Top 10 Current British Artists

10: DUFFY

This blond Welsh lass brought swinging '60s soul back to the British charts with her 2008 dance tune, "Mercy." Soon, she was U.S.-bound, and songs from her debut album, Rockferry, have appeared in multiple American commercials. She won a 2008 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album.

9: M.I.A.

A Londoner of Sri Lankan descent, rapper/producer M.I.A. was a hipster and critics' favorite with her debut album, 2005's politically charged Arular. However, when her 2007 song "Paper Planes" was featured in the trailer for the marijuana comedy Pineapple Express, she achieved her first Billboard top five hit. "Paper Planes" - which featured a Clash sample, gunshots, and cash register sounds - was also nominated for Grammy's Record of the Year in 2008.

8: ADELE

While Amy Winehouse was off wandering the London streets in blood-stained ballet slippers, 19-year-old Adele arrived on America's shores to represent British soul. The Philly soul ballad, "Chasing Pavements," failed to conquer U.S. radio, but that didn't stop the Grammys from naming her the Best New Artist of 2008. Just this year, she was invited to VH1's Divas Live concert, alongside Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, and Miley Cyrus.

7: KT TUNSTALL

With her husky, Scotch-drenched voice and guitar virtuosity, Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall would seem to be a throwback to the 1990s Lilith Fair scene. Her first single, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," featured Tunstall singing with a sexy, raspy country twang. But it was her song "Suddenly I See" that became ubiquitous; it has been featured in Chase bank commercials and as the theme song to the film, The Devil Wears Prada.

6: JAY SEAN

American R&B and soul have been hugely popular in the UK for many years, but British "urban" artists have generally failed to ignite the U.S. charts. That is, until October 2009, when Londoner Jay Sean topped the Billboard Hot 100 with "Down," a collaboration with rapper Lil Wayne.

5: AMY WINEHOUSE

The bee-hived soul singer's well-documented personal scandals have eclipsed her music in the U.S. But when she won five 2007 Grammys, including Record of the Year and Best New Artist, it seemed certain that Amy Winehouse would become the next Alicia Keys or Norah Jones. Her signature song, "Rehab," went top 10 in the States, and her album Back To Black has sold over two million copies here. Now we're only waiting on what she'll do next...

4: NATASHA BEDINGFIELD

When her brother Daniel Bedingfield got tossed into America's one-hit wonder bin back in 2002, there wasn't much hope for Natasha. But she need not have worried: her fresh blue-eyed R&B charmed American listeners. And the inspiring 2005 hit "Unwritten" quickly embedded itself into U.S. pop culture, becoming the theme song of MTV's reality hit The Hills.

3: LEONA LEWIS

Leona Lewis was the only winner of Simon Cowell's British talent show X Factor to make an international impact. It's easy to see why. Her curly hair, mixed-race background, and octave-scaling voice immediately conjured the young Mariah Carey. With her mid-tempo ballad "Bleeding Love," Leona became the first UK female solo artist to have a Billboard No. 1 single in over 20 years.

2: RADIOHEAD

No other rock band has achieved the amount of critics' love that Radiohead has in the past 15 years. Their 1997 tour de force, OK Computer, was a modern-day Dark Side of the Moon, featuring prog-rock song structures, lyrical themes of technological alienation, and frontman Thom Yorke's panicked vocals. Radiohead pushed their experiments even further with 2000's Kid A, which could be the weirdest album ever to top the U.S. albums chart. In 2007, the band caused a music industry revolution, allowing fans to name their own price to download their album In Rainbows.

1: COLDPLAY

Ten years ago, Coldplay was one of a slew of British bands influenced by Radiohead's 1995 album, The Bends. Now they are stadium monsters on the level of U2. Their 2000 hit "Yellow" roared onto American radio, and it was upward and onward from there. In 2004, Coldplay's anthem "Clocks" beat out Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love," Eminem's "Lose Yourself," and "Hey Ya!" by Outkast for that year's Record of the Year Grammy. And in 2008, Coldplay became the first UK group of the new millennium to score a U.S. No. 1 single with the booming "Viva La Vida."