalea claimed that her label boss, Steve Bartels, refused to release any
more singles from Digital Distortion, which, as of early 2018, still hasn't been released.
Rita Ora
When Rita Ora appeared on The Wendy Williams Show in December 2016, Williams asked,
"I loved you in 50 Shades of Grey."
"Every single fashion magazine you open up you see Rita Ora and I always say, ok, but
what else does she do?"
The question was symbolic of the way most of America feels about Ora, who's actually
a singer, with killer pipes.
Her struggle to take the U.S. market became glaringly apparent in October 2014, when she
tweeted, "Dropping my new song Monday if this gets 100,000 retweets" — which got about
2,000 retweets.
She then retweeted a fan account that wrote, "Where [are] her 3.9 million followers when
you need them?"
She later claimed she'd been hacked, but the damage was done.
Though she was heavily pushed by Jay-Z's Roc Nation label when she first got signed, battles
with the record label, as well as with her ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris, led to her releasing
just one album, Ora, in 2012.
She had some success, and went platinum in the UK.
But for every hit, she seems to have a blunder, whether it be a public breakup, or being busted
buying her own single.
Meghan Trainor
Meghan Trainor dominated the charts with "All About That Bass" from her platinum debut album,
Title, in 2015.
But the M-Train derailed with her sophomore record, Thank You.
The album peaked at Number 3 — selling just half of what Title did in its first week.
Her first single from the album, "No," peaked at Number 3, but her subsequent release, "Better,"
didn't even break the Hot 100.
As of early 2018, album number three isn't shaping up to be much better.
"No Excuses," the first single from her upcoming third album, was a return to her Title style
of modern day doo-wop, but debuted at Number 46 in March 2018.
Nelly Furtado
Be honest: You still know all the lyrics to Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like A Bird" and "Promiscuous".
But the singer hasn't really been able to stick the landing with her subsequent releases.
2006's Loose debuted with 219,000 copies sold in its first week, and — six years later
— 2012's The Spirit Indestructible sold 6,000 copies in its first week.
The Ride, released in 2017 after another long hiatus, debuted with just 1,814 copies sold
in its first week.
The album didn't even break the Billboard 200 in her Canadian homeland.
She explained to Huff Post Canada,
"I have very few albums that debut high […] so one chart or anything doesn't necessarily
[mean anything].
[…] I have had a lot of ups and downs in my career on a commercial level, so I'm very
bulletproof in that way."
Nick Jonas
Nick Jonas overestimated Jonas Brothers nostalgia and his own mainstream appeal as a solo artist.
His 2014 debut solo effort, Nick Jonas, peaked at Number 6, while Last Year Was Complicated,
debuted at Number 2 on the Billboard charts in June 2016.
In its second week out, Last Year dropped out of the Top 10 completely.
His singles started out strong, with "Jealous" peaking at Number 7 in January 2015, but everything
released after that, did worse than the single before it.
"Chains" and "Close" peaked at Number 13 and 14, but "Levels" stalled out at Number 44
and "Bom Bidi Bom" only hit Number 54.
His May 2017 single, "Remember I Told You," didn't even crack the Billboard Hot 100.
And none of that appears to be reflected in his ticket prices.
In November 2015, People reported that his and Demi Lovato's "Ultimate VIP Dressing Room"
package for their Future Now tour cost $10,000 for a backstage dressing room, rider, a visit
and photos with Lovato and Jonas, autographed merch, access to a stage-side lounge, and
dinner … but not an actual ticket to the show.
Still, his movie, 2017's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, did amazingly well at the box
office, so Jonas could have a future in acting if he hangs up his guitar for good.
Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake was once branded the next huge male pop star, carrying the torch Michael
Jackson left behind — despite throwing Jackson's own sister under the bus after the world's
first-ever "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl.
However, his solo Super Bowl performance in 2018 was panned as a flop, and many believe
it led to dismal sales of his album, Man Of The Woods.
That Grape Juice reported that the record was initially projected to sell upwards of
700,000 copies in its first week, but actually sold less than 250,000.
Even though it debuted at Number 1, the album has yet to produce a hit single.
"Filthy" and "Say Something" each peaked at Number 9, "Supplies" hit Number 71, and the
title track made it to Number 79 on the Billboard Hot 100.
That's not great for most artists, but that's abysmal for someone of Timberlake's level
and caliber, especially when "Can't Stop The Feeling" topped the charts less than two years
earlier.
But, then again, maybe it's just time he cries us a river.
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