 | | More than any other single artist, Britney Spears was the driving force behind the return of teen pop in the late '90s. |
 | | A former Christian artist, Katy Perry rebranded herself as a larger-than-life pop star and rose to prominence during the summer of 2008. |
 | | Before she discovered she could write songs, Gwen Stefani was looking forward to a life of marriage, children, and white picket fences. |
 | | Like Martika, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Rahsaan Patterson, Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson got her first major break as a youngster on the television program Kids Incorporated. |
 | | A brash and driven pop singer/songwriter, Ke$ha (Kesha Rose Sebert) was born in Los Angeles but moved at the age of four to Nashville, where her mother -- a longtime songwriter -- had inked a publishing deal. |
 | | Founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995, the Pussycat Dolls began as a burlesque dance revue based in Los Angeles, spawned a second revue in Las Vegas, grew into an A-list phenomena with a revolving cast of guest celebrities, and eventually became a recording act with a number one dance hit. |
 | | The Black Eyed Peas transcended hip-hop to become one of the most commercially successful pop groups of the 2000s. |
 | | Before becoming a front-runner in the eighth season of American Idol, Adam Lambert made his name in the theater world, where he performed alongside Val Kilmer in the debut production of Ten Commandments: The Musical and landed an understudy role in a touring production of Wicked. |
 | | Combining the vocal prowess of Beyoncé, the genre-hopping sounds of Gwen Stefani, and the feisty attitude of P!nk, songwriter Jessie J eventually overcame various career setbacks and health problems to become a star in her own right. |
 | | Although initially viewed as another face in the late-'90s crowd of teen pop acts, Pink (professionally known as P!nk) quickly transcended and outgrew that label with her combination of pop songcraft and powerhouse, rock-influenced vocals. |
 | | When Nelly Furtado appeared with her neo-hippie, multiculti debut, Whoa, Nelly!, in 2001, a dance-diva makeover seemed like an impossibility, but the singer/songwriter revived and sustained her career with the sexually charged Loose in 2006, in the process consolidating her position as one of the most unpredictable artists of her decade. |
 | | A leader in the parade of Mickey Mouse Club veterans who stormed pop at the turn of the millennium, Christina Aguilera was the sexy, brassy diva of the bunch -- the Rolling Stones to Britney Spears’ Beatles, as it were. |
 | | Jordin Sparks may have been the youngest American Idol when she won the title on the reality show's sixth season, but the Glendale, AZ, resident had already packed plenty of accomplishments into 17 years. |
 | | Actress/singer Jennifer Lopez was born in the Bronx, New York, on July 24, 1969; after starting out in musical theater as a child, she made her film debut at age 16 in the little-seen My Little Girl, but her career then stalled until she was tapped to become one of the dancing "Fly Girls" on the television sketch comedy series In Living Color. |
 | | Before releasing her debut album in 2009, Selena Gomez began her career as a child actress. Born in 1992, she grew up in Texas and got her first break as a cast member on the kids TV show Barney and Friends. |
 | | Taio Cruz is a British pop singer/songwriter whose second album, Rokstarr, catapulted him to international chart-topping success in 2010 with its smash hit singles "Break Your Heart" and "Dynamite. |
 | | Splitting the difference between Shania Twain's twangy pop and Christina Aguilera's R&B acrobatics, vocalist Jessie James made her debut with "Wanted," a song that featured prominently in the film Confessions of a Shopaholic. |
 | | Canadian pop star Carly Rae Jepsen spent her formative years absorbing pop culture in her hometown of Mission, British Columbia. |
 | | Avril Lavigne first appeared in summer 2002, touting an addictive debut single (the spunky pop/rock gem "Complicated") and a skatepunk image that purposely clashed with the polished glamour of mainstream pop. |
 | | The winner of Fox TV's first American Idol competition during the summer of 2002, Kelly Clarkson went from an anonymous talent to a nationally known singer in a matter of months, performing for an audience of millions. |
 | | Miley Cyrus became an overnight sensation in 2006 as the star of Hannah Montana, a popular Disney Channel television series whose success allowed Cyrus to launch her own recording career several years later. |
 | | A DJ, producer, and sometimes singer, Australia's Havana Brown began her career in a band called Fishbowl. |
 | | As the legend of Cobra Starship would have it, frontman Gabe Saporta fled into the deserts of Arizona one day to find the true meaning of his existence away from his emo-rock band, Midtown. |
