5 Pop Supergroups That Brought Together Stars From Different Genres

Supergroups exist across a wide range of genres. Country had the Highwaymen, hip-hop produced the Firm, and the long list of rock supergroups saw Cream in one era and Temple of the Dog in another. There are countless more out there, and pop music is far from devoid of them. Sometimes, though, pop supergroups bring together stars from different genres of music, whose unique blend of sounds creates something entirely different than would've been expected from their individual parts.

These groups form for several different reasons. Sometimes it's simply to sell records to fans across musical tastes. Other times, the supergroup forms out of friendships made within the industry or through musical compatibility discovered in other collaborations. In rare cases, a multitude of musicians will come together to create a pop supergroup specifically to support a charitable cause, or to attempt to create an entirely new sound that's never touched the airwaves.

When it comes to the pop supergroups on this list, there's a bit of everything, and the staggering difference in home genres can seem, at times, counterintuitive. Whether it's a member of the Smashing Pumpkins joining up with one of the Hanson boys or Mick Jagger singing on top of a reggae instrumental, every one of these convergences was a sight to behold.

The pop supergroup LSD dropped their only album to date — "Labrinth, Sia & Diplo Present LSD" — in 2019, bringing together British pop artist and producer Labrinth, Australian pop icon Sia, and American DJ and EDM musician Diplo. When the trio formed, they created a supergroup that should've smashed the charts, but which ultimately ended up falling short of their individual projects.

Labrinth is somewhat transcendent within the music industry, being a producer and musician who's released songs ranging from electronica to hip-hop, R&B, and other genres. Much of his top catalog came from working with artists such as Emeli Sande and Noah Cyrus, as well as writing music for TV programs. Sia may be best known for her vocal work on top pop songs like "Titanium" and "Cheap Thrills," but she's pretty well-known across the globe and has had several major hits since 2012. A member of the EDM group Major Lazer, Diplo is a world-renowned DJ, producer, and master of dance beats. And together, they made an interesting blend of electronic and psychedelic pop.

Critics were pretty tough on the "Labrinth, Sia & Diplo Present LSD" album, generally saying that it was mediocre at best. That said, LSD has over 4 million listeners per month on Spotify, so the unlikely trio must've been doing something right.

A supergroup known as the Tinted Windows formed back in 2009, and it might be the weirdest, most majestic gathering of artists from across genres to ever take place. Kicking off the lineup is Taylor Hanson of all people. Yes, that Taylor Hanson — the one from pop boyband Hanson that blew up the charts with "MMMBop" in '97. And this is where it gets weird. The rest of this supergroup included guitarist James Iha, who's one of the many former members of the Smashing Pumpkins, Adam Schlesinger from the pop-rock band Fountains of Wayne, and the drummer of Cheap Trick — a rock band that gained fame in the late '70s — Bun E. Carlos.

So, what happens when you throw a pop star into a band with a bunch of rockers? The answer is underrated power-pop magic that some critics absolutely demolished. The band released one self-titled album the same year they formed, and they fizzled out after roughly two years. Several major publications in the music industry slammed Tinted Windows' album, while other critics saw it favorably, equating it to a clean reminder of power-pop from previous decades.

Honestly, the album is fun and nostalgic. It sounds like highly polished power-pop that hints at a garage rock background, and we think it was worth bringing together stars from different genres to create it.

The Postal Service was an electro-pop duo that blended the vocals of indie band Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard and the electronica of Jimmy Tamborello, also known as Dntel. The supergroup (or superduo?) took their name from the way they'd send CDs in the mail to collaborate on recordings. They released one LP titled "Give Up" and a series of singles and EPs, but even with their limited catalog, they made a much bigger splash than they thought they would.

Their sole album reached No. 45 on the Billboard 200 and even had a song hit the U.K. singles charts. The album also went platinum in 2012 and became the second-highest-selling debut record from their label, Sub Pop, beaten only by Nirvana. Several artists across multiple genres have covered the supergroup's songs, including Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer, and Streetlight Manifesto.

Listening to their music, you can instantly hear the uniqueness of the Postal Service's sound. The electronica background of the songs takes the pop-rock style melodies of Gibbard's vocals and morphs them into something entirely new. It can be a little jarring on the brain at first, but that's just your neurons waking up to what feels like a brand-new genre of music.

Few bands in history have blended pop with as many other styles of music as the mostly forgotten supergroup Superheavy, but that's what happens when you bring together a group of stars from just about every genre out there. This eclectic music collective formed in 2009 and released their one and only self-titled album in 2011. The list of who's who on the project is extensive, with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, reggae's Damian Marley, soul's Joss Stone, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, and Indian composer A.R. Rahman in the lineup.

With a name like Superheavy, you might expect them to play hard rock or metal, but that definitely isn't the case. This group's music is pop-infused world music that doesn't quite fit in a single slot, but then again, neither does pop. You can hear elements of just about everyone's background in the group's songs, from the reggae grooves and R&B overtones to Jagger's raspy rock vocals.

For such a unique blend of musical styles, Superheavy did fairly well in the mainstream. Their album reached No. 26 on the Billboard 200 and performed even better internationally. In the U.K., it peaked at No. 13 on the album chart and hit No. 1 in Australia, the Netherlands, and Greece.

Many supergroups form as money-making publicity stunts, and Band Aid isn't any different. But where this group diverges from the others is in who that money was for, and in this case, this British supergroup united with the sole purpose of raising funds for famine relief efforts in Ethiopia.

The frontman of rock band Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof, and new wave group Ultravox's Midge Ure originally put Band Aid together in 1984 to cut a single Christmas pop song, titled "Do They Know It's Christmas?" They brought in Paul Young, George Michael, Boy George, Bono, Simon Le Bon, Sting, and Tony Hadley on vocals, along with a proverbial slew of other popular musicians for the chorus and instrumentals. If they were a major name on the British music scene in the early '80s, they were probably on the track somewhere.

Not everyone thought the song was as musically sound as it could've been, but that was never the point. Band Aid raised over $24 million with the 1984 cut, and several other versions have been released for charitable causes in the years since. Possibly more importantly, the supergroup influenced other charity groups to come together for similar projects. This was truly a win-win for both pop Christmas music and charity.