Biography: Plain White T's

Born in the suburbs of Chicago, lead singer Tom Higgenson was originally fascinated with the drums, performing in various pop and rock bands in high school. One of these groups was Harvey's Daughter, where he met bass player Ken Fletcher. The group disbanded but another was re-formed, with Higgenson taking over lead duties as songwriter and singer. Friend and drummer Dave Tirio joined and, in the fall of 1997, the pop-punk group was formed. Plain White T's performed around various Chicago clubs gaining a small but devout following. In the summer of 1999, Higgenson was almost killed in a car accident. The event, which resulted in a ruptured kidney and lacerated lung, gave him a newfound appreciation for life. As a result, the songwriting process grew and the band was being noticed.
The group self-released Come on Over in 2001, then jumped to Fearless for the 2002 LP Stop. Plain White T's struggled with lineup shifts even as they toured heavily in support of the album, but were able to muster up the record All That We Needed, released through Fearless in early 2005. By that point the band's roster had solidified with vocalist Higgenson, Tirio and Tim Lopez on guitar, drummer De'Mar Hamilton, and bassist Mike Retondo. The band next spent time on the 2005 Take Action tour alongside Sugarcult, Head Automatica, and more. They finished out the year touring with Spitalfield, joining up with Motion City Soundtrack in 2006. The enhanced EP Hey There Delilah was released that May; it contained various versions of the popular acoustic ballad "Hey There Delilah" (from All That We Needed), along with four new songs and music videos. Most of the following summer was then spent on Warped Tour before Every Second Counts, their hook-laden major-label debut for Hollywood, appeared in early September. The guys then hit the road on the popular Nintendo Fusion Tour alongside Hawthorne Heights, the Sleeping, and more. ~ Jason MacNeil, All Music Guide

