A major-label breakout in the mid-’90s with Honor Among Thieves, Edwin McCain became a Top 40 mainstay and soundtrack favorite thanks to enduring smash hits like “I’ll Be” and “I Could Not Ask for More,” earning a reputation as one of pop’s great romantics while sustaining a three-decade career. Last year, the veteran singer-songwriter-guitarist released his 11th studio album, Lucky—his first collection of new material since 2011—an expansive set that reflects his blues, soul, rock, and folk roots while embracing fresh creative ambition.

The only way for a story to progress is to turn the page. John Ondrasik — the songwriter and performer known as the platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated, Five For Fighting — knows this well. In the two decades since his first major single, “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” hit the stratosphere, the artist has both evolved and come back ’round full circle. Creativity, if nothing else, is paradoxical. To date, Five For Fighting, has released six studio LPs, including the platinum certified America Town and The Battle for Everything; and the top-10 charting Two Lights, along with an EP and live albums. Ondrasik has penned major hits, including the chart-topping “100 Years,” “The Riddle,” “Chances,” “World,” and “Easy Tonight,” which have earned tens of millions of streams and place him as a top-10 Hot Adult Contemporary artist for the 2000s.