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<title>Top Adult Alternative Artists on Rhapsody Online</title>
<dateCreated>Wed Jan 06 03:47:57 PST 2010</dateCreated>
<dateModified>Wed Jan 06 03:47:57 PST 2010</dateModified>
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<outline type="include" text="Coldplay" description="Coldplay create sparse, emotional soundscapes, dripping with melancholy. The London-based quartet is singer Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion. Their debut album, &lt;i&gt;Parachutes&lt;/i&gt;, was released in late 2000 in the U.S., and they quickly became a sensation. The record went No. 1 in the U.K. charts and won Best Alternative Music Album at the 2002 Grammys. Marked by Martin's falsetto-happy vocals, songs like &quot;Yellow&quot; and &quot;Shiver&quot; employ stop/start dynamics that allow serene verses to build to a crescendo, centering on the well-trodden theme of love. Sophomore effort &lt;i&gt;A Rush of Blood to the Head&lt;/i&gt; took home two Grammys and earned a spot on &lt;i&gt;Rolling Stone&lt;/i&gt;'s &quot;500 Greatest Albums of All Time&quot; list. Hits &quot;Clocks&quot; and &quot;In My Place&quot; were wistful and romantic, labeled by some as radio-friendly Radiohead. The group's third album, &lt;i&gt;XandY&lt;/i&gt;, became the best-selling album of 2005, and &quot;Speed of Sound&quot; topped the year's charts worldwide. After conquering the charts and the Grammys, Coldplay shifted their focus from chart-topping anthems to a more experimental approach for their fourth album, &lt;i&gt;Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends&lt;/i&gt; (which nevertheless topped charts upon its release). With ambient maestro Brian Eno co-producing, the 2008 album was an intriguing progression for the band, featuring a mix of global influences, classical strings, heavy piano and glistening bits of dreamy electronics.
- Dan Shumate" category="Brit Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/coldplay/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Jack Johnson" description="Like G. Love, Jack Johnson plays groovy acoustic funk. The difference is that where G. Love relies on hip-hop, Johnson's points of reference are a bit more eclectic, incorporating lite jazz and classic singer-songwriter motifs (including interesting vocal experiments a la Joni Mitchell and Tim Buckley). It's all held together by earthy rock backing and topped off with a voice that at times sounds enough like Mose Allison to convince listeners that Johnson really has the goods. Before embarking on a musical career, Johnson was a successful professional surfer. His popularity simmered with his first few albums, but with 2005's &lt;I&gt;In Between Dreams&lt;/I&gt; Johnson's stock exploded, crossing over from the jam-rock crowd into the mainstream pop market. The record yielded hits in &quot;Sitting, Waiting, Wishing&quot; and &quot;Better Together.&quot; Johnson's comfortable voice and sweet melodies translated naturally to children's songs with his 2006 release &lt;I&gt;Sing-a-Longs &amp;amp; Lullabies for the Film Curious George&lt;/I&gt;. In 2008 he released a new studio album, &lt;I&gt;Sleep Through the Static&lt;/I&gt;, and in 2009 he confirmed his live reputation with &lt;I&gt;En Concert&lt;/I&gt;.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/jack-johnson/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Dave Matthews Band" description="The Dave Matthews Band (DMB) emblazoned the 1990s with its hybrid of jazz, folk, and world music with a distinct pop sensibility. By the end of the decade, Matthews' introspective lyrics and distinctive vocal timbre resonated through capacity stadiums across the U.S., as DMB achieved arena-rock stardom.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The son of a physicist father and an architect mother, Matthews spent his formative years in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Westchester County, New York. After being drafted by the South African military to fight in favor of an apartheid political system at age 18, Matthews retreated with his family to the U.S. for good and soon ended up in Charlottesville, Virginia. There he began writing songs on his acoustic guitar during the day and working as a bartender at Miller's, Charlottesville's premier bar for local musicians, at night. Matthews eventually began jamming with topnotch players who frequently gigged at Miller's: guru trumpeter John D'earth, fusion drummer Carter Beauford, and reeds player LeRoi Moore. By spring 1991, the Dave Matthews Band played its first concert at a rooftop party in Charlottesville with its soon-to-be permanent lineup: Matthews, Beauford, Moore, virtuosic violinist Boyd Tinsley, and bassist Stefan Lessard.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
In the tradition of the Grateful Dead and Phish, the Dave Matthews Band built up a fan base by allowing fans to record and circulate tapes of the band's performances. Fan favorites like &quot;Ants Marching&quot; and &quot;Tripping Billies&quot; were revamped nightly as the band opened up ample musical space for improvisation. The band's first record, 1993's &lt;I&gt;Remember Two Things&lt;/I&gt;, was an indie success on the college charts and eventually went gold. RCA signed Matthews and released &lt;I&gt;Under the Table and Dreaming&lt;/I&gt; (Number 11, 1994), which yielded the hits &quot;What Would You Say,&quot; &quot;Ants Marching,&quot; and &quot;Satellite.&quot; Within a year, &lt;I&gt;Under the Table and Dreaming&lt;/I&gt; was four times platinum.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
After playing on the jam-band-friendly H.O.R.D.E. summer tour with Blues Traveler and the Allman Brothers Band and headlining a few national tours, DMB recorded 1996's &lt;I&gt;Crash&lt;/I&gt;, which debuted at Number Two on the pop albums chart. It would earn DMB a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Perormances by a Duo or Group in 1997 for &quot;So Much to Say.&quot; Matthews and brethren then proceeded to generate a string of live recordings. &lt;I&gt;Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95&lt;/I&gt; (Number Three, 1997), &lt;I&gt;Live at Luther College&lt;/I&gt; (Number Two, 1999) (recorded on one of Matthews' acoustic-only tours with guitarist and longtime collaborator Tim Reynolds), and &lt;I&gt;Listener Supported&lt;/I&gt; (Number 15, 1999) all document Matthews' commitment to his ever-swelling, increasingly diversified fan base. Meanwhile, 1998's studio album, &lt;I&gt;Before These Crowded Streets&lt;/I&gt;, a series of solemn narratives about a tormented man's yearnings for his lover, debuted at Number One.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The dawning of the new millennium saw Matthews pick up an electric guitar for the first time in the studio on the uncharacteristically gritty &lt;I&gt;Everyday&lt;/I&gt;, which was produced and cowritten by producer Glen Ballard. &lt;I&gt;Everyday&lt;/I&gt; was actually the fifth studio disc DMB cut: they'd shelved an album recorded in 2000 with producer Steve Lillywhite, much of which made its way onto 2002's &lt;I&gt;Busted Stuff&lt;/I&gt;. A year after that, Matthews issued &lt;I&gt;Some Devil&lt;/I&gt;, his bow without the Band; it too won a Grammy, for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, in 2004 for the single &quot;Gravedigger.&quot; That fall, DMB participated in the Vote for Change tour, usually headlining shows featuring Jurassic 5, Ben Harper, and My Morning Jacket, and the group launched a mail-order concert-recordings series, &lt;I&gt;Live Trax&lt;/I&gt;. 2005 saw the release of &lt;I&gt;Stand Up&lt;/I&gt;, DMB's seventh studio disc; it was followed in 2006 by &lt;I&gt;The Best of What's Around, Vol. 1&lt;/I&gt;, a half-live, half-studio collection. As well, Matthews has continued to issue live albums recorded at scenic locales like Washington State's Columbia River Valley (&lt;I&gt;The Gorge&lt;/I&gt;, 2002) and Colorado's Red Rocks (&lt;I&gt;Weekend on the Rocks&lt;/I&gt;, 2005) as well as in urban settings like New York City's &lt;I&gt;Live at Radio City Music Hall&lt;/I&gt; and Atlanta's &lt;I&gt;Live at Piedmont Park&lt;/I&gt;.
" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/dave-matthews-band/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Jason Mraz" description="Raised in Mechanicsville, Va., Jason Mraz grew up under the sway of local jam-circuit heroes Agents of Good Roots and regional favorites like the Dave Matthews Band, but it wasn't until he moved west that his own career began to take off. Following in Jewel's footsteps, Mraz secured a weekly slot at San Diego's Java Joe's, and by 2002 he signed with Elektra and brought on the Agents of Good Roots as his own backing band to release his debut, &lt;I&gt;Waiting for My Rocket to Come&lt;/I&gt;. After extensive touring and a handful of live recordings, Mraz released his second studio album, &lt;I&gt;Mr. A-Z&lt;/I&gt;, in 2005, and he continued to refine his fusion of soft rock and coffee-shop spunk with 2008's &lt;I&gt;We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things&lt;/I&gt;.
- Philip Sherburne" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/jason-mraz/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="John Mayer" description="In the 2000s no musician has been able to deftly navigate the terrain between R&amp;B, pop, soul, and rock as successfully as John Mayer. Throughout his career his deference for music traditions, consummate musicianship, and keen sense of melody has kept him atop the charts and in constant radio rotation.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The middle son of two teachers who grew up in Fairfield, CT, John Mayer began playing guitar at age 13, and was soon playing local clubs in blues and cover bands. At 17, he was rushed to the hospital with cardiac arrhythmia, spending a week in bed; it was there, Mayer has said, that he began songwriting in earnest. A year after graduating high school, Mayer enrolled at Boston's Berklee College of Music; he soon skipped that to head to Atlanta to play coffeehouses with his friend Clay Cook as LoFi Masters. Shortly afterward, Mayer left to go solo, and by 1999 had cut an eight-song mini album he released and distributed himself, &lt;I&gt;Inside Wants Out&lt;/I&gt;, hitting the road for a tour of the region around Georgia. He caught a break after appearing at 2000’s South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX, and was signed to Aware, a Columbia subsidiary, and recorded &lt;I&gt;Room for Squares&lt;/I&gt; (Number Eight, 2001), which was picked up for release by the senior label. Columbia worked Mayer steadily until, over the course of a year, he became ubiquitous, thanks to the singles “No Such Thing” (Number 13, 2002) and “Your Body Is a Wonderland” (Number 18, 2002). Columbia further cashed in by reissuing &lt;I&gt;Inside Wants Out&lt;/I&gt; (Number 22, 2002).
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
After the stopgap live &lt;I&gt;Any Given Thursday&lt;/I&gt; (Number 17, 2003), Mayer released his follow-up, &lt;I&gt;Heavier Things&lt;/I&gt; (Number One, 2003), which yielded “Bigger Than My Body” (Number 33, 2003) and “Daughters” (Number 19, 2004). Another live disc, &lt;I&gt;As/Is&lt;/I&gt;, followed in 2004. That year, Mayer began an improbable turnaround, edging his public image from strictly mama’s-boy to sly smart-aleck, thanks to his oft-sardonic blog posts, a column in &lt;I&gt;Esquire&lt;/I&gt; magazine, and a memorable guest spot on &lt;I&gt;The Chappelle Show&lt;/I&gt;, jamming in a Harlem barbershop with members of the Roots. He later guest-starred on “Go!” &amp;#8212; the first single off rapper Common’s &lt;I&gt;Be&lt;/I&gt;, produced by Kanye West.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
In his own music, Mayer began to focus on meatier stuff, particularly the blues. He played shows with Buddy Guy and Herbie Hancock, and in November 2005 released &lt;I&gt;Try! Live in Concert&lt;/I&gt; (Number 34), credited to the John Mayer Trio, with veteran sessionmen Steve Jordan on drums and Pino Palladino on bass; they opened for the Rolling Stones that October. &lt;I&gt;Continuum&lt;/I&gt; (Number Two, 2006) followed a year later, and its quasi-protest number, “Waiting on the World to Change (Number 14, 2006), soon wormed its way into America’s collective ear much the way his earlier material had.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Mayer, who also dabbles in stand-up comedy, has been the subject of much tabloid fodder and romantically linked to pop singer Jessica Simpson and actress Jennifer Aniston. In the summer of 2008 Mayer released a live DVD/CD entitled &lt;I&gt;Where the Light Is&lt;/I&gt; recorded at a December 2007 concert in Los Angeles.
" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/john-mayer/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="U2" description="U2 began the '80s as a virtually unknown &quot;alternative&quot; group and ended the century as one of the most widely followed rock bands in the world. The Irish rockers were influenced initially by punk's raw energy, but they immediately distinguished themselves from their post-punk peers with a huge, soaring sound &amp;#8212; centered on Dave &quot;the Edge&quot; Evans' reverb-laden guitars and Paul &quot;Bono&quot; Hewson's sensuous vocals &amp;#8212; and songs that tackled social and spiritual matters with an open, tender urgency. U2 shunned the sort of ironic expression and electronic sweetening that were considered hip in the '80s &amp;#8212; until the '90s, that is, when the band began drawing on such elements to reinvigorate and broaden its sound. By 2000's &lt;I&gt;All That You Can't Leave Behind&lt;/I&gt;, U2 had revived its straight-ahead approach. U2 has maintained not only its massive popularity but also its status as one of the most adventurous and groundbreaking acts in pop music.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The band members began rehearsing together while students at Dublin's Mount Temple High School (the city's only nondenominational school). None was technically proficient at the beginning, but their lack of expertise mothered invention. The Edge's distinctive chordal style, for instance, stemmed largely from the guitarist's inability to play complicated leads, while bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. provided a rhythm section that was mostly pummeling ardor. The novice musicians quickly developed a following in Ireland and found a manager, Paul McGuinness, who remains with them to this day. They recorded independently before signing to Island Records in 1980.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
U2's 1980 debut album, &lt;I&gt;Boy&lt;/I&gt;, was produced by Steve Lillywhite. On it, the group earnestly explored adolescent hopes and terrors, rejecting hard rock's earthy egotism and punk's nihilism. Bono, U2's lyricist, was (and still is) a practicing Christian, as were the Edge and Mullen, and on their second LP, &lt;I&gt;October&lt;/I&gt; (1981, also Lillywhite-produced), the singer incorporated imagery evoking their faith. &lt;I&gt;Boy&lt;/I&gt; and &lt;I&gt;October&lt;/I&gt; generated the respective singles &quot;I Will Follow&quot; and &quot;Gloria,&quot; which got some airplay in the U.S. An American club tour generated further interest, thanks to U2's incendiary live performances.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;I&gt;War&lt;/I&gt; cemented U2's reputation as a politically conscious band; among its themes were &quot;the troubles&quot; in Northern Ireland, addressed on the single &quot;Sunday Bloody Sunday.&quot; Another single, &quot;New Year's Day,&quot; went to Number 11 in England and Number 53 in the U.S., while &lt;I&gt;War&lt;/I&gt; topped the British chart and hit Number 12 Stateside. The group commemorated its 1983 tour with the live EP &lt;I&gt;Under a Blood Red Sky&lt;/I&gt;, recorded at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
U2's next studio album, 1984's &lt;I&gt;The Unforgettable Fire&lt;/I&gt;, was the first of several fruitful collaborations with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. The album generated the group's first American Top 40 single, an ode to American Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., called &quot;Pride (In the Name of Love)&quot; (Number 33, 1984). The album hit Number 12 here, and the Irishmen supported it by headlining arenas around the world. In 1985 U2 was proclaimed &quot;Band of the '80s&quot; by ROLLING STONE and made a historic appearance at Live Aid. The following year, the group joined Sting, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed and others for the Conspiracy of Hope Tour benefiting Amnesty International.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
U2 entered the pop stratosphere with 1987's &lt;I&gt;The Joshua Tree&lt;/I&gt;, a critical and commercial smash that topped the albums chart that year and spawned the Number One hits &quot;With or Without You&quot; and &quot;I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For,&quot; as well as &quot;Where the Streets Have No Name&quot; (Number 13, 1987). The LP, which was produced by Eno and Lanois, won the group Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance. In 1988 U2 wrapped up a triumphant world tour by releasing &lt;I&gt;Rattle and Hum&lt;/I&gt;, a double-LP that combined live tracks with new material, and featured guest appearances by Bob Dylan and B.B. King. &lt;I&gt;Rattle and Hum&lt;/I&gt; seemed bombastic to some critics; an accompanying film documentary also garnered mixed reviews. The LP nonetheless shot to Number One, and produced a Number Three single, &quot;Desire&quot; (1988). The band's next LP, &lt;I&gt;Achtung Baby&lt;/I&gt;, reached Number One and received rave reviews. The LP marked a stylistic departure, featuring more metallic textures, funkier beats, and intimate, world-weary love songs. (Bono was fond of saying at the time that the album was the sound of &quot;four men chopping down &lt;I&gt;The Joshua Tree&lt;/I&gt;.&quot;) Hit singles included &quot;Mysterious Ways&quot; (Number Nine, 1992), &quot;One&quot; (Number 10, 1992), &quot;Even Better Than the Real Thing&quot; (Number 32, 1992), and &quot;Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses&quot; (Number 35, 1992). Another track, &quot;Until the End of the World,&quot; was featured (in differently mixed form) in Wim Wenders' 1991 film of the same name. Lanois, who produced &lt;I&gt;Achtung Baby&lt;/I&gt; with support from Eno and Lillywhite, won a Grammy for his work.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
In 1992 the band embarked on its Zoo TV tour, a flashy multimedia extravaganza that juxtaposed the rugged simplicity of its previous shows. Bono adopted a series of wry guises &amp;#8212; the leather-and-shades-sporting Fly, the demonic MacPhisto &amp;#8212; that he'd use for encores and, in the Fly's case, press appearances. In 1993, as the tour wound down, the band reentered the studio and made &lt;I&gt;Zooropa&lt;/I&gt;, a quirky, electronics-drunk affair co-produced by Eno, the Edge and engineer Flood. The album reached Number One but yielded only the minor hit &quot;Stay (Faraway, So Close!)&quot; (Number 61, 1993), which was also on the soundtrack to Wenders' 1993 movie &lt;I&gt;Faraway, So Close&lt;/I&gt;. Johnny Cash sang lead on the track &quot;The Wanderer.&quot; In 1993 the band renewed its contract with Island for an estimated $170 million. U2's contribution to 1995's &lt;I&gt;Batman Forever&lt;/I&gt; soundtrack, &quot;Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me,&quot; was a Top 20 hit. Also in 1995 the group collaborated with Eno as Passengers on a largely instrumental album called &lt;I&gt;Original Soundtracks I&lt;/I&gt;; the only track to get attention was &quot;Miss Sarajevo,&quot; on which Bono shared vocals with opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. Proceeds from the single's sales went toward war relief in Bosnia. The same year Bono and the Edge cowrote with Irish folk singer Christy Moore a song about the peace process in Ireland, &quot;North and South of the River.&quot;
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
In 1996 Clayton and Mullen recorded a rock version of the &quot;Theme From &lt;I&gt;Mission: Impossible&lt;/I&gt;&quot; for the film starring Tom Cruise. It went to Number Seven on the pop chart. The following year saw the release of the electronica-heavy &lt;I&gt;Pop&lt;/I&gt;; the album debuted at Number One in 27 countries, including the U.S., and garnered hit singles in &quot;Discotheque&quot; (Number 10, 1997) and &quot;Staring at the Sun&quot; (Number 26, 1998). U2 embarked on its next stage extravaganza, the PopMart tour, from 1997 to 1998. With a supermarket theme that played upon the concept of commercialism, the tour was even more grandiose than Zoo TV had been, with immense props that included a giant olive with a 100-foot-long toothpick, a 35-foot-high lemon, and a 100-foot-tall golden arch. At the tour's conclusion, U2 released a greatest-hits compilation with a remixed version of &quot;The Sweetest Thing,&quot; previously the B side of &quot;Where the Streets Have No Name.&quot; This time the song was released as a single (Number 63, 1998).
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Bono returned to political activism in 1999, with much of his focus on fighting world poverty. He met with President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, as well as the Pope, as a representative of Jubilee 2000, a nonprofit group devoted to convincing nations to forgive third-world debt in the new millennium. He also co-wrote a song, &quot;New Day,&quot; with Wyclef Jean of the Fugees; the single's proceeds benefited relief efforts in Kosovo and the Wyclef Jean Foundation. The pair performed the song at the United Nations, as well as at NetAid, a concert held simultaneously in London, Geneva, and New Jersey's Giants Stadium, while being simulcast live on the Internet, to benefit several causes, among them third-world debt relief and global poverty.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
In early 2000, the Wim Wenders movie &lt;I&gt;The Million Dollar Hotel&lt;/I&gt;, based on a story co-conceived by Bono, was shown at the Berlin Film Festival and released in many countries. Bono coproduced the film, made a cameo appearance in it, and U2 recorded three new songs for the soundtrack, one of which, &quot;The Ground Beneath Her Feet,&quot; was written around lyrics by controversial author Salman Rushdie. In addition, Bono recorded tracks with Lanois and Eno as the Million Dollar Hotel Band. U2 released an album of new material in late 2000: &lt;I&gt;All That You Can't Leave Behind&lt;/I&gt; (Number Three), featuring the single &quot;Beautiful Day&quot; (Number 21), which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. &quot;Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of&quot; (Number 52, 2001) became something of an anthem for Americans recovering from the shock of the September 11th terror attacks. The band's Elevation Tour featured a heart-shaped catwalk in front of the stage which provided fans with close-up contact with the musicians.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
In 2002, U2 performed at the halftime of Super Bowl XXXVI and issued a second greatest-hits collection, covering the 1990s and &lt;I&gt;All That You Can't Leave Behind&lt;/I&gt;; it yielded a minor hit in &quot;Electrical Storm&quot; (Number 77, 2002). U2 released &lt;I&gt;How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb&lt;/I&gt; in late 2004, which entered the charts at Number One, proving U2 one of the few sure things in the uneasy rock marketplace of the new millennium. The single &quot;Vertigo&quot; was featured in an iPod ad, and the group released a special-edition iPod loaded with all of its albums.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Bono's political-activism profile continued to swell, with ongoing African relief efforts on his part landing him on the cover of &lt;I&gt;Time&lt;/I&gt; with fellow millionaire-philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates. In 2005 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Bruce Springsteen. The following year came the self-explanatory &lt;I&gt;U218: Singles&lt;/I&gt; package. While the band worked on another studio album with Eno and Lanois, they released the concert movie &lt;i&gt;U2 3D&lt;/i&gt;, which was filmed during their 2005 Vertigo Tour.
