 | | Hailing from South London, Florence Mary Leontine Welch writes songs that occupy the same confessional territory as gossip-loving, genre-bending contemporaries like Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash, Adele, and Lily Allen and the moody, classic art rock of Kate Bush, blending pop, soul, and baroque arrangements into a sound that earned the young artist considerable buzz in 2007. |
 | | Marina and the Diamonds, really just Marina Diamandis, was born in Wales to Welsh and Greek parents in 1986, although she has often claimed to be from Ancient Greece. |
 | | Emerging during the same boom of retro U.K.-based singers that launched Amy Winehouse, Duffy distinguished herself with a melodic, vintage voice that brought to mind such '60s artists as Dusty Springfield and Petula Clark. |
 | | When the U.K. press began dubbing Adele "the next Amy Winehouse" in late 2007, the hype didn't touch upon the heavy singer/songwriter influence found in the Londoner's music. |
 | | Soulful R&B-influenced pop vocalist Pixie Lott was born Victoria Louise Lott on January 12, 1991 in Kent, England. |
 | | Much can be said about the late Amy Winehouse, one of the U.K.'s flagship vocalists during the 2000s. |
 | | Ellie Goulding is a British vocalist whose music finds the balance between electro-pop and indie folk. |
 | | Vocalist Lana Del Rey makes atmospheric, orchestral, retro-'60s-sounding pop that showcases her torchy image and sensuous singing style. |
 | | Songwriter Kate Earl grew up in Chugiak, Alaska, where she began her career by blending the phrasing of Cat Power and Björk with the folk-chanteuse influence of Joni Mitchell. |
 | | With her omnivorous musical tastes and cheeky attitude, London-based pop singer/songwriter Lily Allen made a name for herself almost as soon as she released her demos on the Internet. |
 | | Singer/songwriter Kristina Train is a soulful vocalist with a bent toward earthy country- and R&B-inflected pop music. |
 | | Like simpatico songwriter Lily Allen, Kate Nash launched her career on MySpace, where her piano-driven pop songs and lyrics (delivered in a distinctive London accent) found a number of listeners. |
 | | A Melbourne-born, U.K.-based singer/songwriter, Gabriella Cilmi possesses a smoky, whiskey-soaked voice that belies her age and a feisty rock attitude that placed her on the inside fast track to pop stardom. |
 | | British singer Joss Stone was only 16 years old when she hit the mainstream in 2003, armed with a powerful voice and a vintage, soul-based sound. |
 | | During the summer of 2010, Christina Perri -- a 23-year-old café waitress who'd been moonlighting as an unsigned songwriter -- went from obscurity to the upper reaches of the Billboard charts in two short weeks. |
 | | An international pop star -- despite repeated problems with labels that halted her career's momentum several times -- Sweden's Robyn blends the gritty sound of American urban R&B with the sunny pop of her homeland. |
 | | Inspired by folk, rock, country, and bluegrass, the London-based Mumford & Sons feature singer/guitarist/drummer Marcus Mumford, vocalist and banjo/Dobro player Winston Marshall, vocalist/keyboardist Ben Lovett, and vocalist/bassist Ted Dwane. |
 | | Though she was born in Seattle, songwriter Alison Sudol spent most of her life in Los Angeles, having moved there with her mother when she was five years old. |
 | | Little Boots formed in 2007 as a solo vehicle for Victoria Hesketh, the ex-lead singer/keyboardist of English dance-pop outfit Dead Disco. |
 | | Cheryl Cole (born Cheryl Ann Tweedy on June 30, 1983) was a dancer and model prior to becoming a member of the record-breaking European pop group Girls Aloud. |
 | | The first major girl band to be launched in the U.K. after a multi-year drought, five-piece pop group the Saturdays boasted a photogenic appearance and electro-pop sound, leading to their labeling by some critics as the new Girls Aloud. |
 | | The woman behind hits such as Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie” and Fort Minor's "Where'd You Go," singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Skylar Grey (who previously recorded as Holly Brook) began singing at the age of two. |
 | | Las Vegas-based indie rockers Imagine Dragons formed in Provo, Utah in 2009. Like their desert-born stadium rock contemporaries the Killers, Imagine Dragons blend engaging, synth-based dance-pop with emotionally charged, Brit-pop-inspired alt-rock. |
 | | Meaning "red-haired one" in French, La Roux is the synth pop project of flame-haired singer/songwriter Elly Jackson and keyboardist/producer Ben Langmaid. |
 | | Flame-haired singer/songwriter, beatboxer, and guitarist Ed Sheeran's eclectic blend of acoustic pop, folk, and hip-hop has been championed by everyone from the underground grime scene to American Oscar winners. |
