Pop Graduates: Acts That Made the Leap From the Teen Scene to Grown-Up Rock : Rolling Stone

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Mandy Moore

Early Schooling: Moore charged out of the gate as the lesser light in the Britney/Christina triumverate, proffering chirpy pop songs with little in the way of character or charm. Fortunately, she quickly outgrew the typecasting, leaving radio pop to the studio-made professionals while she pursued headier pasttimes.
Turning Point: Moore was the crackling sparkplug at the center of the otherwise ham-handed and toothless religious satire Saved!, memorably pelting Jena Malone with a Bible and driving into a statue of Jesus with her car. Even if it was just a variation on Reese Witherspoon's similarly self-righteous character in Election, Moore attacked it with gusto and a grand sense of humor.
Post-Graduate Work: Though she has (thankfully) resisted shucking her tomboyish nickname (perhaps learning a lesson or two from "Deborah" Gibson), Moore's post-teen pop work has skewed alt-country. Her latest, Amanda Leigh, is a spare and thoughtful collection of folky ballads designed to showcase Moore's fragile voice and songwriting chops.

Hanson

Early Schooling: Always unfairly lumped into the kiddie pop, the three Hanson brothers always wrote their own songs and played their own instruments, setting them apart from the bulk of their Tiger Beat peers. Is it their fault they were so unbelievably adorable?
Turning Point: Puberty (surprise, surprise). 2001's This Time Around slunk quietly into oblivion, but the trio's talent and perseverence secured them a steady cadre of fans that stuck around long past the groups' cute-pop heyday.
Post-Graduate Work: The Hanson brothers have quietly grown into elder statesmen of independent music. They established their own label (3CG), and continue to release mature, winning records that synthesize '60s pop and R&B into irresistible confections.

The Jonas Brothers

Early Schooling: Like the Hanson brothers, short-shrifting the Jonas boys is a game only for the foolish. Kevin, Nick and Joe were writing their own songs long before they started turning up on Hannah Montana, and the mania they cause is as much about pop skills at it is about good looks.
Turning Point: Lines, Vines and Trying Times, which finds the group branching out into more verdant pop terrain and earning that interview with Elvis Costello in Rolling Stone.
Post-Graduate Work: Wagers, anyone?

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