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Welcome to Our Generation USA!
This Page Covers
(Other) Popular Musical Artists,
e.g., not solely applicable to Rock, R&B, Jazz, Country, or Rap/Hip-Hop
ABBA
YouTube Video of ABBA Performing "Dancing Queen". (C) 1976 Polar Music International AB
Pictured: LEFT:ABBA in 1974 (from left: Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida), Agnetha Fältskog, and Björn Ulvaeus); RIGHT ABBA during a TV special Dick Cavett Meets ABBA in April 1981
YouTube Video of ABBA Performing "Dancing Queen". (C) 1976 Polar Music International AB
Pictured: LEFT:ABBA in 1974 (from left: Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida), Agnetha Fältskog, and Björn Ulvaeus); RIGHT ABBA during a TV special Dick Cavett Meets ABBA in April 1981
ABBA (stylized ᗅᗺᗷᗅ) was a Swedish pop group who formed in Stockholm in 1972. With members Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, ABBA became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1975 to 1982. They won the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 at the Dome in Brighton, UK, giving Sweden its first triumph in the contest, and were the most successful group ever to take part in the competition.
ABBA's record sales figure is uncertain and various estimates range from over 140 to over 500 million sold records. This makes them one of the best-selling music artists, and the second best-selling music group of all time, after the Beatles. ABBA was the first group to come from a non-English-speaking country to enjoy consistent success in the charts of English-speaking countries, including the UK, Ireland, the U.S., Canada, Australia,New Zealand, and South Africa. The group also enjoyed significant success in Latin American markets, and recorded a collection of their hit songs in Spanish.
During the band's active years, Fältskog & Ulvaeus and Lyngstad & Andersson were married. At the height of their popularity, both relationships were suffering strain which ultimately resulted in the collapse of the Ulvaeus–Fältskog marriage in 1979 and the Andersson–Lyngstad marriage in 1981. These relationship changes were reflected in the group's music, with later compositions including more introspective, brooding, dark lyrics.
After ABBA disbanded in December 1982, Andersson and Ulvaeus achieved success writing music for the stage, while Lyngstad and Fältskog pursued solo careers with mixed success.
ABBA's music declined in popularity until several films, notably Muriel's Wedding (1994) and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), revived public interest in the group and the spawning of several tribute bands. In 1999, ABBA's music was adapted into the successful musical Mamma Mia! that toured worldwide. A film of the same name, released in 2008, became the highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom that year.
ABBA was honored at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, when their hit "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the competition's history. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 15 March 2010.
ABBA's record sales figure is uncertain and various estimates range from over 140 to over 500 million sold records. This makes them one of the best-selling music artists, and the second best-selling music group of all time, after the Beatles. ABBA was the first group to come from a non-English-speaking country to enjoy consistent success in the charts of English-speaking countries, including the UK, Ireland, the U.S., Canada, Australia,New Zealand, and South Africa. The group also enjoyed significant success in Latin American markets, and recorded a collection of their hit songs in Spanish.
During the band's active years, Fältskog & Ulvaeus and Lyngstad & Andersson were married. At the height of their popularity, both relationships were suffering strain which ultimately resulted in the collapse of the Ulvaeus–Fältskog marriage in 1979 and the Andersson–Lyngstad marriage in 1981. These relationship changes were reflected in the group's music, with later compositions including more introspective, brooding, dark lyrics.
After ABBA disbanded in December 1982, Andersson and Ulvaeus achieved success writing music for the stage, while Lyngstad and Fältskog pursued solo careers with mixed success.
ABBA's music declined in popularity until several films, notably Muriel's Wedding (1994) and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), revived public interest in the group and the spawning of several tribute bands. In 1999, ABBA's music was adapted into the successful musical Mamma Mia! that toured worldwide. A film of the same name, released in 2008, became the highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom that year.
ABBA was honored at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, when their hit "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the competition's history. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 15 March 2010.
Adele
Pictured below: Adele LEFT: In a Performance; RIGHT: with her Grammy Awards
YouTube Video of Adele:"Rolling in the Deep" (C) 2010 XL Recordings Ltd.
Pictured below: Adele LEFT: In a Performance; RIGHT: with her Grammy Awards
YouTube Video of Adele:"Rolling in the Deep" (C) 2010 XL Recordings Ltd.
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (born May 5, 1988) is an English singer and songwriter. Graduating from the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in 2006, Adele was given a recording contract by XL Recordings after a friend posted her demo on Myspace the same year.
