Carrie Underwood was the winner of the fourth AMERICAN IDOL reality-TV competition. Underwood sparked a mild controversy for being the first IDOL contestant to fully embrace country music--as opposed to the more preferred Top 40 pop styles of previou…

New Jersey siblings Joseph Kevin and Nicholas Jonas craft hook-filled power pop anthems in the vein of the Ramones Hanson and the Modern Lovers The young East Coast natives -- as of 2006 the trio topped out at 16 17 and 13 respectively -- were reared…

Fergie fits in between a diminishing trance scene and the radical advent of UK garage with an uncomplicated take on hard house ethics Beginning his DJ career at the age of 14 and taken through the clubland ranks with the help of Tony De Vit Fergie ma…

Though country singer Rodney Atkins didnt get his first guitar until one Christmas in high school he took to the instrument instantly and was soon playing anywhere he could around his Cumberland Gap TN home While at college at Tennessee Tech in Cooke…

In 2005 Louisiana-born and North Carolina-raised singer Kellie Pickler landed a spot in the fifth season of American Idol Though she finished sixth the former waitress and Miss North Carolina contestant charmed American audiences with her Southern tw…

The third group to be put together through the reality television series Making the Band -- O-Town being the first Da Band being the second -- Danity Kanes membership includes five women who beat out hundreds of hopefuls Chosen by music mogul and Bad…

Sugarland began as a trio of singersongwriters from the Atlanta GA area each of whom had some level of renown as a solo performer Lead singer Jennifer Nettles had previously fronted Soul Miners Daughter and her gospel background and deep soul approac…

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…

Sister actingsinging duo Aly AJ -- whose full names are Alyson and Amanda Joy Michalka -- showed a passion for both kinds of performing at a very young age they started playing piano at age six and began acting classes soon after Born in LA the Mich…

Poprock outfit Paramore began humbly enough in Franklin TN when lead singer Hayley Williams met brothers Josh and Zac Farro guitar and drums respectively after moving into town from Mississippi The two had a young band that the burgeoning singer was …