Song/album that made you a huge fan?

[Ginger Spice]

So, your favorite artists, like your top 5 or 10... what was the song or album that made you really fall in love with them? Maybe you liked them since the beginning of their career, but it was one of their later works that really blew you away? 

For me, I've been a huge Britney fan since ...Baby One More Time and that lasted through the Britney era. I lost interest until Blackout brought me back, but Circus put her back as my favorite artist of all time.

I discovered TLC and Janet during the FanMail and All For You eras, respectively, as a kid, which made me discover and fall in love with their back catalogue. I think it was buying janet. and Design of a Decade that made me a huge fan of Janet. Funny enough The Velvet Rope was my least favorite; I didn't fully appreciate it until a good ten years later.

I was a really big fan of Gaga during The Fame, but The Fame Monster was my peak as a Gaga fan. I was obsessed for awhile, and tried to collect as much Gaga stuff as I could. The "Alejandro" video and meat dress made me sick of her, though I still really loved Born This Way. Now I still really enjoy her music, but I can't take too much of her at one time.

Madonna, Spice Girls, and Kylie I discovered all through greatest hits albums, which I fell in love with instantly. 

[Deleted]

Mariah - I got into her between The Emancipation of Mimi and E=MC^2 eras. I think it might have been "We Belong Together" that got me interested. I didn't really give her 90s catalogue a spin until 2010 and that's when I really got into her.

Lady Gaga - It was September 2008 and I was browsing iTunes and came across her song "Poker Face". From the moment I heard it, I knew that it was going to be massive and I really got interested into her because of it.

Britney - The Oops Era was one of the defining albums of my childhood and while I lost interest after, the Blackout era pulled me back in and I'm still pretty interested in her today.

[surfy]

Ariana Grande - When she was on YouTube (Her cover of "Grenade")

One Direction - "What Makes You Beautiful" (But like at the end of summer)

Carrie Underwood - "Jesus Take the Wheel" (I first heard it when my sister bought her CD and fell in love)

Taylor Swift - "Our Song" (I sang this outside for most of my childhood...

Demi Lovato - "Heart Attack" (I really liked her before and was a fan of her throughout her entire career, but this song pushed me into a stan sort of status)

[popstop]

Destiny's Child/Beyonce - Jumpin' Jumpin'
Lily Allen - loved her from the get go with Smile
Bruno Mars - Grenade
Green Day - Blvd. of Broken Dreams
Muse - Time Is Running Out
Ariana Grande - Problem

[Green Baron]

Coheed & Cambria - "Welcome Home"
System of a Down - "Chop Suey!"
Against Me! - "I Was a Teenage Anarchist"
Rise Against - "The Good Left Undone"
Jimmy Eat World - "Pain"
American Football - "Never Meant"
Porcupine Tree - "The Sound of Muzak"
Dream Theater - "Fatal Tragedy"
Queensryche - "I Don't Believe in Love"
The Offspring - "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid"
Green Day - "Geek Stink Breath"
Linkin Park - "Numb"
Muse - "Knights of Cydonia"
Foo Fighters - "Best of You"
The Used - "The Taste of Ink"
Elliott Smith - "Ballad of Big Nothing"
Queens of the Stone Age - "No One Knows"
Anberlin - "Feel Good Drag"
Brand New - "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows"
Devin Townsend - "Life"
Dredg - "Same Ol' Road"
Social Distortion - "I Was Wrong"
Deftones - "Tempest"
The National - "Sorrow"
Death Cab for Cutie - "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"
Dashboard Confessional - "Stolen"
Swans - "Stay Here (Flex Your Muscles)"
Tool - "Stinkfist"
Yellowcard - "Only One"
Bomb the Music Industry! - "Congratulations, John, on Joining Every Time I Die!"
Every Time I Die - "Decayin' With the Boys"
Pixies - "Debaser"
Nine Inch Nails - "Closer"
A Perfect Circle - "Judith"
Bad Religion - "American Jesus"
Incubus - "Wish You Were Here"
Metallica - "Master of Puppets"
Radiohead - "Creep"
Rage Against the Machine - "Killing in the Name"
Pearl Jam - "Jeremy"
Opeth - "Windowpane"
Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes to Midnight"
Soundgarden - "Black Hole Sun"
The Cure - "Pictures of You"
Eminem - "Lose Yourself"
Faith No More - "Midlife Crisis"
AFI - "Girls Not Grey"
Bayside - "Montauk"
Blink-182 - "I Miss You"
Glassjaw - "You Think You're (John F*cking Lennon)"
Chevelle - "Send the Pain Below"
Modest Mouse - "Float On"
NOFX - "Linoleum"
The Gaslight Anthem - "45"
Frank Turner - "Recovery"
Alexisonfire - "This Could Be Anywhere in the World" (for @drag27)
Thursday - "Understanding in a Car Crash"
Thrice - "The Artist in the Ambulance"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under the Bridge"
Taking Back Sunday - "MakeDamnSure"

