Gregg Gillis

Gregg Gillis, 27, is the first truly postmodern rock star. The ex-biomedical engineer layers unlicensed song samples and "performs" them live, with him and his laptop center stage. Last year, he released his fourth album, Feed the Animals, online, using Radiohead's pay-what-you-want model. So artful are his mashups -- Feed the Animals' 300-plus samples include unlikely pairings such as Nine Inch Nails and Kelly Clarkson, and David Bowie and 2 Live Crew -- that even the notoriously litigious record labels have offered their ultimate compliment: silence. -- by Jennifer Vilaga