Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats.

The format has a broader, more diverse playlist than most other formats and tends to appeal more to adults than to teenagers. Musical selection tends to be on the fringe of mainstream pop and rock as well as many other music genres such as indie rock, alternative rock, alternative country, jazz, folk, world music and blues. The musical selections tend to shy away from hard rock and rap music. Some Triple-A stations bill themselves under slogans such as "World Class Rock" or "Quality Rock". Music selection also includes tracks from albums that are not singles, which leads to the enhanced and larger playlist. Within AAA, there are also variations; a classic AAA station (such as WLKK-HD2 or WXMT) focuses on songs from the 1970s and 1980s (the same eras as classic hits, classic rock and adult hits), while a modern AAA focuses on more recent songs.

Paul Cebar is a songwriter, singer, guitarist, and bandleader from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who has a penchant for African, Latin American and Caribbean music. He has released four albums and an EP with his band, Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans, which have received airplay from triple-A stations across the US, one album with his current band Paul Cebar and Tomorrow Sound, and one solo album.

Cebar graduated from Pius XI High School in Milwaukee and began performing in coffeehouses on the local folk scene in the mid-1970s. His repertoire consisted in large part of rhythm and blues and jump blues songs, played solo on his guitar. He attended New College in Sarasota, Florida. Afterwards, he played in New York while working with the R&B Cadets in Milwaukee.

Throughout the early 1980s, Cebar was a member of a rock and R&B combo, The R&B Cadets, along with Jon Sieger, Mike Sieger, Robyn Pluer, Bob Jennings, Juli Wood and Bob Schneider. The band played Sieger's compositions, along with obscure songs from the mid-century that Cebar had unearthed.

John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer-songwriter and actor. He has won nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career gained momentum through a series of successful collaborations with multiple established artists. Stephens added his voice to those of other artists, assisting in them reaching chart-topper hits. He lent his voice to Kanye West's All of the Lights, on Slum Village's "Selfish" and Dilated Peoples' "This Way". Other artists included Jay-Z's "Encore", and he sang backing vocals on Alicia Keys' 2003 song "You Don't Know My Name" and Fort Minor's "High Road." Stephens played piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything."

Stephens was born on December 28, 1978, in Springfield, Ohio. He is the son of Phyllis, a seamstress, and John Mills, a factory worker and former National Guardsman. Throughout his childhood, Stephens was homeschooled on and off by his mother. At the age of four, he began playing the piano and at the age of seven, he performed with his church choir. When he was ten, his parents divorced, causing his mother to suffer a breakdown. At the age of 12, Stephens attended North High School, from which he graduated four years later. He graduated salutatorian.

Serena Ryder (b. December 8, 1982 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter raised in Millbrook, Ontario.

Ranging musically between folk, roots, country, and adult contemporary music, Ryder possesses a five-octave range. She attended the Integrated Arts Program at Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School in Peterborough as well as Crestwood Secondary School. As a teenager, she performed solo as well as with many bands from the Peterborough area, including Christian band Thousand Foot Krutch and Jive recording artist Three Days Grace.

Ryder was born in Toronto, Ontario. Her first indie CD, called Falling Out, was released in December 1999 by the Peterborough, Ontario based independent record label Mime Radio. Ryder was 15 years old at the time. Her other independent releases include Serena EP (cassette only) 1999 (limited run of 100); Live at The Market Hall & A Day in the Studio 2002; and Serena Ryder Live 2003 (a CD recording of her performance on CBC Radio's program Bandwidth).

Neil Percival Young,OC,OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation.

Young began performing as a solo artist in Canada in 1960, before moving to California in 1966, where he co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield along with Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, and later joined Crosby, Stills & Nash as a fourth member in 1969. He forged a successful and acclaimed solo career, releasing his first album in 1968; his career has since spanned over 40 years and 34 studio albums, with a continual and uncompromising exploration of musical styles. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website describes Young as "one of rock and roll’s greatest songwriters and performers". He has been inducted into the Hall of Fame twice: first as a solo artist in 1995, and second as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997.

Young's work is characterized by his distinctive guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature alto or high tenor singing voice. Although he accompanies himself on several different instruments, including piano and harmonica, his idiosyncratic electric and clawhammer acoustic guitar playing are the defining characteristics of a varyingly ragged and melodic sound. While Young has experimented with differing music styles, including swing and electronic music throughout a varied career, his best known work usually falls into two primary styles: acoustic (folk and country rock) and electric (amplified hard rock, very often in collaboration with the band Crazy Horse). Young has also adopted elements from newer styles such as alternative rock and grunge. His influence on the latter caused some to dub him the "Godfather of Grunge".