The name America has a resonance around the world that few others have. Depending on where you are, it can inspire love or hatred for the greatest national superpower of the late 20th century. But for many millions of people across the globe, it also means great music. Superstars come and go, but the music that America has created during the past quarter century -- and continues to create -- has endured. Whether first heard on a fuzzy radio station in Istanbul, an eight-track player in Flagstaff, or at a live performance in a concert hall in Beijing, songs like "A Horse With No Name," "Ventura Highway," and "I Need You" evoke passionate memories for so many people in so many countries that it seems pointless to count. Perhaps what makes America so endearing is that at the outset, they, too..., were dreamers of a faraway place, a vision they never lost even after settling in the promised land.

-John Corbett