from kid to cred: young stars grow up right

As countless E! network television specials are ready and willing to attest, the perils of child stardom are many and deadly. Who can forget the grim visage of one Danny Bonaduce, recalling his life’s endless pitfalls, or any former Backstreet Boy excitedly talking up a solo record that no one is interested in buying? So raise a glass to the one-time kid celebs who actually made it, who transitioned out of fleeting awkward youth and managed to maintain bona fide, respectable careers. Whether they simply graduated into making a more mature form of the music they always played, like Hanson, or went off the deep end completely to produce baffling avant-garde work, like Scott Walker, these artists have successfully navigated the hairpin turn into adulthood, and have produced strong and satisfying work in the process. Check out our picks.