Latin pop is big now, but it didn't start that way. It slowly grew over decades, evolving from early rock-and-roll crossovers to salsa, regional Mexican music, and the global reggaeton wave. These are the songs that helped shape the sound of Latin pop and push it into the mainstream across the Americas and beyond.
For most of the history of the recording industry, artists rarely owned the master recordings of their music. In recent decades, however, more artists have begun challenging that system, and their legal battles have reshaped conversations about artist ownership and creative freedom. The musicians below chose to fight against the system—and won.
The ’90s gave us some of the most instantly recognizable songs ever recorded—tracks that still show up at weddings, in movies, and on every nostalgic playlist imaginable. But here’s the twist: while everyone can belt out the chorus, far fewer people can actually name who sang them.
The 2000s were a wild, colorful era for pop music. It was the decade when glossy dance beats, hip-hop influence, and larger-than-life personalities ruled the charts. Whether blasting from iPods, clubs, or car stereos, these songs helped define what pop music sounded like during the first decade of the new millennium.
Stairway to Heaven. Hotel California. Imagine…Yeah, we all know the 70s produced some of the best—and most talked about—songs in music history. But what about those incredible tracks that slipped through the cracks.
There are plenty of modern bands that sound close enough to the old-school greats that fans will feel right at home. So we paired the boomer bands you grew up with with their modern-day doppelgängers you should check out. Do you agree with our choices?
Every legendary album we know and love almost didn’t happen. But in some cases, the opposite is true. Some records were fully recorded, nearly finished, or at least carefully planned… and still never made it out into the world. Sometimes bands broke up. Sometimes record labels got nervous. Sometimes the artists themselves scrapped the project and moved on.
THE SHOT
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