Charli D'Amelio has taken over as TikTok's biggest star. These are the 40 most popular creators on the viral video app
TikTok recently crowned a new creator as its No. 1 star. Here are the 39 other stars chasing Charli D'Amelio's meteoric rise to the top.
Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images; Araya Diaz/WireImage; Thomas Petrou/UTA; TikTok; Samantha Lee/Business Insider
- TikTok is one of the most popular social platforms, particularly among Gen Z.
- Some of the most popular creators have millions of followers who watch them lip-sync, dance, and produce comedy skits.
- These are the 40 most popular TikTok stars who found fame on the platform.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
The most popular figures on social media platforms like TikTok are well beyond mega-celebrity status in the eyes of their teen fans.
These TikTok stars claim millions of followers - many who are of part of Gen Z themselves - and found fame by creating short video clips lip-syncing to soundbites, showing off viral dances, and crafting comedy skits that get shared thousands of times. Even if you've never heard of the app, it's worth getting familiar with. TikTok has more than 1.5 billion all-time downloads, and its popularity and influence only continues to spread.
TikTok is both a launchpad for some of the biggest trends on the internet: think Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," which set Billboard chart records in 2019, or TikTok's homebrewed "Ratatouille" musical, which was formed through collaboration on the app in 2020.
However, it's also proven its worth as a celebrity incubator. In November 2020, 16-year-old Charli D'Amelio became the first TikTok star to hit over 100 million followers, and all of the app's top stars have follower counts that name in the tens of millions. Now, TikTok stars like D'Amelio or Addison Rae have gone on to secure TV and podcast deals.
Note that this list consists of independent creators who blew up online thanks to TikTok or its predecessor, Musical.ly. The rankings exclude accounts run by companies, and those from users who got famous first through other means - like former Vine stars Cameron Dallas and Zach King, and JoJo Siwa and Mackenzie Ziegler of "Dance Moms" fame.
These are the 40 biggest stars on TikTok:
Kody Antle has been a social media star since before his father, Bhagavan "Doc" Antle, appeared on the Netflix series "Tiger King." He began posting on TikTok before his father appeared on "Tiger King," and his first video on the app is dated to September 2019.
Referred to as a "real-life Tarzan," Kody Antle has become one of TikTok's most popular accounts by posting videos from the Myrtle Beach Safari, which frequently feature tigers and other animals.
39. Beauty Khan - 21.5 millionBeauty Khan/YouTube
Beauty Khan became one of India's most popular TikTok stars through a mix of dance and lip-sync content.
By follower count, she remains one of the most popular accounts on the app. Her most recent video was posted on June 30, the day after TikTok was banned in India.
(TIE) 37. WigoFellas -21.7 millionWigoFellas rose to fame through posting comedy and prank content. The pranks frequently include members of WigoFellas' family.
Little is known about the man behind it, but posts on the account date back to 2018.
(TIE) 37. Naim Darrechi - 21.7 millionNaim Darrechi appears to have begun posting videos on Musical.ly, TikTok's predecessor, in 2016. Since then, he's built a significant following by posting dance, lip-sync, and comedy videos, and is a member of creator collective Privé Crew.
Darrechi is also a musician, and most recently released the single "Escápate."
36. JeanCarlo Leon - 21.8JeanCarlo León, also known by his TikTok and Instagram handle @jashlem, appears to have begun posting on Musical.ly, TikTok's predecessor, in 2017.
He posts a variety of lifestyle, vlog, dance, and lip-sync content, and is a member of creator collective Privé Crew.
35. Ondreaz Lopez - 22.1 millionOndreaz Lopez, 23, is the older brother to Tony Lopez. The pair of brothers rose to fame together with dance content and by association with the Hype House early in 2020.
In late 2020, he released the single "No Baila."
34. Domelipa (Dominik) - 22.2 millionDominik, perhaps better known by her handle @domelipa, is 19 years old according to online celebrity tracking site Famous Birthdays.
The creator is from Moterrey, Mexico, and appears to have begun posting on TikTok predecessor Musical.ly in early 2018, and now posts a mix of dance, lifestyle, and lip-sync content.
33. Avneet Kaur - 22.6 millionAvneet Kaur first emerged on the scene as a contestant on an Indian reality dance competition in 2010 at 9 years old, but has since become a popular actress and choreographer.
The 18-year-old Kaur frequently features on her TikTok behind-the-scenes footage from her time on set and lipsync videos with family and friends. Her most recent TikTok post dates to June 29, the day that TikTok was banned in India.
32. Noah Beck - 22.7 millionfupp/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
Noah Beck, 19, was named one of TikTok's top creators of 2020.
A member of the Sway House, he's a former D-1 soccer player and is known for lifestyle and comedy content.
31. Piyanka Mongia - 22.7 million@piyanka_mongia/TikTok
Piyanka Mongia, 23, appears to have begun posting on TikTok in 2018 and was one of India's most popular stars on the app.
She posted predominately lip-sync and dance videos, and her last posts date to June 30, just after TikTok was banned in India.
