Are there any musical artists that you feel are unfairly labeled as "guilty pleasures"?

I agree on the posts about Michael Jackson, Michael Bolton, Cinderella, C. Aguilera.........

I might add

STING

I think he is an amazing composer, reinvents himself all the time; he followed the path of Peter Gabriel incorporating African and Asian melodies and artists into his music, he is a global benefactor and remains young in spirit and attitude. I am proud of being his fan and admire him greatly no matter what other persons say and bash him....

The Monkees, hands down. There were solid songwriters behind them. And Mike Nesmith gets a few points for creating some decent country-psychedelia, a genre that was thankfully not fully exploited.

I haven't listened to pop radio, other than occasional temporary work situations, in over thirty years. And the last one of those was around the heyday of the overproduced cheese food product sell-out Michael Bolton -- the smokers had their breaks, I had my Bolton Break, which was a trip anywhere I could find something to do. That gives you an idea of the time.

The really cool thing about all that is that I never OD'ed on the insanely catchy tunes. I've probably heard Mmmbop maybe seven times in my life. :-)

But now I'm going to have to go youtube that bloody Hootie thing. D--- you, Deke!

Christina Aguilera.

Unlike most pop-tarts, this girl has a set of pipes on her, and she knows how to use them. It was when she condescended to the lowest common denominator (think Dirty) that she was treated harshly by the critics, though thankfully she seemed to get past that phase in her career without any permanent damage. Christina could be her own worst enemy if she's not careful, and because some people only know her music by her MTV offerings, she can be unfairly labeled a guilty pleasure.

Madonna had similar troubles early in her career, and she isn't half the singer Christina is. Avril is at the same crossroads, and it's not looking good for her. She, too, is a lot better than her latest offerings.

(BTW - Though definitely not my taste, nobody can deny the Stones are bonafide icons of Rock and Roll. They last thing you can call them is a guilty pleasure.)

I agree with the other answerer's - she must have insulted some of the formula feeders in the past. I nursed both of my kids. My daughter for 6 months, son for 10 months...then i had to start supplementing formula. I am proud of nursing my kids but i don't feel that i'm better than a formula feeder bc of it. We're all individuals with different circumstances. I feel that every mother should at least ATTEMPT to bf but if you try and it doesn't work out, you shouldn't make them feel bad. Breastfeeding is something to be proud of, but bragging about it is taking it too far.

Cinderella

Their first album was a bit commercial and poppish, but the work they did after that had wonderful riffs and a great bluesy edge. They weren't your typical 80's hair band and I could never understand why anyone would want to consider them a guilty pleasure. I have no guilt what-so-ever about being a fan of theirs.

Yeah, Coldplay actually. I think it's unfair to label them as a "guilty pleasure", I happen to think they are one of the most talented bands of the 2000's. I didn't care too much for their last album, but I've been a fan of Coldplay ever since they released Parachutes (I was only 10-11 back then).

Fall Out Boy... they were ruined by their sh*tty fanbase of preteen girls that only think the bassist is hot. I personally like the guitar rifts and play on words they use that a lot of people critisize.

I used to to blast one of their first albums, Take This To Your Grave, in my car and all my friends and peers would be like "Who is this? They're awesome!" And now if I play one song off their new cd (which still does have a few good songs) I'm called a f*g or p*ssy.

Styx is definitely my number one. Along with Hootie and the Blowfish and maybe even Counting Crows.

Michael Jackson. Everything that he did up to and including the "Bad" album was revolutionary and amazing... His older songs still stand up as some of the greatest songs of the past 50 years, but his personality and later albums have gotten him labelled as a joke. It is a shame. Pop in Thriller and tell me it isn't amazing!

Someone included Styx? Are you Kidding. But saying that Mr Roboto is a guilty pleasure is appropriate.

I would say Bon Jovi. Musically, they were average, but their music sounds just as good today as the 80's.