Billboard.com asked more than a dozen artists to pick the best music of 2007 and got some fairly typical answers -- all the indie bands love each other, it seems -- but some of the responses were surprising.
Who knew, for instance, that Jessica Simpson likes the ethereal Icelandic composers Sigur Ros and the hipster electro-rock band Mute Math? "American Idol" runner-up Katharine McPhee put Radiohead's spacey latest, "In Rainbows," at the top of her list. Ozzy Osbourne voted for Paul McCartney's mellow "Memory Almost Full" (along with Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" and The White Stripes' "Icky Thump.") And what were the baby-faced Jonas Brothers doing at a Genesis concert, which made their top three?
Other artists' lists come off as suspiciously "eclectic." The classical pianist Lang Lang, for instance, cited Pavarotti, Bocelli, Chris Botti, Norah Jones -- and Kanye West. By contrast, Babyface didn't even try to stretch: He chose Colbie Callait, Maroon 5, Chrisette Michele and Amy Winehouse.
PHOTO: Billboard.com