#5 Madonna
It’s been a long time since the Material Girl was like a virgin. In fact, 30 years after she made her debut, Madonna—through more costume changes than a one-man stage production of Ben Hur—has captured the world’s heads, hearts, and hormones with startling consistency. She’s like a flip-book of fashion, gyration, and melody bonded by a Zeitgeist-defining compunction for incessant, provocative reinvention. It’s as impossible to imagine pop culture without Madonna as it is to guess what a light bulb would do without Benjamin Franklin. From shredded wedding dresses to cone-shaped bras, fascist military fatigues to, uh, absolutely nothing, being faithful to Madonna—who has sold some 300-million albums worldwide—is getting to love a million women at the same time, and that’s something we cherish.