Roots of David Cook

Carolina Liar is a Swedish-American pop rock band. Lead vocalist Chad Wolf is originally from Moncks Corner, South Carolina; other members originate from Stockholm, Sweden.

Ryan Stahr Kulchinsky, known professionally as Ryan Star, is an American rock singer-songwriter from Long Island, New York, currently signed on Island Records. His first major label record 11:59, released via Atlantic in 2010, reached No. 31 on Billboard 200 and No. 10 on Billboard Rock albums chart. Star became known to a wider audience as contestant on the CBS reality TV show Rock Star: Supernova in 2006. His songs have featured on several TV shows and promotion. His song "Brand New Day", featured as the main theme to Fox TV series Lie to Me, earned him a BMI TV Music Award in May 2009.

Crash Kings is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The members are vocalist–keyboardist Antonio "Tony" Beliveau, his brother, bassist Mike Beliveau, and drummer Tom Roslak. The band's debut album, Crash Kings, was released May 26, 2009, on Custard/Universal Motown. The first single, "Mountain Man", came out on U.S. modern rock radio stations in October and entered Billboard's Alternative Songs chart the following month. It reached no. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Radio charts in March 2010. The band is known for using analog keyboards, such as the clavinet, with distortion effects and a whammy bar, in place of a typical lead guitar.

Edwin Cole McCain is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for how 1998 single "I'll Be", which peaked at number 5 in the Billboard Hot 100; its 1999 follow-up, "I Could Not Ask for More", peaked within its top 40. 5 of McCain's 11 albums have entered the Billboard 200.

Whitesnake were an English rock band formed in London in 1978. The group originated as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed their own entity, Coverdale was the only constant member throughout their history.

Collective Soul is an American rock band originally from Stockbridge, Georgia. Now based in Atlanta, the group consists of the brothers Ed and Dean Roland, Will Turpin (bassist), Johnny Rabb (drummer), and Jesse Triplett. Formed in 1992, the original lineup consisted of the Roland brothers, bassist David Neal, guitarist Ross Childress, and drummer Shane Evans. Collective Soul released their Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid album on the independent label Rising Storm Records in 1993. The band went from obscurity to popularity that year after the album's lead single "Shine" received regional radio play. Around the same time, Turpin replaced Neal on bass. The album was then re-released in 1994 by the major label Atlantic Records; thus, "Shine" became a national hit as it peaked at No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock and No. 4 on the Mainstream Top 40 charts.

Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and signed with Round Hill Music. The band formed in 1988 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and consists of Kevin Griffin, Tom Drummond, Michael Jerome (drums), and James Arthur Payne Jr.. The band has released nine studio albums, most recently 2024's Super Magick. They are best known for their 1993 multi-platinum album Deluxe and the 1995 single "Good", which reached number 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Our Lady Peace is a Canadian alternative rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Led by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band currently also features Duncan Coutts on bass, Steve Mazur on guitars, and Jason Pierce on drums. The band has sold several million albums worldwide, won four Juno Awards, and won ten MuchMusic Video Awards—the most MMVAs ever awarded to a band. Nineteen of their singles have reached the Top Ten on one of Canada's singles charts. Between 1996 and 2016, Our Lady Peace was the third best-selling Canadian band and the ninth best-selling Canadian artist overall in Canada.

Gavin Shane DeGraw is an American singer-songwriter. DeGraw rose to fame with his song "I Don't Want to Be" from his debut album Chariot (2003); the song became the main theme song for The WB/CW drama series One Tree Hill. Other notable singles from his debut album were the title track and "Follow Through".

David Hodges is an American songwriter and record producer from Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a studio contributor to the rock band Evanescence from 2000 to 2002, and has co-written and co-produced for pop, pop rock and country artists, including Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Daughtry, Backstreet Boys, Avril Lavigne, David Archuleta, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, Jessie James, 5 Seconds of Summer, Christina Perri, and Tim McGraw.