" category="Alt/Punk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/u2/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Fray" description="When tour buses and Grammy nominations were just distant dreams, the Fray's Joe King had aspirations to start up a real estate company. Had it not been for his chance meeting with old schoolmate Isaac Slade in a Denver music store in 2002, he may well have been writing up contracts rather than lyrics. Instead, the two began composing songs together, soon adding drummer Ben Wysocki and guitarist Dave Welsh to the mix. In 2004, after turning down eight of their submitted songs, Denver radio station KTCL finally gave airplay to &quot;Cable Car,&quot; which quickly became a local favorite. Later that year, they were signed to Epic and their debut album, &lt;I&gt;How to Save a Life&lt;/I&gt;, was released in 2005. Their brand of sentimental piano pop quickly struck a chord, particularly among music supervisors for hit TV shows like &lt;I&gt;Grey's Anatomy&lt;/I&gt; and &lt;I&gt;Scrubs&lt;/I&gt;, along with the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences -- the album earned the band two Grammy nominations. In 2009, they followed up their double platinum-selling debut with &lt;I&gt;The Fray&lt;/I&gt;.
- Stephanie Benson" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-fray/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Kelly Clarkson" description="The first-ever American Idol, Kelly Clarkson won over America with her soulful voice, bubbly personality and &quot;small-town girl makes it big&quot; story. Before &lt;i&gt;Idol&lt;/i&gt;, the native Texan had made a dismal run at Hollywood, and after she hightailed it back to Burleson, her friends convinced her to audition for the competition. The show launched Clarkson, and her debut album proved that America had voted correctly. &quot;A Moment Like This&quot; was a colossal hit, and the album went multiplatinum, winning Clarkson her first Grammy (for &quot;Miss Independent&quot;). On second album &lt;I&gt;Breakaway&lt;/I&gt;, Clarkson distanced herself from &lt;I&gt;Idol&lt;/I&gt;'s ickier aspects (&lt;I&gt;From Justin to Kelly&lt;/I&gt;, anyone?) and went off in a new direction: adult contemporary-approved rocker chick. She then released &lt;I&gt;My December&lt;/I&gt; in 2007. Co-written by Clarkson, the album is a more honest reflection of the &lt;I&gt;A.I.&lt;/I&gt; heroine. In fact, RCA tycoon Clive Davis deemed it too negative and offered her $10 million to scratch some of the songs. Clarkson refused the offer and held her ground. Her next album, 2009's &lt;I&gt;All I Ever Wanted&lt;/I&gt;, lightened &lt;I&gt;My December&lt;/I&gt;'s darkness with the pop touch that made fans fall in love with her in the first place.
- Rachel Devitt" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/kelly-clarkson/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Norah Jones" description="This young singer and pianist has so much talent that she can't be
contained by one genre of music. The American-born, Texas-bred daughter of
Indian music legend Ravi Shankar has after-hours jazz, soul, country,
blues and folk music at her command, and combines each with natural,
dreamy ease. It's almost as if Rickie Lee Jones or Diana Krall were
recording for an absinthe-soaked 4AD label that specialized in Americana. Some of our greatest artists
-- from Frank Sinatra to Ray Charles, from Elvis to the Beatles -- were
genres onto themselves, and it's refreshing to see a performer as young as
Jones craft her own sound and style. Blue Note Records signed her in hopes
of slowly building her into the kind of crossover jazz success that the
Verve label has enjoyed with Diana Krall and Cassandra Wilson. But it
didn't turn out quite that way: the buzz around Jones's debut, 2002's
&lt;I&gt;Come Away With Me&lt;/I&gt;, was so enthusiastic that the album eventually
became one of the biggest sellers of the new millennium. Blue Note wisely
chose not to &lt;I&gt;try&lt;/I&gt; to make her even more successful and left Jones
and her band to their own devices for 2004's &lt;I&gt;Feels Like Home&lt;/I&gt;, a
slightly darker return to the sophisticated but comforting acoustic sound
of her debut. Jones and her band avoided the sophomore slump with the
album, which hit the gates as a massive hit and further secured her career
in music. In early 2007, Jones released &lt;i&gt;Not Too Late&lt;/i&gt;, her first all self-penned set. She also performs regularly with other bands and musicians, including the Little Willies, Peter Malick (she appears on every track of his &lt;I&gt;New York City&lt;/I&gt;album), jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter, electronica band Wax Poetic, and a number of her heroes, among them Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
- Nick Dedina" category="Pop-Jazz" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/norah-jones/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Pearl Jam" description="Many accused Pearl Jam of being a mainstream hard rock band that happened to hop on the alt rock gravy train at its busiest stop (Grungeville circa late 1991/early 1992), thereby reaping the benefits of constant exposure on suddenly flannel-friendly MTV with hit videos for &quot;Alive,&quot; &quot;Even Flow&quot; and, most notably, &quot;Jeremy.&quot; In the wake of the unpredictable success of their multi-platinum anthem-fest/debut &lt;i&gt;Ten&lt;/i&gt;, Eddie Vedder eventually got used to being a celebrity. Not coincidentally, the band bravely began messing with its straight-ahead rock formula around that same time: &quot;Spin the Black Circle&quot; married punk with garage rock, &quot;Off He Goes&quot; put their own &quot;Daughter&quot; to shame for fireside ambiance, &quot;Around the Bend&quot; manifested the effects of &lt;i&gt;Mirror Ball&lt;/i&gt; (their 1995 collaboration with Neil Young) soft and clear, and &quot;Low Light&quot; out-R.E.M.'d R.E.M. in its waltzing, acoustic beauty. In 2000, Pearl Jam began releasing no less than 72 volumes of live material chronicling the American and European legs of their tour in support of &lt;i&gt;Binaural&lt;/i&gt;, which came out the same year. 2002's &lt;i&gt;Riot Act&lt;/i&gt; proved that the band was as relevant as ever, and in 2006 they returned with a self-titled, heavy blast of anthemic anger at the state of the world. Pearl Jam are one of the few stalwarts surviving from the long-ago age of grunge hype, and they've actually become bolder and better with age.
- Charles Hodgkins" category="Grunge" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/pearl-jam/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="David Gray" description="Welsh singer-songwriter David Gray had enjoyed immense success in Ireland for years before the rest of the world caught up with him. His simple, acoustic-fronted songs are canvasses on which Gray paints emotions, with his hoarse vocals acting as the brush with which he recreates scenes from his soul. Leaving Wales to go to school in Liverpool, Gray drifted through various bands trying to find his place in the world of music. Eventually he started doing his own solo work and moved to London. He signed with Hut Records shortly thereafter, releasing &lt;I&gt;A Century Ends&lt;/I&gt; in 1992 and &lt;I&gt;Flesh&lt;/I&gt; in 1994. Despite strong reviews and some astonishing live performances, his music oddly failed to ignite and he was dropped by his label. He continued to play out live, and a performer-audience connection was forged in Ireland, where the crowds appreciated the singer's stark, emotional style. EMI snapped Gray up and in 1996, &lt;I&gt;Sell, Sell, Sell&lt;/I&gt; was released. Again, the musician hit the road, this time in support of Radiohead and the Dave Matthews Band. But although the audiences were larger, sales stayed flat and he was dropped. Again. Thoroughly deflated, he went on a writing spree and with a &quot;glass is half full&quot; sort of optimisim, began recording his fourth album, &lt;I&gt;White Ladder&lt;/I&gt; in his London studio apartment. The self-financed project was released on Gray's own IHT Records in 1998, and almost overnight found itself firmly lodged in the Irish Top-40, where it remained for quite some time. Dave Matthews, whom had befriended Gray on their earlier tour, signed him to his imprint label, ATO Records and released &lt;I&gt;White Ladder&lt;/I&gt; stateside in 2000. American audiences warmed to the stirring single, &quot;Babylon,&quot; and &lt;I&gt;White Ladder&lt;/I&gt; went gold by the end of the year, and platinum a mere two months later. There was a glut of David Gray reissues in 2001 as well as &lt;I&gt;The EPs 92-94&lt;/I&gt;, which consisted of three singles from &lt;I&gt;A Century Ends&lt;/I&gt;, his very first single, &quot;Birds Without Wings&quot; and various other musical tidbits. This was quickly followed by 2002's &lt;I&gt;A New Day at Midnight&lt;/I&gt;, which went gold for the singer-songwriter, despite the fact there wasn't another &quot;Babylon&quot; on the album. In 2005, Gray branched out from &quot;bedroom recordings&quot; and entered a proper recording studio with Marius De Vries (Rufus Wainwright, Madonna, U2, etc) producing. The resulting album, &lt;I&gt;Life In Slow Motion&lt;/I&gt;, spills over with low-key but radio-friendly songs and an expansive aesthetic.
- Linda Ryan" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/david-gray/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Counting Crows" description="Along with Kurt Cobain, Adam Duritz of Counting Crows will go down as one of rock's most recognizable voices of the '90s. Breathtaking in its range, his voice is more notable for its ability to convey nearly the entire spectrum of human emotion -- from elation to desolation. Eschewing fashion
and production wizardry, the band's debut, &lt;i&gt;August and Everything After&lt;/i&gt;, concentrated on powerful, intensely honest songwriting and timeless roots rock. It made a considerable impact on those within blasting radius of 20- and 30-somethings -- things just got a little more &lt;I&gt;real&lt;/I&gt;. Duritz employs a dramatist's approach to songwriting -- in his work he takes on the personas of the damaged and the damned: the addicted, the lovelorn, the depressed. Remarkably, Duritz manages to handle his subjects with a compassion free of condescension; he makes their stories, as harrowing as they sometimes are, entertaining and inspiring.
