The GOATs right now
Closest races
On the move
New contenders
Greatest male singerof all time?
Who's the greatest male singer of all time? Nobody leads yet.
Tap a photo or use the ← → keys. The next matchup loads on its own.
The table
Rating ± certainty · updates live
| Pos | Contender | Rating | Win % | Week | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Michael Jackson
Thriller, best-selling album ever |
1,500 ±350 | 50% | ||
| 2 |
Freddie Mercury
Queen's Live Aid set (1985) |
1,500 ±350 | 50% | ||
| 3 |
Elvis Presley
Among the best-selling solo artists ever |
1,500 ±350 | 50% | ||
| 4 |
Stevie Wonder
25 Grammys |
1,500 ±350 | 50% | ||
| 5 |
Frank Sinatra
Defined the Great American Songbook |
1,500 ±350 | 50% | ||
| 6 |
Prince
Oscar for the Purple Rain score |
1,500 ±350 | 50% | ||
| 7 |
Elton John
Best-selling single since charts began |
1,500 ±350 | 50% | ||
| 8 |
The Weeknd
Blinding Lights, Billboard's top Hot 100 song |
1,500 ±350 | 50% | ||
| 9 |
Ed Sheeran
Shape of You, a Spotify all-timer |
1,500 ±350 | 50% | ||
| 10 |
Luciano Pavarotti
Best-selling classical album ever |
1,500 ±350 | 50% |
Ratings use Glicko, a version of chess's Elo that also tracks how sure we are (the ± figure). Beat a higher-rated rival and you gain more, and the less sure we are about a contender, the more one vote moves them. On the real site the official table is recalculated from all votes every few minutes, so a matchup that gets voted on a lot doesn't count extra. Why a chess rating and not upvotes?
Missing someone?
Nominate a contender or back someone else's nomination. When 500 readers back the same name, it joins the field after a quick check.
Fair play
Nobody picks matchups by hand. Every visitor gets their own stream, drawn by a matchmaker that spreads votes across the whole field.
- Least-seen first. Contenders with few matches come up more, so new entries get rated fast.
- Unsure ratings first. The bigger the ± on a rating, the more often it gets tested.
- Close contests. Evenly matched pairs tell us more than mismatches.
- Wildcards and no repeats. One matchup in seven is fully random, and you never see the same pair twice.
Your matchups so far
Who gets shown: 1,000 visitors × 10 matchups
Perfectly even split
The Sci-Fi Cup
In association with [Streaming partner] · Sponsored
The sponsor's name goes on the cup. Results come from votes only.