Many didn't even win the contest
Born in Aberdeen, Annie Lennox found international fame as one half of the hugely successful Eurythmics before enjoying an equally acclaimed solo career. She has been named "The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive" by VH1 and one of "The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time" by Rolling Stone.
Though born in Manchester, Stuart Adamson's parents were Scottish, and when he was four his family moved to Dunfermline, Fife. Adamson founded Scottish art-punk band Skids, before co-founding Big Country. A gifted guitarist, he was was once described by influential British DJ John Peel as "the new Jimi Hendrix." Adamson took his own life in 2001.
Scottish rock duo The Proclaimers are twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid from the Leith area of Edinburgh. They're known especially for the hits 'Letter from America' and 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles).'
Glasgow-born brothers Malcolm and Angus Young formed AC/DC in Sydney, Australia in 1973. Original vocalist Bon Scott died in 1980, and was replaced by Brian Johnson. Malcolm Young passed away in 2017.
Hailing from Edinburgh, Kate Victoria (KT) Tunstall first achieved success in 2004 with 'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.' She has since released six albums internationally and composed music for several film soundtracks.
Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish-Scottish rock band, formed in Dundee, Scotland in 1994. Bassist Paul Wilson is the only Scottish native in the group, born in Kinlochleven in the Scottish Highlands.
Shirley Manson is the vocalist of alternative rock band Garbage. A native of Edinburgh, she spends her time between Madison, Wisconsin (where the band was formed), Los Angeles, and the Scottish capital.
Born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire, Lulu was only 15 in 1964 when her cover of the Isley Brothers' 'Shout,' delivered in a powerful and raucous voice, reached no. 7 on the UK charts.
Hailing from Glasgow but ending up with his family in Adelaide, Australia, Jimmy Barnes has enjoyed a long career both as a solo artist and as the lead vocalist with rock band Cold Chisel. He is one of Australia's most successful musicians.
Early 1980's Scottish new wave/post-punk band Altered Images was fronted by Glasgow-born singer Clare Grogan, who went on to enjoy a second career as a film and television actress.
A multi-instrumentalist, Ian Anderson, lead vocalist with legendary band Jethro Tull, is especially regarded as a flautist. Born in Dunfermline, he spent his early years in Blackpool, England.
Formed in Dundee in 1979 by singer Billy MacKenzie and guitarist Alan Rankine, The Associates were a post-punk and new wave band that found success with the album 'Sulk' and the singles 'Party Fears Two' and 'Club Country.' Billy MacKenzie died by his own hand in 1997.
A Scottish funk and R&B ensemble, Average White Band has its origins in Dundee. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track 'Pick Up the Pieces,' and their albums 'AWB' and 'Cut the Cake.'
Founded by Roddy Frame, a native of East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire, pop/new wave band Atzec Camera garnered popular success in the 1980s with hits like 'Oblivious' and 'Somewhere in My Heart.'
Effectively a 1970's boy band, the Bay City Rollers were known as the "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh." The original lineup featured guitarists Eric Faulkner and Stuart Wood, singer Les McKeown, bassist Alan Longmuir, and drummer Derek Longmuir.
Susan Boyle's rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream' from 'Les Misérables' was watched by 10 million 'Britain's Got Talent' viewers when it was aired in 2009. Since then the singer from Blackburn, West Lothian has performed around the world in some of the most prestigious music venues.
The former Talking Heads front man hails from Dumbarton. But when he was two, his family moved to Canada and then relocated to Maryland in the United States. Byrne today is regarded as one of the great innovators of American new wave music.
Formed in Grangemouth in 1981, the Cocteau Twins were, in fact, a threesome: Robin Guthrie, Will Heggie (later replaced by Simon Raymonde), and Elizabeth Fraser. The band earned critical praise for their distinctive ethereal sound and the soprano vocals of Fraser.
Born Donovan Philips Leitch in Glasgow, the Scottish singer is noted for blending folk, jazz, pop, and psychedelia to produce a string of hits in the 1960s that include 'Catch the Wind,' 'Sunshine Superman,' and 'Mellow Yellow.'
Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand, formed in Glasgow in 2002, take their name from Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination in 1914 precipitated the First World War.
Scottish musical duo Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle were originally signed by the Beatles in 1968 to write songs for Apple Records' artists. Known for their own tracks, 'Breakaway' and 'Heart on My Sleeve,' some of the biggest names in the business have recorded Gallagher and Lyle songs, artists that include Bryan Ferry and Tina Turner, who sang Lyle's 'What's Love Got to Do with It'—her most successful single!
Their debut album 'Psychocandy,' released to critical acclaim in 1985, established The Jesus and Mary Chain as one of Scotland's most accomplished alternative rock bands. Brothers Jim and William Reid, both from East Kilbride, co-founded the band in 1983.
