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…

French 1990s neo-disco duo Daft Punk found stardom as a discovery of the Chemical Brothers. With an egalitarian approach to making people move, Daft Punk utilized everything from strict club beats to Beach Boys and Roxy Music samples when making its …

b. Nester Alexander Haddaway, Tobago, West Indies. A lightweight dance music artist licensed to Arista Records from his German home at Coconut/Logic Records, Haddaway scored a huge crossover hit throughout Europe with the anthemic "What Is Love" in 1…

Coming out of the grass-roots Gilman St. punk scene of the early-1990s Bay Area, Green Day exploded into the mainstream with their third album, 1994's DOOKIE. The trio's punk energy and pop hooks, influenced by first-generation punks like the Buzzcoc…

Originally known as the Annoying Thing the helium-voiced bluish-gray anatomically correct CGI lump Crazy Frog became a pop culture epidemic in Europe and especially the UK with ringtones TV commercials pop songs and other forms of overexposure Though…

Maverick Danish pop quartet Aqua could hardly have earned a higher profile than that achieved by their third UK single, "Barbie Girl". A tribute-cum-pastiche of the American toy favoured by pre-adolescent girls, it received extensive television and r…

Turning the music world on its head, Eminem, the blond-haired rapper from Detroit, forced the hip-hop world to accept him as an equal. Despite lyrics full of anger, misogyny, violence, racism, and homophobia, Eminem has been a major commercial succes…

The Gorillaz is Blur frontman Damon Albarn's hip-hop/electronica cartoon concept band. While real-life participants have included such luminaries as Dan the Automator, Danger Mouse, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, De La Soul, and Shuan Ryder, the Gorillaz…

If you attended a major sporting event in the late '90s/early 2000s, chances are you heard either (or both) of Smash Mouth's smash hits "Walkin' On the Sun" and "All Star" blaring over the sound system. Although they have roots in California punk roc…

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…

Atlanta-based hip-hop duo Outkast succeeded in bringing an unorthodox rhyme style and quirky, P-Funk-influenced sound and presentation into the rap mainstream. Successful since their 1994 debut, Outkast have gotten progressively more idiosyncratic. T…

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 …

Formed in Wichita Falls, Texas, USA, this pop punk quartet was formed in 1994, with its roots reaching back to a two-man music comedy team (vocalist/guitarist Jaret Reddick aka Jaret Von Erich and bass player Erik Chandler aka Erik Rodham Clinton), t…

California skate-punk trio Blink 182 employed a snappy mix of punk-pop and humor that appealed to a whole new generation of rock fans too young to have fully appreciated Green Day's initial impact. These third- (or fourth-) generation punks became th…

Originally called Cascade until legal conflicts forced them to change their name Cascada is the slick uplifting Euro-dance trio featuring producers DJ Manian and Yanou along with vocalist Natalie Horler although Horler is sometimes presented as Casca…

Queen embodied 1970s glam rock--mixing heavy riffs and intricate vocal harmonies with a gender-bending image. Freddie Mercury's operatic voice and Brian May's guitar were multi-tracked ad infinitum to create pomp-rock in the grandest sense. In the '8…

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…