The best musicians to follow on TikTok: Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X and more

Ed Barnes
Lil Nas X, Charlie Puth, Charli XCX, Britney Spears

Billie Eilish, Joe Jonas, Joe Jonas, Britney Spears: Here are some of the best music artists on TikTok right now helping their songs blow up, providing us with some good quality humor and content. 

The new test for any music artist right now is building up a following on TikTok. With millions of users worldwide and an algorithm that quickly allows content to go viral, a viral song can raise your career profile.

Two good examples of this are Olivia Rodrigo, whose career blew up after her songs ‘deja vu’ and ‘drivers’ license’ became viral trends. The second being Charli XCX who saw a rise in popularity after an old song of hers became a viral dance challenge.

To compile this list, music artists like Dua Lipa have been left out as a lot of their content hasn’t specifically with TikTok in mind featuring clips from music videos and concert performances.

Famous TikTokers like Addison Rae, Dixie D’Amelio, and Bella Poarch who have ventured into the music industry after gaining a following have also been left out.

Charli XCX

British singer Charli XCX is one of the most active users on TikTok with 78 videos posted since January 2020. These have ranged from jokes about having to sign douches for fans, dancing in a green spandex suit, to dancing with Addison Rae and Charli D’Amelio.

In November 2020, one of Charli’s songs ‘Unlock It’ went insanely viral on the app.

Since then, her following has only increased with one of her latest videos getting over 13.5 million views splicing together a promotional video for her new album with a clip from the horror film ‘Hereditary’.

Charlie Puth

One unexpected star on TikTok is ‘See You Again’ singer Charli Puth who regularly posted content though largely unfiltered. His videos have come in the form of duets, putting his own spin on trends, jokes about large male genitalia, and his life as a single man.

Charlie Puth

A recent video of his that has over 17.3 million views has Puth breaking down the creation of The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber’s new song ‘Stay’.

Lizzo

Lizzo has long been one of TikTok’s top music stars posting videos of her doing dance trends, dueting with herself, and much more. She also uses her TikTok to promote self-worth and self-love and isn’t afraid to be sexual.

One video of hers that has received over 16 million views just shows Lizzo eating a variety of vegetables throughout her day including a long eggplant.

She’s also been heavily promoting her new single through her videos using a call with Cardi B to tease the new song as well as using a viral sound from the app.  Since receiving hate for her new song, Lizzo has sought to amplify positive voices over the negative.

Joe Jonas

Despite releasing the odd single in the last few years, you’d be forgiven for thinking Joe Jonas no longer existed in the spotlight. However, he’s very active on TikTok with 96 videos and 4.1 million followers. He often duets with fans and other users and is also not afraid to poke fun at himself.

Joe Jonas
Jonas poked fun at when he used to have long hair in a TikTok recently

A recent video of his with over 11 million views where Jonas videoed himself looking all moody as he walked down the street. He’s wearing a wig reminiscent of his days in the Jonas brothers while a 2007 song by the Jonas Brothers ‘S.O.S.’ plays.

  • Read more: Love Islander goes viral for playing the piano “like a six year-old”

Other recent videos include Jonas videoing an animated giant duck outside his balcony and showing off his gymnastics skills to Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘traitor’. He isn’t the only Jonas brother to be a hit on TikTok either.

Doja Cat

No music artist has mastered the art of going viral on TikTok more than Doja Cat (Amala Dlamini). Many of her biggest hits from ‘Candy’ to ‘Say So’ to ‘Streets’ came about after featuring viral challenges and trends on the app.

Most of Dlamini’s videos on her TikTok are just offering her thoughts of the day, often appearing makeup keeping her account personal and casual for fans.

With catchy melodies and iconic lyrics, it’s not too surprising that Doja Cat’s songs have gone viral on an app where that combination is bound to start a trend. A recent single of hers, ‘Kiss Me More’, was the latest to start a trend and has been used over 2.8 million times. ‘Say So’ is nearly 14 million.

One video featured Doja mocking another user on the app when they claimed “hot girl summer does not exist“. The video went insanely viral getting over 50 million views.

Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo, like Doja Cat, is another music artist who has managed to crack the code for getting her songs to go viral.

Her debut single ‘drivers’ license has been used more than 2 million times and her follow-ups ‘good 4 u’ and ‘deja vu’ have been used 3 million and 1.7 million times respectively.

Olivia Rodrigo
Rodrigo recently used her social media following to encourage vaccination takeup and went to the White House.

The videos on her TikTok have all received at least ten million views. Her most viewed video that has been seen more than 60 million times is she discussed the journey that ‘drivers’ license’ took to becoming a single. The song has sold more than 3 million copies in the US alone.

Britney Spears

The world’s chanting #FreeBritney from CorpseHusband to Elon Musk but did you know that she had a TikTok account too? A lot of the videos show Britney showing off her latest outfits as well as seeking to be empowering to her fans.

Britney Spears
Spears likes to show off her outfits on TikTok

One recent video of hers was captioned “We all have our own ways to work on our bodies and I respect that cause we all should.” One of her most popular videos is her wishing her LGBTQ+ fans a happy Pride month.

Billie Eilish

Just ahead of Selena Gomez, Billie Eilish sits at number 3 behind BTS and Jason Derulo for music artists with the most followers. Eilish posts relatable content from her eating bread to using funny filters like the time warp scan.

One of her most viewed videos is a reaction to a TikTok featuring a person talking about a stick her deceased dog used to love. Other posts by Eilish include using the viral Time warp scan as well as promoting her new album.

Lil Nas X

Lil Nas X is no stranger to going viral with his account blowing up when he recently teased a new single by making out that he was going to jail. The strategy worked with the song ‘Industry Baby’ becoming a smash hit with over 80 million views on YouTube already.

Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X went massively viral on TikTok when promoting his latest single

Lil Nas usually claps back at haters in his videos, sharing his tweets, and jokingly teased an uncensored version of his music video.

Camilla Cabello

Having posted 46 videos in her time on TikTok, Camilla Cabello is no stranger to going viral with some videos of hers getting more than 20 million views. One viral TikTok features both Camilla and Shawn Mendes staring at the camera while a filter plays with their mouth and nose.

Camila Cabello
Camila’s TikToks are often filmed at home with some even featuring boyfriend Shawn Mendes.

She went viral a few weeks ago for a body-positive TikTok after she showed her belly out in public while running.

About The Author

Ed is a former writer for Dexerto based in England who covered entertainment, influencer news, and trends. Ed was previously the editor at The Gryphon, the student newspaper at the University of Leeds, as well as the current Social Media Editor for the Indiependent with articles in several publications.