The Top 5 New Music Artists and Bands in 2009

Lady Gaga. Arguably, Lady Gaga was introduced in 2008, but 2009 was the year of Gaga. Lady Gaga has emerged as a powerhouse performer with half a dozen number one hits and comparisons to Madonna. She received as much recognition for her music as she did for her eccentric fashion sense and rumors that she was a hermaphrodite. The NYC native has been performing in the NYC club scene for almost five years, but the 23 year old hit it big when she released her single "Poker Face". The 23 year old is also headlining her own tour this year, after playing the opening act for several other bands and artists. In addition to winning the MTV Video Music Award for best new artist she also has been nominated for a laundry list of Grammy's for the 2010 awards including record of the year, album of the year, and song of the year for "Poker Face".

Kings of Leon. In an industry where auto tune and over-produced music has become the norm, alternative rock group Kings of Leon was a breathe of fresh air in 2009. Although the Nashville based band has technically been around since 1999, and had previously gained a great deal of fame in the U.K., 2009 was their year in the U.S. The band, which has been referred to as southern rock, consists of three brothers Caleb, Nathan, Jared and cousin Cameron Followill. The four boys had a monster hit with their single "Use Somebody" and garnered four Grammy nominations including: Best Rock Song, Record of the year, Song of the year, and best rock performance.

3OH!3. Anyone that heard the lyrics "Do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips" had to stop in their tracks to the peculiar phrase. The electro-hop duo of Nat (Nathaniel) and Sean flew to the top of the Top 40 charts with their single "Don't Trust Me". The band, pronounced "three-oh-three" and named after their native Denver area code, opened for singer Katy Perry and got a nod from MTV for "best new artist" in 2009.

Keri Hilson. The 27-year-old Georgia native has already made a big mark in the music industry as both a performer and a writer, even writing songs for Britney Spears. The R+B/pop diva got the attention of the collective industry in 2009 winning Best New Artist at both the BET Awards and the Soul Train Awards. She was nominated for breakthrough artist at the 2009 AMA awards and even got two Grammy nominations in 2010 including one for "Best New Artist". Her single "Knock you down" was nominated for best rap/sung collaboration and is possibly her most recognizable work in addition to the singles "Turnin Me On".

Gloriana. It shocked everyone when they won the breakthrough artist award at the 2009 AMA's, but the country group Gloriana has had a fantastic year with the release of their self-titled debut album. One of the bands members, Cheyenne Kimball, may be more recognizable to those non-country music fans as Cheyenne from her former reality TV series on MTV in 2006. Kimball also was the winner of America's Most Talented Kid prior to her gig on MTV. In addition to their surprising win at the AMA's the country group was almost nominated for two CMT awards and won the CMT award for "Nationwide on your side Award".