*Featured image credit: Selena Gomez at the 2016 American Music Awards held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, USA

If you believe the hype, and there seems to be some evidence to support it, Instagram is the new religion. It can make you famous, it can make you rich, it can get you a job, it can be your next job. There are people will sell their first children to get followers.

However, there is one thing you can do to get Instagram followers without making deals with the devil, and that is by becoming famous first. The irony is that the most followed people on Instagram didn’t get famous on Instagram, they were famous already. Celebrities are the ones to watch on Instagram, and the ones with the most followers are the ones that are the hardest to keep up with.

Here’s our list of some of the most followed celebrities on Instagram.

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez has come a long way from being known as Mrs. Bieber. In fact, the pop princess has beaten the Bieb’s Instagram by a long shot. With 130 million followers compared to Bieber’s paltry 93.9,

So, what is it about Selena that makes her so well-likable? Well, first off, she’s cute as a button. She’s part Mexican, and part Italian, and born in Texas, so that means she was hot stuff as soon as she was born, and it didn’t take her long to get her career off to a smoking start.

To understand why Selena has so many followers, it might be partly because she’s so hard to keep up with. She’s a ‘baby dubstep phenomenon, a UNICEF ambassador, an actress, and she’s had enough personal drama to keep us all on our toes. She’s received an American Music Award, two Billboard Women in Arts Awards” and sixteen Teen Choice Awards.  Are you still following? 130 million people are.

Kim Kardashian

What’s the best way to keep up with a Kardashian? Follow her on Instagram. That’s what 100 million people do to Kim Kardashian West.

No Disney princess here, Kim launched to stardom after a leaked sex tape with Ray J put her and her family on the map. Over eleven years later, they’re still there. How did this high school grad manage to build such an impressive resume?

To the outsider, it may look like Kim Kardashian did relatively little to gain so much, but to her Instagram followers, it seems like she never took a moment off. She went through multiple marriages and divorces, became the face for several clothing and beauty companies, posed nude for Playboy and never missed a moment to snap the perfect selfie. Now a mom with kids of her own, we’re still trying to keep up. Here’s to 100 million more.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

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Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson has something for the whole family. Kids love him as the bad boy good guy in “The Furious Five” franchise. Dads love him for his one of the guys football player image, and moms love him for that rock hard body and irresistible smile. Altogether, it makes for a pretty strong Instagram following. The Rock has 120.9 million followers and counting.

The Rock began his career as a wrestler, and the ring name stuck. He made his acting debut playing his own father on “That 70’s Show,” in an episode called “That Wrestling Show.” From there, Johnson’s career as an action movie star took off. By December of 2013, after the reprising his role as Luke Hobbs in “Fast and Furious 6,” Forbes named Johnson the top grossing actor of the year, with his films bringing in over 1.3 billion dollars.

But even though even though he is most noted for his wrestling and acting work, it might be his Instagram account that he works the hardest on. On May 15, 2015, he set a Guinness Book World Record for posting the most selfies in three minutes when taking pictures with fans during the premiere of his movie, “San Andreas”

Not only is the Rock upon his Instagram account, but he also has a great Instagram image. From daddy pictures to celebrating Women’s Day to donating money for charity, the Rock is a superhero 24/7. Now there are rumors of him running for president in the 2020 elections. Looks like he’s building up a pretty good resume.

Justin Bieber

If there’s anything that’s had more ups and downs than Justin Bieber himself, it’s his Instagram account.

Justin Bieber is the classic story of good boy gone bad. When we first met him, he was the boy every girl dreamed about. When he sang “Baby,” girls “beleibed.” Lines of fans camped lined up overnight to get tickets just to be in the same room with him, hearing him sing to them. His baby doll face and floppy hair postered the walls of girl’s bedrooms everywhere. When he began his relationship with Selena Gomez, Beliebers couldn’t follow the couple closely enough.

When puberty set in, Justin’s image took a turn. His heavily tatted body, street style look and new way of speaking (Wassup?) alienated his fans. His Instagram account featured mug shots. His Beliebers had a hard time “beleibing.” Now more people followed him to see how low he had fallen. For Justin, it was a dark time. His relationship with Selena went stale.

But fans of “the Bieb” know he never says never, and neither does his Instagram account. Now that he and new lady Hailey Baldwin have made it official, they’ve also made it Internet official. Now Instagrammers are in a frenzy to watch the two on their PDA parade, locking lips and mooning over one another for anyone who is interested. And from the Instagram stats, it looks like a lot of people are. 97.1 million to be precise. Apparently, some fans never stopped “Beliebing.”

Kylie Jenner

Now that Kim has cemented her supreme reign in the Kardashian Queendom, it seems she’s passing down some of her royal duties to her younger sisters.  While Kim takes time out for motherhood, Kim and Kylie are following in her footsteps and garnering a huge Instagram following as well.