[toomuchboy]

Kelly Clarkson ~ Combo of "Because of You"/Breakaway and then "My Life Would Suck Without You" a few years later. (Idol had only just started then, and I never saw her season, so she's the only one I discovered/became a fan of purely on what I heard on the radio.)
Christina Aguilera ~ "Your Body." I actually owned Stripped already and remember enjoying a lot of her songs before The Voice premiered ("GiaB," "Reflection," "Lady Marmalade," "Beautiful," "Hurt"), but I was young at the time and didn't really pay much attention to music to be a big fan of anyone. I fell in love with this song when I saw the video, and it made me re-visit the only album I had of her, Stripped, and then I picked up the rest of her discography.
Natasha Bedingfield ~ Unwritten. "Pocketful of Sunshine" cemented it.
Jordin Sparks ~ "I (Who Have Nothing)" and "You'll Never Walk Alone" performances on Idol
Lady Gaga ~ The Fame and then "Bad Romance."
Ariana Grande ~ Yours Truly; I bought the album because Jordin Sparks co-wrote a song for her, so I was curious.

Even though I'm not as huge on her as I once was, "Love Story" was that moment with Taylor Swift for me. Fearless is still my favorite album of hers. I could probably go on with at least 10 more artists, to be honest.

[Lahey's Lucky Star]

Conor Maynard: "Vegas Girl" I have to admit that I wasn't too keen on "Can't Say No" (which ended up being one of my faves from him, go figure): when I saw the video when I was visiting the Philippines, I was like "Who is this guy?". Then that came out to American and I fell in love.

Zedd (and Matthew Koma, tbh): "Spectrum" was featured on Tap Tap Revenge Let's be real: I did not know who Matthew Koma was before I resorted to looking him up on Mediabase and thought Zedd was singing this song I ended up getting all of Clarity anyway, so...

Asher Monroe: "Here With You" Like Conor, I was also skeptical about this song, but then I heard it and I was really impressed. Never knew he was in Fame lol

Kesha: Since "Right Round" That song was always a standout for me when it came to Flo's singles, and once Kesha started breaking out, I stanned for her hard. I am infamous for being "Ke$ha Jr." in my high school tennis team.

Selena Gomez: "Tell Me Something I Don't Know". What was funny was that I thought that was her voice in the song her character's song from Hannah Montana, "If Cupid Had A Heart" TMSIDK was one of my faves back in 2008, and it also helped that it came out right in between the Camp Rock phase and Demi's debut :)
Beyonce: DESTINY'S CHILD WAS MY LIFE!!!! I grew up listening to "Independent Women" and "Lose My Breath", and Beyoncé alone was no exception. Literally all of B'Day (a.k.a. almost every song she made a video for in 2007) is still in my throwback playlist.

Miley Cyrus: Hannah Montana stuff, "Wrecking Ball" and "Can't Be Tamed" are still her best though. Miley was my celebrity crush before some other people came along (one of them being Selena Gomez). I had her entire first two albums, most of the Hannah Montana Movie soundtrack, most of her HM stuff (besides season 4 because that's when it got good but generic), and now almost all of Bangerz.

Lady Gaga: When the "Just Dance" video came out in July 2008, I was kinda intrigued by how she was gonna make it. I ended up correctly predicting "Poker Face", "LoveGame" and "Paparazzi" to be singles.

One Direction: My sister was a Directioner before I was! She was listening to "What Makes You Beautiful" in the beginning of 2012... Few weeks later, thought it was catchy, two weeks later, love it, one week after, became one of my faves.

Cobra Starship: "Snakes On A Plane (Bring It)" was (and still is) one of my faves from them. I was longing for their names to end up mainstream so I could stan for them longer, which was when Hot Mess came out.

Paramore: The Riot! album back in late 2007. I heard about them through Music Choice, and I checked out both "Misery Business" and "Crushcrushcrush" (the latter is my fave out of the two), and I slowly got both their first and second albums. I slowly got through "Brand New Eyes" as well, and when I found out about their comeback, I had to jump in.

Cher Lloyd: When I first heard "Swagger Jagger" in December 2011 I actually thought she was just gonna be a UK thing (which back then made it harder for me to find her music), but them "Want U Back" was released and I rejoiced.

Krewella: Started with "Alive", never got out of the krew since then. I'm in love with Get Wet. Hopefully they can get out of the mess they're in and things will be fine.

The Saturdays: "What About Us" Have heard of them, but "What About Us" was the song that sealed the deal.

Cheryl Cole: Girls Aloud. Again, same thing, but I heard "Something Kinda Ooh" back in 2008 and I was HOOKED.

Charli XCX: "I Love It" feature. Then she kinda went under the radar until I discovered "SuperLove" and now she's back.