In 2007, she received the Brit Awards "Critics' Choice" award and won the BBC Sound of 2008 poll. Her debut album, 19, was released in 2008 to commercial and critical success. It is certified seven times platinum in the UK, and double platinum in the US.
An appearance she made on Saturday Night Live in late 2008 boosted her career in the US. At the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009, Adele received the awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Adele released her second studio album, 21, in early 2011. The album was well received critically and surpassed the success of her debut, earning the singer numerous awards in 2012, including a record-tying six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year; two Brit Awards, including British Album of the Year, and three American Music Awards. The album has been certified 16 times platinum in the UK, and is the fourth best-selling album in the UK of all time. In the US it has held the top position longer than any album since 1985, and is certified Diamond. The album has sold 31 million copies worldwide.
The success of 21 earned Adele numerous mentions in the Guinness Book of World Records. She is the first woman in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to have three simultaneous top 10 singles as a lead artist, and the first female artist to simultaneously have two albums in the top five of the Billboard 200 and two singles in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. 21 is the longest-running number one album by a female solo artist in the history of the UK and US Album Charts.
In 2012, she released "Skyfall", which she wrote and recorded for the James Bond film of the same name. The song won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
After taking a three-year break, Adele released her third studio album, 25, on 20 November 2015. The album debuted at number one in most major markets and broke first week sales records in the UK and US. The lead single, "Hello", debuted at number one in many countries around the world, and became the first song in the US to sell over one million digital copies within a week of its release.
In 2011 and 2012, Billboard named Adele Artist of the Year. In 2012, she was listed at number five on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Music, and Time magazine named her one of the most influential people in the world. On January 15, 2016, her sales were estimated at more than 100 million records, making her one of the world's best-selling artists.
In 2007, she received the Brit Awards "Critics' Choice" award and won the BBC Sound of 2008 poll. Her debut album, 19, was released in 2008 to commercial and critical success. It is certified seven times platinum in the UK, and double platinum in the US.
An appearance she made on Saturday Night Live in late 2008 boosted her career in the US. At the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009, Adele received the awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Adele released her second studio album, 21, in early 2011. The album was well received critically and surpassed the success of her debut, earning the singer numerous awards in 2012, including a record-tying six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year; two Brit Awards, including British Album of the Year, and three American Music Awards. The album has been certified 16 times platinum in the UK, and is the fourth best-selling album in the UK of all time. In the US it has held the top position longer than any album since 1985, and is certified Diamond. The album has sold 31 million copies worldwide.
The success of 21 earned Adele numerous mentions in the Guinness Book of World Records. She is the first woman in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to have three simultaneous top 10 singles as a lead artist, and the first female artist to simultaneously have two albums in the top five of the Billboard 200 and two singles in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. 21 is the longest-running number one album by a female solo artist in the history of the UK and US Album Charts.
In 2012, she released "Skyfall", which she wrote and recorded for the James Bond film of the same name. The song won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
After taking a three-year break, Adele released her third studio album, 25, on 20 November 2015. The album debuted at number one in most major markets and broke first week sales records in the UK and US. The lead single, "Hello", debuted at number one in many countries around the world, and became the first song in the US to sell over one million digital copies within a week of its release.
In 2011 and 2012, Billboard named Adele Artist of the Year. In 2012, she was listed at number five on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Music, and Time magazine named her one of the most influential people in the world. On January 15, 2016, her sales were estimated at more than 100 million records, making her one of the world's best-selling artists.
Backstreet Boys
YouTube Video of Backstreet Boys Performing "Shape Of My Heart"
Pictured: Backstreet Boys, September 14, 2012 From Left to Right: Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and A.J. McLean
YouTube Video of Backstreet Boys Performing "Shape Of My Heart"
Pictured: Backstreet Boys, September 14, 2012 From Left to Right: Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and A.J. McLean
The Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) is an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The group consists of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, and Brian Littrell.
The group rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys (1996). In the following year they released their second international album Backstreet's Back (1997), and their U.S. debut album which continued the group's success worldwide. They rose to superstardom with their third studio album Millennium (1999) and its follow-up album, Black & Blue (2000).
After a two-year hiatus, they regrouped and released a comeback album Never Gone (2005). After the conclusion of the Never Gone Tour in 2006, Richardson left the group to pursue other interests. The group then released two albums as a quartet: Unbreakable (2007) and This Is Us (2009).
