Owl City

Adam Young is the sole brainchild behind Owl City, a poppy electronica project created by the Minnesota-bred artist as a means to thwart his bouts with insomnia. Young attained a massive buzz through online grassroots networking and two indie albums before finally inking with Universal Republic. Owl City's ensuing major label debut, "Ocean Eyes," featured the No. 1 hit "Fireflies," which went quadruple platinum. His collaboration with Carly Rae Jepsen titled "Good Time" also became a worldwide chart-topper.

"The worst show I ever played was at a local county fair in rural Iowa. They had the bands playing in a smelly old hog barn with actual hogs rooting around. Nobody showed up so it was just us and the porkers. It was intense. Actually, now that I think of it, it might've been the best show I've ever played."

— Adam Young, Owl City