Marina & the Diamonds: "Primadonna". Plus I have a friend who's super into Marina, so I ended up getting both her albums and the "Electra Heart" song that was never released :'(

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Alanis Morissette - It wasn't until Ironic that I really jumped on and became an Alanis stan. My standom peaked during her second album era.
Chantal Kreviazuk - the moment I heard her first single God Made Me in the end of 1996. My standom peaked during Before You in 1999.
Sarah Slean - I loved Sweet Ones when I first started hearing it but it was with Lucky Me that I realized she was a star.
Serena Ryder - Weak In The Knees won me over right away!
Brandi Carlile - it took a while for the song The Story to win me over but then it did, and it did hard. I got her album and it was all great. Fan4life
Lady Gaga - It was Paparazzi that really got me tuned into her and it was Bad Romance that cemented my love.

[dbhmr]

My current favorite ten:

Kelly Clarkson Her Idol performance of "A Natural Woman." I really liked who I called "the 'Respect' girl" when she debuted on the show, but Tamyra was my favorite. Then everything about that performance changed my mind--from her adorable packaged clip, to the stunning performance, to her adorable interaction with her first gay stan...I was hooked. It's not even my favorite Idol performance of hers, but it felt really special then.
Lana Del Rey "Video Games." Specifically, the video, which was my introduction to her and the song. I was entranced. Her Born To Die EP came out that week, bought it, loved it, and have been mesmerized by her voice and nearly every single one of her songs since.
Beyonce Loved the Destiny's Child hits, loved "Crazy In Love," but I didn't fall in love with everything Beyonce had to offer until "Love On Top." What euphoria. I came to truly love 4 as an entire album, and I've been on board since.
Adele "Hometown Glory." Beautiful, touching voice. Obviously 21 took care of the rest, especially "Set Fire to the Rain."
Bruno Mars "It Will Rain." Schmaltzy, and maybe what turns people off to him, but that song's atmospheric beginning grabbed my attention like a tuning fork. I liked his previous singles enough, but everything since that song has been better--loved his second album, and he's a huge talent.
Jason Mraz I liked his earlier singles, but I heard his live performance of "Sleeping to Dream" and was just blown away by the clarity of his voice and the ease at which he sang. He's a tremendous, underrated vocalist.
Janelle Monae The "Tightrope" video was so energetic and different, and I had the opportunity to just listen to the astounding The ArchAndroid in one listen and it was just so creative and special.
Melanie Fiona Still have to thank #LisaRinna for getting me to listen to her debut album, so I suppose it was "Give It To Me Right" that grabbed my attention, but I love her voice, her attitude, and most of her music. Wish we get something soon, but not optimistic.
Robyn "Dancing On My Own" and all of Body Talk should have catapulted her so high that every other dancepop album was left in the dust. Fantastic, electric performer.
Florence and the Machine Like much of the general public, her VMA performance of "The Dog Days Are Over." But I wasn't a huge fan until I heard the glorious, gorgeous "Never Let Me Go." My god, what a beautiful song.

[#LisaRinna]

dbhmr You're welcome :) She needs to hurry up!

[Deleted]

Florence and the Machine - Cosmic Love. from the second I heard it I was amazed that music could be this good. the lyrics, production, vocals.. It took my breath away. All it took was hearing it once and I was hooked, she needs to stop playing and gift us with new music :'(

Lorde - Ribs. I loved Royals when I heard it and liked Team but it wasn't until I heard Ribs that I really got into her. I just found that song so cool and smart it really spoke to me and made me realize this girl was special.

John Mayer - Slow Dancing in a Burning Room. This is actually cause of Pulse lol. I remember reading dbhmr in some thread talk about how sad and beautiful it was and during that time I was really into emo/acoustic sounding stuff and looked it up and almost wept. It made me purchase his newest album at the time, Battle Studies and I loved it. I would listen to it everyday on the way to and back from school and it made John a real special artist for me.

Alanis Morissette - That I Would be Good. I actually was really into Kelly Clarkson covers in high school (lawl) and was listening to her mashup of TIWBG/Use Somebody. I already knew and loved Use Somebody but I had never heard any of Alanis's non-Jagged Little Pill material. TIWBG really helped me through a dark period of my life and even though I find a lot of Alanis material painful to listen to now because of how much it reminds me of that time, I'll always love her to death cause of this song.

The XX - Stars. The first time I ever smoked weed was to this song. The atmospheric quality, melody, and low-key vocals basically hypnotized me. It made me check out their album and started my appreciation for a quality, cohesive album instead of just listening to individual songs. I would sit in my pool house for hours and just play their album on loop while blazing, good times.

Sorry for all the ranting, love this thread!

[Joe1240]

Taylor Swift-Teardrops On My Guitar,Loved this song from the minute I heard it and became a fan.Obviously still a huge fan today.

Ariana Grande-The Way,Great debut lead single for her.

Selena Gomez-Falling Down,Not that great of a lead single but her albums are better than her singles.

Demi Lovato-Here We Go Again.Loved this single back in 2009.Her material nowdays is much improved.