In 2012, the group announced that Richardson had rejoined them permanently. In the following year they celebrated their 20th anniversary and released their first independent album, In a World Like This (2013).
The group also released their first documentary movie, titled Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of in January 2015.
The Backstreet Boys have sold over 145 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling boy band in history, and one of the world's best-selling music artists. They are the first group since Sade to have their first nine albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200, and the only boy band to do so. They also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 22, 2013.
The group rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys (1996). In the following year they released their second international album Backstreet's Back (1997), and their U.S. debut album which continued the group's success worldwide. They rose to superstardom with their third studio album Millennium (1999) and its follow-up album, Black & Blue (2000).
After a two-year hiatus, they regrouped and released a comeback album Never Gone (2005). After the conclusion of the Never Gone Tour in 2006, Richardson left the group to pursue other interests. The group then released two albums as a quartet: Unbreakable (2007) and This Is Us (2009).
In 2012, the group announced that Richardson had rejoined them permanently. In the following year they celebrated their 20th anniversary and released their first independent album, In a World Like This (2013).
The group also released their first documentary movie, titled Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of in January 2015.
The Backstreet Boys have sold over 145 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling boy band in history, and one of the world's best-selling music artists. They are the first group since Sade to have their first nine albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200, and the only boy band to do so. They also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 22, 2013.
Barry Manilow
YouTube Video of Barry Manilow" "I write the songs"
Pictured: Barry Manilow LEFT: performing at Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK; RIGHT: Live in Las Vegas
YouTube Video of Barry Manilow" "I write the songs"
Pictured: Barry Manilow LEFT: performing at Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK; RIGHT: Live in Las Vegas
Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter and producer. He is best known for such recordings as "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana (At the Copa)".
In 1978, five of his albums were on the best-seller charts simultaneously. He has recorded a string of Billboard hit singles and multi-platinum albums that have resulted in him being named Radio & Records' No. 1 adult contemporary artist, and winning three straight American Music Awards for favorite pop/rock male artist.
Between 1974 and 1983 Manilow had three No. 1 singles and 25 that reached the top 40. Although not a favorite of music critics, Manilow has been praised by several well-known entertainers, including Frank Sinatra, who was quoted in the 1970s saying, "He's next."
In 1988, Bob Dylan stopped Manilow at a party, hugged him and said, "Don't stop what you're doing, man. We're all inspired by you."
As well as producing and arranging albums for other artists, including Bette Midler and Dionne Warwick, Manilow has written songs for musicals, films, and commercials.
From February 2005 to December 30, 2009, he was the headliner at the Las Vegas Hilton, performing hundreds of shows before ending his relationship with the hotel. Since March 2010, he has headlined at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas.
He has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling artists of all time.
In 1978, five of his albums were on the best-seller charts simultaneously. He has recorded a string of Billboard hit singles and multi-platinum albums that have resulted in him being named Radio & Records' No. 1 adult contemporary artist, and winning three straight American Music Awards for favorite pop/rock male artist.
Between 1974 and 1983 Manilow had three No. 1 singles and 25 that reached the top 40. Although not a favorite of music critics, Manilow has been praised by several well-known entertainers, including Frank Sinatra, who was quoted in the 1970s saying, "He's next."
In 1988, Bob Dylan stopped Manilow at a party, hugged him and said, "Don't stop what you're doing, man. We're all inspired by you."
As well as producing and arranging albums for other artists, including Bette Midler and Dionne Warwick, Manilow has written songs for musicals, films, and commercials.
From February 2005 to December 30, 2009, he was the headliner at the Las Vegas Hilton, performing hundreds of shows before ending his relationship with the hotel. Since March 2010, he has headlined at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas.
He has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling artists of all time.
Barry White (born Barry Eugene Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American composer and singer-songwriter.
A three-time Grammy Award–winner known for his distinctive bass-baritone voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits, "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
During the course of his career in the music business, White achieved 106 gold albums worldwide, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million. He is one of the world's best-selling artists of all time.
A three-time Grammy Award–winner known for his distinctive bass-baritone voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits, "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
During the course of his career in the music business, White achieved 106 gold albums worldwide, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million. He is one of the world's best-selling artists of all time.