Biography: Bon Jovi

Few bands embodied the era of pop-metal like Bon Jovi. By merging Def Leppard's loud but tuneful metal with Bruce Springsteen's working-class sensibilities, the New Jersey-based quintet developed an ingratiatingly melodic and professional variation of hard rock -- one that appealed as much to teenagers as to housewives. Bon Jovi skillfully employed professional songwriters to give their songs, especially their power ballads, an appropriately commercial sheen, inaugurating a trend that dominated mainstream hard rock and metal for the next decade. They also made simple performance videos that emphasized lead singer Jon Bon Jovi's photogenic good looks, and these clips helped propel 1986's Slippery When Wet and 1988's New Jersey into multi-platinum status around the world. Both records were criticized for being more pop than metal, as well as being targeted toward teenyboppers, yet the group managed to subtly change its image in the early '90s, moving away from metal and concentrating on straightforward arena rock and big ballads. The shift in style worked, and Bon Jovi were the only American pop-metal band of the '80s to retain a sizable audience in the '90s.
Jon Bongiovi spent most of his adolescence ditching school to play rock & roll, usually in local bands with his friend David Rashbaum. Bongiovi's cousin Tony owned the famous New York recording studio the Power Station, which was where Jon hung out. He was hired as a janitor, and soon he was recording demos at the Power Station with several famous musicians, including members of the E Street Band and Aldo Nova. One of these demos, "Runaway," became a hit on local New Jersey radio, and Bongiovi formed Bon Jovi to support the song, recruiting not only Rashbaum, but also guitarist Dave Sabo, bassist Alec John Such, and drummer Tico Torres. Soon, Bon Jovi was the subject of a major-label bidding war, and the group -- or, according to some reports, just Bongiovi -- signed to Polygram/Mercury in 1983. Upon signing, Jon changed his last name to Bon Jovi in order to de-emphasize his ethnic background, and Rashbaum adopted his middle name Bryan as his last name. Before the group entered the studio, Bon Jovi replaced Sabo with Richie Sambora.
Bon Jovi's eponymous debut album was released in 1984, and "Runaway" became a Top 40 hit. Following its success, Tony Bongiovi sued the band, claiming he developed their successful sound; the group settled out of court. The following year, 7800 Fahrenheit was released and went gold. Despite the band's respectable success, Bon Jovi weren't becoming the superstars they had hoped, and they changed their approach for their next album, Slippery When Wet. Hiring professional songwriter Desmond Child as a collaborator, the group wrote 30 songs and auditioned them for local New Jersey and New York teenagers, basing the album's running order on their opinions. After ditching the original cover of a busty woman in a wet T-shirt for the title traced in water on a garbage bag, Slippery When Wet was released in 1986. Supported by several appealing, straightforward videos that showcased the photogenic Jon, the album eventually sold nine million copies in the U.S. alone, helping usher in the era of pop-metal. Two songs, "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer," reached number one, while "Wanted Dead or Alive" reached the Top Ten, and Bon Jovi were established as superstars.
Bon Jovi replicated the Slippery When Wet formula for 1988's New Jersey, which shot to number one upon its release. New Jersey was only slightly less successful than its predecessor, selling five million copies and generating two number one singles, "Bad Medicine" and "I'll Be There for You," as well as the Top Ten hits "Born to Be My Baby," "Lay Your Hands on Me," and "Living in Sin." In 1989, the band supported Cher, who was then dating Sambora, on her Heart of Stone album, which was recorded while the group was in the midst of an 18-month international tour. Following the completion of the tour, the band went on hiatus. During their time off, Jon Bon Jovi wrote the soundtrack for Young Guns II, which was released in 1990 as the Blaze of Glory album. The record produced two hit singles in the number one title track and the number 12 "Miracle," as well as earning Grammy and Oscar nominations.
The following year, Bon Jovi reunited to record their fifth album, Keep the Faith, which was released in the fall of 1992. While the album didn't match the blockbuster status of its predecessors, largely because musical tastes had shifted in the four years between New Jersey and Keep the Faith, it was nevertheless a big hit, and its more straightforward, anthemic sound produced the hit single "Bed of Roses." A hits collection, Cross Road, followed in 1994, and in the fall of 1995, they released These Days, which proved to be a bigger success in Europe than America. After appearing in the 1996 film Moonlight and Valentino, Jon Bon Jovi released his first official solo album in the summer of 1997.
Three years later, Bon Jovi regrouped and released Crush. "It's My Life" and "Thank You for Loving Me" were a chart hits, and Bon Jovi's star power soared beyond their wildest dreams. Crush eventually went double platinum in the U.S. and sold eight million copies worldwide, but Bon Jovi stayed focus. Within a year they returned with an eighth studio effort, Bounce, which appeared in fall 2002. Tours across the globe as well as dates with the Goo Goo Dolls fared well. In 2003 Bon Jovi re-recorded many of their most well-known songs for the release This Left Feels Right and followed it in 2004 with a DVD companion of the same title. The ambitious 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong four-CD/one-DVD box set of rarities arrrived later that November, followed by the all-new Have a Nice Day and a greatest-hits anthology called Cross Road in 2005. The band spent the following year in the studio, putting the finishing touches on a collection of pop-infused heartland country anthems. The resulting Lost Highway, which featured duets with LeAnn Rimes and Big & Rich, arrived in the summer of 2007. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Biography: Rihanna

Years Active: 2006
Influenced by: Ashanti, Beyoncé
Genre: R & B
Similar Artists: Cassie, Tami Chynn, Kat DeLuna, Che'Nelle, Dear Jayne, Melissa, Karmela, Kelis, Nivea, Sugababes, Ashanti, Mutya Buena, Christina Milian, Adassa, Amerie, Keri Hilson, Nina Sky, Ciara, LeToya, Teairra Marí

Rihanna established herself big-time in summer 2005 with her debut smash hit, "Pon de Replay," and continued to demonstrate her smash hit potential in subsequent years (e.g., "S.O.S.," 2006; "Umbrella," 2007). By the time of her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), she was a full-fledged international pop star with a regular presence atop the charts, from Germany to Japan. Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados, she always exhibited a special quality, winning beauty and talent contests as a schoolchild. But because she lived on the fairly remote island of Barbados in the West Indies, she never foresaw the sort of stardom that would later befall her.

That stardom came courtesy of a fateful meeting with a man named Evan Rogers. The New Yorker was vacationing in Barbados with his wife, a native of the island, when someone turned him on to Rihanna. Since Rogers had spent years producing pop artists -- including superstars like *NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Laura Pausini, and Rod Stewart -- he offered her the opportunity to record some music after he recognized her talent and potential. Along with Rogers' production partner, Carl Sturken (the other half of Syndicated Rhythm Productions), Rihanna recorded some demos that sparked the interest of the Carter Administration -- that is, newly appointed Def Jam president Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. This led to an audition and, in turn, an on-the-spot offer to sign with Def Jam, which Rihanna indeed inked on the spot.