- Chad Driscoll" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/counting-crows/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Bon Jovi" description="Eternally topping the A-list of Jersey-bred pop-metal lady-killers, Bon Jovi dominated American life in the mid-'80s. Their third album, 1986's &lt;i&gt;Slippery When Wet&lt;/i&gt; (original, tragically banned cover art = awesome), made them megastars, but they had already won over more than 50,000 pop Hessians with 1984's &quot;Runaway,&quot; a melodramatic story-song made unforgettable by a killer chorus and Jon Bon Jovi's absolutely perfect hair in the video. A string of hits between 1986 and 1988 -- &quot;You Give Love a Bad Name,&quot; &quot;Livin' on a Prayer&quot; and &quot;Wanted Dead or Alive,&quot; followed up by &quot;Bad Medicine&quot; and &quot;Lay Your Hands on Me,&quot; from &lt;i&gt;New Jersey&lt;/i&gt; -- defined the power ballad and resulted in a virtual Bon Jovi sleeper hold on the mainstream psyche. While the grunge explosion rendered them instantly obsolete, Bon Jovi continued to put out records amid side projects for both Jon and guitarist Richie Sambora. In 2000 they returned with &lt;i&gt;Crush&lt;/i&gt;, an updated look (no hairspray) and a single that stands today as one of the best on their roster, the soaring &quot;It's My Life.&quot; A creative resurgence has since resulted in steady releases, the most recent of which, &lt;i&gt;Lost Highway&lt;/i&gt;, appeared in 2007.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Pop Metal" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/bon-jovi/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="R.E.M." description="Between 1983 and 1986, R.E.M.'s first four albums defined a type of music still taking shape at the time, an as-yet unnamed &quot;alternative&quot; rock then emerging on college radio. With Peter Buck's Velvet Underground-influenced guitars and Michael Stipe's murkily poetic lyrics, R.E.M. were the de facto kings of the underground in the '80s. &lt;i&gt;Life's Rich Pageant&lt;/i&gt;, generally regarded as the band's fourth near-perfect album in a row when it came out in 1986, gave them an untouchable cache among their peers and fans. This popularity grew with the advent of alternative-themed radio stations and video shows on MTV, finally breaking when &lt;i&gt;Green&lt;/I&gt; came out in 1988 and &quot;The One I Love&quot; became an inescapable MTV/radio hit. &lt;i&gt;Out of Time&lt;/i&gt; followed in 1991 and yielded &quot;Losing My Religion,&quot; which remains their most popular song today. The next three albums sold in astronomical numbers, and in 1997 Warner Bros paid them $80 million to re-up their contract. After signing the deal, founding bass player Bill Berry opted to leave the band, and between 1997 and 2008 R.E.M. released four studio albums amid a few collections and a live set.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Jangle Pop" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/rem/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Sarah McLachlan" description="Perhaps best known as the Lilith Fair's founder, Sarah McLachlan is alternately a singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, tour impresario and chanteuse who's been recording since 1988. Her work includes daring dance remixes of soulful ballads as well as covers of songs by XTC and Tom Waits (&quot;Dear God&quot; and &quot;Ol' 55&quot;). When McLachlan joined the 1990s burgeoning Adult Alternative scene she sat at the front of a class that included Alanis Morissette and Paula Cole. Almost a decade after her first release, she found mainstream success with singles such as &quot;I Will Remember You&quot; and &quot;Building a Mystery.&quot; McLachlan's throaty, soaring vocals have inspired a million gloomy shower-singers and even more lonely late night drives. Hers is powerful, emotional music that's truly &quot;better than ice cream.&quot;
- Molly Ditmore" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/sarah-mclachlan/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Wilco" description="Following the 1994 breakup of alt country pioneers Uncle Tupelo, co-founder Jeff Tweedy immediately formed Wilco. Over the next three albums, the band recorded the rootsy &lt;i&gt;A.M.&lt;/i&gt;, veered toward the orchestral pop of &lt;i&gt;Being There&lt;/i&gt;, and earned a Grammy nomination for &lt;i&gt;Mermaid Avenue&lt;/i&gt; (an album of Woody Guthrie lyrics for which the band and Billy Bragg wrote music), before running toward a sunny, West Coast-inspired pop utopia of complex introspection with &lt;i&gt;Summer Teeth&lt;/i&gt;. Upon parting ways with founding member Jay Bennett, Wilco independently released (after some wrangling with Warner Bros.) &lt;/i&gt;Yankee Hotel Foxtrot&lt;/i&gt;. It was with &lt;i&gt;Foxtrot&lt;/i&gt; that Wilco succeeded at leaving any alt country vestiges behind, venturing into more moody, dislocated songwriting tangled up inside noise experiments and amputated guitar leads. Wilco's fifth album &lt;i&gt;A Ghost Is Born&lt;/i&gt; continued to help the band search for their sound somewhere between sonic gambles and innovative production. Their sixth, &lt;i&gt;Sky Blue Sky&lt;/i&gt;, came in the spring of 2007, sounding like a return to simplified guitar pop with sing-along songs that unfold and unleash stormy guitar solos courtesy of Nels Cline. Some songs even hint at a slight return to the band's twangy roots.
- Eric Shea" category="Indie/Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/wilco/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Rob Thomas" description="What do you do after you've sold a bazillion records with your band? Two words: solo career. Rob Thomas began his career fronting rock stalwarts, Matchbox Twenty. Thomas' soulful vocals and expert songwriting, along with a straightforward rock production put a punctuation mark at the end of the grunge era as they reached multiplatinum success with their debut record. But with his collaboration with Carlos Santana, Thomas showed he was more than just a faceless lead singer of a rock band of the moment. He wrote and sang the song &quot;Smooth&quot; off of Santana's huge &lt;I&gt;Supernatural&lt;/I&gt; album. It was the biggest hit of Santana's career and garnered the duo three Grammy awards. Thomas returned to the Matchbox Twenty fold and produced two more middle-of-the-road rock records before he switched gears by releasing his solo debut, 2005's &lt;I&gt;Something To Be.&lt;/I&gt; Featuring a brighter more open sound that Matchbox Twenty's efforts, the album included more keyboards and dance production values to highlight Thomas' energetic, neo-soul voice and sultry swagger. Mostly on the strength of the single &quot;Lonely No More,&quot; the release debuted as the No. 1 record in the country and launched Thomas as an artist with great commercial and artistic potential. His second album, &lt;i&gt;Cradlesong&lt;/i&gt;, appeared in the summer of 2009.
- Jon Maples" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/rob-thomas/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Lifehouse" description="Lifehouse began in 1996 as Blyss, a teenage garage trio haunting their high school's Friday night jam sessions. Seattle transplant Jason Wade, his new L.A. neighbor Sergio Andrade, and latecomer drummer Rick Woolstenhulme honed their post-grunge sound for two years before garnering a deal with DreamWorks and changing their name to Lifehouse. Though the stringed &quot;Breathe&quot; won them that deal and resulted in debut LP &lt;I&gt;No Name Face&lt;/I&gt;, &quot;Hanging by a Moment&quot; had more impact, hitting number one on &lt;I&gt;Billboard&lt;/I&gt;'s Modern Rock charts. The debut went double-platinum, and the obscure Southern California group was suddenly touring internationally with Pearl Jam, Everclear and Matchbox 20. They polished their sound and become more radio-friendly on their sophomore release, &lt;I&gt;Stanley Climbfall&lt;/I&gt;, and in 2005 brought Canadian bassist Bryce Soderberg into the fold for their third (self-titled) LP. By album three, the band had solidified their trademark sound, bringing Wade's earnest grunge vocals and songwriting chops to the fore.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Contemporary Hard Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/lifehouse/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Matchbox Twenty" description="With a 1996 debut album that catapulted them directly onto the A-list of alternative-rock superstardom, Matchbox Twenty's occasionally muscular take on what Counting Crows started with &quot;Mr. Jones&quot; pretty much defined mainstream music in the late '90s. Three singles from that album -- &quot;Long Day,&quot; &quot;Push&quot; and &quot;3AM&quot; -- remain archetypal examples of what is referred to as &quot;adult alternative.&quot; Singer and focal point Rob Thomas' growly and impassioned vocals come straight outta the post-grunge school, bolstered by semi-heavy guitars at the chorus and lyrical cues that are impossible to forget (case in point: the &quot;And I will, and I will&quot; refrain in &quot;Push,&quot; which is about as tenacious as a hook can possibly be). Second record &lt;i&gt;Mad Season&lt;/i&gt; followed in 2000, and despite taking a less rocking approach, it furthered the band's near-dominance of the airwaves. Sales dropped slightly with &lt;i&gt;More Than You Think You Are&lt;/i&gt; as everybody started copying Creed, and Matchbox Twenty's particular take on the alternative-rock ballad became somewhat obsolete and the band fell silent. In 2007, they reunited and released a hybrid of new and old material called &lt;i&gt;Exile on Mainstream&lt;/i&gt;.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/matchbox-twenty/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Incubus" description="Avid skaters and surfers from Southern California, Incubus first came together as teenagers at Calabasas High School in the early '90s. They gigged early and often at rundown joints across L.A. County and self-released their first album of hip-hop-inflected hard rock and psychedelic urban punk, titled &lt;I&gt;Fungus Amongus,&lt;/I&gt; in '95. Their second record was picked up by Sony and went gold, leading to double platinum status and Top 10 tracks from the two albums that followed. More radio-friendly than the band's earlier stuff, &lt;I&gt;Make Yourself&lt;/I&gt; and &lt;I&gt;Morning View&lt;/I&gt; were still bolder and more unusual than Incubus' modern rock peers, working with scathingly funky breaks and scratchy guitars and even -- with the seven-minute long &quot;Aqueous Transmission&quot; -- delving into sound-collage abstraction. By the '04 release of &lt;I&gt;A Crow Left of the Murder,&lt;/I&gt; Incubus had renegotiated their contract with Sony and reached their popular peak, headlining sold-out world tours and playing festivals like Lollapalooza and the Bridge School Benefit. They released their sixth album, &lt;I&gt;Light Grenades,&lt;/I&gt; in late 2006.
- Jonathan Zwickel" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/incubus/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Sting" description="In his post-Police years, Sting's songwriting ambitions have grown both artistically and commercially. He consistently delivers platinum-selling albums to his all-grown-up audience, always making sure to surround himself with exceptional musicians. Along with Peter Gabriel, he's made Adult Contemporary a slightly jazzier, more worldbeat-friendly spot on the radio dial.
- Jessy Terry" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/sting/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Colbie Caillat" description="Colbie Caillat owes her early success to MySpace, which brought the soulful folk singer and songwriter to the attention of millions of fans before she'd released a proper debut. The daughter of an audio engineer (Dad worked on Fleetwood Mac's &lt;I&gt;Rumours&lt;/i&gt;), the Malibu girl grew up surrounded by music, taking a few piano lessons and starting to sing in earnest while she was still a pre-teen. At 19, she hooked up with producer Mikal Blue, who recorded Caillat's first song and would become her long-time collaborator. A little ditty called &quot;Bubbly&quot; drew the MySpace users to her page by the thousands. Make that hundreds of thousands. When her debut, Coco, came in July 2007, the online buzz helped her become an instant success, and she quickly earned top spots on digital music services and the Billboard charts. By the time its follow-up, &lt;I&gt;Breakthrough&lt;/I&gt;, dropped in 2009, Caillat was a bona fide pop star with collaborations with Jason Mraz and Taylor Swift under her belt.
- Rachel Devitt" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/colbie-caillat/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Maroon 5" description="Maroon 5 began as a late-Nineties L.A. grunge outfit called Kara's Flowers, featuring guitarist-singer Adam Levine, keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, bassist Mickey Maddin and drummer Ryan Dusick, who were signed to Reprise while still in high school. They issued one poor-selling album and broke up for college. Soon, though, they reunited, this time calling themselves Maroon 5 and adopting a poppier, more R&amp;B-inflected sound, and adding guitarist James Valentine. In 2002 they issued their debut, &lt;I&gt;Songs About Jane&lt;/I&gt;, a slow-building success (it went to Number 6 two years after its issue) thanks to the single &quot;Harder to Breathe&quot; (Number 18, 2003). More singles followed, including &quot;This Love&quot; (Number 5, 2004), &quot;She Will Be Loved&quot; (Number 5, 2004) and &quot;Sunday Morning&quot; (Number 31, 2005).
