Stylistic origins United States Derivative forms Pop music | Cultural origins United States | |
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Typical instruments Guitar, bass, drums, piano, horn | ||
American pop is pop music in the United States. American folk singer Pete Seeger defined pop music as "professional music which draws upon both folk music and fine arts music".
An early genre of American pop music was the swing craze, a popular dance style in the early part of the 20th century.
Jazz artist Rudy Vallée became what was perhaps the first complete example of the 20th century mass media pop star. Vallée became the most prominent and, arguably, the first of a new style of popular singer, the crooner.
One of the most successful crooners was Bing Crosby. Crosby cited popular singer Al Jolson as one of his main influences. Crosby was in turn cited by Perry Como. Crosby also influenced this singing of Frank Sinatra; Crosby and Sinatra sang together in the 1956 film High Society.
American pop musical examples from the 1960s include The Monkees. Pop groups like these remained popular into the 1970s, producing family acts like the Partridge Family and The Osmonds. By the late 1990s, there were numerous varieties of Teen pop including singers like Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson and Clean-cut boy bands like Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC.