Grunge godfathers Soundgarden split up pretty much at their peak, in 1997 shortly after storming offstage at an infamous gig in Hawaii, and fans of the band were left to wonder what might have been...and if the four flannel-flying rock legends would ever share a stage or studio again. Massive-lunged frontman Chris Cornell, one of the finest and mightiest singers ever in rock 'n' roll history, went on to success in Audioslave (and, somewhat surprisingly, lesser success as a solo artist), while drummer Matt Cameron became a permanent member of fellow Seattle pioneers Pearl Jam and guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Ben Shepherd played in more under-the-radar projects. But the possibility of any future reunion seemed, well, superunknown.

However, last October all four Soundgarden members were present at a Pearl Jam concert in Los Angeles, and when Chris surprised everyone by getting onstage for an impromptu rendition of "Hunger Strike" (by the 1990s Soundgarden/Pearl Jam supergroup Temple

When Scottish troubadour KT Tunstall first burst onto the scene in 2004, it was obvious she was no typical female pop starlet. Her now-legendary performance on the U.K. music program "Later...With Jools Holland"--during which she stunned all of Britain and upstaged veterans like the Cure with her loop-pedaled, one-woman-band act--made her an instant star on her native side of the pond, and soon America also fell in love with her unpretentious-yet-cocksure demeanor, guitar-slinging cool-chick attitude, and catchy acoustic-pop songs (one of which, "Black Horse & The Cherry Tree," was even covered by Katharine McPhee and Aly & AJ, albeit with not quite as much rock 'n' roll swagger).

Since that fabulously splashy beginning with her debut Eye To The Telescope, KT has released two more solid studio albums, 2007's Drastic Fantastic and this year's Tiger Suit, but oddly, her success hasn't seemed to pave the way for similarly Hynde-sighted rocker girls with guitars. Popular female music at

Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble had a surprise in placelast June when they performed with hundreds of elementary school students at New York's American Museum Of NaturalHistory.

The Grammy award winning cellist is known for his orchestralworks so he and the Silk Road Ensemble caught the students from the Bronx, Brooklyn,Manhattan and Queensoff guard when they closed their performance with a classical rendition ofJay-Z and Alicia Keys' hit "Empire State Of Mind."

Yo-Yo Ma has released footage of the Connect Live! eventthat shows the kids exploding with excitement when the performance takes ahip-hop turn.

They chose to splice the rap ballad into the program becausethey thought the kids would love it, says Cristin Bagnall, Silk Road Projectboard member. "Yo-Yo's experience has been that if he can go into the world ofa young person, that interaction can have deep and lasting impact," saysBagnall. "So, it was important to him that the Silk Road Connect culminatingevent include music

The old adage is true: good things come to those who wait.It's taken Michael Franti multiple musical incarnations and more than twodecades as a recording artist to accomplish the coveted feat of reaching No. 1on the charts.

Franti's "The Sound Of Sunshine," a stripped -down guitarballad about finding happiness in nature, topped the Adult Alternative Airplay chartin July.

"We've been together as a band since 1984, but I've beenputting out records since 1986," says the singer-songwriter who also recordedunder the monikers Beatnigs, Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy, as well asMichael Franti & Spearhead. "Now, 20 something years in our career and wehave our first No. 1 record. ... After all these year's I'm just gettingstarted."

The song is the title track for Michael Franti &Spearhead's seventh and latest album.

Franti's music has long been rooted in uplifting messagesand melodies. Just a year before releasing "The Sound Of Sunshine," the groupscored its first top 20 hit with "Say Hey (I