R&B, hip-hop, country, jazz and pop stars reside here. Major labels like So So Def and Velocette do business here. And when artists like Whitney Houston, Stevie Nicks and the Big Tymers look for their next hit, they come to Atlanta to record with producers and songwriters.

Among Atlanta's current musical talent:

JERMAINE DUPRI: Born in North Carolina, this music mogul has made Atlanta his base of operations. He established himself by discovering his first major group (the multiplatinum Kris Kross) in an area mall, then launched his now 10-year-old So So Def record label in Buckhead. Among his acts: Xscape, Da Brat, Jagged Edge and Bow Wow. This year, he even gave the city a hip-hop theme song: "Welcome to Atlanta."

FAITH EVANS: This R&B singer-songwriter and resident of Alpharetta's Country Club of the South recently moved here from up north. Says Evans, "Atlanta is just the kind of place you want to raise a family, and if I can't do business here, we've got this giant airport!"

ELTON JOHN: His Buckhead condo is only one of this pop superstar's many homes around the globe, but he's here enough that spotting him at Tower Records has gotten to be commonplace.

BRIAN LITTRELL: This Backstreet Boy made Atlanta one of his homes when he married local actress Leighanne Wallace on Labor Day weekend 2000.

MONICA: The youngest artist ever to have two consecutive No. 1 singles ("Don't Take It Personal -- Just One of Dem Days," "Before You Walk out of My Life") -- at 14 -- is also a native, born in College Park.

OUTKAST: Andre "Dre" Benjamin and Antwan "Big Boi" Patton not only made "The A-T-L" nationwide slang for Atlanta, but the Georgia natives made history when their critically acclaimed "Stankonia" CD became the first entirely hip-hop album ever to be in contention for the Grammy award for album of the year.

DOTTIE PEOPLES: Gospel music tends to look heavenward, but this Riverdale resident has forced the genre to seriously consider the vocal heat she generates.

TLC: Pop music's best-selling female group includes Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins of Alpharetta and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas of Stone Mountain, where the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes lived as well.

TRAVIS TRITT: When being a country music maverick gets a little draining, he kicks up his boots at his Paulding County home.

USHER: A star of both concert stage ("U Don't Have to Call") and movie screen ("Light It Up"), this Tennessee native calls the Country Club of the South in Alpharetta home.

-- Sonia Murray