Come summer 2005, Def Jam rolled out "Pon de Replay," the lead single of Music of the Sun, which was produced almost entirely by Rogers and Sturken and which synthesized Caribbean rhythms and beats with urban-pop songwriting. "Pon de Replay" caught fire almost immediately, climbing all the way to number two on The Billboard Hot 100 and contesting the half-summer reign of Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" atop the chart, and this was before Music of the Sun even had been released. The album spawned one other hit, "If It's Lovin' That You Want," which broke the Top 40. Rihanna's follow-up album, A Girl Like Me, was a greater success, spawning three big hits: a chart-topper ("S.O.S.") and two Top Tens ("Unfaithful," "Break It Off").

Rihanna's third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), continued her success and, more notably, signaled a change of direction. Whereas her past two albums had been been imbalanced -- often weighed down by faceless balladry and canned Caribbean-isms -- Good Girl Gone Bad was a first-rate dance-pop album. Moreover, it was surprisingly solid, stacked with potential singles and easily enjoyable from beginning to end. Collaborators included Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Timbaland, and StarGate. The lead single, "Umbrella," shot to number one and, for the third year in a row, was a potential "song of the summer." By this point it was clear that Rihanna had become one of the biggest singles artists of the mid-2000s. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

Biography: Kelly Clarkson

The winner of Fox TV's first American Idol: The Search for a Superstar competition during the summer of 2002, Kelly Clarkson went from an anonymous talent to a nationally known singer, performing for an audience of millions of viewers. One of the show's most naturally gifted singers, the 20-year-old Burleson, TX, native's vocal talents were discovered when she was in seventh grade, when her school's choir teacher heard her singing and urged Clarkson to join the choir. After high school, Clarkson cultivated her voice and went to Hollywood to make her name; she appeared as an extra on an episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch but no other opportunities materialized.
Upon returning to Burleson, Clarkson worked at a movie theater, promoted Red Bull energy drinks, and ultimately worked as a cocktail waitress at a comedy club before entering the American Idol contest. One of 10,000 aspiring singers, Clarkson distinguished herself not only with her big, surprisingly mature voice, but also with her down-to-earth charm and sense of humor; at one of her auditions, she switched places with judge Randy Jackson, who did an impromptu version of R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly." Over the course of the 13-week show, her consistently strong performances of songs like "Respect," "Natural Woman," "Stuff Like That There," and "Without You" earned Clarkson enough audience votes to claim one of the contest's two finalist positions. After singing "A Moment Like This" and "Before Your Love," both of which were written for the show, Clarkson won the American Idol contest with 58 percent of the audience's votes. In addition to the show's prize of one million dollars and a recording contract with RCA, Clarkson secured a deal with Creative Artists Agency and several bookings, including the national American Idol tour and a performance of the national anthem at the September 11 commemoration at Washington, D.C.'s Lincoln Memorial.
Despite her newfound fame, Clarkson opted to remain in Texas rather than move to New York or Los Angeles. Her first single, "A Moment Like This," was released just two weeks after she won the contest and quickly earned platinum sales. Clarkson's debut full-length, Thankful, was released in spring of 2003, just in time to coincide with the second season of American Idol and right before the American Idol movie, From Justin to Kelly. Breakaway followed in late 2004 and was a huge success, selling over five million copies (making it the third best-selling album of 2005) and spawning the hit singles "Because of You," "Behind These Hazel Eyes," and "Since U Been Gone." That song and Breakaway earned Grammys for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album, respectively, at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in early 2006. Clarkson continued her busy touring schedule that spring and summer and announced plans for her third album.
In 2007, Clarkson released My December the studio follow-up to Breakaway. Notable as Clarkson's first foray into writing or co-writing most of the songs, My December had a darker, even more rock-oriented edge than its predecessor and even featured a guest appearance by punk icon bassist Mike Watt. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Biography: Armin Van Buuren