 | | Despite their prefabricated formation through a television program called Popstars: The Rivals, Girls Aloud achieved both mainstream success and widespread critical acclaim in their native England. |
 | | A veteran of New York's anti-folk scene, songwriter Regina Spektor makes quirky, highly eclectic, but always personal music. |
 | | Born Zsuzsanna Eva Ward in Abington, Pennsylvania, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist (guitar, piano, and harmonica) ZZ Ward spent her childhood in the small town of Roseburg, Oregon, splitting her listening time between her father's blues collection and her brother's hip-hop records, a blend that would be a big part of her later sound and style. |
 | | With her piano-fueled songwriting, witty wordplay, and slight vocal vibrato, Ingrid Michaelson carries the tradition of the female singer/songwriter into the 21st century. |
 | | Throughout the '90s, the U.K. music scene was filled to the brim with nerdy cockney types sporting messy threads and even messier hair. |
 | | Although raised in Australia, Sia Furler rose to fame after moving to the U.K., where she worked as a guest vocalist for several groups -- including the electronica duo Zero 7 -- and released her own solo albums. |
 | | Although formed in sunny California during the early 2000s, Shiny Toy Guns' music flaunts a sleek, '80s-influenced combination of synth-pop and electro-clash. |
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 | | As a rule, group efforts are normally launched before a solo career -- not after a solo career is in full swing. |
 | | Mark Ronson is a sought-after turntablist who's worked with such diverse artists as Macy Gray, Jay-Z, and comedian Jimmy Fallon. |
 | | The Lumineers, a folk-rock trio out of Denver, Colorado, deliver an acoustic-based Americana sound that touches a lot of stylistic bases, from folk to gospel to heartland rock and the narrative end of country, all with interesting rhythmic twists and turns. |
 | | Neo-soul songstress Corinne Bailey Rae was born in Leeds, England, in 1979 to a British mother and West Indian father. |
 | | British boy band JLS -- short for Jack the Lad Swing -- are best known for placing second behind winner Alexandra Burke on the fifth season of the reality talent show The X Factor in 2008. |
 | | Born in 1975, Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall -- not short for anything, the KT is just an alternate spelling of Katie -- comes from the quaint university town of St. |
 | | Spice Girl Emma Bunton wasn't the first to venture off from her dance-pop band the Spice Girls for a solo career. |
 | | Indie rock trio Foster the People make atmospheric, psychedelic, and dance-oriented pop. Formed in Los Angeles in 2009, the band features keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist Mark Foster, bassist Cubbie Fink, and drummer Mark Pontius. |
 | | Pop magpie Mika's bright, kaleidoscopic music has drawn comparisons to everyone from Queen and Elton John to the Scissor Sisters and Rufus Wainwright. |
 | | Multi-ethnic U.K. trio Sugababes jumped aboard the teen pop bandwagon prior to the new millennium and exuded their own sassy demeanor without the frivolity of most mainstream acts. |
 | | With a "cheeky chappy" persona to match Robbie Williams and vocals reminiscent of original Pop Idol Will Young, former call-center worker Olly Murs was one of the success stories of the 2009 season of The X Factor, finishing runner-up to Joe McElderry in the hotly contested final. |
 | | A gifted songwriter and a versatile pianist with no formal training, Sara Bareilles burst onto the pop scene with a naturally skilled voice that ranged from powerful and soulful to sweet and gentle, earning her instant comparisons to Fiona Apple and Norah Jones. |
 | | Favoring a naughty schoolboy look that makes him seem even younger than his already tender years (22 when his first major-label album was released), Scottish artist, producer, and remixer Calvin Harris has a similarly youthful and forward-looking approach to his music. |
 | | After winning the nationwide 2010 battle-of-the-bands competition Musiktilraunir in their native Iceland, six-piece chamber pop group Of Monsters and Men were hailed as "the new Arcade Fire" in Rolling Stone magazine. |
 | | Influenced by artists as diverse as Arctic Monkeys and Stevie Wonder, Eliza Doolittle has crafted a blend of ska, breezy, summery folk, and retro-modern pop that has drawn comparisons to the likes of Lily Allen and Kate Nash. |
 | | First appearing on the Canadian pop charts in 1998 with the single "Rally'n," Jully Black (born Jully Ann Inderia Gordon in Toronto in November 1977) had a few false starts before getting some career consistency that would find her back on the charts in 2007. |
 | | Contemporary singer/songwriter Katrina makes catchy dance and rock-oriented music. A native of California, Katrina started performing when she was a child and appeared on Star Search at 11, ultimately winning the junior vocal category. |