[Linnethia Monique]

Paramore - "Franklin" It just hit me HARD! I could relate to moving away but still feeling eternally connected to where I spent a lot of my High School years at.
Mariah Carey - "Emotions" The last 30 seconds with that whistle note will be forever be embedded into my memory.
Michael Jackson - "Moonwalker Movie" It WAS my childhood. My parents would put that movie on and it would shut me the hell up. Still does but I do sing everything along with it tho.
Prince - "Purple Rain" SEE ABOVE
Whitey Houston - "I'm Your Baby Tonight" When I say my aunt used to play this song on rotation. Baaaaaby.
Janet Jackson - "Pleasure Principle" I know ALL OF THE CHOREOGRAPHY!

[Daniel Collins]

Mariah Carey - "#Beautiful" ,Back then I just know her singles but after hearing this, I was like "This song is perfect, let me check her discography"
OneRepublic - "Native", Perfect album!
Justin Timberlake - "What Goes Around...Comes Around" - The end of the song is brilliant.
Maroon 5 - "Nothing Lasts Forever" - An album track from IWBSBL,
*NSYNC - "This I Promise You" - I loved "Bye Bye Bye" and "It's Gonna Be Me" but I"m still hesitating to be a fan of them but this song is perfect. It is my all-time favorite song and I"m still listening to this about 5 times a day and there's no burnout rate.
MKTO - "American Dream"

[Mikey]

Avicii - "Wake Me Up". It is predictable, isn't it? Actually, when i first listened to it, i felt that i wouldn't like this song. But when it reached the drop, i was like "wow!!" It was the first electro song that i have heard. I fell in love with electro since then, especially this. And his "TRUE" Album is magnificent, especially "Dear Boy" and "Long Road To Hell".
Zedd - "Clarity" (both song and album). That song kills it, especially the drop. The album is a standout from all my albums. 
Calvin Harris - "18 Months". I first heard "I Need Your Love" in the radio, and i felt that his style of house is just perfect. I decided to buy his album, and what an album it was!!!
Oliver Heldens - "Gecko (Overdrive)". Love it since first listen, and i never get burned on it. I'm also very interested in his future house style :)
3LAU - "How You Love Me". The opening is perfect, the drops are perfect, the production is perfect. 
Bright Lights - "How You Love Me". Her angelic voice just strucked me and i immediately became her big fan. 
VINAI - "How We Party". I really love "Bounce Generation", but i'm beginning to cheer for them after i have heard "How We Party". What a great production and the drops are too amazing. 
R3HAB - "How We Party" & "Soundwave". An Electro House Maestro. Perfect drops and productions.
Matthew Koma - All his featured tracks are just perfect. Amazing unique voice, and what an amazing talent in songwriting. 
Robin Schulz - "Prayer In C". I love "Waves", but it wasn't until this song that i was really into him. He is indeed the biggest talent in deep house i have ever seen, and he makes great remixes too, like his remix of "Rather Be". 
Sam Feldt - "Bloesem". He uses many acoustic instrumentals in his deep house, and all his songs are very enjoyable

[Flip]

Owl City - since his "Ocean Eyes" album I immediately fell in love with. After that, I listened to all his music before the Ocean Eyes era and that's when I became a huge fan stan.
Ellie Goulding - same story. I didn't know her before "Lights" (shame on me), but became a fan after.
Ariana Grande - I liked almost al her music for the "Yours Truly" era, but I didn't call myself a fan until "Problem".
Ke$ha Kesha - Love her music since the beginning of her career.
Avicii - "Wake Me Up".
Calvin Harris - "Feel So Close".
Avril Lavigne - "Girlfriend". I think Avril is the only artist I was already stanning for when I was 9 years old. :)

More to come.

[damazz09]

Usually I like the artists because of their first singles but a song later confirms my love for them

Britney Spears ...Baby One More Time was great but Sometimes really sealed the deal. Crazy and Oops! both were amazing at the time (and still are). I kinda fell off during the breakdown but Circus (song) made me realize how much of a fan I was and I rediscovered all of Britney's previous work.
Ke$ha Tik Tok was great and Blah Blah Blah was catchy but Your Love Is My Drug made me fall in love with her. That song was on repeat nonstop
One Direction I liked What Makes You Beautiful but Save You Tonight & Stole My Heart made me fans
Lady Gaga Just Dance was fun and I thought it had great lyrics. But Poker Face's video (one of the best openings imo) made me love her. Eh Eh, Love Game, Bad Romance, Telephone were all great

[halo19]

Got into Vast when Free was out and got Music for People. That's probably my song for song favorite album of all time, but not on the whole. Became my favorite artist after Nude.

Depeche Mode, various songs got me into them, but Violator was love at first listen.

Thrice, All That's Left. Vheissu brought them up several pegs with me and is my favorite album of all time.

The Smashing Pumpkins, varied songs, the greatest hits, Mellon Collie.

The White Stripes, Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground and White Blood Cells.

