Ken Tucker

Every year, a sleigh-full of Christmas music gets released. Cher and the Cowsills came to prominence in the '60s, but they still possess the distinctive sounds that brought them their initial success.

Stern is known for the eight years she spent as a guitarist in Seth Meyers' late-night-talk-show house band, but her own upbeat, highlight original music is unlike anything you'll ever hear on TV.

Over the course of a career that began in the 1970s, the Oklahoma native, who died Oct. 18, specialized in rock 'n' roll sincerity, and dramatizing the pain of love rejected.