The winners of the 2002 reality TV show POP STARS: THE RIVALS--the show adopted a new twist on the Popstars theme, picking opposing boy and girl bands to battle it out in the U.K. charts--Girls Aloud triumphed when the single "Sound Of The Undergroun…

Videos and albums are not always the preferred formats for gaining success as a recording artist--it was an appearance in the hit Will Smith movie MEN IN BLACK that gave Destiny's Child a major boost to their recording career. From there, the all-fem…

Part hip-hop, part alternative pop-rock, the sound of Harlem native Kelis turned heads with the singer's 1999 debut release, KALEIDOSCOPE. Her striking image (she sported a multi-colored afro) didn't hurt her high profile either. While mixing rock an…

London pop trio Sugababes displayed grit and determination in overcoming obstacles that would have felled countless others, deftly negotiating three potentially career-threatening line-up changes and being dropped by their first label. Their fusion o…

Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue started out as an actress, working on the TV show NEIGHBOURS, whose UK popularity eventuated the young singer taking up with megapop production team Stock, Aitken & Waterman (who also made Rick Astley a success). W…

This UK R&B quartet comprises vocalists Carolyn Owlett (b. England), Suzie Furlonger (b. Dumfries, Scotland), Tisha Martin (b. Jamaica), and Tanya Boniface (b. Surrey, England). The 411 can trace its formation back to when Martin and Boniface met whi…

These New York art shock-rockers, formed in 2003, take camp icons like Elton John, the Bee Gees, and Billy Joel as their musical foundation for a sound that's rooted in the dance clubs of their hometown. On their debut, self-titled album they reinter…

Few expected that the best soul singer to emerge in 2003 would be a 16-year-old British girl, but that was exactly the case when Joss Stone released her debut album THE SOUL SESSIONS. Mentored by legendary R&B vocalist Betty Wright, Stone covered bot…

Getting her start as a dancer on the TV show IN LIVING COLOR, Jennifer Lopez first found stardom as an actress, then as a pop/dance singer. By the turn of the century, Lopez was one of the world's biggest celebrities. As both of her careers skyrocket…

In the late 1990s, Madonna had long since become a mature artist, turning her back on the carefree dance-pop of her early days ("Like A Virgin," "Holiday," etc.). Teenage singer Britney Spears picked up on this specific Madonna era, albeit with a mor…

The roots of Los Angeles band Maroon 5 lay in the late-1990s Weezer-influenced alt-rock outfit Kara's Flowers. After that group disbanded, the members eventually started a new band (along with a second guitarist). Rechristening themselves Maroon 5, t…

Borrowing from such flamboyant pop stars as Freddie Mercury, Elton John, and George Michael, British singer Robbie Williams started out in the boy band Take That, but soon split and launched a solo career. By the late 1990s he had become a dance/pop …

A soulful and poppy sensation from the U.K., Natasha Bedingfield outdid her older brother Daniel's pop success when her debut album went triple platinum in her homeland, and her single "These Words" became a huge charter in the U.S. Born into a music…

Hailing from Chattanooga, TN, Usher Raymond (best known by his given name) emerged in the '90s as a young R&B singer full of promise. The stars must have been aligned correctly for him, as he snagged Puffy Combs as a producer for his eponymous 1994 d…

One of S Clubs biggest solo successes after the group folded in 2003 Rachel Stevens began singing and acting as a child and won a modeling competition at age 15 After earning a degree at the London School of Fashion Stevens intended to go into fashio…

As the lead singer of California neo-ska pop-punks No Doubt, Gwen Stefani gained notoriety for her spunky, riot grrrl-lite approach to fronting a rock band. On her 2004 solo debut, LOVE. ANGEL. MUSIC. BABY., Stefani pulled a musical about-face and fu…

Beyonce Knowles rose to fame as a member of the R&B ensemble Destiny's Child. With Beyonce's father as a manager, the group garnered massive success with their 2001 album, SURVIVOR. Soon Beyonce, sporting a sexy yet girl-next-door image, broke out on…

British trio Keane, who trade in the sort of grandiose, melancholy Britpop that was the chief domain of Coldplay for much of the early 2000s, broke big with their 2004 debut album, HOPES AND FEARS. While many hear the band's sound as yet another wate…