Right on schedule, Time magazine published its annual listicle of the year’s most influential people earlier in April. A celebratory gala was held for the 100 individuals honored but only a select six will be able to boast their own covers as part of the magazine’s tradition.
Those six names include journalist Gayle King, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, actress Sandra Oh, Nancy Pelosi, Taylor Swift and Egyptian soccer player Mohamed Salah.
As always, the contenders were famous, esteemed and high-ranking individuals from several categories. The categories ranged from pioneers, leaders and titans to artists and icons. According to Time, they choose who makes the list based on their inspiration as teachers. At the TIME 100 summit, the influencers have the chance to connect in one room and forge changes to come.
Notable entities to make the 2019 list include transgender model and actor Indya Moore. Joining them in the pioneer category is Naomi Osaka, the 21-year-old tennis player making a name for herself. Osaka was ranked No. 1 in the world by the Women’s Tennis Association and she continues to make records as an Asian player.
Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek won a spot on the list after being nominated by actor Robert Downey Jr.
R. Kelly’s life and legal battles made plenty of headlines this year and while his name is not on the most influential list, the creator of the docuseries exposing him is. dream hampton was nominated by Tarana Burke, who started the #MeToo movement back in 2006.
Not very often does a reggaetón artist show up on Time’s list, but Dominican and Puerto Rican trap artist Ozuna managed to. The reason may be that he holds the title of the artist with the most YouTube videos with a billion views or more.
After landing on Time’s Next Generation Leader series in 2018, the K-pop boyband BTS, Beyond The Scene, made it on this list by no surprise. Alongside the band are fellow artists Ariana Grande and Khalid.
Iconic names grounded to the public are Michelle Obama, Spike Lee and Lady Gaga — all of whom made the list.
Within the last year, the name Christine Blasey Ford became synonymous with women’s rights. America watched her give a tearful testimony against Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, and now both of their names are recognized by Time.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were placed in the same “Leaders” category alongside Donald Trump.
Time magazine just last year awarded their person of the year denomination to slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This year, they gave the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohamed bin Zayed, a position on the list. Zayed is a close ally of Khashoggi’s suspected murderer, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman.
This year’s list showcased 48 women, which is higher than the previous year’s count of 45 women.
