Music is constantly growing and evolving as an artform, which is what makes it so exciting. Young artists have always pushed the envelope, bringing a fresh energy with their singles and albums. In fact, the streaming numbers went from $500 million in 2010 to nearly $15 billion in 2024 in large part thanks to talented young music stars.

Everyone’s taste is unique, and there’s no way to choose the best young music stars. Even so, we opted to review the three that stood out to us the most. Whether you look at Olivia Rodrigo, who went from Disney movies and TV shows, or Doechii, who started posting music on SoundCloud, these stars are inspirational.

Doechii

Doechii, whose birth name is Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, hails from Tampa, Florida. She began her music career by sharing her music on the SoundCloud platform. Eventually, her music went viral on TikTok in 2021, which led to a contract with Capitol Records and Top Dawg Entertainment. This viral success quickly propelled Doechii to major success as one of the most impressive young music stars.

Doechii received RIAA Platinum Certification for her single ‘What It Is (Block Boy)’ featuring Kodack Black. But, her real critical success came with the ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’ mixtape. She won a ‘Best Rap Album’ Grammy award for that record, which made her the third black woman to ever do so.

Reneé Rapp

Reneé Rapp, born in 2000, always felt drawn to music and performing, posting videos of her singing covers as a high schooler. In her quest to become a musician, Rapp ventured into musical theater, which was how she ended up getting cast as the iconic Regina George on Broadway. The Broadway powerhouse quickly built a following of fans in pop music with her touching lyrics and impressive vocals. It is why she is one of the most talented young music stars!

In 2022, Reneé Rapp released her debut single, called ‘Tattoos’, which led to her getting signed by Interscope Records. Soon after that, she released her EP, ‘Everything to Everyone’. Rapp built her music career while filming the TV show ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ and the ‘Mean Girls’ musical movie. Rapp has two sold-out tours for her ‘Snow Angel’ and ‘Bite Me’ records, on top of the sold-out mini-tour for the EP.

Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo is undoubtedly the biggest name on our list, having won 3 Grammy and 7 Billboard Music Awards. Rodrigo started out as one of the most versatile Disney actors. She first impressed critics with her performance in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. That being said, her 2021 single, ‘Driver’s License‘ put her on the music map as a star, debuting at no. 1.

Critics and fans alike praised Rodrigo’s songwriting skills. Olivia Rodrigo draws on inspiration from her personal life, but the musical influences in her music are quite versatile. She has cited big names like Alanis Morissette and Hayley Williams as definitive influences on her albums. One of the most impressive things about Olivia Rodrigo is how willing she has been to learn and grow as an artist. All her success sometimes makes people forget she is only 23 years old, making her one of the biggest young music stars!