Kanye West

Started out as a producer for hip-hop artists including Jermaine Dupri, Jay-Z and Ludacris. After fracturing his jaw in a car crash, he wrote "Through the Wire," which got him a record deal. Walked out of the American Music Awards in 2004 after losing the Best New Artist award to country performer Gretchen Wilson. He later apologized to her for his actions. Took some heat for publicly criticizing President George W. Bush during a 2005 NBC Hurricane Katrina benefit concert. Was widely denounced when he interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2009. Made his directorial debut in 2010 with the musical short film Runaway, which is based on the song of the same name from his My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy CD. ~ Rovi