This guy is possibly one of the hardest working perfomers in popular music. When hes not writing incredible music with pop-rock buddies One Republic, hes off doing featured vocals for anyone and everyone. He was easily the best thing about Gym Class Heros otherwise forgettable The Fighter. Hes written songs with Adele, Beyonce Knowles, Timbaland, Chris Cornell, James Morrisson, Gavin DeGraw, Ludicrous...the list goes on. Like seriously, check Wikipedia, its shocking. This guy is a very talented musician and excellent song writer. He writes songs with real deep meaning (check out Missing Persons 1 & 2...it leaves me in tears every time). He is a very worthy number one entry for this list. His contribution to good pop music makes him, in my opinion, the best proof of all that pop music isnt bad. And its far from dead.
A Few More Quick Honourable Mentions:
Justin Bieber, One Direction, Katy Perry, Ke$ha & Nicki Minaj Why you may ask before trying to tear all of your hair out in frustration. Actually its very simple. It is because people like Justin Bieber are out there putting out such terrible rubbish that we are pressed to go searching for better. We shouldnt be so upset we have these artists. It is because of the trash they keep giving us that the good music sounds that much better. And this is why they get a (dis)honourable mention. /p