My favorites are arbitrary beyond those.

[Mack]

Britney Spears - '...Baby One More Time'. The song/video combo that made her my favorite artist of all-time. She pisses me off from time to time, and I was pretty disappointed with Britney Jean, but I still love her to death.
Lana Del Rey - 'Video Games'. After the SNL fiasco, I decided to listen to her music to see if she was actually any good, and I ended up falling in love with this song and the other tracks on the Born to Die EP. The full album sealed the deal, and I've been a huge fan ever since.
Taylor Swift - 'Teardrops on My Guitar'. I first heard 'Tim McGraw' back in the summer of 2006 and thought it was a cute enough song, but it didn't interest me enough to make me check out her album. However, I loved 'Teardrops' immediately and played it to death, before moving on to the album. 'Teardrops' is still one of my favorite songs of Taylor's, and her debut is my favorite album of hers.
Avril Lavigne - 'Complicated'. I loved this as soon as I heard it in early 2002. At the time, I was basically only into pop divas (Britney, Christina, Jessica, etc.), so Avril was sort of a refreshing change. I bought her album on its first day of release and was obsessed with it immediately.
Kesha - None of her songs in particular hooked me, though I tolerated 'Right Round' and enjoyed 'TiK ToK'...it was mainly the album Animal as a whole that made me a fan. It was such a strong body of fun pop music. Cannibal only cemented my fandom.
Lady Gaga - 'Poker Face'. I thought she was weird and off-putting, and I was indifferent toward 'Just Dance' (I remember seeing her performance of it on Dancing with the Stars or something and thinking the song was okay but she was a mess). When I heard 'Poker Face', I decided to give her and her album another chance, and the rest is history. I've loved almost everything she's put out since then, even the much-maligned Born This Way and Artpop.
Christina Aguilera - 'Genie in a Bottle'. Like Britney, I knew of Christina from MMC, and I had heard 'Reflection' before, but I wasn't a fan. 'Genie' changed that. I loved the song and its video right away, and the subsequent singles and album turned me into a stan (her debut is still one of my favorite pop albums; it's so underrated).
Hilary Duff - 'So Yesterday'. I liked her Christmas album, 'I Can't Wait', and 'Why Not', but I didn't consider myself an actual fan until 'So Yesterday' dropped. Great song, great video, great album.
Ariana Grande - 'Right There'. This was the first song of hers that I truly loved. 'The Way' and 'Baby I' were good (the less said about 'Put Your Hearts Up', the better), but it was 'Right There' that really made me take notice of her. I'm still pissed that it wasn't a huge hit. It deserved to be bigger than 'The Way' and 'Baby I' combined.
Paris Hilton - 'Nothing in This World'. I actually loved her prior to her attempt at a music career, but this song made me stan for her as a musician. I didn't particularly care for 'Stars are Blind' (and still don't).

[SoMuchToSay]

Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone caught my attention, but it was Behind These Hazel Eyes that made me a super-fan!

Ke$ha - Animal from her debut is what did it for me.

Luke Bryan - Drunk on You

Katy Perry - Hot N Cold sealed the deal for me.

Florida Georgia Line - Stay + the Cruise remix

[Deleted]

Mariah Carey: The first time I took notice of her was in 2005, but I didn't connect with any of the material. A few years later, Pia Toscano (who I loved on Idol), tweeted a link to "One Sweet Day," and I decided to take a listen. I fell in love with the song, and from there I started digging into Mariah's 90's discography; "Honey" completely sealed the deal.
Coincidentally, I have a friend who didn't care for Mariah at all; I convinced him to listen to "Honey," and now he loves her as well.

Carrie Underwood: I had followed Carrie since her Idol days, and (of course), took notice during "Alone." I didn't care for "Jesus, Take The Wheel," but when I bought the album "Before He Cheats" was on repeat for days. I would say that's what did it for me, although I know I would have fallen in love with Carrie's music during the "Carnival Ride" era, since that's my favorite album of hers.

The Civil Wars: I didn't take notice of these guys until I saw the "Safe And Sound" video one day. A friend of mine is a huge fan of theirs and convinced me to listen to their second album; The One That Got Away hooked me, and the album is still flawless from start to finish.

Kacey Musgraves: I hated "Merry Go 'Round," but I listened to "Follow Your Arrow" out of curiosity, and I ended up liking it. A friend of mine (who isn't a Country fan), sent me her album, and I loved it. I didn't really connect with the entire album on first listen, but it one of those albums that I appreciate even more as time goes on.

Miranda Lambert: I bought Miranda's first album in 2005, but eventually I grew tired of it, and stopped following Miranda's career for several years. I didn't really like any of the singles from her second album, and at the time all the insane critical praise kind of turned me off to giving the full album a chance.
When "Revolution" came out, I absolutely fell in love with "White Liar," and I decided this would be the first album of hers I wanted to buy. To this day, I can still play the album from beginning to end. She sort of lost me as an "album artist" with "Four The Record," (except for a few tracks), but she brought me back 100% with "Platinum."

