Born in the U.S.A.: The Top 50 Artists by State, From Bruce Springsteen to Garth Brooks & Taylor Swift (Staff Picks)

From Billy Joel’s New York state of mind to the Beach Boys being synonymous with sunny California, each state has given us some amazing music.

A clever entry on the website “Thinking Pseudogeographically,” entitled “50 States, 50 Television Shows,” considered which TV shows are most synonymous with each state. Cheers, for instance, represents Massachusetts; Seinfeld, New York; and Hawaii Five-O (you guessed it), Hawaii.

The feature itself borrowed from an earlier Huffington Post spotlight on movies associated with each state, entitled “The United States of Movies.” The Wizard of Oz embodies Kansas; My Cousin Vinny, Alabama; and, of course, Fargo, North Dakota.

For July 4th, Billboard again spins off the fun premise by assigning 50 musical artists to 50 states. (In most cases, the representative artist was born in his or her chosen state. In a few others, or in the case of groups, states were picked based on the states in which acts spent their formative years.)

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LIST

Please note that all selections are not based on strict Billboard chart methodology, but merely opinion, although chart history was strongly considered. Thus, please feel free to agree or disagree (the latter is much more fun) with our choices by e-mailing [email protected].

Have a happy and safe Fourth and enjoy our appreciation of musical acts born in the U.S.A., state by state.