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The group began touring constantly, resulting in a pair of live discs &amp;#8212; &lt;I&gt;1.22.03 Acoustic&lt;/I&gt; (2004) and &lt;I&gt;Live &amp;#8212; Friday the 13th&lt;/I&gt; (2005) &amp;#8212; a CD-DVD combo package capturing a Santa Barbara show from May 2005 and the loss of drummer Dusick, who injured his shoulder and wrist during the grueling grind. He was replaced by Matt Flynn, who played on the band's studio follow-up, &lt;I&gt;It Won't Be Soon Before Long&lt;/I&gt; (Number One, 2007). One of the major pop-rock sellers of its release year, &lt;I&gt;It Won't Be Soon&lt;/I&gt; moved nearly a half-million copies its opening week thanks largely to the infectious pop-funk lead single &quot;Makes Me Wonder&quot; (Number One, 2007). Further hits came with &quot;Wake Up Call” (Number 19, 2007) and &quot;Won't Go Home Without You,&quot; which hit Number 21 on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Levine's soul-influenced vocal style has also earned him props from hip-hop and R&amp;B artists and listeners, and gained him guest spots on Kanye West's &quot;Heard 'Em Say&quot; from &lt;I&gt;Late Registration&lt;/I&gt; (2005), and on Alicia Keys' cover of the Rolling Stones' &quot;Wild Horses,&quot; from her &lt;I&gt;Unplugged&lt;/I&gt; (2005). The group has won three Grammy Awards, including a 2005 nod for Best New Artist, a two trophies for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals &amp;#8212; one from 2006 for &quot;This Love,&quot; and one from 2008 for &quot;Makes Me Wonder.&quot;
" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/maroon-5/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Seether" description="Bearing plenty of sonic similarities to neo-radio metal big shots Nickelback (albeit with more crunch) and a knack for choruses almost as catchy as main influence Nirvana, Seether formed in South Africa in 1999. Wind-Up Records signed them within a year of their storming the charts in their homeland; released their debut, &lt;i&gt;Disclaimer&lt;/i&gt;, in 2002; and sent them out on a series of lengthy tours. A remix of that album, &lt;i&gt;Disclaimer II&lt;/i&gt;, turned up in 2004, and &lt;i&gt;Karma and Effect&lt;/i&gt; followed in 2005. In 2007, the quintet released &lt;i&gt;Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces&lt;/i&gt;. They play metal-pop with some tasty guitars and ties to the heydays of grunge that seem to grow stronger with each release. Even singer Shaun Morgan's lyrics reflect the introspection of those times, using his struggles with substances and his former relationship with Evanescence singer Amy Lee as subject matter for some of their better songs (see their first single, &quot;Fine Again&quot;).
- Mike McGuirk" category="Contemporary Hard Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/seether/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Goo Goo Dolls" description="Often compared to the Replacements and Cheap Trick, the Goo Goo Dolls' tattered, anthemic beginnings were documented on Metal Blade Records -- home to such other &quot;alt rockers&quot; as D.R.I., GWAR, and Fates Warning. Perennial headbangers, their noisy forays embraced the excesses of Sonic Youth and &lt;I&gt;Oh My Gawd!&lt;/I&gt;-era Flaming Lips as much as they harnessed the raw punk energy of the Replacements. The 'Mats references don't really start to make sense until the fourth and fifth albums, when their songwriting developed past three chords-and-some-noise songs to eventually include string sections and over-rehearsed dynamics (see &lt;i&gt;Superstar Car Wash&lt;/i&gt;). Their sixth album, &lt;I&gt;A Boy Named Goo&lt;/I&gt;, offered the megahit &quot;Name,&quot; a song so sweetly infectious and clean it seemed to deny any previous knowledge of metal. Now comfortably marketed to the 'burbs rather than the seedy, beer-soaked parts of town they once ruled, a VH-1 &lt;i&gt;Behind the Music&lt;/i&gt; special about the band would probably seem more like an episode of the &lt;i&gt;X-Files&lt;/i&gt; than a documentary. The band followed-up their breakthrough album with 1998's &lt;I&gt;Dizzy Up the Girl&lt;/I&gt;, scoring the Goo Goo Dolls another round of chart hits with &quot;Slide&quot; and &quot;Iris,&quot; a monster power ballad written for the &lt;I&gt;City of Angels&lt;/I&gt; soundtrack. A result of the band's over-the-top success was that frontman Johnny Rzeznik ended up spending a great deal of time in Los Angeles; eventually moving there. In 2002, they released the rather glossy &lt;I&gt;Gutterflower&lt;/I&gt; marking the first hiccup for the band. Rzeznik, who was having trouble adjusting to living in Los Angeles and fame in general, found himself divorced, uninspired by his new surroundings and with relative commercial bomb on his hands. In July, 2004, the Goo Goo Dolls played a Fourth of July concert for their fans. The free concert was held in the band's hometown of Buffalo, New York, and captured the magic of the band perfectly -- even the unseasonable rain couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd that day. Fittingly, the Goos released &lt;I&gt;Live in Buffalo&lt;/I&gt; shortly thereafter. The experience restored Rzeznik's spirits and once again, the singer found himself packing his belongings and moving across country. In the transition, the band's label released &lt;I&gt;What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art &amp; Commerce&lt;/I&gt;, a somewhat wishy-washy compilation of remixes and early tracks. Once back in Buffalo, the beleagured singer's creative juices started flowing once again. He and bandmate Robbie Takac rekindled their songwriting partnership, which had fallen by the wayside after &lt;I&gt;SuperstarCarWash&lt;/I&gt; was released. The result was 2006's return to form, &lt;I&gt;Let Love In&lt;/I&gt;, an inspired effort produced by Glen Ballard.
- Linda Ryan" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/goo-goo-dolls/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Sara Bareilles" description="Sara Bareilles (pronounced bar-rell-is) is a singer and songwriter from Eureka, Calif., who grew up singing in the high school choir and playing piano. After gigging around Los Angeles' open mic circuit as a student at UCLA, she caught the eye of Epic and signed her first major record contract in April 2005. Bareilles spent the next year working out a set of piano-based rockers that might sound at home filed next to Regina Spektor. These would make their way to Bareilles' 2007 debut &lt;i&gt;Little Voice&lt;/i&gt;, produced by Eric Rosse (best known for his long association with Tori Amos). The album enjoyed wide distribution, in part because it was as a song-of-the-day selection for Starbucks, a Seattle-based coffee franchise.
- Nate Cavalieri" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/sara-bareilles/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Snow Patrol" description="Mild-mannered indie-popsters take the slow boat to slackersville, warmly shuffling and strumming though mid-tempo gems. Quiet vocals, lazy mid-tempos, and quirky charm rule the coop.
- Kelly Bauman" category="Brit Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/snow-patrol/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Ben Harper" description="A California native, Ben Harper puts a fresh perspective on Woodstock-era folk rock, 1970s soul and pretty much any other genre he comes into contact with. Harper's classic rock 'n' soul 'n' blues approach can come off like early-career Lenny Kravitz, but his honesty and integrity place him in a different category; in fact, the way Harper has built his audience up brings Bruce Springsteen to mind. &lt;br&gt;&lt;/br&gt;
Harper's solo debut, &lt;i&gt;Welcome to the Cruel World&lt;/i&gt;, came out in 1994 and immediately caught on with the quickly growing jam rock underground (then called &quot;Dead Heads,&quot; kids). While this meant that Harper was filling concert venues while selling relatively few CDs, it also meant that an ever-growing army of new converts keeps buying his back catalog titles. &lt;br&gt;&lt;/br&gt;
In 1997, &quot;Steal My Kisses&quot; became a hit single and helped make &lt;i&gt;Will to Live&lt;/i&gt; Harper's first charting album. While his inclusive political vibe and ease with multiple genres may have seemed quaint during the Clinton years, his musical worldview was made more relevant than ever when the reactionary 2000s came around and reintroduced the public to the same things that Harper's musical forebears sang about (you name it -- voter equality, war and government/big business corruption). With his music resonating with more and more people, Harper put out &lt;i&gt;Diamonds on the Inside&lt;/i&gt; in 2003. &lt;br&gt;&lt;/br&gt;
With &lt;i&gt;Diamonds&lt;/i&gt; going Top 20 in the U.S. and Top 10 in Canada, Harper made an about-face and decided to tour and record with the legendary gospel act the Blind Boys of Alabama in 2004. Their collaboration, &lt;i&gt;Let There Be Light&lt;/i&gt;, should have been a career best for Harper. Instead, he followed it up with 2006's &lt;i&gt;Both Sides of the Gun&lt;/i&gt;, a double disc protest album that was his most cohesive, energetic and creative work yet. Harper is married to actress Laura Dern.
- Nick Dedina" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/ben-harper/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Avril Lavigne" description="The logical next step after the late-'90s/early-'00s teen-pop explosion was a more rock-oriented but every bit as market-tested version of the same basic template. Enter Avril Ramona Lavigne, a saucy Canadian teen whose ability to smash punky angst into a poppy package brought her great success in 2002, when she released her debut on the strength of single &quot;Complicated.&quot; Her first album, &lt;I&gt;Let Go&lt;/I&gt; (Number Two, 2002), released when the Ontario singer was 17 years old, sold more than 6 million copies and earned the singer-songwriter eight Grammy nominations. Alongside &quot;Complicated&quot;(Number Two, 2002), the album included singles &quot;Sk8r Boi&quot;(Number 10, 2002) and &quot;I'm With You&quot;(Number Four, 2003), as well as the Number 64 &quot;Losing Grip&quot;(2003). Lavigne has affixed her on-cue snarl and Valley-girl-inspired vocal to pop culture's center ever since.
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Lavigne was raised in Napanee, Ontario, and sang locally as a child and early teen while growing up in a Christian home. She signed with Arista Records at 16, leaving school and moving to New York to begin work on her debut. The hit-making songwriting/production trio the Matrix worked on &quot;Complicated,&quot; which led &lt;I&gt;Let Go&lt;/I&gt; to multiplatinum status, while the song's video helped turn the singer's tank-top-and-necktie look into a brief craze.
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For her follow-up, &lt;I&gt;Under My Skin&lt;/I&gt; (Number One, 2004), Lavigne worked with Evanescence member Ben Moody, Butch Walker, singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk and her own touring guitarist Evan Taubenfeld on the songwriting. (One song Lavigne co-wrote, but was later cut from the album was &quot;Breakaway,&quot; which became the title track of Kelly Clarkson's multiplatinum album of the same name.) The hits weren't as big, but Lavigne still charted solidly with &quot;Don't Tell Me&quot; (Number 22, 2004), &quot;Nobody's Home&quot; (Number 41, 2004), and relationship rant &quot;My Happy Ending&quot; (Number Nine, 2005). Ironically, Lavigne, who's been known to clash with the paparazzi, did find a happy ending, marrying fellow Canuck rocker Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 in July 2006.
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The following year's &lt;I&gt;The Best Damn Thing&lt;/I&gt; (Number One, 2007) was a return to the peppier &lt;I&gt;Let Go&lt;/I&gt; style after the more somber &lt;I&gt;Skin&lt;/I&gt;, yielding the chanty hit &quot;Girlfriend&quot; (Number One, 2007), which stayed in the Top 10 for about half a year and prompted a lawsuit from James Gangwer and Tommy Dunbar of power poppers the Rubinoos, who heard a more-than-superficial resemblance to their own 1979 song &quot;I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”; the suit was settled in January 2008. Other singles from the album &amp;#8212; which featured production by Whibley, Walker, Levine, Rob Cavallo and Dr. Luke &amp;#8212; included &quot;Keep Holding On&quot;(Number 17, 2007), &quot;When You're Gone&quot; (Number 24, 2007), and &quot;Hot&quot; (Number 95, 2007).
" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/avril-lavigne/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Sheryl Crow" description="This Singer-Songwriter from rural Missouri burst onto the music scene in 1994 with her solo debut, &lt;I&gt;Tuesday Night Music Club&lt;/I&gt;, which painted vivid images of working class bars and early morning nightcaps. The public immediately latched on to her blend of singsong vocals and laid back blues rock delivered with a confident, disarming wink. Though she's since abandoned her bottle of Bud persona in favor of a more glamorous pop image, she's still someone you can't help but imagine running into at a small town dive.
