First of all.... I don't know why anyone is mentioning Thriller. Jesus Christ himself could step onto this earth and go into the studio and release a song and it wouldn't be on the level of Thriller.
Continuing, anyone saying Single Ladies is more iconic than Baby One More Time is a mess. ESPECIALLY if you were actually around when BOMT was huge (cuz I know some of ATRL are infants). Which was the end of the 90s leading into the new millennium.
Baby One More Time was one of the most defining moments in the history of pop music, because not only was it a massive cross-cultural hit, a phenomenon that REACHED #1 IN EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY IT WAS RELEASED IN, but it was the debut of one of the biggest pop artists of all time.
This doesn't even include the craze caused by the ICONIC video - in which Britney temporarily diminished all borders associated with pop music for a new generation as she strutted through the halls of school in a ****ing SCHOOL GIRL OUTFIT, straddling the lines of innocence and promiscuity. Young girls idolized her. Young boys fantasized about her. Older men felt like perverts. Mothers didn't know whether to support her or ban her from the household. It kick started one of the most talked about artists EVER. There was hysteria.
And then of course the copycats started rolling in: Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, all the one hit wonders who's names we can't even remember.
If you didn't live through this, you don't understand.
Of course Single Ladies has more YouTube videos and blah blah blah - but that's because it debuted in the digital age. People loved the dance. It went viral. AND?? Where's the legacy? Where's the IMPACT?? It was a hit song with choreography that went viral. It didn't cause any domino effect, it didn't spawn any careers...
And it's only from 4 years ago.
It is no more iconic than Crank That (which, mind you, charted higher than Single Ladies in Australia, Belgium, France & the UK singles chart).
Beyonce's most iconic hits remain her debut on the scene, Crazy In Love, and the break up anthem that ruled the world, Irreplaceable. THEN Single Ladies. IMO.
Iconic =/= how many people do your dance on YouTube.
I couldn't have said it better
These kids have no idea of how huge it was back then its like macarena to ELS countries and take note, there was no youtube then only MTV and VH1 and only those with cable knew about it till it exploded in the radio. Like you said, BOMT started a revolution / movement that gave birth to these new pop girls that we know of.
I hope you know Britney did it by being a solo artist, many of the pop artists were groups. Britney did it alone, and critics thought this was going to fail because pop music wasn't going to have another Madonna (solo female pop artist). And after Britney years later, you see all of these female artists, thanks to this song.
I hope you know Britney did it by being a solo artist, many of the pop artists were groups. Britney did it alone, and critics thought this was going to fail because pop music wasn't going to have another Madonna (solo female pop artist). And after Britney years later, you see all of these female artists, thanks to this song.
I guess you mean another blonde white female pop star. Because Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and [later] Mariah Carey were all around when Madonna came out. Oh wait, I forgot they're black so they don't count right
And LOL @ female artists emerging because of Britney.
Because Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and [later] Mariah Carey were all around when Madonna came out. Oh wait, I forgot they're black so they don't count right 