Christina Aguliera: I've adored Christina's voice and music from a young age, and "Genie In A Bottle" hooked me as a 90's kid. I didn't follow her during the "Stripped" era because I didn't follow artists the way that I do now, but once I rediscovered her during "Back To Basics" I knew she wasn't going to slip off my radar ever again.
"I Turn To You" is one of the first songs I remember REALLY connecting to as a young child, so it holds a special place for me as well.

Guns N' Roses: A few years ago, a friend of mine REALLY wanted to get me into GN'R, but at the time I hated them. She sent me several songs, and none of them grabbed me at all, but as a last-ditch effort, she sent "Coma" purely just to see what my reaction was.
From the instant I heard the opening, I knew it was going to be something special, and it completely changed a (very) long-held opinion.

[Au$tin]

Aly & AJ/78violet - The first time I heard "Rush" on that Girls Rock compilation Disney put out.

Hilary Duff - When I first saw the "Come Clean" music video on Disney Channel.

Kelly Clarkson - Oddly enough, it was "Low" that did it for me.

Miley Cyrus - Just a carryover from Hannah Montana, I guess. Probably upon hearing "See You Again."

Taylor Swift - That spine-tingling moment when the last chorus of "Love Story" hit me for the first time.

Ke$ha - "TiK ToK" had me sold, to be honest. Animal just justified my love.

Katy Perry - When I first heard "Ur So Gay" and liked it just as much as I liked "I Kissed a Girl." I still remember hearing "I Kissed a Girl" for the first time: on DirecTV's XM Radio's 20 on 20 just before the song blew up.

P!nk - "Don't Let Me Get Me" sold me M!ssundaztood. "Stupid Girls" drew me into P!nk forever.

Avril Lavigne - My obsession over "Complicated" did it.

Lorde - "Royals" kicked ass. Decided to check out the EP, loved it. Couldn't wait for the album, loved it even more.

[ChicaCherry콜라]

Darren Hayes - "Darkness"- To be honest, I hated "Insatiable", especially after being a huge Savage Garden fan. I felt like he sold himself to the industry and had created another "I Knew I Loved You" (which I also disliked) just to make money and please the record company, so I assumed if that was the style he'd landed on, I was done. It wasn't the Darren I knew and loved and I knew I wouldn't listen to that style as much as I loved him and his voice. Then I heard/watched the video for "Darkness" and that opened the door. I think The Tension And The Spark made me a super fan and This Delicate Thing We've Made sealed the deal. Those two albums are the definition of the Darren Hayes I adore.

Delta Goodrem - "In This Life" - I was hopelessly obsessed with this song when she released it to America. However, the album that sold me on her completely was Innocent Eyes. The more I listened to all her music the more in love I fell. Now I own everything, haha.

Guy Sebastian - "Like It Like That" - I liked his voice, but never cared for any of his songs because of the style. This song was much different from what he'd done in the past and it hooked me. I didn't care for the full album, but Armageddon turned me into a massive fan. That album is flawless. He switched his style up for that album and it was the style of music I absolutely adore.

Savage Garden - I was in love with "I Want You" from the moment I heard it, but I was really young during their first album era, so as much as I adored that album from day one, I really didn't fully connect with it until later on. However, when "Crash And Burn" was released in 2000 I was old enough to start connecting with music and my obsession with SG reached a new level. I'd have to say that's the song that turned me into a massive fan. "I Want You" and "To The Moon And Back" hooked me, but "Crash And Burn" made me the fan I am now.

Jeremy Camp - "There Will Be A Day" - I knew of him and liked his music, but I didn't really connect all of the songs I liked with his name until this song came out. I adored the song so much that I made an effort to research more of his music and realized I basically adored his entire discography and had no idea.

Shannon Noll - "In Pieces" and his Turn It Up album. I loved "Shine" and "Lift" after hearing them on the radio a few times, but "In Pieces" became an obsession and the whole album it's off of is incredible.

Natalie Imbruglia - I've loved "Torn" since it came out, but her whole Left of the Middle album is what pushed me to become a super fan. It's still one of my favorite albums of all time. It also prompted me to buy all of her albums and now I can't look back. She's amazing.

Newsboys - "Save Your Life" - I loved their older music when Peter Furler was the frontman, but I only ever bought the singles. Once Michael Tait took over as the lead vocalist and I heard this song I started purchasing their music more frequently until I had all of their current albums. They're now one of my favorite bands.

Big Time Rush - Elevate I don't care for boy bands. I don't enjoy listening to a bunch of boys sing the same note in unison. I was forced to watch BTR's Nickelodeon show and angrily decided their music was really catchy. Eventually I could deny no longer and I listened to this album out of curiosity and found that they can actually harmonize and their music is actually incredible. I now have a whole new respect for these guys and adore everything they've ever done and I have this album to thank for that - particularly "Show Me"

Stevie Jo - Seeing him on The Voice made me a fan of his voice and style, but when I found his YouTube channel and discovered it was mostly filled with his own original music, I started becoming a real fan. "Dreams" and "Pray For Me" got my attention and then "The Moon" took my fan status to a stan level, because it's one of the best songs I have ever heard and it's simply just an acoustic recording of him singing in his room.  His talent his unreal.

