Hit Girls: Britney, Taylor, Beyonc?, and the Women Who Built Pop's Shiniest Decade

An entertaining and deeply nostalgic dive into how female pop stars broke through the music industry in the 2000s and altered the cultural landscape forever, from the Ringer writer and Every Single Album podcast cohost

Low-rise jeans, butterfly clips, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, and Paris Hilton's nights out. The early 2000s were a time of major moments in fashion, media, celebrity culture, and especially music. The aughts were a particularly fruitful era for female artists--still the only decade in the history of recorded music when women made up more than half the list of highest-grossing performers--and especially pop stars. Artists such as Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and Beyonc? were leading the charge--their success not only leading to a new respect for female artists, but for pop stardom itself.

In Hit Girls, Nora Princiotti examines how these artists redefined the role of the pop star within the music industry and culture more broadly, and fundamentally set the stage for the women who top the charts today. Princiotti unpacks the shifts in genre, technology, and celebrity culture that sparked this evolution through the stories of the biggest names in aughties pop. Like how Britney opened the bubblegum floodgates at the start of the decade, inspiring both copycats like Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson and mall punk antagonists like Avril Lavigne and Ashlee Simpson. Or how innovations in technology led to the rise of EDM as Rihanna experimented with sound while Ke$ha and Katy Perry embraced the "party anthem."

Along the way, Princiotti explores how celebrity evolved alongside the changes in media from the tabloid days ? la Lindsay Lohan to MySpace, Instagram and how Taylor created one of the largest, most dedicated fandoms the world has ever seen.

The ultimate love letter to pop music, Hit Girls celebrates the women who revolutionized the genre, inspired the next generation, and--in some cases--are burning brighter than ever.

Author: Nora Princiotti
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 06/17/2025
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.82lbs
Size: 8.25h x 5.50w x 0.59d
ISBN: 9780593725085

About the Author
Nora Princiotti is an author and a staff writer at The Ringer where she covers culture, from Taylor Swift to the National Football League. Princiotti also hosts the pop music podcast Every Single Album. She was previously a reporter for The Boston Globe covering the New England Patriots dynasty. Nora Princiotti lives in New York City.