Solution: The Music of Rascal Flatts
Answer: ROY CHIAO
Written by Kenny Young
First, identify all the songs based on their music and listed years/artists, which are provided in order of title:
| Year | Artist | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Mariah Carey | EMOTIONS |
| 1983 | Lionel Richie | HELLO |
| 1994 | Beck | LOSER |
| 2007 | Amy Winehouse | REHAB |
| 1967 | Aretha Franklin | RESPECT |
| 2016 | Twenty One Pilots | RIDE |
| 1961 | Del Shannon | RUNAWAY |
| 1985 | Tears for Fears | SHOUT |
| 1999 | Santana | SMOOTH |
| 1989 | REM | STAND |
| 2015 | Maroon 5 | SUGAR |
| 2014 | Lorde | TEAM |
| 2017 | Imagine Dragons | THUNDER |
| 2004 | Britney Spears | TOXIC |
Then, all of these titles can be transformed into the word that fits the bleep in a different song. This makes a loop with no obvious starting point, but starting from one of those points yields a message:
| This title... | ...has a bleep that can be replaced with... | ...which can be transformed from... | ...with this transformation | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| REHAB | SMOOCH | SMOOTH | FIFTH-LETTER CHANGE (6) | H |
| SMOOTH | HUNTED | THUNDER | TRANSDELETION (5) | E |
| THUNDER | SPECTRE | RESPECT | TRANSPOGRAM (2) | P |
| RESPECT | CLOSE | LOSER | FIFTH-TO-FIRST CHANGEOVER (2) | L |
| LOSER | RAGU | SUGAR | REVERSED BEHEADMENT (2) | A |
| SUGAR | RUNWAY | RUNAWAY | DELETION (6) | Y |
| RUNAWAY | MEAT | TEAM | METATHESIS (2) | E |
| TEAM | DERRIERE | RIDE | LETTER BANK (1) | D |
| RIDE | JELLO | HELLO | FIRST-LETTER CHANGE (3) | L |
| HELLO | GNATS | STAND | REVERSED LAST-LETTER CHANGE (3) | A |
| STAND | MOTIONS | EMOTIONS | BEHEADMENT (2) | O |
| EMOTIONS | TONIC | TOXIC | THIRD-LETTER CHANGE (5) | C |
| TOXIC | SHOOT | SHOUT | FOURTH-LETTER CHANGE (2) | H |
| SHOUT | BAKER | REHAB | REVERSED THIRD-LETTER CHANGE (4) | E |
The extracted letters spell HE PLAYED LAO CHE, who (in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) was portrayed by the answer, ROY CHIAO.