The 5 Best 'Before They Were Stars' Tiny Desk Concerts

"Music discovery" isn't just some catchy tagline we deploy in press releases. The staff of NPR Music lives for finding compelling, exhilarating, jaw-dropping talent from every genre and giving those artists the space to shine. And not to pat ourselves on the back or anything — *pat pat* — but out of the nearly 900 Tiny Desk concerts we've published, a bunch have created star-making moments for boldface names in popular music.

Check out this playlist of Tiny Desk alums who were invited to perform behind Bob Boilen's endearingly cluttered desk before their careers really took off. (They were always stars to us.)

Tiny Desks In This Playlist

• Brandi Carlile (read more)
• Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals (read more)
• Adele (read more)
• H.E.R. (read more)
• Mitski (read more)

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