Most people picture a pop career starting somewhere in the early twenties, after years of open mics and demo tapes. Pop history shows plenty of exceptions. Some artists had a song on the radio before they could legally vote.
The five singers below span more than sixty years, from the late 1950s to the early 2020s. Each one had a breakout record while still a teenager or younger, and the details of how that happened differ quite a bit.
Brenda Lee and “Sweet Nothin’s”
Brenda Lee was born in December 1944 and signed to Decca Records as a young girl in Georgia. Her song “Sweet Nothin’s” came out in 1959, when she was only fourteen. It climbed into the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 4.
Her small stature and big voice earned her the nickname “Little Miss Dynamite.” She recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” in 1958 at age thirteen, though it took decades to become a chart giant. In 2023, the song reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 for the first time, which made her the oldest artist to top that chart.
Michael Jackson and “I Want You Back”
Michael Jackson was eleven when the Jackson 5 released “I Want You Back” on Motown in late 1969. He sang lead, and the song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1970. It launched a run of chart toppers that began with the group’s first four singles.
Berry Gordy’s Motown team shaped the group’s early sound, but Michael’s lead vocal is what listeners remember. He was born in August 1958, so he was still a child when the record went to the top. His solo career took off later, though this early hit introduced him to the world.
Lorde and “Royals”
Lorde, whose real name is Ella Yelich-O’Connor, was born in New Zealand in November 1996. She wrote “Royals” with producer Joel Little when she was fifteen, and it was released in 2013 when she was sixteen. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for several weeks.
The track was striking for its sparse production, built mostly on finger snaps, bass, and layered vocals. It won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the 2014 ceremony, when she was still seventeen. Few teenage songwriters have collected that kind of recognition for a debut single.
Billie Eilish and “Ocean Eyes”
Billie Eilish was born in December 2001 and began writing songs with her brother Finneas in Los Angeles. “Ocean Eyes” was written by Finneas for his band, and Billie recorded it at age thirteen. It was uploaded to SoundCloud in 2015, when she was fourteen, and spread quickly online.
The song’s viral growth led to a record deal and eventually to her debut album in 2019. That same year, her single “Bad Guy” topped the Billboard Hot 100 when she was seventeen. She then became the youngest artist to win all four major Grammy categories in one night, at the 2020 awards.
Olivia Rodrigo and “Drivers License”
Olivia Rodrigo was born in February 2003 and was already known for acting on Disney Channel before music took over. She released “Drivers License” in January 2021, when she was seventeen. The song debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, a remarkable result for a first single.
It also set a record for the most streams in a single day on Spotify for a non holiday song at the time. She wrote the track with Dan Nigro, and its success set up her debut album, Sour, later that year. She turned eighteen a few weeks after the song was released.