A progressive trance DJ and producer whose cinematic sound is influenced by synth pioneers like Klaus Schulze and Jean-Michel Jarre, Armin van Buuren enjoys worldwide recognition and a frantic schedule that takes him all over the globe. Born on December 25, 1976, in Leiden, Holland, his father was an avid record buyer and Armin became interested in music at an early age. A close friend introduced him to the world of dance music, and the Dutch DJ and remixer Ben Liebrand quickly became his main inspiration. It lead van Buuren to start investigating the roots of the electronic music he was becoming fond of, and numerous Jarre and Schulze CDs were acquired. Computers and turntables were also purchased, and creating his own music became a priority. In 1995 van Buuren attended the Leiden University and a local student club provided the venue for his first DJ gigs. The same year he was fortunate enough to have some demos included on compilations, and when the money came in, it was rolled back into producing 12"s. Cyber Records released his first hit, "Blue Fear," in 1995, and by 1999 his "Communication" was successful enough to get him signed to AM:PM. He also formed his own label, Armid, in 1999 and met Dave Lewis, a man responsible for jump-starting the careers of DJ Tiësto and Ferry Corsten. A collaboration with Tiësto yielded his biggest hit yet on Armid, "Eternity," and marathon five-hour sets brought him more attention. High-profile remixes of Madison Avenue's "Don't Call Me Baby" and Wamdue Project's "King of My Castle" followed, and numerous mix CDs were released on United Recordings. 2002 found him placing number five in DJ Magazine's Top 100 and hosting his own weekly show on the Dutch ID&T radio station. By the end of 2003 he found time to set the worldwide record for longest DJ set (12 and a half hours at a club in The Hague), finish his law degree, and release his first non-mix CD, 76. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide

Biography: Lil Wayne

Charismatic Southern rapper Lil Wayne began his industry ascendance as one of the Hot Boys, a short-lived Cash Money Records all-star group, and after establishing himself as a successful solo artist, he grew to become a critical favorite, known especially for his entertainting underground mixtapes. Born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., on September 27, 1979, in New Orleans, LA, Lil Wayne grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans' 17th Ward. There he became acquainted with the Cash Money Records collective, which he eventually joined as a teenager. Get It How U Live! (1997), a Hot Boys album also featuring Juvenile, B.G., and Turk, marked Lil Wayne's album debut; at age 18, he was the youngest group member.
A second Hot Boys album, Guerrilla Warfare (1999), preceded Lil Wayne's solo debut, Tha Block Is Hot (1999). The album went double platinum, peaking at number three on Billboard's album chart and spawning a Top Ten hit with the title track. Lil Wayne's second album, Lights Out (2000), failed to match the success of its predecessor, nor did 500 Degreez (2002), his third album. By this point in time, Lil Wayne was the only remaining Hot Boy on Cash Money -- all other members had defected -- and the future didn't seem promising for him or the label. Consequently, he purportedly scrapped work on his fourth album and instead released the recordings as an underground mixtape, Da Drought (2003), his first of many to follow.
Tha Carter (2004) signaled a change in direction for Lil Wayne. The album itself wasn't a huge departure from Lil Wayne's past three -- it's filled to the brim with tracks produced by Cash Money in-house producer Mannie Fresh, some of which could well have been left on the cutting room floor -- yet it showcased a more measured and mature performance by the rapper, who seemed newly emboldened and sported a new look on the album cover (i.e., dreadlocks). The change in direction was commercial as well as musical, as Tha Carter featured Lil Wayne's biggest hit in years, "Go DJ"; moreover, the album itself was a Top Five hit. Also in 2004, Lil Wayne began to be featured regularly, starting with Destiny's Child's "Soldier," a Top Three hit.
A pair of popular 2005 mixtapes, Dedication (with DJ Drama) and Suffix (DJ Khaled), further established Lil Wayne as a dexterous freestyle rapper. Plus, they helped garner additional interest in his music among listeners who weren't part of the usual Cash Money constituency. By the end of the year, Lil Wayne's reputation was such that Tha Carter, Vol. 2, his next Cash Money album, debuted at number two on Billboard's album chart upon its December release, and did so without the benefit of a smash hit ("Fireman" stalled at number 32) or the productions of workhorse Mannie Fresh, who had left Cash Money.
In the wake of Tha Carter, Vol. 2, which was a critical favorite as well as a strong seller, Lil Wayne continued to bolster his reputation and increase his fan base via the mixtape circuit. Of the myriad mixtapes bearing his name from 2006 onward, Dedication, Vol. 2 (DJ Drama, 2006) is a standout; like Tha Carter, Vol. 2, it was a critical favorite, making many end-of-year lists. The Carter, Vol. 2, Pt. 2: Like Father, Like Son (DJ Khaled, 2006) was notable, too, as some of its material was revived for Like Father, Like Son (2006), a major-label collaboration with Baby, aka Birdman, that spawned the hit "Stuntin' Like My Daddy." Lil Wayne also collaborated regularly with Dipset member Juelz Santana during this period. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

