Pop Stars vs Superstars

In an short piece posted earlier this week, The Guardian talks about women topping the pop charts -- both in the UK and The States:

"... Swap a Cheryl Cole for a Colbe Caillat, Whitney Houston for Leona Lewis, and the picture in the US is near identical; 10 of the last 16 Billboard No 1s are from solo female singers."

The author goes on to add that while as solo artists women dominate the upper regions of the pop charts, female-led bands still get the shaft:

"The other awkward but adhered to principle is the emphasis on solo stars. Female artists aren't marketed in groups like men. If they do happen to be in a band, it's largely with other blokes in one of two forms: taking a sideline as the keyboard player, or as the entire focus of the band (sorry, "the Machine", but it's all about Florence). There are exceptions to every rule but the solo female artist is a gold standard in the music industry. Whether we may be better off for it or not, there isn't a girl equivalent of U2, Coldplay, Radiohead or Kings of Leon."

I blogged about this phenomenon a couple months ago, and I want to believe there could be a "girl" (preferably woman) equivalent to U2 or Radiohead, but it would require a major paradigm shift. When I think of bands that even came close -- say, Heart in the 70s or 80s, an "arena rock band" in the most basic sense -- none has achieved the timelessness of a of a U2 or Radiohead.