Katy Perry

Her voice and veneer call up Amy Winehouse, but with a punk pop bent, bubblegum pinup style, and an affinity for 1980s rock themes; Katy Perry burst onto the top 40 on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 2000s. She gathered a cult following in late 2007 with the metrosexual-boyfriend-tweaking single "U R So Gay." Her star exploded when she went to the same well again with the dance pop-infused ode to fluctuating sexuality "I Kissed a Girl" (not a Jill Sobule cover), a teaser to the diverse debut, ONE OF THE BOYS. A surprising knack for hooks allowed Perry to sustain a career beyond one-note, and in 2009 she was a major player at both the Grammy and Brit Awards.

• pop