Train

San Francisco's Train has been a near-omnipresent force on Top 40 radio for more than a decade. Train was formed by Pennsylvania transplant Patrick Monahan and guitarist Rob Hotchkiss in 1994. The duo began playing in small San Francisco venues, and the duo became a quintet after the additions of guitarist Jimmy Stafford, bassist Charlie Colin, and drummer Scott Underwood. After failing to garner a major label deal, the group released their self-produced, eponymous LP in 1998 through Aware Records. Surprisingly, the album sold over a million copies, thanks in large part to the song "Meet Virginia"—a polished, infectious single that remains a radio favorite over 10 years since its release.

Train, keen to build on their unexpected success, released 2001's Drops of Jupiter, their most popular LP to date. Driven by the massive success of lead single "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)," the album was a smash, moving over two million units stateside. After the group's next two studio albums, My Private Nation and For Me, It's You, did not hit the same commercial heights, Train decided to take a hiatus in 2006. During the three-year break, Monahan released his debut solo album Last of Seven.

The group reformed in 2009 and recorded their fifth studio album, Save Me San Francisco. Train proved that their hit-writing muscles were still intact, as "Hey, Soul Sister" cracked the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the Adult Top 40. It was their biggest hit since "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)." The group—trimmed down to the trio of Monahan, Underwood, and Stafford—is very much back on the national scene and shows no signs of slowing down.