30. Tony Lopez - 22.8 millionTony Lopez, 21, rose to fame alongside his older brother Ondreaz Lopez by posting dance videos.
In the past, he's been associated with the Hype House influencer collective, and in June came under scrutiny for past tweets that contained racist, sexist, and homophobic statements.
(TIE) 28. Junya - 23.3 million@junya1gou/TikTok
Junya, also known by his TikTok handle @junya1gou, appears to have started posting on TikTok in mid-2019.
In the time since, he's risen to fame with a variety of wild comedy videos that feature him engaging in ridiculous stunts, performing dances, and generally being extremely funny. Despite having over 23 million followers, his account still hasn't been verified.
(TIE) 28. Jayden Croes - 23.3 millionJay Croes, 22, is the younger half of popular social media sibling duo Croes Bros. The two brothers grew up in Aruba, where life was "pure and simple," then started to grow their fanbase on Musical.ly in 2015.
27. Rodrigo Contreras - 23.5 million@elrodcontreras/TikTok
Rodrigo Contreras, 21, is also known by his handle @elrodcontreras.
A Mexican TikTok star, he appears to have started posting on the app when in 2017 (when it was Musical.ly) and posts primarily dance and lip-sync videos.
(TIE) 25. Savannah LaBrant & Family - 23.7 millionSavannah Labrant is the matriarch of a family with a wildly popular social media presence. Her husband, Cole, is a former Vine star known as part of a dancing trio dubbed "Dem White Boyz."
The couple's YouTube channel about their family has more than 10 million subscribers, and their two children — age 6 and 7 months — each have Instagram followings of over 1 million.
(TIE) 25. Josh Richards - 23.7 millionJosh Richards, 18, is one of the six TikTok stars living in Sway LA, a rented house in Los Angeles designed for its creators to easily engage in content collaboration and video production.
24. Jacob Sartorius - 24 millionJacob Sartorius was one of the most popular stars on Musical.ly, which has helped the 16-year-old launch a mildly successful career in music.
Sartorius also made headlines in 2018 as part of a much-publicized relationship with "Stranger Things" star Millie Bobby Brown.
23. Sameeksha Sud - 24.5 millionSameeksha Sud is known for her comedic sketches alongside two other India TikTok stars, and the three of them altogether run a successful YouTube channel called TeenTigada.
The 27-year-old Sud is also an actress, but has gained in popularity thanks to TikTok. Her most recent video was uploaded on June 29, the day that TikTok was banned in India.
22. Kristen Hancher - 24.7 millionKristen Hancher has gained an incredibly large fanbase who have watched the 21-year-old through years of lip-syncing videos and dozens of hair color changes.
Hancher, originally from Canada, announced in 2019 that she was joining Team 10, the Jake Paul-founded influencer collective, but as Seventeen reported she later left the group.
21. Awez Darbar - 26 millionAwez Darbar is a 27-year-old dancer from India known for posting videos showing his original choreography to viral hits.
The most recent video on his account was posted on June 29, the day that TikTok was banned in India.
20. The Dobre Twins - 26.8 millionLucas and Marcus Dobre are a pair of 21-year-old twins whose TikTok videos comprise comedic skits, pranks, gymnastics, and vlogs.
The twin brothers also create content for YouTube with their older brothers Cyrus and Darius, and the four embarked on a cross-country tour in 2019 to meet fans.
19. Joe Albanese - 27.6 millionJoe Albanese, 19, rose to fame with his breakdance skills and an assortment of colored wigs.
The first video on his TikTok account is dated to December 2018, and in the time since, he's become one of the app's most-followed stars by posting videos that frequently feature members of his family and focus on dance and comedy.
18. Nisha Guragain - 28 millionNisha Guragain is a 22-year-old from India who capitalizes on viral trends by recording lip-sync videos to songs growing in popularity on TikTok.
Her most recent video was posted on June 28, one day before TikTok was banned in India.
17. Jannat Zubair Rahmani - 28.2 millionJannat Zubair Rahmani is a 19-year-old actress whose career started at 8 years old. She has since found success on TikTok as one of India's most popular accounts, where she shares music she produces and shares lip-syncing videos.
Her most recent video was posted on June 24, several days before TikTok was banned in India.
(TIE) 15. Lilhuddy (aka Chase Hudson) - 28.6 millionChase Hudson/YouTube
Chase Hudson, 18, has rocketed to fame as another member of the Los Angles-based creator collective, Hype House.
Hudson, who goes by Lilhuddy online, is perhaps just as well known for dating Charli D'Amelio, the 15-year-old who recently took over as the most followed creator on TikTok.
(TIE) 15. Arishfa Khan - 28.6 millionArishfa Khan is a 17-year-old creator from India who got her start as a child actress at age 9. However, she gained a major following for her lip-syncing videos on her TikTok account and has since created a beauty and makeup-centric YouTube channel.
Her videos often feature fellow TikTok star Lucky Dancer. Khan posted her most recent TikTok video on June 29, the day that TikTok was banned in India.
14. The Stokes Twins - 28.7 millionAlex and Alan Stokes are 24-year-old twins who have channeled the internet's obsession with twin pairings to go viral and garner a following on YouTube and Instagram.
