Carla Bruni

The Italian-born, man-eating model Carla Bruni made a startlingly successful transition to sensitive singer-songwriter with her 2002 French-language debut. While that album was a smash across Europe, on No Promises Bruni uses her sexy croak to transform celebrated English-language poems into songs. No joke, these lyrics are by Yeats, Dorothy Parker and Emily Dickinson, and yet Bruni makes them sound like natural lyrics. Strong tracks like "These Dancing Days Are Gone," "Lady Weeping...," and "If You Were Coming..." ensured that the album went to No. 1 across the EU.