Simple Minds were the most commercially successful Scottish band of the 1980s. Fronted by Glasgow-born Jim Kerr, the band's hits include 1985's 'Don't You (Forget About Me),' from the soundtrack of the film 'The Breakfast Club,' and 'Alive and Kicking.' Kerr was married to Chrissie Hynde, lead singer of The Pretenders, from 1984 to 1990.
Mark Knopfler was born in Glasgow but co-founded Dire Straits with younger brother David in London in 1977. Noted for his virtuoso fingerstyle guitar playing, Knopfler fronted the band as they became one of the world's best-selling music acts.
A key part of the mid-1980s indie pop scene, Primal Scream was founded in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie. Robert "Throb" Young, who played on every album until his departure in 2006, was found dead in September 2014, apparently of substance or alcohol abuse.
Joe Egan and Jerry Rafferty, both from Paisley, formed Stealers Wheel in 1972 and had a huge hit the following year with 'Stuck in the Middle with You.' The song is used in Quentin Tarantino's 1992 debut film 'Reservoir Dogs.' Rafferty went on to enjoy considerable success as a solo artist, particularly for 1978's 'Baker Street.' He died in 2011.
Glasgow-born Jimmy Somerville fronted Bronski Beat and The Communards in the 1980s, before embarking on a solo career. Openly gay, Somerville's lyrics often contain political commentary on LGBTQ-related issues.
Co-founded in 1986 by Johnny McElhone and Sharleen Spiteri, Texas are a Scottish pop rock band from Glasgow. The debut single 'I Don't Want a Lover' was an international hit.
Though he died before they found fame, Stuart Sutcliffe remains an inexorable part of the Beatles' legend. Born in Edinburgh, the band's original bassist left in 1961 to pursue a career as an artist. He died in 1962 of cerebral hemorrhage, aged 21. He's pictured right, standing, with Pete Best, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney (on piano) on stage at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg.
Five-piece Travis was formed in Glasgow in 1990 and achieved success in 1999 with their second album, 'The Man Who.' The band's name comes from the Harry Dean Stanton character Travis Henderson from the film 'Paris, Texas,' the second Scottish band after Texas to draw inspiration from Wim Wender's 1984 movie.
Born in Cambuslang near Glasgow, Midge Ure enjoyed considerable success in the 1970s and '80s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids and Visage, and, most notably, as the front man of Ultravox. In 1984, he co-wrote with Bob Geldof the charity single 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' and co-organized 1985's Live Aid concert.
Scottish alternative rock band The Vaselines, formed in Glasgow in 1986, were a big influence on Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, pictured here at the Reading Festival with the Vaseline's Eugene Kelly.
Led by Stuart Murdoch, who's from Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, indie pop band Belle and Sebastian were formed in Glasgow in 1994. In January 2005, Belle and Sebastian was voted Scotland's greatest band in a poll by digital arts and entertainment guide The List, beating Simple Minds, Travis, Franz Ferdinand, and The Proclaimers, among others.
Before he became internationally celebrated as a stand-up comedian and actor, Glasgow-born Billy Connolly was a successful folk singer, playing in the folk rock band The Humblebums alongside friends Gerry Rafferty and Tam Harvey, with whom he stayed until 1974, before going solo.
Born in Glasgow, singer-songwriter Brian Connolly was the lead vocalist between 1968 and 1979 of the British glam rock band The Sweet, one of the most successful bands of the era. He later embarked on a solo career but struggled with alcoholism and ill health for the rest of his life. He died in 1997.
Hailing from Glasgow and arguably the biggest Scottish talent of the moment, the young singer is the powerful voice behind hits like 'Someone You Loved' and 'Before You Go.'
Born in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, Amy Macdonald was inspired to become a musician after seeing Travis perform live. She released her debut album 'This Is the Life' in 2007. The singles 'Mr. Rock & Roll' and 'This Is the Life' from it were chart hits. TV appearances include a guest spot on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Formed in Glasgow in the early 1960s, Marmalade had massive international hits with 'Reflections of My Life' and their cover of the Beatles' 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, which topped the UK chart in January 1969—the first ever Scottish group to do so!
Scotland's contemporary music scene continues to surprise and delight. The country has long been acknowledged for producing some of the finest singer-songwriters in the business, musicians who've made a huge impact on the world stage either as influential solo artists or members of iconic rock bands.
Intrigued? Then browse this eclectic list of Scottish singers and see how great it sounds north of the border.
Formed in Glasgow in 1972, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, fronted by the eccentric Alex Harvey, will always be known for their cover of Tom Jones' 'Delilah,' a huge hit in the United Kingdom and Europe. Harvey died of heart failure in 1982.
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The best music to come out of Scotland
Decades upon decades of Scottish talent
MUSIC Scottish
Scotland's contemporary music scene continues to surprise and delight. The country has long been acknowledged for producing some of the finest singer-songwriters in the business, musicians who've made a huge impact on the world stage either as influential solo artists or members of iconic rock bands.
Intrigued? Then browse this eclectic list of Scottish singers and see how great it sounds north of the border.