"It's the same reason why couples channels do well," Alan Stokes told The Atlantic in 2019. "Twins are the closest you can get to someone without it being a couple thing."
13. Czn Burak (aka Burak Özdemir) - 29.8 millionCZN Burak — whose real name is Burak Özdemir — is the most famous chef on TikTok. He's known for cooking elaborate Turkish meals while his face features a seemingly permanent, unmoving smile.
12. Avani Gregg - 29.9 millionAvani/YouTube
Avani Gregg, 18, is one of the several teens on this list who shot into the TikTok elite in 2020 thanks to the launch of the collective Hype House, a group of up-and-coming creators who often collaborated on videos and viral challenges thanks to a shared house in Los Angeles.
Now with her own TV show available to view using Facebook Messenger's "watch together" feature, Gregg continues to post dance and makeup videos on TikTok.
11. Gilmher Croes - 31.4 millionGil Croes is the other half of the wildly popular Croes Brothers and is one of the older stars on TikTok at age 27. Croes told Business Insider that since starting to make videos in 2015, the brothers have been forced to change and adapt in order to maintain popularity on the platform.
"We never get comfortable, can never do the same thing that we were doing before," Croes said. "You can't please everyone, but we try to adapt in a way where people enjoy our content."
10. Mr. Faisu (aka Faisal Shaikh) - 32.1 millionMr Faisu is part of a squad of Indian creators dubbed Team 07. After he was suspended from TikTok in 2019 for violating its community guidelines, he returned in early 2020 to continue making videos and maintaining his spot as one of India's most popular creators.
His last video posted on TikTok is dated June 28, one day before TikTok was banned in India.
9. Baby Ariel (aka Ariel Martin) - 35.2 millionBaby Ariel, aka Ariel Martin, was the first individual to surpass the 20-million-followers mark on Musical.ly, and her fame has only grown from there.
The 20-year-old's illustrious TikTok fame has led to multiple gigs on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon TV shows.
8. Michael Le - 43.4 millionMichael Le began posting videos to TikTok's predecessor Musical.ly back in 2016 and has been growing his fame on the app ever since.
Known for dance videos and choreography, TikTok named him one of its top creators of 2020. Le is also the "ceo of escalator tiktoks" (as he once described himself in a video caption), regularly posting videos that show him dancing on escalators in public.
7. Riyaz Afreen - 43.7 millionRiyaz Afreen is only 17, but established himself as an actor and star by going viral on TikTok.
He has often featured other popular Indian TikTok stars on his accounts, including Mr. Faisu and Aashika Bhatia. His last posts on TikTok are dated June 29 – the day that TikTok was banned in India.
6. Dixie D'Amelio - 47 millionThomas Petrou/UTA
Dixie D'Amelio is the older sister of TikTok's biggest star, Charli. Dixie, 18, is also known for her dance videos and choreography.
D'Amelio signed a contract with a major talent agency alongside her younger sister in late 2019, and has released two singles — "Be Happy" and "One Whole Day (feat. Wiz Khalifa)" — in 2020.
5. Bella Poarch - 49.1 million@bellapoarch/TikTok
Bella Poarch was one of TikTok's breakout stars in 2020 and came to possess its most liked video — a zoomed-in lip-sync to British rapper Millie B's "M to the B."
Poarch came into TikTok fame in the latter half of 2020, posting lip-sync, dance, singing, and gaming-focused videos. While some of Poarch's personal details like her real name and age remain unclear, she's become one of TikTok's biggest stars.
4. Loren Gray - 50.2 millionJordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Loren Gray was a star on TikTok's predecessor, Musical.ly, at only 13. Gray has been a frequent part of TikTok's lip-dubbing trends and viral dance challenges and has garnered nominations at the Teen Choice Awards and People's Choice Awards for her social media presence.
She recently told Insider she was planning on focusing more on her career in music, which she's been producing since 2017. In late 2020, she launched her own jewelry brand, &always.
3. Spencer X (aka Spencer Knight) - 50.3 millionSpencer X is the stage name for Spencer Knight, a beatboxer who shows off his skills to millions on TikTok.
The 27-year-old artist has been able to turn professional thanks to a sponsorship from energy drink brand Moster Energy.
2. Addison Rae (aka Addison Easterling) - 51.3 millionAddison Rae — as 20-year-old Addison Easterling is known online — quickly rose to fame after joining TikTok in the summer of 2019.
She regularly draws hundreds of thousands of views on videos where she dances and lip-syncs to popular songs on the app and hosts a Spotify-exclusive podcast called "Mama Knows Best" with her mother, Sheri Nicole.
1. Charli D'Amelio - 103.6 millionCharli D'Amelio is officially TikTok's biggest star. After launching her channel in June 2019, the 16-year-old from Connecticut rocketed to the top of TikTok in just a matter of months through choreographed dances to viral songs.
Her breakout success has led her to a spot in Hype House, a cameo appearance in a Super Bowl commercial, and a contract with a premier talent agency. Now, her family is getting their own documentary TV show on Hulu in 2021.