- Doug Russell" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/sheryl-crow/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Ray LaMontagne" description="Musical epiphanies often happen to people at the most random moments. Dave Matthews once confessed that his came when he was eating a hot dog at the legendary Pink's in Hollywood when a Paul Williams song came on the radio and from then on he knew what he was going to do with the rest of his life. Roger McGuinn of the Byrds admits that after watching George Harrison play an electric 12-string guitar in &lt;I&gt;A Hard Day's Night&lt;/I&gt;, that he suddenly knew that the magic sounding, jangly chime was gong to be his trademark sound. For Ray LaMontagne, the calling came over the speakers of a shoe factory he was working in. More specifically, it was &quot;Tree Top Flyer&quot; by Stephen Stills that stopped him dead in his tracks when he knew that he had to leave his job and pursue a singing/songwriting career. Having grown up in a nomadic family, it wasn't too unfamiliar for LaMontagne to suddenly pick up and start over, which is exactly what he did. Ten recorded demo songs later, he was inking a deal with Chrysalis Music Publishing before teaming up with Hollywood producer Ethan Johns to cut his debut album &lt;I&gt;Trouble&lt;/I&gt; which was almost instantly nabbed by RCA Records in 2004. Although LaMontagne is often compared to Tim Buckley, his voice sounds not unlike a young Van Morrison or even Ryan Adams.
- Eric Shea" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/ray-lamontagne/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="O.A.R." description="Though O.A.R. sources its name to &quot;of a revolution,&quot; the quartet from Ohio turns out smooth-edged, jammy pop that calls more for spreading a blanket in the lawn seats than revolt. Singer and rhythm guitarist Marc Roberge and drummer Chris Culos were childhood friends who formed a band in hometown Rockville, Md., with bassist Benj Gershman and guitarist Richard On. The quartet met saxophonist Jerry DePizzo while students at Ohio State. They made a demo, &lt;I&gt;The Wanderer&lt;/I&gt;, in 1997, which had a college tape-swapping hit in &quot;That Was a Crazy Game of Poker.&quot; After another independent release, they connected with Dave Matthews' producer John Algia for &lt;I&gt;Risen&lt;/I&gt; in 2001 and won over DMB fans by touring a similar circuit. A growing fan base coalesced, and the band scored a pair of radio hits in 2005 with &quot;Love and Memories&quot; and &quot;Heard the World.&quot; The band's first official live effort, &lt;I&gt;Live at Madison Square Garden&lt;/I&gt;, came in 2007.
- Nate Cavalieri" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/oar/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Mat Kearney" description="While a good amount of Mat Kearney's songs at first appear cut from the same cloth as those of fellow acoustic crooner John Mayer, there's plenty to differentiate him. The hip-hop stylings of &quot;Undeniable&quot; and &quot;Girl America,&quot; as well as &quot;All I Need&quot; -- a song detailing eyewitness accounts of Hurricane Katrina -- point to the fact that Kearney isn't just a dude singing about his hurt feelings on TV (he's had songs appear on &lt;i&gt;Grey's Anatomy&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;One Tree Hill&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Friday Night Lights&lt;/i&gt;, to name just three). Kearney relocated from his native Eugene, Ore., to Nashville, Tenn., after recording &lt;i&gt;Bullet&lt;/i&gt; in 2004. He signed to Columbia and released &lt;i&gt;Nothing Left to Lose&lt;/i&gt; in 2006, the title cut of which reached No. 7 on the U.S. Adult Top 40 chart. His third album, &lt;i&gt;City of Black &amp; White&lt;/i&gt;, came out in 2009.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/mat-kearney/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Ben Folds" description="As the leader and main songwriter behind Ben Folds Five, Ben Folds made a name for himself in the mid to late 1990s as the post-grunge era's piano man. After the group disbanded in 2000, Folds released his solo debut, &lt;I&gt;Rockin' The Suburbs&lt;/I&gt;, in 2001. Continuing in a vein similar to his work with the trio, Folds excels at writing smart, slightly ironic pop songs with a love of melody, conjuring up memories of peak period Joe Jackson or even Todd Rundgren's less progressive pop moments. That Folds manages to sell truckloads of records without even touching a guitar might be his most remarkable achievement.
- Jon Pruett" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/ben-folds/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Matt Nathanson" description="Too aggressive to be lumped in with today's folk-inflected singer-songwriter scene, Matt Nathanson is a maverick performer/songwriter whose material runs the gamut from arresting solo confessionals to full-band acoustic assaults. Nathanson's expressive voice competes for attention with his omnipresent 12-string guitar, while his most intense work has pioneered a new human emotion informally called &quot;craffing&quot; -- a swirling combination of crying and laughing which often leaves the listener exhausted yet, ultimately, rewarded.
- Charles Hodgkins" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/matt-nathanson/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Ryan Adams" description="Ryan Adams cut his teenage teeth in punk band the Patty Duke Syndrome long before hitting pay dirt with alt country latecomers Whiskeytown. Disbanding that twangy troupe after three albums (with a fourth full-length entitled &lt;I&gt;Pneumonia&lt;/I&gt; released following the band's split), Adams made like many a front man and transmogrified into an earnest singer-songwriter. In his solo career, Adams has reworked his raucous Americana sound by either stripping it down to a gritty, bare-bones sparseness or pumping it up with steam-powered rhythms, distorted guitars and some of the most polished production in all of Los Angeles. He's developed a driving, melodious pop style with catchier hooks than many of his contemporaries -- in fact, of all the insurgent country hopefuls who've attempted to break into the more lucrative Adult Alternative radio charts (Kim Richey, the Jayhawks, Victoria Williams, Rhett Miller, Kelly Willis, Son Volt, etc), Adams is the closest to achieving a crossover success of John Mellencamp-esque proportions.
- Eric Shea" category="Alt Country" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/ryan-adams/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Jewel" description="Jewel Kilcher is a modern-day folknik who gained a huge cult following playing Southern California coffeehouses before signing to Atlantic in 1995. Her dynamic, sparkling voice can extend from a wood-nymph lightness to that of a sultry, soulful chanteuse. Born in Utah but raised in Alaska, Jewel began playing music with her parents at the early age of six. After graduating from Michigan's Interlochen Fine Arts Academy, she moved to San Diego, where she lived in the back of her van and began to focus on her music as a career. Jewel's late-'90s hits included &quot;Foolish Games&quot; (from the &lt;I&gt;Batman and Robin&lt;/I&gt; soundtrack) and &quot;Who Will Save Your Soul,&quot; co-written with singer-songwriter Steve Poltz of the Rugburns. Throughout the decade and into the new millennium, Jewel released a string of albums, yet her sales declined, despite critical praise and radio airplay. After the singer's sixth release, &lt;I&gt;Goodbye Alice in Wonderland&lt;/I&gt;, Jewel was dropped by her label and took the opportunity to reinvent herself. Dating rodeo rider Ty Murray provided plenty of opportunities to be in Nashville, Tenn., and that is where Jewel recorded 2008's country effort, &lt;I&gt;Perfectly Clear&lt;/I&gt;.
- Linda Ryan" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/jewel/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Darius Rucker" description="Contrary to popular belief, Darius Rucker is not Hootie, even if he did sell millions of albums as the frontman for the '90s roots-rock band Hootie &amp; the Blowfish. In 2002, Rucker released &lt;I&gt;Back to Then&lt;/I&gt;, a pop/R&amp;B solo effort that came and went. In 2008, the honey-timbered singer released his second solo album, I&gt;Learn to Live&lt;/I&gt;, and a country star was born. &lt;I&gt;Learn to Live&lt;/I&gt; garnered rave reviews and Rucker's song, &quot;Don't Think I Don't Think About It,&quot; went Top 10 on the Country charts.
- Linda Ryan" category="New Country" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/darius-rucker/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Tori Amos" description="Tori Amos is a songwriter in the classic '70s sense. Creating meaningful, emotional songs that incorporate acoustic guitar, piano, and strings into elaborate and evocative compositions, Amos' fragile voice carries with it all the strength, emotion and sensuality her intelligent, poetic lyrics allow. Her complexity as an artist comes from her ability to display womanly vulnerability and subvert it with raw sexuality and intimidating, thick-skinned ire, embodying it all with startling honesty.
- Jessy Terry" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/tori-amos/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Keane" description="The three members of Keane grew up together in Sussex, England and formed the band in the late-1990s. With soaring melodies and choirboy falsettos, Keane's sound is often compared to such bands as Coldplay, Travis and Radiohead -- despite the fact that there's nary a guitar to be found in Keane's music. Making the most of very little, Keane's epic, cinematic sound brims with gut-wrenching melodies telling stories of heartbreak and romance. Their 2004 debut, &lt;I&gt;Hopes and Fears&lt;/I&gt;, is particularly impressive.
- Linda Ryan" category="Brit Pop/Brit Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/keane/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Chris Isaak" description="Gifted with an absolutely divine voice and a riveting stage presence, Isaak is one of the few performers that can pull off both infectious rockers and heartfelt ballads with utter conviction and unrivaled style. Though it was the former that made him cool, it was the latter that made him famous. Once his &quot;Wicked Game&quot; was featured in David Lynch's 1990 film masterpiece &lt;I&gt;Wild At Heart&lt;/I&gt;, it wasn't long before people took notice; naturally, an ultrasexy video for the song with supermodel Helena Christensen didn't exactly hurt his popularity. Subsequent efforts, while smoother and less steamy than his 1980s work, have all been successes.
- Doug Russell" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/chris-isaak/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="The Cranberries" description="The success of the Cranberries' 1993 single &quot;Linger&quot; was certainly the result of their near-flawless sound. One listen to Dolores O'Riordan's voice -- an intense, piercing wail that soars emotively or shifts, at note's end, to a keen yelp -- and anyone within earshot is transfixed. Combined with the band's shimmering, folk-influenced guitar pop and excellent studio production, the Cranberries' popularity and chart success seems only logical. The singles that followed &quot;Linger,&quot; &quot;Zombie&quot; and &quot;Ode to My Family,&quot; both soared up the American and U.K. charts, resulting in multiplatinum album sales. By the time of their third LP, &lt;i&gt;To the Faithful Departed&lt;/i&gt;, the band were already a household name on both sides of the Atlantic." category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/the-cranberries/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Elvis Costello" description="Elvis Costello exploded on the late-1970s music scene as part of a new wave of brash singer/songwriters who reinvigorated the literate, lyrical traditions of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison with the raw energy and sass that were principal ethics of punk. Early in his career, Costello listed &quot;revenge and guilt&quot; as his primary motivations, but what really counted was the construction of his songs, which set densely layered wordplays in an ever-expanding repertoire of styles. Since Costello's melodic instincts were as sure as his gifts as a lyricist, his musical experiments generally drew kudos, enhancing his reputation as a quintessential critics' favorite. (Rock singer David Lee Roth once remarked that critics liked the bespectacled, nerdy Costello because they all looked liked him.) Granted, some members of the pop intelligentsia never forgave Costello for moving beyond the brazen minimalist urgency of his early seminal albums; but it's just this progress that has allowed the singer to remain a relevant, respected artist.