[Agent Yoncé]

Beyoncé:'Naughty Girl' made me really pay attention to her, "IASF" made me fall for her.

TLC: 'Hat 2 Da Back' won me over.

Florence + The Machine: "CEREMONIALS" was the album that truly made me appreciate the band, however, I prefer their debut, "LUNGS" over it as a whole. Plus, possibly my fave song from them (which made me look into the album; 'Hurricane Drunk') is on there.

Daft Punk: Always heard bits & pieces of their work after HS, didn't fully look into their discography until 2011/2012. "DISCOVERY" is seriously one of the greatest collection of songs I ever have heard.

Lady Gaga: 'LoveGame'/'Paparazzi' introduced me to her; the release of "THE FAME MONSTER" + the 'Telephone' video made me the fan I am.

[Glove Slap]

I'll keep it to 5 of the more recent acts now, ones that didn't involve me going back and searching through someone's catalog, which is usually a different kind of story and kinda redundant (aka I liked this song, then I listened to others and I liked them too, etc).

Lana Del Rey - Saw reports of her out of nowhere in Winter 2011 and heard Video Games at a phone store when I went home to Europe for Winter break that year. I checked out her material and really liked most of what I heard. In particular, I loved her act and how she seemed to simultaneously be a parody of contemporary decadent culture and in on the joke as well. I'd been going off of big-voiced female singers at the time and her more traditional, song-based approach arrived at just the right time for me. I loved Born To Die (the song) enough to pre-order the album. When that came, Off To The Races and National Anthem blew me away instantly, and most of the subsequent stuff on it. I played the album throughout 2012 and then when I first heard Paradise, I was really (read: REALLY) in a uhh...green zone and was essentially mesmerized with my mouth open for the duration. I remember getting goosebumps during the bridge to Cola. She's easily my favorite act of the new decade and Ultraviolence keeps that going.

Ed Sheeran - I first remember really seeing his name on the internet when The A Team was released in the UK in 2011. Generally, WGWGs don't do much for me. I've tried to get into Jason Mraz about 3 separate times and nothing ever stuck. I would also regularly yell at a friend of mine to stop blasting Matt Nathanson in college. However, for some reason I...appreciated Ed, moreso for the acoustic hip-hop numbers than anything else. It simultaneously managed to appeal to my inner De La Soul/Tribe Called Quest fan, my inner geek, and my love for pop music all at the same time. I checked out + that fall when it was released in the UK. There were too many guitar ballads after the other for me to be fully there, and the whole coffeehouse singer vibe didn't jive with me, but the highlights (Drunk, You Need Me, Give Me Love, a few others) were enough to pipe my interest and make me keep an eye on him. To summarize what kept me there in one word would be potential. I saw tremendous amounts of it in him and his songwriting, I just hoped that he would soon realize it and continue fleshing out his sound. When x came out this year, I was thrilled that everything I'd seen possible for him to do had been realized.

Calvin Harris - Calvin's music was introduced to me by a friend in high school way back when Acceptable In The 80s was his current single. It wasn't really what I was into, but I did like his approach if that makes sense. I gave one listen to his debut later that year and left it at that for a while. Then he co-produced Kylie Minogue's In My Arms which I really liked, as well as Dance Wiv Me shortly after. From then on, I kept an eye on what he was doing. I was actually one of the few who wasn't that crazy over I'm Not Alone when it was smashing in Europe, but I really enjoyed most of the material on his second album, especially Stars Come Out. Then Bounce came out in early 2011 and it's been pretty much up and up since then. It wasn't really one song as it was the sheer consistency in which I loved what he was releasing. I've really love pretty much all of his singles from Bounce onward, and the more experimental tracks on 18 Months clicked with me too. So far, that's looking to continue with Motion.

Katy Perry - This is probably the biggest turnaround for me. When she first hit it big, I hated, and I mean HATED, her. I thought IKAG was one of the worst hits in a long time and hoped that she'd just disappear after the summer. Then around August or so, I heard Hot N Cold and after only one listen, I couldn't deny that a. she most likely wasn't going to be a one hit wonder and b. I really liked it. Just an A+ pop song through and through. Then I loved Thinking Of You and ended up loving most of her debut as well. The title track and If You Can Afford Me were two that I remember really liking on first listen. Wasn't nuts about WUIV, but I liked the album overall to keep me interested in her follow-up. And then the 1-2-3 of California Gurls, ET (which leaked as a demo that May or June) and Teenage Dream sealed the deal quickly.

