Born into country music royalty, Hank Williams III follows the beat of a different drum (and banjo and guitar, as well) from both his father and grandfather. While he could be Hank Williams Sr.’s twin, his sound veers more toward gritty honky-tonk meets punk. With Hank3, prepare to get three concert...

Born in Watts, CA, hardcore rapper Jay Rock was raised in the city's Nickerson Gardens Projects. With most neighborhood teens joining a gang, it was a no-win situation for Rock since hanging with any of his childhood friends meant he has engaging in "anti-social behavior" according t...

Born in Waitsfield, VT, Grace Potter grew up in a family that encouraged her artistic pursuits in areas from music to theater, the latter of which she was studying at St. Lawrence University when drummer Matt Burr heard her singing at an open-mike night in 2002 and asked if she would form a band wit...

Born in the Azawagh desert of Niger, Mdou Moctar taught himself to play a homemade guitar and found his first fans in the West African mobile phone music trading network. After one of those tracks proved a standout on the cult compilation Music From Saharan Cellphones Vol. 1, he was signed to Sahel ...

Born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand in 1958, singer and songwriter Neil Finn is most associated with being a member of the band Spit Enz and as the founder and frontman of Crowded House. With numerous hits over the course of his career, Finn is one of the most successful musicians to have hailed from Ne...

Born in Sweden, Lykke Li’s cool brand of electronic dream pop is decidedly Scandinavian, and bears a faint resemblance to that other Nordic music goddess Björk. In Lykke Li's music the synthesizers are like shimmering fjords, and the violins and cellos like ice-capped mountain peaks. However, it...

Born in England and raised in Australia, Peter Andre first rose to fame as a singer during the ‘90s. Influenced by the soul and dance music of his youth, his big break came in 1990 as a contestant on the television talent contest, New Faces, in his adopted home of Australia. Performing the music of ...

Born Antoine McColister in Port St. Lucie, FL, Ace Hood was raised by his mother in Deerfield Beach, a part of Miami's metro area. Rap music became his full-time obsession after he suffered a football injury in the tenth grade, effectively putting the kibosh on any professional sports career...

Born and raised in rural Gilchrist County, FL, Easton Corbin remembered wanting to be a country singer as early as three or four years old. He spent a good deal of time at his grandparents’ cattle farm following his parents’ divorce, and aside from helping on the farm and being active in the loc...

Born and bred on Chicago's South Side, R&B singer Jeremih taught himself how to play several instruments and didn't consider himself a vocalist until a warmly received performance at a talent show. At Chicago's Columbia College, he struck up a partnership with producer Mick Schul...