Electric Mayhem

Dr. Teeth and his Electric Mayhem (Floyd, Janice, Animal, Zoot, and that trumpet player with the shaggy yellow hair whose name I don't know) are being excluded from this discussion, because, well, they already have a musical niche to fill: The crazy-muppet-rockers-who'll-paint-your-car-to-help-you-escape-the-bad-guy-and-know-when-to-read-ahead-in-the-script-to-save-the-movie niche.

But, everybody else is fair game, so here we go
Muppets and Music: Suggested Genres for Our Childhood Favorites

Kermit the Frog: Kermit, the leader of our gang and part-time field reporter, is an avid banjo player, even going so far as to record an unplugged version of Wild Thing, thus placing himself squarely in the Bluegrass family. I'd name a specific artist, but I'm not that familiar with bluegrass...maybe a counterpart to an Alison Krause type.

Miss Piggy: The diva of the Muppet Show cast, or any other production she finds herself in, Miss Piggy is undoubtedly a musical diva as well. She is big name, big fame, and big show - Cher, Madonna, Aretha Franklin. Everybody knows when she walks into a room (or falls down a set of stage stairs)

Rolf: Rolf is awesome. He's a piano playing dog. It doesn't get much better than that. Ragtime, classical pieces, or folk ditties, he's always ready. He has been known to cut loose from time to time, but is more driven by entertaining his audience than by an internal artistic drive. Rolf is a cross between Jerry Lee Lewis, and Victor Borge.
update: Rolf is Ray Charles. [Thanks Kate]

Hoot the Owl: Hoot is a saxaphone playing owl. He is the muppet equivalent of Coltrane. Don't think his influence is lost on the other muppets either... Ernie plays a mean trumpet, and Big Bird has dabbled as a jazz singer.

Rosie: The spanish speaking muppet. She is Shakira, a crossover who is spunky, but (no doubt due to the culture gap) still a little misunderstood.

Grover: He's blue, he's a superhero, a waiter, he's near and far, he's got a real emo feel to him. A skinny, dorky kind of monster with a soft heart. Grover could be Dashboard Confessionals

Elmo: Popular with the underage crowd, way too bubbly for his own good, not intelligent enough to have a conversation in the first person. He's a pop star. N'SYNC, Hilary Duff, toge+her, etc.

Scooter: Clearly, clearly, Rivers Cuomo from Weezer.

Gonzo: Gonzo is the muppet equivalent of Marylin Manson.
update: Gonzo is Alice Cooper. [Thanks John]

Camilla the Chicken: Camilla is a punk rock chick(en). She's a Good Charlotte fan, Bowling for Soup, New Found Glory. Studded bracelets, pink feathers.

The Count: Remember when he rapped with Kid and Play? I do. Count's the next Flava Flav

more to follow, I'm taking suggestions and criticisms:

-t
recommended downloads: Jude, Oh Boy, and Rock Star
and The Old 97's, Won't Be Home