Biography: Rihanna

Rihanna established herself big-time in summer 2005 with her debut smash hit, "Pon de Replay," and continued to demonstrate her smash hit potential in subsequent years (e.g., "S.O.S.," 2006; "Umbrella," 2007). By the time of her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), she was a full-fledged international pop star with a regular presence atop the charts, from Germany to Japan. Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados, she always exhibited a special quality, winning beauty and talent contests as a schoolchild. But because she lived on the fairly remote island of Barbados in the West Indies, she never foresaw the sort of stardom that would later befall her.
That stardom came courtesy of a fateful meeting with a man named Evan Rogers. The New Yorker was vacationing in Barbados with his wife, a native of the island, when someone turned him on to Rihanna. Since Rogers had spent years producing pop artists -- including superstars like *NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Laura Pausini, and Rod Stewart -- he offered her the opportunity to record some music after he recognized her talent and potential. Along with Rogers' production partner, Carl Sturken (the other half of Syndicated Rhythm Productions), Rihanna recorded some demos that sparked the interest of the Carter Administration -- that is, newly appointed Def Jam president Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. This led to an audition and, in turn, an on-the-spot offer to sign with Def Jam, which Rihanna indeed inked on the spot.
Come summer 2005, Def Jam rolled out "Pon de Replay," the lead single of Music of the Sun, which was produced almost entirely by Rogers and Sturken and which synthesized Caribbean rhythms and beats with urban-pop songwriting. "Pon de Replay" caught fire almost immediately, climbing all the way to number two on The Billboard Hot 100 and contesting the half-summer reign of Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" atop the chart, and this was before Music of the Sun even had been released. The album spawned one other hit, "If It's Lovin' That You Want," which broke the Top 40. Rihanna's follow-up album, A Girl Like Me, was a greater success, spawning three big hits: a chart-topper ("S.O.S.") and two Top Tens ("Unfaithful," "Break It Off").
Rihanna's third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), continued her success and, more notably, signaled a change of direction. Whereas her past two albums had been been imbalanced -- often weighed down by faceless balladry and canned Caribbean-isms -- Good Girl Gone Bad was a first-rate dance-pop album. Moreover, it was surprisingly solid, stacked with potential singles and easily enjoyable from beginning to end. Collaborators included Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Timbaland, and StarGate. The lead single, "Umbrella," shot to number one and, for the third year in a row, was a potential "song of the summer." By this point it was clear that Rihanna had become one of the biggest singles artists of the mid-2000s. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

Biography: Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift has been singing all her life, motivated by her grandmother, who was a professional opera singer. She began performing locally around her town and county at the age of ten, and at age 11 sang the national anthem before a Philadelphia 76ers game. By the time she was 12, she had picked up the guitar and began practicing four hours each day, until her fingers started to bleed. Swift's parents began to support her music, and recognized her talent, perseverance, and budding future as a professional musician. The family began making regular visits to Nashville, TN, where Swift would perform casually and meet with songwriters in the area. The family decided to move to an outlying Nashville suburb, which accelerated Swift's career. While performing at a showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Café, Swift caught the eye of music industry veteran Scott Borchetta. He had plans to create a new label and decided Swift was one of the first acts he wanted to sign. Still a high school student fascinated by love (which she uses as her muse), she released her debut single, "Tim McGraw," in August 2006, followed by a self-titled album that October. ~ Megan Frye, All Music Guide