If anything proves that Kim Kardashian can serve as a role model, its Kylie Jenner. Kylie first stirred up controversy when she got lip fillers at the tender age of 15. But instead of letting the haters hate, Kylie capitalized on her daring decision by starting the Kylie Lip Kits (now Kylie Cosmetics) cosmetic company. Instagrammers zoomed in on her pout and her line took off. When she reached 21, with a net worth of $900 million, Forbes Magazine predicted she would become the youngest billionaire of all time. (Mark Zuckerberg hit his first mil at 23.)

That’s not the only thing Kylie has gotten an early start on. On February 1, 2018, Kylie announced the birth of her child Stormi Webster with rapper Travis Scott. Like sister, like sister.

Where’s this young entrepreneur headed next? Follow her on Instagram. 155 million people already do.

Beyonce

Sometimes it seems the more we know about Beyonce, the more questions we have. Who bit Beyonce? Who is Becky with the good hair? What really happened that night with Solange and Jay Z in the elevator? Celebrities speculate, but Beyonce remains an enigma wrapped in a mystery.

Onstage, she’s Queen Bee. She leads dancers through highly choreographed steps without breaking a sweat. She’s gracious kind and always smiling. One might say she’s flawless. Her “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) became the anthem of bachelorettes everywhere.  But is there an introspective side to this popstar exterior?

There have been classes devoted to analyzing her lyrics. She has been applauded for her staunch feminism and politicism. She has been praised for her challenges to traditional class notions. But most of us just want to know who bit her.

That’s why we follow her on Instagram. She always keeps us guessing. That’s why she’s one hundred and eight million strong and counting.

Christiano Ronaldo

Christiano Ronaldo is a winner. He’s the Portuguese professional footballer who plays forward for an Italian team Juventas and the Portugal National Team. He’s won 26 trophies and holds records for the most official goals scored in Europe’s top leagues. And now he’s winning on Instagram. He’s just passed Selena Gomez’s Instagram stats, and with his winning streak, he’s probably not likely to let up in the near future.

You don’t have to be a football fan to follow Christiano Ronaldo. First of all, he looks like he’s photoshopped. Whether he’s posing for an endorsement, posing with his team, or just posing, there is no bad side to this guy. But, sorry girls, he’s taken and very much so.

While Christiano’s looks and athleticism are bringing him attention on Instagram, followers love him most for his pictures with his family. His announcement of the birth of his daughter Alana Martina had Instagrammers in a frenzy, and his six-month-old twins are getting no shortage of attention.

Want to see more of Christiano and his adorable family? Follow him on Instagram. 140 million people already are.

Ariana Grande

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Remember the Ariana Grande donut debacle? When the pop princess was caught licking donuts it topped the Inland area’s 10 biggest moments in pop culture. If she can get so much attention licking donuts, one can only speculate on the size of her Instagram following.

Ariana first caught our attention playing the dimwitted Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon show “Victorious.” That also led to her musical debut. In 2011, the release of the soundtrack of “Victorious” launched her singing career. Her first solo album yours truly debuted on the top ten of Billboard Magazine’s 200. In 2017, Time magazine named her one of the most influential people in the world on their annual list. If her Instagram numbers are anything to go by, she more than earned the title.

Most recently, Ariana’s failed relationship with SNL funnyman Pete Davidson is getting her a lot of Instagram buzz as well. She’s thanking fans for support with recent posts about her “challenging, painful, and yet beautiful” relationship.

“What an interesting, challenging, yet beautiful and exciting chapter of my life,” she writes, ”When it rains, it pours, but I’m embracing all of it. I’m excited for whatever the universe has in store for me.”

So are we, Ariana. With 134.2 million followers, you’ve got a lot to be excited about.

Taylor Swift

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Unlike Beyonce, Taylor Swift is anything but discreet talk about her private life. Her trademark narrative songs spilling the beans on her relationships with celeb boyfriends showed her Instagram followers that she was more than willing to share.

No matter what your take on Taylor’s songwriting, it seems to have worked for her. It’s probably safe to say that her song,” Shake It Off” could have broken records just for the number of times it has been heard playing from girl’s bedrooms and her song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” probably saw a lot of Swifties through some pretty heartbreaking relationships.

She began playing guitar at the age of twelve and took to songwriting immediately. She’s received a list of awards and honors longer than her list of ex-boyfriends, feuded with Kanye West and Katy Perry, launched two Elizabeth Arden fragrances and fell off a treadmill in an Apple Music Commercial. That’s quite a lot to keep her followers on their toes.

Good girl, bad girl, or girl next door? No matter how you weigh in, you weigh in. Taylor’s got 113 million followers weighing in as we speak.