25. Danger Mouse
Wildly successful in the mainstream (Gnarls Barkley), on the fringe (Black Keys) and deep underground ('The Grey Album'), Brian Burton is the crate-digger who really knows how to compartmentalize.

24. Shakira
With a name like Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, it's no wonder this Colombian dynamo answers to her first name only. After crossing over into the English-speaking market in a very big way, she has earned the right to one-name superstardom.

23. LCD Soundsystem
Punk attitude coupled with a dance beat goes back to the 1980s, but LCD mainman James Murphy mixed in a third crucial ingredient -- songwriting skills to match his studio prowess.

22. My Chemical Romance
They're not emo -- just ask 'em -- but this demonstrative modern rock band from New Jersey raised more than their share of emotions right from the jump.

21. The Jonas Brothers
The boy band of the century (so far) is set to extend its pop dominance 'A Little Bit Longer,' or at least until the bros lose the purity rings.

20. Rihanna
No longer just island bubblegum, the Barbadian good girl gone bad isn't afraid to play 'Russian Roulette.' She's an independent woman now.

19. Lil Wayne
No one represented the music industry's sea changes quite like the absurdly prolific Dwayne Carter Jr., who built a massive following largely on the strength of his underground mixtapes. He's from New Orleans, where they know something about forces of nature.

18. Eminem
He called his third album 'The Eminem Show.' For the first half of the decade, it seemed like an apt description of the entire pop world.

17. Gorillaz
Britpop's battle of the '90s pitted Oasis against Blur. This decade, the estranged Gallagher brothers got pummeled by Damon Albarn's 800-pound Gorillaz, whose upcoming third album is said to feature Snoop, Lou Reed and Barry Gibb.

16. OutKast
The ATL's resident aliens topped the smash success of 'Stankonia' with the sprawling double-disc opus 'Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.' Their own White Album won the group an Album of the Year Grammy.

15. Kelly Clarkson
Fitting that no 'Idol' finalist has made quite the impact on the culture as Ms. Clarkson, the show's Season 1 winner. To some of her counterparts, whose 15 minutes have expired, we say 'Buh-bye!' However, our lives would actually suck if she were gone.

14. Justin Timberlake
He malfunctioned Janet's wardrobe and wrapped his 'D--- in a Box.' Yeah, he got his sexy on.

13. Amy Winehouse
They unveiled a wax sculpture of Ms. Winehouse at Madame Tussauds in late 2008. If that was the most movement we've seen from the troubled songbird in some time, she still remains one of the decade's most animated performers.

12. Dixie Chicks
They don't beat around the Bush: These Dallas cowgirls spoke their mind -- and then stood their ground.

11. Arcade Fire
Early fans took to calling the Montreal band's self-titled debut EP 'Us Kids Now.' With two fantastic albums that earned the admiration of Bowie and Springsteen, the kids are all right.

10. Britney Spears
She's had more comebacks than all of George Romero's zombie flicks combined, and the not-so-golden girl remains unstoppable. Her sense of humor is a big part of it; with a wink, she named her latest world tour 'The Circus.'

9. Coldplay
Nobody said it was easy, but this London quartet sure made it look that way. Chris Martin is royalty as sure as William and Harry.

8. Wilco
The film that documented the arduous gestation of Wilco's watershed album, 2002's 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,' was called 'I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.' The unfailing loveliness of their music manages quite nicely.

7. The Killers
After these Las Vegans' debut sold more than 6 million copies, frontman Brandon Flowers promised the followup would be "the album that keeps rock 'n' roll afloat." The best rock stars can't be deflated.

6. Beyoncé
Clearly destiny's child, the 28-year-old Ms. Knowles has wooed Austin Powers, serenaded the president and First Lady, and married some guy from around the block called Shawn. She's now collected 10 Grammy nominations to end this decade. Ho-hum.

5. Green Day
The pop-punk potty-mouths opened the decade by declaring themselves in the 'Minority.' But the staggering success of their two punk-rock operas, 'American Idiot' and '21st Century Breakdown,' put these tune-addled boys squarely back in the mainstream, right where they belong.

4. Radiohead
They tried to blow up their own success with the experimentalism of 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac' and only got bigger. So they blew up the music industry instead.

3. Kanye West
After earning his cred as a boy-wonder producer for Jay-Z, he cut his first single with his mouth wired shut. Recovered from the accident, he hasn't closed it since.

2. Jay-Z
Jigga started the decade with the classic 'Blueprint' album, released on Sept. 11 2001, and finished it in an 'Empire State of Mind.' In between he held his "retirement party" at Madison Square Garden. Only Sinatra before him could take such a bite out of the Big Apple.

1. Jack White
Detroit's favorite son says he has three fathers – his biological dad, God and Bob Dylan. When he plugs in with either the White Stripes, the Raconteurs or the Dead Weather, we're convinced of the existence of the middle guy.