POP

With his breakthrough American hit "Save Tonight," alternative singer/songwriter Eagle-Eye Cherry became the latest member of his family to stir the music world: his father was avant-garde jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, and his sister was alternative rap pioneer Neneh Cherry. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1971 .

After achieving superstardom throughout Latin America, Colombian-born Shakira became Latin pop's biggest female crossover artist since Jennifer Lopez broke down the doors to English-language success. Noted for her aggressive, rock-influenced approach, Shakira maintained an extraordinary degree of creative control over her music .

Singer/songwriter Emiliana Torrini composes an exquisite vocalic beauty, similar to the hums of Beth Hirsch and Kirsty Hawkshaw, making Torrini's innocence a delicate cast of luminous imagery. She is of Italian and Icelandic decent, but lives in England, and her cultural seascape is ever more inviting when her soft-spoken compositions are heard.

Korn's cathartic alternative metal sound positioned the group among the most popular and provocative to emerge during the post-grunge era. Korn began its existence as the Bakersfield, CA-based metal band LAPD, which included guitarists James "Munky" Shaffer and Brian "Head" Welch, bassist Reginald "Fieldy Snuts" Arvizu, and drummer David Silveria.

Most rock & roll bands are a tightly wound unit that developed their music through years of playing in garages and clubs around their hometown. Steely Dan never subscribed to that aesthetic. As the vehicle for the songwriting of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan defied all rock & roll conventions.

Seal emerged from England's house music scene in the early '90s to become the most popular British soul vocalist of the decade. Although his earliest material still showed signs of acid house, by the mid-'90s he had created a distinctive fusion of soul, folk, pop, dance, and rock that brought him success on both sides of the Atlantic.

There may have been other "retro" rock acts before him, but Lenny Kravitz was one of the first to not be pigeonholed to a single style as he's touched upon such genres as soul, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk, and ballads over the years. Born in New York on May 26, 1964 .

The Thorns was a reverse side project of sorts for its principals, Matthew Sweet, Pete Droge, and Shawn Mullins. All three singer/songwriters had made their names as solo artists, so to suddenly become a band took a bit of work. Even so, the musicians' batch of shared influences -- Beach Boys, Joni Mitchell, Gram Parsons, Simon & Garfunkel.

With just a single album (1998's Greetings From the Side), Gary Jules emerged as one of the most gifted songwriting talents to surface during the decade. The album was ultimately sunk by poor record label handling and, as a result, sadly neglected by an unknowing listening public.

Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos) was one of several female singer/songwriters who combined the stark lyrical attack of alternative rock with a distinctly '70s musical approach. Her music falls between the orchestrated meditations of Kate Bush and the stripped-down poetics of Joni Mitchell.

Named after a British unemployment benefit form, pop-reggae band UB40 was formed in a welfare line in 1978, and its multiracial lineup reflected the working-class community its members came from.

After Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera was the most popular female singer of the late-'90s teen pop revival. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Aguilera was a technically skilled singer with a genuinely powerful voice, belting out her up-tempo dance numbers and ballads with a diva's panache.

Conjuring a sweet and lusciously melancholy sound that merges the tunefulness of vintage pop, the late-night vibe of cool jazz, the lonesome spirit of classic country, and the delicate touch of folk, Clem Snide are a trio who've gone through more than their share of changes since they first formed in 1991.

The South African vocalist/guitarist Dave Matthews formed the Dave Matthews Band in Virginia in the early '90s. Featuring Matthews, Stefan Lessard, Leroi Moore, Boyd Tinsley, and Carter Beauford, the group's music presents a more pop-oriented version of the Grateful Dead crossed with the worldbeat explorations of Paul Simon and Sting.

Zack de La Rocha is one of the biggest and most well-respected names in alternative music, known equally for his militant political activism and passionate vocal delivery. In the '90s he rose to fame as frontman for Rage Against the Machine and used that pedestal as a catalyst to further his left-wing political beliefs. 

In 1968, a naïve young singer from the Black Country hills in England named Robert Plant was discovered wailing the blues by veteran session guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones. When Plant recommended his friend John Bonham as the drummer, one of the most successful bands in rock history was born as Led Zeppelin.