Soft Cell　

Art students Marc Almond and Dave Ball formed Soft Cell, a synth pop duo famed for its uniquely sleazy electronic sound, in Leeds, England in 1980. Originally, vocalist Almond and synth pl ..more

Vince Guaraldi　

Vince Guaraldi, the widely acclaimed jazz pianist best known for his cheerful, uplifting work with Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Gang, got his start in the music biz with a record entitled ..more

Richard Ashcroft　

As the frontman for the epic British drone-pop band the Verve, Richard Ashcroft proved himself the spiritual descendant of rock ＆ roll icons like Mick Jagger and Jim Morrison -- rive ..more

EXILE ATSUSHI　

KID PHENOMENON from EXILE TRIBE　

John Lennon　

Out of all the Beatles, John Lennon had the most interesting -- and frustrating -- solo career. Lennon was capable of inspired, brutally honest confessional songwriting and melodic songcraft; ..more

Barbra Streisand　

Barbra Streisand’s status as one of the most successful singers of her generation was remarkable not only because her popularity was achieved in the face of a dominant musical trend -- rock ＆ roll ..more

Cranberries　

Combining the melodic jangle of post-Smiths indie guitar pop with the lilting, trance-inducing sonic textures of late-’80s dream pop and adding a slight Celtic tint, the Cranberries became one o ..more

Quincy Jones　

In a musical career that has spanned seven decades, Quincy Jones has earned his reputation as a renaissance man of American music. Jones has distinguished himself as a bandleader, a solo artist, ..more

Big Thief　

Brooklyn’s Big Thief fashion vulnerable, folk-tinged indie rock around the songwriting of singer/guitarist Adrianne Lenker. The Minneapolis native began releasing solo material as a teen in 2006 ..more

Jamiroquai　

Active since the early ’90s, Jamiroquai have amassed a steady stream of hits in their native U.K. and experienced chart success in just about every other area of the world, with an irresistible ble ..more

Tortoise　

Tortoise revolutionized American indie rock in the mid-’90s by playing down tried-and-true punk and rock ＆ roll influences, emphasizing instead the incorporation of a variety of left-field music ge ..more

Kaku P-model　

Jung Yong Hwa (from CNBLUE)　

Amorphis　

Lead guitarist Esa Holopainen and drummer Jan Rechberger formed the band Amorphis in Finland in 1990. To complete their lineup they recruited vocalist/guitarist Tomi Koivusaari and bassist ..more

Sky Ferreira　

Precocious synth pop singer/songwriter Sky Ferreira had built up a huge online following, worked with Britney Spears’ producers, and become friends with Michael Jackson, all before the age of ..more

Weather Report　

Weather Report started out as a jazz equivalent of what the rock world in 1970 was calling a supergroup. But unlike most of the rock supergroups, this one not only kept going for a good ..more

T-SQUARE　

Randy Newman　

An anomaly among early-’70s singer/songwriters, Randy Newman may have been slightly influenced by Bob Dylan, but his music owed more to New Orleans R＆B and traditional pop than folk. Newman d ..more

Gorillaz　

Conceived as the first virtual hip-hop group, Gorillaz blended the musical talents of Dan The Automator Nakamura, Blur’s Damon Albarn, Cibo Matto’s Miho Hatori, and Tom Tom Clu ..more