Ellie Goulding - First time I heard of her was when she won the BBC Sound of 2010. I heard Starry Eyed and didn't like it at all. However, then I listened to her album and really liked some of the songs, especially Your Biggest Mistake and Under The Sheets. When Bright Lights came out at the end of the year, I again didn't like the lead single but loved most of the other material. I never saw the title track as one of her highlights and was surprised, but happy when it became a big hit stateside. I was really looking forward to her proper follow-up and true to form, I was underwhelmed by Anything Could Happen. But I knew that there was better stuff to probably be found on the album and that was an understatement. I was stunned by the brilliance of Halcyon. especially My Blood and Only You. I loved how grand and baroque her sound had gotten, in comparison to the more pastoral debut. The re-release didn't match it in quality, but it again provided some solid gems like Goodness Gracious and Under Control. She's probably the only artist where nearly all of their singles would probably be towards the bottom of my favorite tracks from them. Her 3rd set is probably my most anticipated album of 2015.

[Web]

I'll do my ~15 top last.fm artists that I can remember.

Beck - Odelay, though it was mostly just consistency over all of his 90's to mid 00's albums that had vastly different genres (Guero, Midnite Vultures, Sea Change, etc.) that cemented his place as my favorite artist of all time.
Green Day - American Idiot.
Eminem - "When I'm Gone" 
Nirvana - Nevermind
Kanye West - Singles like "Power" and "Gold Digger", and then Yeezus made me go back and gain a better respect for the deeper cuts on most of his albums.
Gorillaz - Demon Days. Might be my favorite record of all time.
Imagine Dragons - "Radioactive", then the first half of Night Visions 
Red Hot Chili Peppers - hearing a bunch of my dad's records from a young age, hard to pick specific tracks.
Maroon 5 - hearing "Harder To Breathe" years after release gave me a better appreciation for them that extended beyond songs like "She Will Be Loved" or "This Love"
The Clash - London Calling
INXS - Kick
Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
Fitz and the Tantrums - "Out Of My League"
Portugal. The Man - "Modern Jesus", then Evil Friends, then every single album/track by these guys. Probably favorite newly discovered (past year) band.
Arctic Monkeys - "Fluorescent Adolescent", though "R U Mine" and AM brought my love of them to another level and made me check out all of their other records.
Kendrick Lamar - "Swimming Pools (Drank), then all of GKMC

this is fun, I could probably make a huge essay about my musical discovery journey from my favorite bands but I'll stop now.

[Green Baron]

Oct 18, 2014 9:36:09 GMT -5 halo19 said:

Thrice, All That's Left. Vheissu brought them up several pegs with me and is my favorite album of all time.

I still haven't heard that one. Everyone puts that on such a high pedestal, above The Illusion of Safety and The Artist in the Ambulance and even Major/Minor which I thought wasn't that bad. The only song from Vheissu I'm familar with is "Image of the Invisible", and that doesn't touch "Deadbolt", "The Beltsville Crucible", "The Abolition of Man" or "Firebreather".

[halo19]

Try The Earth Will Shake and Music Box.

I find that a lot of people still put The Illusion of Safety in high regard and that took the longest of their albums for me to get into. It seemed like they added parts and changed tempos in a scatter brained, showy way. I think Identity Crisis was really underrated and doesn't sound that different from TIOS.

I consider everything between Artist and Beggars to be a modern classic. Really love the Air EP of the Alchemy Index.
M/M wasn't bad but didn't seem on par with their capability.

I actually consider TBC and TAOM to be album lowlights. Not IOTI, though. Such a powerful and uplifting song.

[Green Baron]

Oct 27, 2014 19:24:23 GMT -5 halo19 said:

Try The Earth Will Shake and Music Box.

I find that a lot of people still put The Illusion of Safety in high regard and that took the longest of their albums for me to get into. It seemed like they added parts and changed tempos in a scatter brained, showy way. I think Identity Crisis was really underrated and doesn't sound that different from TIOS.

I consider everything between Artist and Beggars to be a modern classic. Really love the Air EP of the Alchemy Index.
M/M wasn't bad but didn't seem on par with their capability.

I actually consider TBC and TAOM to be album lowlights. Not IOTI, though. Such a powerful and uplifting song.

My favorite Thrice song still remains the title track to Artist. 

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

Janet: she was introduced to me very earlier on age so I've been a huge fan since I was a tot.

Madonna: from watching her story on vh-1's Behind The Music in '98. 

Mariah: She was introduced to me by my dad, but I didn't really started paying attention to her til the Emancipation of Mimi and E=MC2 era. That's when I started to check out her discography.

Aaliyah: "Are You That Somebody" and "Try Again" were always my favorites when she was alive, but I didn't start checking our her albums til 9 years after her death.

Selena: from watching the "Selena" movie.

Xtina: love her since her debut came out. Been following her career ever since.

Toni Braxton: pretty much from childhood.

Crystal Kay: since last year when I watched KiraKuni, I wasn't really familiar with jpop music the years before.