Prolific record executive, artist and producer, L.A. Reid has built a career on spotting superstar potential. He’s signed, discovered and worked with some of the biggest chart-toppers in the music industry, relying on his ear and business savvy to find the next big names. With today’s release of the chairman and CEO of Epic Records’ memoir, we get to go behind the music and see the biggest artists in the industry through Reid’s eyes. Test your own music savvy with this pop (music) quiz to see how well you can match Reid’s quotes to the artist in these excerpts from Sing to Me.

1. “The minute this fourteen-year-old boy walked into my office that afternoon…I could tell that there was nothing that felt remotely child-like about ________” (Pg. 1)

a. Justin Bieber

b. Usher

c. Justin Timberlake

2.“When that girl opened her mouth to sing, all the bad energy in my body washed away. And once again, God was in the room. She had a voice that reminded me of Dolores O’Riordan, the girl in the Cranberries, a special tone, so pure and melodic.” (Pg. 206)

a. Jessie J

b. Michelle Branch

c. Avril Lavigne

3.”I had been fascinated by ______’s singing because I always loved blue-eyed soul and never heard a young white girl who could sing this black since Teena Marie” (pg. 209)

a. Pink

b. Lady Gaga

c. Meghan Trainor

4.“To me, there’s Prince and _____. They are the most creative artists of all time. _____ is the equivalent of Price in a different time and space, in a different era of music where the values have changed.” (Pg. 314)

a. The Beatles

b. Kanye West

c. Jay Z

5.“______ struck me as a young David Bowie.” (Pg. 266)

a. Kevin Barnes (Of Montreal)

b. Adam Lambert

c. Brandon Flowers (The Killers)

6.“[He] didn’t just bring me a kid with an amazing voice, he brought me a born entertainer, someone who would become the biggest of them all.” (Pg. 294)

a. Ne-Yo

b. Justin Bieber

c. Katy Perry

7.“_____ was nothing like any of the artists that I’d ever signed before… had something different. And whatever it was, I couldn’t stop smiling.” (Pg. 368)

a. Meghan Trainor

b. Toni Braxton

c. Mariah Carey

8.“‘You’ve got to work on things like sex appeal. It’s not the singing business or the rapping business, it’s the entertainment business, and you have to entertain.’” (Pg. 139)

a. TLC

b. Outkast

c. Rihanna

Learn more about the Reid’s incredible career, behind-the-scenes experiences and creative insights at Chicago Ideas A Conversation with L.A. Reid where the mogul with sit down with culture critic and journalist Touré on February 17. Tickets: $15.

Correct answers: 1. b; 2. c; 3. a; 4. b; 5. c; 6. b; 7. a; 8. b