We expected a musical boon in 2021. How else would the creative types who were pandemic-forced out of their natural habitat of the road find a way to channel their restlessness? With nowhere to go and no one to applaud them, musicians last year flocked to their other sanctuary – the studio. From British luminaries (Duran Duran, Sting, Elton John) to country queens (Kacey Musgraves, Mickey Guyton, Carly Pearce) to the Swedish titans of earworms (yes, that would be ABBA) to chart-dominating rappers (Lil Nas X, Young Thug), the musical stampede has arrived. While this is a mere smattering of the dozens and dozens of albums expected to drop by the end of the year, these 20 are among our most anticipated. Kacey Musgraves, 'Star-Crossed' (Friday). Just two years after taking home the album of the year Grammy for her no-skips masterpiece "Golden Hour," the genre-defying singer is back with an even more sonically adventurous new effort, inspired by her recent divorce from singer-songwriter Ruston Kelly. The gorgeously introspective album is structured like a Greek tragedy and pulls from elements of country, Spanish folk and psychedelic pop-rock, as Musgraves mourns the dissolution of a marriage in the modern era. Try not to cry listening to the evocative and tender "Camera Roll," about reliving the joys, pains and regrets of a relationship through one's smartphone. Carly Pearce, '29: Written in Stone' (Sept. 17). The third album from the country darling (and new member of the Grand Ole Opry) is all about catharsis. "I've always been an artist who wrote from her life," Pearce told USA TODAY. "Other artists might shy away from things, but that's not who I am and through the (album) process, I found a lot of therapeutic moments." Pearce, who got divorced last year and lost her longtime friend and producer, Busbee, to cancer in 2019, started working on the album during quarantine and finished it shortly before hitting the road with Lady A in July. "I felt I had to close that chapter for my own mental health," she said. Lil Nas X, 'Montero' (Sept. 17). The "Old Town Road" breakout has proven himself a marketing genius, consistently making headlines and ruffling feathers for his wildly original music videos: twerking on the devil after pole-dancing into hell in "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" and dancing naked in a prison shower room in "Industry Baby." The songs peaked at No. 1 and 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, respectively, with more hits surely on the way on his formal debut album, featuring top-shelf collaborators including Elton John, Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat and Miley Cyrus.