Billboard's 50 Acts for 50 States: Taylor Swift, Eminem, More Rep Hometowns

Billboard came up with a fun project for the July 4th holiday, assigning a music performer that best represents each of the 50 states. According to the site, final decisions were largely based on sales results from its charts, but a performer's deception to their home state via its lyrics also made a difference. Check out what performer made it for your state and let us know if Billboard chose well.

Alabama: Alabama (Duh)

Alaska: Jewel (Huh. Wasn't aware.)

Arizona: Fleetwood Mac (Yeah, the band is British but Stevie Nicks is from Phoenix.)

Arkansas: Johnny Cash

California: The Beach Boys (a good choice, but plenty of other arguable candidates.)

Colorado: John Denver

Connecticut: John Mayer

Delaware: George Thorogood

Florida: Gloria Estefan

Georgia: Ray Charles

Hawaii: Bruno Mars

Idaho: Paul Revere and The Raiders (another act we weren't aware had an unusual home state)

Illinois: Chicago (Duh...and somewhat disappointing)

Indiana: Michael Jackson

Iowa: The Everly Brothers (Slipknot got ripped off, no?)

Kansas: Kansas (Duh)

Kentucky: Loretta Lynn

Louisiana: Louis Armstrong (good choice from rich musical state)

Maine: Stephen Hague (Surprising that Maine turned out most obscure act/name on list)

Maryland: Toni Braxton

Massachusetts: Aerosmith (using previous logic, Boston was the obvious answer)

Michigan: Madonna (unfair considering star's distaste for hometown. Eminem, Marvin Gaye?)

Minnesota: Prince

Mississippi: Elvis Presley (no, Rae Sremmurd isn't the biggest act from Tupelo. Yet.)

Missouri: Eminem (Odd. Rapper didn't move to Detroit until he was 12, true...but no one is more pro-Detroit than the emcee)

Montana: Pearl Jam (Ha...desperation. Bassist Jeff Ament was born in Montana, which is all it takes to be the biggest act in the state, apparently.)

Nebraska: The Eagles (again, only one member hails from the state. Randy Meisner...the member no one talks about)

Nevada: The Killers

New Hampshire: Ray Lamontagne

New Jersey: Bruce Springsteen (epic kaiju battle between he and Bon Jovi, we're sure.)

New Mexico: The Shins

New York: Billy Joel (another tough decision...but probably a good choice)

North Carolina: Jermaine Dupri

North Dakota: Lawrence Welk

Ohio: The Pretenders (as Ohio natives, we accept this decision.)

Oklahoma: Garth Brooks

Oregon: Esperanza Spalding

Pennsylvania: Taylor Swift

Rhode Island: Jeffrey Osborne

South Carolina: James Brown

South Dakota: L. Frank Baum (Say what? The dude wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Did he write The Wiz? Did he write Wicked? No. He wrote a book. Come on guys...amateur decision here.)

Tennessee: Dolly Parton

Texas: George Strait

Utah: The Osmonds

Vermont: Phish

Virginia: Bruce Hornsby (Pharrell Williams would have been our pick)

Washington: Nirvana

West Virginia: Brad Paisley

Wisconsin: Les Paul

Wyoming: Chris LeDoux

Here's a bonus track for the most American band of all time...which is, of course, America.

Tags

Eminem, Taylor Swift, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer, Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson, Prince, The Killers, Garth Brooks