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[Lazarus]

A half-decade after first debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 with breakout single "The Way," Ariana Grande finally has her first Hot 100 No. 1 hit.

Billboard revealed today that Grande's new song, her blithe ode to her real-life exes "Thank U, Next," has debuted atop the marquee chart in its incomplete first week of tracking, following the song's premiere the night of Saturday, Nov. 3. That beats her previous best showing on the chart, with the Iggy Azalea-featuring and No. 2-peaking "Problem" in 2014 -- and officially erases her name from the list of the biggest pop stars without a No. 1 hit to their credit; a list she had arguably risen to the very top of.

Still, even with the removal of Ariana Grande from its ranks, the pool of major pop artists without a Hot 100-topper is a crowded one. Here is a brief rundown of ten artists currently in the debate for the distinction of being "next" on the ranking of the biggest names without a No. 1 on their resume.

Nicki Minaj

Ariana's frequent collaborator -- with whom she shares a pair of Hot 100 top five hits in "Side to Side" (No. 4, 2016) and "Bang Bang" (No. 3, 2014) -- has come within one spot of the chart's apex, with solo smash "Anaconda" in 2014. But despite hitting the top 10 a stunning 17 times (most recently with her guest appearance on 6ix9ine's "FEFE," which peaked at No. 3 this August), and despite having cracked triple digits with her total Hot 100 entries this November -- more than any other female artist in history -- she's still yet to reach the chart penthouse.

Travis Scott

A rising star for a half-decade now, Travis Scott made his ascent to pop's A-list official this year with the release of Astroworld, the rapper's much-anticipated third album, which launched at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with one of the year's biggest first-week numbers, and debuted all 17 tracks from the set on the Hot 100. The biggest of those, the No. 4-debuting (and Drake-assisted) "Sicko Mode," reached a No. 2 peak on the chart this November -- matching Scott's No. 2 bow as a guest star on Kodak Black's ""ZEZE" just a week earlier -- but Scott's rollercoaster year has yet to scale the listing's absolute apex. 

J. Cole

Cole is one of music's most reliable LP-sellers at this point, having now topped the Billboard 200 albums chart with all five of his studio albums to date, each with first-week numbers well into the multiple hundreds of thousands. But his success on the Hot 100 has been more tempered: Aside from debuting three songs in the top 10 during the release week of most recent LP K.O.D. this May ("ATM," No. 6; "Kevin's Heart," No. 8; "KOD," No. 10), the No. 7-peaking "Deja Vu" remains the North Carolina MC's only other visit to the chart's top 10. Given Cole's lack of a consistent pop radio presence over most of the last half-decade, however, his presence on this list may be less surprising than some others.

Selena Gomez

Gomez is certainly no stranger to the Hot 100's highest tier, having scored seven top 10 hits on the chart, including last year's Kygo collab "It Ain't Me" (No. 10, 2017). But Gomez has yet to get higher on the chart than No. 5 -- Revival singles "Good for You" (feat. A$AP Rocky, 2015) and "Same Old Love" (2016) share the title for her highest-peaking entry to date -- and she hasn't necessarily been trending in the right direction; none of her critically acclaimed 2017 singles "Bad Liar," "Fetish" or "Wolves" has managed to peak above No. 20 on the listing, while this year's 13 Reasons Why soundtrack single topped out at No. 18.

Future

Similar to Cole, the rapper born Nayvadius Wilburn has been a Billboard 200 conqueror (five No. 1 albums, most recently/most historically with his self-titled effort and Hendrix in consecutive weeks in March 2017) and Hot 100 fixture (75 entries total, most recently with three tracks off his and Juice WRLD's WRLD on Drugs collaborative LP) without ever really threatening the top spot on the latter. The 2017 No. 5-peaking solo smash "Mask Off" has brought him closest, with only his featured appearance on Lil Wayne's 2013 hit "Love Me" taking him to the top 10 previously.

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[🦚]

N

Hands down Selena.

Auntie Nickels is too damn old and too damn through.

Shame sickmode is peaking. It came close. But king is still young and popping.

[RAY7]

Wow so you can still be considered very successful without a #1 hit
who knew?

[Cartierline]

g Lupuslena aint getting a #1 hit

Lupus-ed up self

[Kurama]

How long are they gonna push this topic?

[Young]

Nicki hands down

[Buy The Stars✨]

Queen selena and Nicki ...

Speaking of which they need to do a song together

[FAMÈ]

Travis & Selena and they will get one like Ari ended up doing.

[Kaeli.]

g Lupuslena aint getting a #1 hit

Lupus-ed up self

JILDKSFJLKDFNMJLDKm

Maybe if her lazy sick stupid ass would promote she'd get one

i was shocked to find out she's only second to drake in monthly spotify listeners

[Kaeli.]

J. Cole ain't getting one
Nicki ain't getting one
Travis will Get one
Selena could get one
Future will only get one if he's featured on a song with several people (like I'm the One last year)

[Vonc2002]

Nicki ain't the biggest NOTHING in 2018...... unless they're speaking on that waistline

[Barbie Dangerous]

J. Cole ain't getting one
Nicki ain't getting one
Travis will Get one
Selena could get one
Future will only get one if he's featured on a song with several people (like I'm the One last year)

You?re such an expert!

[LOONA.]

Travis will get one

Maybe Selena

Dassit     

[Nine]

Selena ain't getting one

[Opposites Attract.]

Selena ain't getting one

!

This bitch is literally the top girl on Spotify and not one of her mess has reached #1 on the coveted spot.