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Our culture seems obsessed with pulling the curtain back on pop singers—even fictional ones. With the eras of Mickey Mouse Club alums Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera dominating the pop culture scene throughout the late 90s and early aughts, paparazzi went to borderline dangerous lengths to capture the stars in their off-time.
The infatuation with pop icons has prompted the creation of fictional characters from the Oscar-winning film A Star is Born (2019) featuring Lady Gaga as Ally Maine to Sam Levinson’s ultra-controversial take on the grueling side of fame in “The Idol” starring Lily Rose-Depp as Jocelyn.
Prominent films and series float to the top of the entertainment charts with manufactured songs for their “pop stars,” and audiences can’t get enough of the troupe. In honor of these fictional singers, a Twitter post by @PopCrave ignited a fiery debate about which of them reigns supreme, and one Disney icon trended right to the top.
Who's your favorite fictional pop star? pic.twitter.com/3xq0zAZcXC
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 14, 2023
The Most Convincing Pop Star
Although Johnny Depp‘s daughter is garnering media attention for her portrayal of Jocelyn in “The Idol,” the lineup in the popular Twitter post points to a common theme: real-life pop stars are the most convincing fictional ones.
With the Grammy-winning Ariana Grande portraying singer Riley Bina in 2021’s Don’t Look Up and Grammy winner Lady Gaga gripping audiences in A Star Is Born (2019), they delivered artistic performances that imitated their lives in the music world.
Credit: Disney
But one pop star truly gave Disney fans the best of worlds. Although Hilary Duff’s iconic “Lizzie McGuire” raked in countless fans during her Disney run, it’s hard to beat the best Disney icon ever to do it: Hannah Montana.
One of the most popular responses to the original tweet came from @khalidauad, naming two pop characters that Miley Cyrus played:
Hannah Montana and Ashley O
Hannah Montana and Ashley O
— Khalid (@khalidauad) June 14, 2023
Not only is Miley Cyrus a pop icon in real life, but she spent four seasons as the Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana. With her dad Billy Ray Cyrus doubling as her onscreen pop, Disney star Hannah Montana blew other pop stars out of the water. Selling out stadiums in her “Best of Both Worlds” tour, Cyrus pulled off a two-for-one pop star deal for fans nationwide.
The pop icon gets bonus points for another stint as an onscreen pop star in Netflix’s chilling series “Black Mirror.” In the episode “Rachel, Jack, and Ashley Too,” Cyrus becomes obsessed with a robot doll while confronting the challenges of pop stardom and an abusive family member managing her.
With two influential pop star roles under her chunky 2000s-style belt, Cyrus continues to dominate the pop charts in real-time, with hits like “Flowers” reaching one billion streams. While Ashley O. was noteworthy in fictional pop history, no one can forget Hannah Montana’s imaginary and non-fictional grip on the pop world.