Biography: Tim McGraw

When Tim McGraw debuted in the early '90s, few would have predicted that he would eventually take over Garth Brooks' position as the most popular male singer in country music. Yet that's exactly what he did, thanks to a string of multi-platinum albums, a high-profile marriage to fellow superstar Faith Hill, and Brooks' own inevitable decline. His sound epitomized the strain of commercial country that dominated his era: updated honky tonk and Southern-fried country-rock on the uptempo tunes, well-polished, adult contemporary-tinged pop on the ballads. Helped out early in his career by several novelty items, McGraw simply wound up cranking out hookier hits on a more consistent basis than any of his peers. By the late '90s, he was not only a superstar among country fans, but a mainstream celebrity with a large female following.
Samuel Timothy McGraw was born in Delhi, LA, on May 1, 1967. Though he didn't know it until years later, his father was baseball player Tug McGraw, a star relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets who'd had a brief affair with McGraw's mother. He was raised mostly in the small town of Start, LA, near Monroe, and grew up listening to a variety of music: country, pop, rock, and R&B. He attended Northeast Louisiana University on a baseball scholarship, studying sports medicine, and it was only then that he started playing guitar to accompany his singing. He played the local club circuit and dropped out of school in 1989, heading to Nashville on the same day his hero Keith Whitley passed away. He sang in Nashville clubs for a couple of years and landed a deal with Curb in 1992. His debut single, the minor hit "Welcome to the Club," was released later that year, and his self-titled debut album appeared in 1993 but failed to even make the charts.
McGraw's fortunes changed with the lead single from his 1994 sophomore effort, Not a Moment Too Soon. "Indian Outlaw" was embraced as a light-hearted, old-fashioned novelty song by fans but was heavily criticized for what some regarded as patronizing caricatures of Native Americans. Despite some radio stations' refusal to air the song, it reached the country Top Ten and even crossed over to the pop Top 20. All the publicity helped send McGraw's next single, the ballad "Don't Take the Girl," all the way to the top of the country charts; it too made the pop Top 20. The album kept spinning off hits: "Down on the Farm" hit number two, the title track went to number one in 1995, and the novelty tune "Refried Dreams" also reached the Top Five. Not a Moment Too Soon was a genuine blockbuster hit, eventually selling over five million copies and topping both the country and pop album charts; it was also the best-selling country album of the year.
McGraw's follow-up, 1995's All I Want, immediately consolidated his stardom with the number one smash "I Like It, I Love It." The album topped the country charts, reached the pop Top Five, and sold over two million copies. Once again, it functioned as a hit factory thanks to the number two "Can't Be Really Gone," the number one "She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart," and the Top Five "All I Want Is a Life" and "Maybe We Should Just Sleep on It." Over 1996, McGraw supported the album with an extensive tour, accompanied by opening act Faith Hill. In October, after the tour was over, McGraw and Hill married, in a union of country star power that drew plenty of attention from mainstream media. It doubtlessly helped McGraw's next album, 1997's Everywhere, become another crossover smash; it topped the country charts, fell one spot short of doing the same on the pop side, and sold four million copies. The lead single was a McGraw-Hill duet called "It's Your Love," which not only hit number one country, but made the pop Top Ten. Three more singles from the album -- "Everywhere," "Where the Green Grass Grows," and "Just to See You Smile" -- hit number one, and two others -- "One of These Days" and "For a Little While" -- reached number two. Meanwhile, "Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me," another husband-and-wife duet from Hill's 1998 album Faith, climbed into the Top Five.
With the multi-platinum success of Everywhere, McGraw was poised to take over Brooks' throne as the king of contemporary country, a transition that only accelerated when Brooks confounded his fans with the Chris Gaines project. McGraw, meanwhile, just kept topping the charts. His next album, 1999's triple-platinum A Place in the Sun, hit number one country and pop, and four of its singles also hit number one: "Please Remember Me" (which featured Patty Loveless), "Something Like That," "My Best Friend," and "My Next Thirty Years." 2000 brought McGraw's first Greatest Hits compilation, a best-selling smash, and another Top Ten duet from Hill's Breathe album, "Let's Make Love." The song later won McGraw his first Grammy, for Best Country Vocal Collaboration. Also in 2000, McGraw had a brush with the law when he and tourmate Kenny Chesney got involved in a scuffle with police officers, after Chesney attempted to ride one of the officers' horses; McGraw was later cleared of assault charges and spent the rest of 2000 on a second tour with Hill.
Released in 2001, Set This Circus Down (number one country, number two pop) kept McGraw's hit streak going into the new millennium, giving him four more number ones -- "Grown Men Don't Cry," "Angry All the Time," "The Cowboy in Me," and "Unbroken" -- just like that. In 2002, his duet with protégée Jo Dee Messina, "Bring on the Rain," also went to number one. For the follow-up album, McGraw defied country convention by entering the studio not with session musicians, but with his road band, the Dancehall Doctors, a unit that had been together since 1996 (with some members around even before that). Tim McGraw was released in late 2002 and produced Top Ten hits in "Red Rag Top" and "She's My Kind of Rain"; it also featured a startlingly faithful cover of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer." McGraw kept the formula the same on 2004's chart-topping Live Like You Were Dying, utilizing his road band, as well as co-mixing/producing the record himsef. Let It Go followed in 2007. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide