The power of social media is strong.
Social media has always been a powerful tool for those seeking fame, success, and recognition. In case anyone has forgotten, Justin Bieber rose to fame through YouTube. However, in the past few years, and ever since the pandemic, some of today’s biggest artists, have found their start on TikTok. Thanks to the platform, it's easier than ever to amass a large following and catapult into the public sphere.
Here are a few of our favorite artists who started their careers by dominating on TikTok.
Lil Nas X
Who could possibly forget “Old Town Road”, the inescapable country rap banger that made us fall in love with Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus?
Even though this song was everywhere in the summer of 2019, it didn’t really blow up until Lil Nas X uploaded the song to TikTok. The smash went viral instantly and entered the Billboard Hot 100 in March. The song catapulted Lil Nas X to stardom, and has one of the longest runs at number one in chart history.
Loren Gray
Loren Gray started uploading videos online at the age of 13 when TikTok was known as “Musical.ly”(what a time to be alive). Since then she has become the 15th most followed person on TikTok. It should therefore come as no surprise that she has found success in the music industry.
Her most notable song is “Queen”, which has amassed 19 million views on YouTube. Others will know her as the tennis player in Taylor Swift’s music video for “The Man”.
Dove Cameron
Dove Cameron propelled to new heights of fame when she dropped her hit song “Boyfriend”, which has become a viral hit on TikTok. The catchy song has been used as the inspiration for many trends on the social media platform.
However, Cameron was already in the limelight before “Boyfriend”, as she is known for starring in the Disney Channel series, Liv and Maddie and the Disney movie franchise, Desendants. But it was TikTok that exposed her to a larger audience - where she now has 12.2 million followers.
Priscilla Block
Priscilla moved to Nashville in 2020 after graduating high school in order to pursue a career as a country artist. However, as we very well know, 2020 was not an easy year, and COVID-19 all but halted the little momentum that she had had going. Not willing to give up on her dreams, she uploaded her song “Just About Over You” to TikTok, a song that was inspired by a run-in with her ex.
Her fans initiated a GoFundMe campaign to get the song recorded, and it was not much later that she had a number-one hit on iTunes and offers from various record labels.
Addison Rae
Addison Rae started posting TikToks in 2019, and has since garnered 88 million followers - and counting. In 2021, Forbes named her the highest-earning TikTok personality, to which she has said:
“I attribute all my social media growth across all platforms to one thing: consistency. I am always really active. Daily, I post three to five pieces of content on each platform. People notice how often I post, how much I interact with them, and people really like that.”
You may have also heard her song “Obsessed” and seen her in the Netflix film “He’s All That” (2021).
Charli D'Amelio
Charlie D’Amelio started by posting dance videos on TikTok. She quickly captured the attention of many others - and became the most followed person on the platform (until she was surpassed by Khaby Lame in July 2022).
She is known for capturing the latest TikTok trends, from dancing to lip-syncing. Charli currently stars in her own reality show, The D'Amelio Show, along with her sister Dixie. You can check it out on Hulu.