Pete Yorn

It's pretty common knowledge that Jersey-born singer-songwriter Pete Yorn dated Winona Ryder back in the day. And while he somehow managed to avoid the full brunt of the infamous Winona Curse—under which so many of the musician dudes she dates have watched their careers crumble (see Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner, Third Eye Blind's Stephan Jenkins, Jamiroquai's Jay Kay, etc.)—it may have touched him at least a little bit: It's not as though Yorn's career has exactly been on fire following his touted 2001 debut, musicforthemorningafter.

What's perhaps less known is that a few years ago, Yorn had a dalliance with another hot actress: Scarlett Johansson. Well, creatively, that is. The pair collaborated on a sultry duet album called Break Up, which was finally released in September. Maybe it was Johansson who reversed the curse, because lately Yorn's profile has been on the upswing. He opened for Coldplay this summer and recently put out an excellent and well-received new album, Back and Fourth, which serves a collection of rainy-day roots pop and folk rock helmed by Saddle Creek Records magic-maker Mike Mogis.