OneRepublic

Although One Republic's chart-blazing Timbaland remix launched the band to MySpace stardom, lead singer and Tulsa, Oklahoma, native Ryan Tedder had been playing in the majors for years, first singing on demos while interning at DreamWorks SKG in Nashville. Tedder's big break came when he won a televised songwriting contest hosted by 'NSYNC singer Lance Bass, and subsequently cultivated a relationship with hot-handed producer Timbaland. Tedder wrote and produced hits for pop stars including Natasha Bedingfield, Ashley Tisdale and Hilary Duff through the early '00s, and eventually formed his own rock project, One Republic, with high school buddy Zach Filkins in 2003. Capitalizing fully on the potential of social networking sites and his deep connections in the music biz, the group dominated MySpace charts, appeared (remixed) on Timbaland's 2007 album Shock Value, got signed and dropped by Columbia, and became the first rock band to ink a deal with Timbaland's Interscope imprint, Mosley -- all before issuing a proper debut. That debut, Dreaming Out Loud, finally appeared in November of 2007.