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Elvis Costello's (b. Declan Patrick MacManus, August 25th, 1954, Paddington, London) father was a successful big-band singer and trumpet player. While attending Catholic school in working-class London, Costello tried playing violin and several other instruments before discovering the guitar at 15, at which point he was already interested in songwriting. Soon after, he moved to Liverpool to live with his mother, who had divorced his father. In the early 1970s, he and his high school sweetheart married and had a son, settling in London. There, Costello continued to write, record demos, and perform (sometimes under the name D.C. Costello, his mother's maiden name), while supporting his family as a computer operator. In 1975 he quit his job, became a roadie for Brinsley Schwarz, and became friendly with their bass player, Nick Lowe. Stiff Records signed Costello in 1976 on the advice of staff producer Lowe; one of the label's owners, Jake Riviera, became his manager and rechristened him Elvis Costello.
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Costello's first single, &quot;Less Than Zero,&quot; was released in April 1977 and later included on his phenomenal Lowe-produced debut &lt;I&gt;My Aim Is True&lt;/I&gt;. Soon Top 20 in England, &lt;I&gt;Aim&lt;/I&gt; (Number 32 U.S.) made Costello a major British cult star and attracted critical kudos in the U.S. The now-classic album, which included one of popular music's best-ever heartbreak songs in &quot;Alison,&quot; as well as the haunting &quot;Watching the Detectives, and the melodically-addictive &quot;(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes&quot; was recorded with the Northern California band Clover &amp;#8212; a group that would form the basis of Huey Lewis and the News &amp;#8212; and made in six sessions for under $2,000.
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Costello then assembled the Attractions: keyboardist Steve &quot;Nieve&quot; Nason, drummer Pete Thomas, and bassist Bruce Thomas. Bolstered by his new cohorts on &lt;I&gt;This Year's Model&lt;/I&gt; (Number 30, 1978), he rocked harder, while maintaining his distinctively wounded, clipped vocal delivery. Meanwhile, his &quot;angry young man&quot; image was amplified by punk-friendly habits like onstage rudeness, brief sets, and an aversion to the press. His next release, the Top 10 &lt;I&gt;Armed Forces&lt;/I&gt; (originally titled &lt;I&gt;Emotional Facism&lt;/I&gt;), repeatedly equated love affairs with military maneuvers (&quot;Oliver's Army&quot;). By then Costello's style encompassed lush, Beatlesque arrangements and more diverse influences.
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While he toured the U.S. to promote &lt;I&gt;Armed Forces&lt;/I&gt; in 1979, Costello's onstage contrariness and dark moods &amp;#8212; sometimes induced by drinking &amp;#8212; reached alarming proportions. In Columbus, Ohio, that March, a minor but much-publicized conflict with American singers Bonnie Bramlett and Stephen Stills occurred in a hotel bar after an inebriated Costello reportedly disparaged Ray Charles with a racial epithet. Besides tainting his work with the Rock Against Racism organization, this outburst brought the wrath of the previously supportive press &amp;#8212; though he subsequently issued a formal apology. Costello lay low for a while, producing the Specials' 1979 debut and appearing at the Concert for Kampuchea.
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&lt;I&gt;Trust&lt;/I&gt; (Number 28, 1981) brought Costello back to frontline duty with a more piano-based songs and an accompanying American tour that revealed an uncharacteristically polite and reserved stage manner, as if experience had mellowed the performer, who was still in his mid-20s. His touring partners were Squeeze, a critically acclaimed pop band whose 1981 LP &lt;I&gt;East Side Story&lt;/I&gt; Costello co-produced. Later that same year Costello released &lt;I&gt;Almost Blue&lt;/I&gt; (Number 50), an album of country &amp; western covers recorded in Nashville that got mixed reviews. (A C&amp;W aficionado, Costello later re-covered a version of his &quot;Stranger in the House&quot; with George Jones, while Costello's songs have been covered by Dave Edmunds and Linda Ronstadt.)
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&lt;I&gt;Imperial Bedroom&lt;/I&gt; (Number 30, 1982), in contrast, earned raves. Full of wry, elegant, haunted ballads, the extraordinary album marked Costello's most sophisticated pop craftsmanship yet, garnering comparisons to such pre-rock bards as Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart. With 1983's &lt;I&gt;Punch the Clock&lt;/i&gt; (Number 24), Costello continued to move beyond the punk minimalism of his early work, serving up soulful, accessible pop (&quot;Everyday I Write the Book,&quot; a Top 40 U.S hit and &quot;Everyday I Write the Book with Daryl Hall.) and serious balladry (the politically astute &quot;Shipbuilding&quot;). While less consistent, 1984's &lt;I&gt;Goodbye Cruel World&lt;/I&gt; (Number 35) also found him diversifying in this vein.
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Costello's personal life was also undergoing changes. Estranged from his wife, he struck up a relationship with the Pogues' bassist Caitlin O'Riordan while the Irish band toured with him in the fall of 1984. (Costello also produced the Pogues' 1985 album, &lt;I&gt;Rum, Sodomy &amp; the Lash&lt;/I&gt;.) Costello divorced his wife in 1985 and married O'Riordan in 1986. Also in 1986, Costello temporarily traded in the Attractions for a pickup band he called the Confederates &amp;#8212; former Elvis Presley musicians guitarist James Burton, drummer Ronnie Tutt, and bassist Jerry Scheff &amp;#8212; who appeared with him on all but one cut (on which the Attractions appeared) on the lushly melodic &lt;I&gt;King of America&lt;/I&gt; (Number 39). Later that same year, Costello reenlisted the Attractions for the more raucous &lt;I&gt;Blood and Chocolate&lt;/I&gt; (Number 84). The tour to promote both these albums alternated between sets featuring the Attractions, the Confederates, and Costello performing solo, acoustically. In addition, Costello designed the Spinning Songbook, a device through which audience members could &quot;choose,&quot; by luck of the draw, songs from his vast repertoire.
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In 1987 Costello co-wrote a bunch of songs with Paul McCartney, several of which materialized two years later on &lt;I&gt;Spike&lt;/I&gt; (Number 32). Costello's 1989 album &amp;#8212; which also included support from Roger McGuinn, Chrissie Hynde, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band &amp;#8212; produced a Top 20 hit in the McCartney-Costello collaboration &quot;Veronica&quot; (Number 19, 1989) and went gold. Some critics found &lt;I&gt;Spike&lt;/I&gt; inconsistent, though, preferring the subsequent collection &lt;I&gt;Girls Girls Girls&lt;/I&gt;, on which Costello chronicled his career thus far with his own favorite material.
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Much like &lt;I&gt;Spike&lt;/i&gt;, 1991's &lt;I&gt;Mighty Like a Rose&lt;/I&gt; (Number 55) was made without the Attractions, and was perceived as lacking focus. In 1993, though, Costello found a new sense of direction in perhaps his most ambitious project yet: &lt;I&gt;The Juliet Letters&lt;/I&gt; (Number 125), a song cycle he wrote and performed with the string players in England's Brodsky Quartet, inspired by an article about letters sent to Shakespeare's character Juliet Capulet, received by a Veronese academic. The album and subsequent tour drew wild praise from some, while baffling or putting off others. Meanwhile, in the 1990s, Rykodisc began releasing the early Costello albums on compact disc, with extra tracks consisting of live and previously unreleased recordings.
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In 1994 Costello reunited with the Attractions for &lt;I&gt;Brutal Youth&lt;/I&gt; (which also featured Nick Lowe); the maturely rocking results garnered almost unanimous acclaim, and the album climbed to Number 34. That summer, Costello began touring with the Attractions, marking a reconciliation between Costello and bassist Bruce Thomas, whose published memoirs had enraged the singer. In 1995 Costello was back on his own (with some help from Attractions drummer Pete Thomas and a handful of studio musicians) with &lt;I&gt;Kojak Variety&lt;/I&gt; (Number 102), a cover album featuring songs by Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Bob Dylan, among others.
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The following year Costello covered himself on &lt;I&gt;All This Useless Beauty&lt;/I&gt; (Number 53), which highlighted several original Costello songs that had been recorded by other artists. Also in 1996 the cynical Costello surprised critics and fans by collaborating with '60s love-song composer Burt Bacharach for the soundtrack to the film &lt;I&gt;Grace of My Heart&lt;/I&gt;. Their co-written effort, &quot;God Give Me Strength,&quot; was featured in the movie, nominated for a Grammy, and paved the way for the duo to write enough songs to record their own album, &lt;I&gt;Painted From Memory&lt;/I&gt; (1998). A track from that album, &quot;I Still Have That Other Girl,&quot; won the pair a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. Costello and Bacharach became so well known as artistic partners that they appeared together in a cameo as themselves in the comedy &lt;I&gt;Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me&lt;/I&gt; in 1999. Costello lightened up enough to appear as himself in the Spice Girls movie &lt;I&gt;Spice World&lt;/I&gt; (1997) and the 1980s nostalgia flick &lt;I&gt;200 Cigarettes&lt;/I&gt; (1999).
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Costello continues to tour, sometimes as a duo with Attractions keyboardist Nieve. He has recorded with his son Matthew and Supergrass drummer Danny Goffrey. In the late 1990s and 2000, he contributed original songs to movie soundtracks and returned to dabbling in classical music: He played on classical saxophonist John Harle's 1997 album &lt;I&gt;Terror &amp; Magnificence&lt;/I&gt; and in 2000 produced songs for Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter.
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In 2001, Rhino Records began an ambitious overhaul of the singer's catalog up to 1996, reissuing all of his albums with each set containing extensive liner notes written by Costello and an extra disc of rare tracks. That same year, he got a residency to teach music at the University of California in Los Angeles. He also teamed up with old pals Thomas and Nieve on a new album, &lt;I&gt;When I Was Cruel&lt;/I&gt;, released in 2002 on Island Records. The following year, Costello released an album of pop ballads, &lt;I&gt;North&lt;/I&gt;. In 2004, he was extremely prolific, collaborating with his new wife, jazz singer Diana Krall, on her album &lt;I&gt;The Girl in the Other Room&lt;/I&gt;, and releasing two discs of his own: &lt;I&gt;Il Sogno&lt;/I&gt;, an orchestral work based on Shakespeare's &lt;I&gt;A Midsummer Night's Dream&lt;/I&gt;, and a more straight-ahead roots-rock album, &lt;I&gt;The Delivery Man&lt;/I&gt;. The latter featured his new group the Imposters – the Attractions with a different bass player, Davey Faragher, formerly of Cracker.
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In 2005, Costello was commissioned to write a chamber opera for the Danish Royal Opera. In 2006, Costello released a live album with a jazz orchestra and collaborated with New Orleans music legend Allen Toussaint on an R&amp;B album inspired by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. In late 2007, Costello reunited with Clover, the backing band on his debut album &lt;I&gt;My Aim is True&lt;/I&gt;, for a benefit show at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. It was their first live performance.
