A popular Hollywood burlesque act, the Pussycat Dolls emerged as mainstream fixtures when they became an outlet for big-name celebrities looking to embrace their inner sex kittens. As a musical act, the Dolls scored huge hits with a familiar albeit …

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…

As the very first winner of the AMERICAN IDOL television show competition, Kelly Clarkson was inevitably pegged as little more than a manufactured pop commodity. The surprisingly versatile singer managed to survive against expectations, however, and …

The Los Angeles-based hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas has made a name for itself by taking an eclectic and organic approach to rap, R&B, and funk. Led by vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Will.I.Am., the band also includes two other MCs, Apl.de.Ap. and Ta…

A green-eyed beauty with a sultry voice, Rihanna was discovered as a teenager on her island home of Barbados, and quickly signed with the venerable Def Jam records. Powered by a Soft Cell sample, her infectious dancehall/Caribbean single "Pon de Repl…

b. Sean Paul Henriques, 8 January 1973, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Paul was educated at Wolmers High School near the National Heroes Stadium, and the exclusive Bel Air High School in uptown Mandeville. His principal vocational research was at th…

Britney Spears proved that the same goldmine that Madonna and Cyndi Lauper mined in the 1980s was again ripe for the picking, and she was immediately followed up the charts by another female teenybop sensation, Christina Aguilera. Closely aligned wit…

With her multi-octave voice and more than 80 million records sold worldwide, it's no surprise that pop diva Mariah Carey is viewed as the successor to Whitney Houston. She emerged as the premier R&B/pop songstress of the 1990s, and by the end of the …

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…

Ashlee Simpson, younger sister of singer Jessica Simpson, is one of the most fascinating pop-culture phenomena of the early 2000s. Following a stint on the squeaky-clean television drama "7th Heaven," the prefabricated sensation's singing career was …

Out of the backwaters of Oklahoma rose the power-pop clatter of the All-American Rejects, whose 2002 self-titled debut album, released on the indie Doghouse Records, yielded a huge fan base and the attention of several major labels. In a field crowde…

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…

Madonna is arguably the most popular female pop singer in American musical history. Although she began her career in the late 1970s as a dancer and as drummer for new wave group the Breakfast Club, Madonna has touched upon many different styles throu…

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 mercurial term "emo" has meant many different things since its first appearance in the mid-1980s hardcore punk underground. By the mid 2000s, the term was best exemplified by the band Fall Out Boy. Playing an accessible brand of melodic rock mark…

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…

In 2002 one of the biggest stories in the music business was the ascendance of 17-year old Canadian singer Avril LaVigne. In an era dominated by pre-fabricated teen-pop, Avril was seen as a teen star with an edge. Instead of carefully crafted, studio…

Though he first came to fame as a member of the definitive boy band N Sync, Justin Timberlake gained superstar status after stepping out on his own with his first solo album in 2002. JUSTIFIED showed that there was more to the then-21-year-old Timber…

Young singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, who hails from Victoria, BC, emerged seemingly from out of nowhere with her debut album WHOA NELLY in 2000, sporting an eclectic, genre-defying sound and winsome tone. Furtado's hugely popular work incorporates …

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…