Which Pop Stars Won May 2026? Drake, Ella Langley, Noah Kahan & More

About this episode

The episode discusses the notable pop stars and performances from May 2026, including a major album drop and rising artists.

On this Who Won the Month episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard staffers Kyle Denis and Rebecca Milzoff to discuss the big pop stars, rising prospects and veteran greats who were heard from loudest in May 2026 — which was largely defined by one guy with his triple album drop, but also included a couple big country stars and pop legends getting fans excited about new and old releases. We each choose our top fives for the month that was, then we talk some disappointing recent performances, and look ahead to who we're most anticipating hearing more from in the summer of 2026. If you enjoy the pod, check out out our Who Won the Month recaps for the first two months of 2026 and all 2025 here: https://www.billboard.com/t/who-won-the-month/ And please consider donating to the following causes: Transgender Law Center https://transgenderlawcenter.org/ Trans Lifeline https://translifeline.org/ Destination Tomorrow https://secure.givelively.org/donate/destination-tomorrow-inc Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising Human Rights Campaign – In Your Area…

People in this episode

Host: Andrew Unterberger

Guests: Kyle Denis, Rebecca Milzoff

Topics covered

• pop music
• music industry
• artist performances
• album releases
• country music
• anticipation for summer

Keywords

• pop stars
• May 2026
• Drake
• Ella Langley
• Noah Kahan
• album drop
• music discussion

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Billboard

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• 2001 Janet Jackson: Vintage Pop Stardom (with Trevor Anderson) · May 15, 2026 · 2h 13m
• 1998 Janet Jackson: Vintage Pop Stardom (with Lina Morgan) · May 14, 2026 · 1h 50m
• 1993 Janet Jackson: Vintage Pop Stardom (with Naima Cochrane) · May 13, 2026 · 1h 42m