Entertainment Weekly has posted up their 15 Entertainers of the 2000s, in their Best of the Decade series.  J.K. Rowling made the list at Number 3!

J.K. Rowling

As 1999 came to a close, J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter were already household names — as long as those households contained literate children with a voracious appetite for fantasy fiction. In 2000, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire — the fourth book in the British author’s seven-book cycle — ignited a global pop phenomenon that got the attention of all readers, young and young at heart. By 2007, the planet was both eagerly anticipating and deeply dreading the release of the final Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. When it finally arrived, it became clear that Rowling had nailed one of the decade’s greatest artistic achievements: finishing not just bloody well, but brilliantly. —Jeff Jensen

Harry Potter has come in at Number one for Entertainers of the Decade: Your Picks

Harry Potter

The Entertainer of the Decade is obviously Harry Potter — a franchise that covers all the cultural bases, selling books, movie tickets and merchandise. Fans whip up butterbeer batches, obsess over John Williams’ iconic score, even listen to ”wizard rock.” College students actually play Quidditch (and when someone comes up with the right jet-propulsion technology, they can play it for real). Millions of people all over the globe watched J.K. Rowling answer questions about Deathly Hallows on television. Unlike anything else, Harry Potter has literally taken over the entire world.

Heck, Harry Potter has actually inspired new entries into the Oxford English Dictionary! Muggle is now an actual, accepted word. If that doesn’t point to influence, I don’t know what does. And unlike the vast majority of names suggested by EW readers for this list, Harry Potter has actually been around (and consistently popular) for the entire decade. —James

Next come the best books of the decade!

8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)

The fourth Potter novel was the darkest yet, forcing poor Harry to contend with Death Eaters run amok and the loss of a major character. That it also encompasses some of the series’ most purely fun moments of escapism is proof of Rowling’s versatile gifts.