A Michigan-born songwriter who occupies the rockier end of the power pop spectrum (more indebted to the Who than the Raspberries, that is), Brendan Benson debuted at the age of 26 with a sterling first album, 1996's One Mississippi. He continued working as a solo artist for the better part of a decade, releasing three albums of his own while occasionally appearing on other artists' records. However, Benson remained a minor part of the musical mainstream until 2005, when he began collaborating with fellow Michigander Jack White of the White Stripes, forming a partnership that quickly turned into a four-piece band named the Raconteurs. The supergroup fared well on both sides of the Atlantic, with 2006's Broken Boy Soldiers and 2008's Consolers of the Lonely both cracking the Top Ten in the U.K. and America. Benson returned to his solo career in 2009, as the Raconteurs took an indefinite break and Jack White shifted his focus to the Dead Weather.