 | | Actress/teen pop star Lindsay Lohan entered the world of show business at the tender age of three as a Ford model, which led to television commercials for the Gap, Pizza Hut, and Wendy's. |
 | | Electronic pop-rap group Far East Movement made their major-label debut in 2010. Founded in 2003, the group was originally a trio comprised of high-school companions Kev Nish (born Kevin Nishimura), Prohgress (James Roh), and J-Splif, all of whom had grown up in downtown Los Angeles. |
 | | Outasight is the alias of Richard Andrew, a rapper and singer who hails from Yonkers, New York and combines rap, R&B, and rock with occasional crossover appeal. |
 | | |
 | | An electro-rap duo from Los Angeles, CA, LMFAO made their major-label debut in 2008. Comprised of producers, DJs, and clothing designers Redfoo and SkyBlu (the son and grandson, respectively, of Motown impresario Berry Gordy), LMFAO worked the club circuit for years before making their major-label debut in 2008 with the single "I'm in Miami Bitch," a song inspired by their first experience at the Winter Music Conference. |
 | | David Archuleta became one of the most recognizable figures on television in 2008, when his tenor vocals and boyish charm helped earn him a second-place finish on American Idol. |
 | | Crafting a pop-meets-hip-hop sound they call "swag-pop," Karmin is the project of singer/rapper Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan. |
 | | The Veronicas hail from Brisbane, Australia, where twin sisters Jess and Lisa Origliasso began working in show business at the age of five. |
 | | Pop singer and dancer Nicole Scherzinger was born Nicole Elikolani Prescovia Scherzinger on June 29, 1978, in Honolulu, HI, but was raised mostly in Louisville, KY, moving there at age six with her mom after her parents separated. |
 | | Actress/vocalist Demi Lovato began making a name for herself after starring alongside the Jonas Brothers in the 2008 Disney Channel movie Camp Rock. |
 | | With an eye toward reinventing the boy band sound, the Wanted formed in 2009, nearly 10 years after groups like N ‘Sync and the Backstreet Boys hit their commercial peak. |
 | | A striking young woman with a strong vocal resemblance to the young Whitney Houston and a large mop of blonde corkscrew curls, Leona Lewis won the third series of the British reality talent show The X Factor in a landslide. |
 | | |
 | | Although Jessica Simpson dabbled in film, reality TV, and eventually contemporary country music during the 2000s, she is best known as a dance-pop vocalist who rose to fame in the late '90s alongside such teenaged acts as 98°. |
 | | 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 Cascada herself. |
 | | Deemed "seriously ass-whoopin'" by Carlos Santana, female guitarist Orianthi burst on the scene in 2009 thanks to the killer trifecta of Carrie Underwood, the Grammys, and the King of Pop. |
 | | On the one hand, in the pop music arena, worldbeaters such as Kylie Minogue are few and far between. |
 | | Melding elements of rap, rock, R&B, and funk into one cohesive and melodic sound, upstate New York's Gym Class Heroes have diverse appeal based on their impressive musical dexterity. |
 | | Singer Mike Posner launched his career at Duke University, where he balanced his undergraduate studies in sociology and business with his musical habits. |
 | | When a 12-year-old Kristinia DeBarge told her father, James DeBarge (the youngest member of DeBarge), that she wanted to become a singer, the two wrote and recorded a song that had Kristinia in a studio until early morning -- a test to see if she had the determination to follow through on her wish. |
 | | Pop singer and actor Jesse McCartney was a child performer dynamo, singing on Broadway and landing an acting gig on All My Children before even joining his first boy band, a feat that came at the age of 12. |
 | | She might be the younger sister of superstar Jessica Simpson, but don't confuse their tastes or style when it comes to music. |
 | | R&B vocalist Jason Derülo launched his career while still in his teens, first as a songwriter for other artists and later as a solo performer. |
 | | A self-proclaimed product of his past, rapper Sean Kingston's history helps describe his sound. Born in Miami, FL, then raised in Kingston, Jamaica, from the age of six, he mixed more than a little dancehall and reggae into his hip-hop. |
 | | Originally from New Zealand, Natasha Bedingfield grew up in southeast London, where she and her siblings were raised around music. |
 | | Cher Lloyd came to notice as a contestant on series seven of Simon Cowell's U.K. talent program The X Factor. |
 | | Flo Rida, unsurprisingly a native Floridian, is an MC who toured as a teenager with 2 Live Crew's Fresh Kid Ice and began popping up on high-profile mixtapes by 2006, most notably DJ Khaled's We the Best -- on "Bitch I'm from Dade County," he appeared with the likes of Rick Ross, Trick Daddy, Trina, and Dre (of Cool & Dre). |
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