Gavin DeGraw

The moment his song “I Don’t Want to Be” was chosen to be the soundtrack for the opening credits of the popular teen soap opera One Tree Hill, Gavin DeGraw had a guaranteed hit on his hands. It’s one of those singles that perfectly encapsulates its era, during that early 2000s boom of radio-friendly singer-songwriters (musicians like Jason Mraz and Vanessa Carlton) who were filtering ’90s alt-rock through the shiny pop production of the time. That song still works as a time capsule, but DeGraw has regularly cranked out music since his “I Don’t Want to Be” heyday: His biggest-selling single was actually the 2011 ballad “Not Over You,” and his 2016 album Something Worth Saving boasts some of the most versatile stylings of his career.