Kimberly Cole

Her relentless electro-pop bolstered by boundless energy, Cali girl Kimberly Cole gave acts like Lady Gaga a run for their late-‘00s money. Cole’s act was a bit less decadent, and the UCLA grad peppered her party-hearty songs with slightly more elevated themes (although she was not above naming an anthem called “Peep Show”); however, she poured the same sensual fire into her hook-heavy dance singles to rise out of the competitive artistic roller skating circuit to become an internet sensation by 2009.