Regina Spektor

Born in Moscow and raised in the Bronx after her family emigrated in 1989, Regina Spektor is very much a solo act, a classically trained pianist who carved out her own weird, wonderful corner of the music world in the early 2000s. She emerged from the anti-folk scene centered around New York's Lower East Side, sharing stages with the likes of The Moldy Peaches and developing a cult following before landing a major label deal with Sire Records. Her sound is genuinely hard to pin down, blending classical piano training with indie pop, folk, and jazz while her voice does acrobatic things that most singers wouldn't dare attempt.

Her breakthrough came with Soviet Kitsch in 2004, but Begin to Hope in 2006 was the album that put her on the mainstream map, featuring tracks like Fidelity and On the Radio that showed she could write a hook without sacrificing any of her eccentricity. Later records like Far and What We Saw from the Cheap Seats further cemented her reputation as a songwriter of genuine depth and originality. Rock fans drawn to artists who color outside the lines will find plenty to love here. She shares that fearless, genre-defying spirit with Kate Bush or early Tori Amos, artists who built their own musical universes entirely on their own terms.