Estelle

In 2004, while dining at Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles in Los Angeles, soul and R&B singer Estelle ran into Kanye West. At the time, West was fresh from dropping his breakthrough debut, The College Dropout and the London-born Estelle, recognizing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, walked up to West and asked: "I'm a big fan. Where's John Legend?"

Impressed by her calm confidence, West introduced Estelle to Legend, who would eventually make appearances on Hey Girl and Freedom, two tracks from her debut album, The 18th Day. An eclectic mix of dance, hip hop and R&B, The 18th Day featured the autobiographical hit 1980, but didn't sell very well. Estelle was soon dropped from V2 records. This time, it was Legend who sought her out, signing her to his Homeschool label and helping her shape her new record, Shine.

More relaxed than rugged, Shine features production by Mark Ronson, the talent behind other standout U.K. acts like Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen as well as the work of John Legend and American producers Wyclef Jean, will.i.am and Swizz Beatz. The bond they all formed in the studio inspired her current hit, American Boy featuring Kanye West: "There were a lot of them around me at the time I wrote the song – Legend, Will.i.am – American guys just hanging out. That was the inspiration for the song more than anything else. They’re great – just like bigger brothers to me.”

Although Estelle's leap of faith at the soul food joint was instrumental in turning around her career, she maintains she was bound for success one way or another: "I feel that regardless of whether you know you're doing it you still sort of meander towards your path. Do you know what I mean? That's my thing. Things will happen."