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In 2008 Costello began taping episodes for a forthcoming talk and music show entitled &lt;I&gt;Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...!&lt;/I&gt; for the Sundance Channel featuring diverse music guests such as Smokey Robinson, Rufus Wainwright, Kristofferson, Herbie Hancock, and Jenny Lewis." category="Pub Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/elvis-costello/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Dido" description="Poised for world domination, Dido's multi-dimensional pop features the ghostly vocals of the former Faithless chanteuse, supported by an arsenal of millennial studio tricks. Trip-Hop beats and eerie synths pulsate with the futuristic glow of some as-yet-uninvented narcotic on certain songs, while other tunes explore a post-Carly Simon hard AAA style with breathtaking hooks and a surprising show of vocal force. This is truly exciting radio pop that's intent on pushing the mainstream envelope, yet really knows the ropes as far as structuring a hit and planting a good hook in a song.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/dido/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Seal" description="In this age when marketers prefer to direct music at narrow audiences, Seal combines pop, R&amp;B, hip-hop and moody rock with a down-tempo dance vibe. The wide appeal and wide range of his sound is, in many ways, a product of the British singer's multifaceted background. Born Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Ongowe' Bongota Adelo Samuel to a Nigerian father and Brazilian mother, Seal earned a degree in architecture and worked as a leather clothing designer before joining the English funk band Push in the 1980s and, later, a blues band in Thailand. His most fortuitous collaboration was with house and techno producer Adamski, with whom Seal created 1990's &quot;Killer.&quot; The No. 1 hit earned him a solo record contract. His eponymous 1991 debut produced the smash hit &quot;Crazy,&quot; as well as a fruitful partnership between Seal and famed producer Trevor Horn. Over the next 16 years, Seal released four more albums, including his (also eponymous) 1994 sophomore effort (which featured &lt;I&gt;Batman Forever&lt;/I&gt; hit &quot;Kiss from a Rose&quot;) and 2007's &lt;I&gt;System&lt;/I&gt; (which featured a duet with wife Heidi Klum). Like Sade, his fellow uni-named Brit, Seal takes long breaks between recordings, letting his hits build over time.
- Rachel Devitt" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/seal/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Paolo Nutini" description="Judging by his name, he should be from Italy. Judging by his sound, he should be from Southern California. Judging by his looks, he should be from North Hottieland. But blue-eyed soul sensation Paolo Nutini came from humble origins in Paisley, Scotland. The former fry cook got his start in the biz as a roadie for a friend's band. His break came in early '03 when he won a pop quiz and the chance to open for TV-approved singer/songwriter David Sneddon. Nutini -- only 17 at the time -- quickly picked up a manager, garnered buzz from local press, and moved to London to get serious with his music. He singed to Atlantic and released a debut album, &lt;I&gt;These Streets&lt;/i&gt;, which hit UK charts at No. 3 and was released to great hype in the US in early '07. Around the same time, Nutini was nominated for a Brit Award for Best British Male Performer.
- Jonathan Zwickel" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/paolo-nutini/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Barenaked Ladies" description="The Barenaked Ladies (thus named to draw attention) built an enormous following via endless touring and an original, humorous and energetic stage performance. The college crowd in particular has latched on to the band due to their eccentric songwriting and talented musicians. After breaking records with the release of their independent debut in Canada, BNL were picked up by the majors and have gone on to successes that included a guest spot on &lt;i&gt;Beverly Hills 90210&lt;/i&gt;. Since forming in 1990, the band has released eight studio albums. They enjoyed their biggest success in the late '90s, with hit singles &quot;One Week,&quot; &quot;Be My Yoko Ono&quot; and &quot;Pinch Me.&quot; They continue to tour to sell out crowds and their fan base is as rabid as ever.
- Jessy Terry" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/barenaked-ladies/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Tom Waits" description="This mercurial artist has periodically redefined himself, never content to let his dogs lie and rest on his laurels. Balladeer for the lonely and downtrodden, absurdist storyteller, Electric Blues musician, sophisticated arranger of lush string sections, troupe leader of a junkyard Salvation Army band, composer for legitimate theater, and actor for both independent and Hollywood feature films. And what does the world make of Tom Waits now? He's generally considered to be one of the most important modern composers working in any genre, having garnered a well-earned reputation for fanatically following his muses wherever they lead, always with a sense of joyous abandon and an innate trust in his ability to find ugly and beautiful truths wherever they may lie. His poetic sensibility reveals an empathy with the plight of modern man, while always maintaining an intelligent and wry sense of humor. His influence can be felt in the work of so many contemporary artists that if he never released another piece of music he would still be guaranteed a huge house in music history heaven. (Although Jewel did misspell his name in her book -- could it adversely affect his career?...)
- Will Lerner" category="Singer-Songwriter" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/tom-waits/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Duffy" description="When little Aimee Anne Duffy's father cued up a VHS tape with archaic episodes of the Brit music showcase program &lt;I&gt;Ready Steady Go!&lt;/I&gt;, the grainy performances of the Beatles and Stones left an indelible impression. By the time she was 15, she was singing in bands herself, and at 23 she had truncated her name, buddied up to Suede guitarist Bernard Butler and signed to A&amp;M. She instantly captured the manic adoration of the British media, who heralded the Welsh singer as the most recent in a line of playful, soul-inspired pop singers like Amy Winehouse. Her music certainly hitches itself to the Winehouse wagon with its ice-cold '60s grooves and Dusty Springfield influence, but Duffy's squeaky-clean image makes her a curious foil.
- Nate Cavalieri" category="Retro Soul" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/duffy/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Bonnie Raitt" description="Bonnie Raitt's mellifluous voice, accomplished guitar playing and classic catalog of blues, folk, R&amp;B, and pop songs have made her one of the most acclaimed artists of her generation. Though she made her debut in in 1971, it was not until 1989's &lt;i&gt;Nick of Time&lt;/i&gt; and 1991's &lt;I&gt;Luck of the Draw&lt;/I&gt; that Raitt achieved the enormous commercial success fans and critics had been predicting for decades.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; The daughter of Broadway star John Raitt, Bonnie Raitt began playing guitar at age 12 and was immediately attracted to the blues. In 1967 she left her L.A. home to enter Radcliffe, but dropped out after two years and began playing the local folk and blues clubs. Dick Waterman, longtime blues aficionado and manager, signed her, and soon she was performing with Howlin' Wolf, Sippie Wallace, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and other blues legends. Her reputation in Boston and Philadelphia led to a record contract with Warner Brothers.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; Raitt's early albums were critically lauded for her singing and guitar playing (she is one of the few women who play bottleneck) as well as her choice of material, which often included blues as well as pop and folk songs. Most of Raitt's repertoire consists of covers, and she has gone out of her way to credit her sources, often touring with them as opening acts. Her sixth album, &lt;i&gt;Sweet Forgiveness&lt;/i&gt; (Number 25, 1977), went gold and yielded a hit cover version of Del Shannon's &quot;Runaway&quot; (Number 57, 1977). &lt;i&gt;The Glow&lt;/i&gt; (featuring her first original tunes since three on &lt;i&gt;Give It Up&lt;/i&gt;) (Number 30, 1979) was produced by Peter Asher, but it did not sell as well as its predecessor.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; A Quaker, Raitt has played literally hundreds of benefits over the course of her career. She was a founder of M.U.S.E. (Musicians United for Safe Energy), which in September 1979 held a massive concert at Madison Square Garden, with other stars such as Jackson Browne, James Taylor, and the Doobie Brothers. It was later commemorated on a three-LP set. In 1982 she released her eighth LP, &lt;I&gt;Green Light&lt;/I&gt; (Number 38, 1982), a harder-rocking effort aided by her backup band, the Bump Band, which included veteran keyboardist Ian MacLagan (of the Faces and the Stones) and Raitt's longtime bassist and tuba-player, Freebo, remained a constant sideman through her various backup bands. They toured with Raitt in mid-1982, greeted by the usual critical acclaim. Her work also appeared on the platinum 1980 &lt;i&gt;Urban Cowboy&lt;/i&gt; soundtrack, with the country song &quot;Don't It Make You Wanna Dance.&quot;
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; When &lt;i&gt;Nine Lives&lt;/i&gt; (Number 115, 1986) flopped, Raitt lost her deal with Warner Bros. Prince reportedly produced an album's worth of tracks with her, but they were never released. Instead, Raitt reemerged in 1989 on Capitol with her Don Was–produced breakthrough album &lt;i&gt;Nick of Time&lt;/i&gt;, which smoothed out her rough bluesy edges yet avoided crass commercialism. It topped the charts, sold 4 million copies, and won an Album of the Year Grammy (one of four awards won by a thunderstruck Raitt at the 1990 gala; one was for her duet with Delbert McClinton, &quot;Good Man, Good Woman&quot;).
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; The pattern held with &lt;I&gt;Luck of the Draw&lt;/I&gt; (Number 2, 1991), another Was production, which included the hit singles &quot;Something to Talk About&quot; (Number 5, 1991) and &quot;I Can't Make You Love Me&quot; (Number 18, 1991). It sold over 4 million copies and netted three more Grammys, for Album of the Year, Best Female Rock Vocal, and Best Pop Vocal Performance. Raitt earned another in 1990, for Best Traditional Blues Recording, for &quot;In the Mood,&quot; a duet with John Lee Hooker on his album &lt;i&gt;The Healer&lt;/i&gt;. Her former label Warner Bros. capitalized on Raitt's high profile by releasing &lt;i&gt;The Bonnie Raitt Collection&lt;/i&gt; (Number 61, 1990), which included live duets with Sippie Wallace and John Prine.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; In April 1991 Raitt married actor Michael O'Keefe (they divorced in 1999). Raitt also cofounded the Rhythm &amp; Blues Foundation, dedicated to raising awareness and money for influential musical pioneers left impoverished in their old age by unfair record deals and lack of health insurance. Raitt once again found success working with producer Don Was, as 1994's &lt;i&gt;Longing in Their Hearts&lt;/i&gt; topped the chart and went platinum shortly after its release; it sold over 2 million copies. It included &quot;Love Sneakin' Up on You&quot; (Number 19, 1994) and &quot;You&quot; (Number 92, 1994). Around this time, Raitt had a hit with &quot;You Got It&quot; (Number 33, 1995) from the film &lt;i&gt;Boys on the Side&lt;/i&gt;, and a minor hit with &quot;Rock Steady&quot;(Number 73, 1995), a duet with Bryan Adams. &lt;i&gt;Road Tested&lt;/i&gt; (Number 44, 1995) is a live album.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; In 1995 Raitt became the first woman guitarist to have a guitar named for her. All royalties from the sale of Fender's Bonnie Raitt Signature Series Stratocaster go to programs to teach inner-city girls to play guitar.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; Her next effort, &lt;i&gt;Fundamental&lt;/i&gt; (Number 17, 1998), produced by Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake, was a less polished collection that some viewed as a return to the fine roots- and blues-based work of her earlier, hitless days. Raitt called 1982's &lt;i&gt;Green Light&lt;/i&gt; the album's &quot;true predecessor.&quot; Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, Raitt continues to perform for and speak out on a wide range of issues, including nuclear power, reproductive freedom, and the environment. In 2002, Raitt issued &lt;i&gt;Silver Lining&lt;/i&gt; (Number 13, 2002) followed by a greatest hits compilation, &lt;i&gt;The Best of Bonnie Raitt on Capitol 1989-2003&lt;/i&gt; in 2003. The self-produced (with Tchad Blake) &lt;i&gt;Souls Alike&lt;/i&gt; (Number 19, 2005) followed in 2005. In 2006, Bonnie collaborated with Norah Jones, Alison Krauss, Keb' Mo', and Ben Harper on the DVD/CD project &lt;i&gt;Bonnie Raitt and Friends&lt;/i&gt;.
" category="Blues &amp; Boogie Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/bonnie-raitt/data.opml?rws=%2Frock-pop%2Fadult-alternative%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
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