When many people think of Scottish music they think of bagpipes. They picture a lone piper up on a hill, playing off into the sunset. Or they think of pipe bands in parades or of the music played for Highland dancing. However, Scottish music today is so much more than that. Some of the best and most successful rock and pop musical artists hail from Scotland. It seems to add more credence to bands from Scotland and other parts of the UK when they are popular in North America. The artists mentioned here have all managed to make it across the pond.

KT Tunstall

Kate Tunstall was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1975. She was adopted by a physicist and a primary school teacher when she was 18-days-old. She grew up in Fife, near St. Andrews. Her debut single "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" was massively successful; it was first heard in North America when Katharine McPhee sang it on American Idol. Since then, Tunstall has gone on to sell millions of albums, has won three BRIT awards and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards.

Annie Lennox

Annie Lennox was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1954. She came into the public eye as one of The Eurythmics, along with Dave Stewart. The Eurythmics had many huge hits in the 1980s, including "Sweet Dreams (are Made of This)" and "Who's That Girl?" The band broke up in 1990 and Annie Lennox has gone on to a very successful solo career selling millions of records along the way.

Franz Ferdinand

The band, Franz Ferdinand, hail from Glasgow, Scotland. They formed in 2001 and have gone on to great success. Their 2nd single "Take Me Out" was successful both in Britain and in North America. They received much North American exposure when they performed the song on the Grammy Awards in 2005.

There are many other Scottish rock bands that have some form of international success. In the 1980s there were The Proclaimers, Simple Minds, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Big Country who all managed to get their music out to the world. In the 1970s bands such as Nazareth, Stone the Crows, and The Average White Band made it big on the record charts. In the 1960s, there was Donovan. Donovan was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He had great world-wide success with songs such as "Mellow Yellow" and "Sunshine Superman". All of these artists have had great success in capturing the world's musical attention.

So, open your mind. When you think of Scottish music think of rock and roll and pop music, not just bagpipes.