A teen idol is a celebrity who is widely idolized by teenagers; he or she is often young but not necessarily teenaged. Often teen idols are actors or musicians but some sports figures have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as child actors. The idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups. Many teen idols are targeted for adults for nostalgia purposes.

There were teen idols before there were teen magazines, but idols have always been a permanent feature in magazines such as 16 magazine, Tiger Beat and Right On! in the United States, and in similar magazines elsewhere. With the advent of television, teen idols were also promoted through programs such as American Bandstand, The Ed Sullivan Show, and Soul Train. Some contemporary teen idols include Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Taylor Lautner, One Direction, Big Time Rush and Selena Gomez. Many American teen idols achieve "cross-over" success internationally, however this list is not limited to American artists alone with some people like German popstar Bill Kaulitz of the pop-rock band Tokio Hotel. In Asia, idols range from Japanese pop megastars Ayumi Hamasaki and Namie Amuro as well as Kana Nishino and Japanese music groups such as Morning Musume, AKB48, and Perfume and Johnny & Associates boy bands Arashi, NEWS, KAT-TUN, and Hey! Say! JUMP among others while Chinese pop icon Jay Chou and South Korean singers BoA and Rain and music groups TVXQ, Beast, Shinee, Super Junior, 2NE1, Big Bang, Wonder Girls, T-ara, Kara and Girls' Generation are examples.

An idol is an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed or any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion.

More specific terms include:

Marina Lambrini Diamandis (Greek: Μαρίνα-Λαμπρινή Διαμάντη, pronounced [ðʝaˈmadi]; born 10 October 1985), better known by her stage name Marina and the Diamonds (sometimes stylised as Marina & the Diamonds), is a Welsh singer-songwriter. She rose to fame after reaching number two on the BBC Sound of 2010 poll list, coming second to Ellie Goulding. After releasing one private EP, Diamandis released her second extended play, The Crown Jewels EP, with help from Neon Gold Records, in 2009. Now signed to 679 Recordings, she released her debut full length studio album, The Family Jewels, followed by her third extended play, The American Jewels EP, in 2010. In 2011, Diamandis announced that she was working on her second album, Electra Heart, which was released in April 2012 and went to #1 in the UK and Ireland.

Her stage name, "Marina and the Diamonds", consists of Diamandis' first name and the translation of her surname which means "Diamonds" in Greek. Although "The Diamonds" is often mistakenly believed to refer to her backing band, it in fact refers to Diamandis' fans: she explains this on her Myspace page by saying "I'm Marina. You are the diamonds."