Sara Bareilles

Sara Bareilles appeared to be a throwback to another era when she released her debut Little Voice in 2007. Much of this retro vibe rested upon her reliance on audaciously melodic songcraft, a skill showcased on her smash single "Love Song," a tune that managed to spin classic singer/songwriter tropes into the modern era. This facility with the past and flair for the present helped Bareilles become one of the most successful and enduring singer/songwriters of her generation. She racked up her big hits during the late 2000s and 2010s -- "Love Song" went to number four, "King of Anything" peaked at 32 in 2010, "Brave" topped out at 23 in 2013 -- and she turned to Broadway, where she composed the songs for the 2015 musical adaptation of Adrienne Shelly's Waitress. Bareilles found a second home in theater, earning a Tony nomination for her score for 2016's SpongeBob SquarePants, then appearing as Mary Magdalene in NBC's television production of Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, a role which earned her two Emmy nominations. By this point, she had become part of the show biz firmament, winning a Grammy for "Saint Honesty" in 2019, adapting her songbook for the 2020 Apple TV+ television series Little Voice, and earning a Grammy for her 2022 Broadway revival of Into the Woods.