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Kanye West -

Kanye West first worked as a producer in Jay-Z’s 2001 album 'The Blueprint.' Later, Jay-Z took a chance on the producer-turned-rapper and signed him to Roc-A-Fella Records.

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Justin Bieber -

Justin Bieber’s life changed when music executive Scooter Braun took notice of his music covers on YouTube. Braun linked Bieber up with Usher for a collaboration. The R&B singer was quite impressed with the Canadian kid so he secured him a management deal and helped get him signed.

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Nicki Minaj -

Lil Wayne took Minaj under his wing and the two collaborated on Minaj’s mixtape 'Playtime Is Over.' Shortly after, the rapper signed Minaj to Young Money Entertainment. Nicki Minaj became the first female rapper on Lil Wayne’s record label.

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Chloe x Halle -

The sister duo started their career by uploading covers to YouTube, including Beyoncé’s 'Pretty Hurts.' It turns out, Queen Bey heard it and was quite impressed. So much so that in 2015, Chloe x Halle signed with Beyoncé’s management company, Parkwood Entertainment.

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Lady Gaga -

Lady Gaga was signed to Def Jam but was dropped by the label just a few months later in 2006. Luckily, Akon grabbed the chance and signed Gaga to KonLive. They recorded Gaga’s debut single 'Just Dance,' and the rest is history.

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Rihanna -

A demo of the Barbados singer made its way to Def Jam Records. Jay-Z listened to it and flew Rihanna to New York for an audition. She signed with Def Jam Records that same day.

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The Weeknd -

Back in 2010 The Weeknd was yet another artist uploading songs to YouTube. Of course, this was until Drake took notice and invited him to collaborate on his album 'Take Care.' This helped raise The Weeknd’s profile and landed him a record deal with Republic Records.

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Eminem -

Dr. Dre was the man responsible for putting Eminem in the limelight. After listening to the Detroit rapper’s EP, Dre asked his team to hunt him down. In 1999 Eminem released 'The Slim Shady LP,' and the rest is history.

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Janelle Monáe -

Janelle Monáe's luck changed when Big Boi (of Outkast) listened to one of her songs from a demo. As a result, Monáe featured on Outkast’s 2006 album 'Idlewild.' Monáe was then introduced to Sean Combs, who signed her to Bad Boy Records.

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John Legend -

A demo of John Legend ended up in Kanye West's hands. The rapper was impressed and invited Legend to sing a few parts on his new album. Shortly after, John Legend became the first artist signed to Kayne West music label, GOOD Music.

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Pitbull -

Lil Jon met Pitbull early in his career and invited him to collaborate on his upcoming album. "I always believed in the guy, and I always knew he could make it commercially," he said.

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Van Halen -

The rockers started playing in clubs in the ‘70s. One night, Kiss member Gene Simmons was in the audience, and he was impressed. Simmons went on to produce Van Halen’s demo, which helped the band land a record deal with Warner Bros.

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Drake -

Lil Wayne was sent Drake's demo and shortly after brought the rapper on the road with him. Lil Wayne helped Drake record a mixtape and before he knew it, Drake was signed to Young Money Records.

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Ed Sheeran -

Jamie Foxx was very impressed by Ed Sheeran when he came on his radio show. The British singer-songwriter ended up staying at Foxx's place for six weeks.

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Bob Dylan -

Folk artist Joan Baez introduced Bob Dylan to the world. Baez took him on tour with her in 1963, and shortly after Dylan became a folk star.

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5 Seconds of Summer -

5SOS were discovered on YouTube by One Direction member Louis Tomlinson. He was so impressed that he invited the group to join One Direction’s 2013 ‘Take Me Home Tour.’ 5SOS got signed to Capitol Records shortly after.

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Lil Wayne -

How to get noticed by a rapper and get signed? Call him and rap on his answer machine until he picks up the phone. This is exactly what Lil Wayne did to Birdman. It worked, as Lil Wayne became the youngest rapper signed to Birdman’s label, Cash Money Records.

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James Taylor -

The American singer-songwriter has the Fab Four to thank for his big break. The Beatles signed Taylor to Apple Records in 1968, making him the label’s first non-British act.

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Limp Bizkit -

The bad boys of Nu Metal got their big break through another Nu Metal band. Fred Durst’s band joined Korn on tour after Korn’s bassist, Reginald Arvizu, heard their demo. Not long after, Limp Bizkit signed with Flip Records.

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Katy Perry -

Katy Perry's career began after she met musician Jennifer Knapp, who took her to Nashville and worked on her demos. 

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50 Cent -

50 Cent got his big break from Eminem. The rapper was so impressed by 50 Cent’s 'Guess Who’s Back?' album, he invited him for a meeting with him and Dr. Dre. Before he knew it, 50 Cent was signing a joint record deal with Shady/Aftermath and Interscope Records.

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J. Cole -

J. Cole waited outside a studio for hours to hand Jay-Z a copy of his music, who then dismissed him. It was not until a year later that Jay-Z heard Cole's song 'Lights Please' and decided to meet him. In 2009, J. Cole then became the first artist signed to Jay-Z’s new record label, Roc Nation.

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2 Chainz -

When 2 Chainz was introduced to Ludacris in 1997, he probably didn't know he'd end up getting signed to his record label.

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Travis Scott -

Kanye West and T.I. took notice of the American rapper when he released his debut mixtape 'Owl Pharaoh' in 2013. Not long after, West signed him to GOOD Music, and about a year later, Travis Scott got a deal with T.I.’s Grand Hustle Records.

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Rita Ora -

Jay-Z discovered and mentored Rita Ora. He then signed her to his label Roc Nation.

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Joni Mitchell -

Joni Mitchell’s life changed when David Crosby (of Crosby, Stills, and Nash) watched her play live in Florida. Crosby took Mitchell to LA and helped her land a record deal with Reprise Records.

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Panic! at the Disco -

Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz was sent a link to Panic! at the Disco’s music. Luckily, he did open the link. Wentz was so impressed by their music that he signed the group to his label, Decaydance Records.

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Big Sean -

Big Sean tracked down Kayne West, who was visiting a radio station, and decided to freestyle for him as he left the radio station. West gave him the chance to spit 16 bars, and the story goes that Sean ended up rapping for 10 minutes. Two years later, Big Sean got signed to Kayne West’s label GOOD Music.

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Carly Rae Jepsen -

The 'Call Me Maybe' singer was discovered by  Justin Bieber on YouTube. Bieber then tweeted a lip sync video of the song and it went viral!

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Maggie Rogers -

Rogers was a student at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts when Pharrell Williams listened to Rogers would-be hit song 'Alaska.' Pharrell was doing a songwriting masterclass and was really impressed. A video of Pharrell Williams complementing Maggie Rogers went viral, launching her career.

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Luther Vandross -

Luther Vandross was doing backing vocals for Roberta Flack when he caught the attention of David Bowie. Bowie then took Vandross on tour as his own background vocalist. Throughout the ‘70s, Vandross worked with the likes of Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, Donna Summer, and Barbara Streisand. In 1981, Vandross released his debut album 'Never Too Much.'

Sources: (Yardbarker) (Ranker) (TheThings) (BuzzFeed) (Stacker) (Marie Claire) 

See also: Backup singers who took the spotlight

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