Bee Gees
YouTube Video of Bee Gees and Stayin' Alive (Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack)*
* For the Movie "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) Starring John Travolta
Pictured below: Bee Gees in 1978 (top to bottom) Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb (Courtesy of NBC Television - eBay item photo front photo back, Public Domain).
YouTube Video of Bee Gees and Stayin' Alive (Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack)*
* For the Movie "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) Starring John Travolta
Pictured below: Bee Gees in 1978 (top to bottom) Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb (Courtesy of NBC Television - eBay item photo front photo back, Public Domain).
The Bee Gees were a pop music group formed in 1958. Their line-up consisted of brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb.
The trio were successful for most of their decades of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success; as a popular music act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as prominent performers of the disco music era in the late 1970s. The group sang recognisable three-part tight harmonies; Robin's clear vibrato lead vocals were a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the late 1970s and 1980s. They wrote all of their own hits, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists.
Born on the Isle of Man to English parents, the Gibb brothers lived in Chorlton, Manchester, England, until the late 1950s where they formed the Rattlesnakes.
The family then moved to Redcliffe, in Queensland, Australia, and then to Cribb Island. After achieving their first chart success in Australia as the Bee Gees with "Spicks and Specks" (their 12th single), they returned to the UK in January 1967 where producer Robert Stigwood began promoting them to a worldwide audience.
The Bee Gees have sold more than 220 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists of all time.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; the presenter of the award to "Britain's first family of harmony" was Brian Wilson, historical leader of the Beach Boys, a "family act" also featuring three harmonizing brothers.
The Bee Gees' Hall of Fame citation says "Only Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees."
Following Maurice's sudden death in January 2003 at the age of 53, Barry and Robin retired the group's name after 45 years of activity. In 2009 Robin announced that he and Barry had agreed that the Bee Gees would re-form and perform again.
Robin died in May 2012 at the age of 62, after a prolonged struggle with cancer and other health problems, leaving Barry as the only surviving member of the group's final (and best known) line up.
The trio were successful for most of their decades of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success; as a popular music act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as prominent performers of the disco music era in the late 1970s. The group sang recognisable three-part tight harmonies; Robin's clear vibrato lead vocals were a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the late 1970s and 1980s. They wrote all of their own hits, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists.
Born on the Isle of Man to English parents, the Gibb brothers lived in Chorlton, Manchester, England, until the late 1950s where they formed the Rattlesnakes.
The family then moved to Redcliffe, in Queensland, Australia, and then to Cribb Island. After achieving their first chart success in Australia as the Bee Gees with "Spicks and Specks" (their 12th single), they returned to the UK in January 1967 where producer Robert Stigwood began promoting them to a worldwide audience.
The Bee Gees have sold more than 220 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists of all time.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; the presenter of the award to "Britain's first family of harmony" was Brian Wilson, historical leader of the Beach Boys, a "family act" also featuring three harmonizing brothers.
The Bee Gees' Hall of Fame citation says "Only Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees."
Following Maurice's sudden death in January 2003 at the age of 53, Barry and Robin retired the group's name after 45 years of activity. In 2009 Robin announced that he and Barry had agreed that the Bee Gees would re-form and perform again.
Robin died in May 2012 at the age of 62, after a prolonged struggle with cancer and other health problems, leaving Barry as the only surviving member of the group's final (and best known) line up.
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist who achieved international fame and acclaim.
Starting out in 1963 with the group The Wailers, he forged a distinctive songwriting and vocal style that would later resonate with audiences worldwide. The Wailers would go on to release some of the earliest reggae records with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry.
After the Wailers disbanded in 1974, Marley pursued a solo career upon his relocation to England that culminated in the release of the album Exodus in 1977, which established his worldwide reputation and produced his status as one of the world's best-selling artists of all time, with sales of more than 75 million records.
Exodus stayed on the British album charts for fifty-six consecutive weeks. It included four UK hit singles: "Exodus", "Waiting in Vain", "Jamming", and "One Love". In 1978 he released the album Kaya, which included the hit singles "Is This Love" and "Satisfy My Soul".
Diagnosed with a type of malignant melanoma in 1977, Marley died on 11 May 1981 in Miami at the age of 36. He was a committed Rastafari who infused his music with a sense of spirituality.
He is considered one of the most influential musicians of all time and credited with popularizing reggae music around the world, as well as serving as a symbol of Jamaican culture and identity. Marley has also evolved into a global symbol, which has been endlessly merchandised through a variety of mediums.
Starting out in 1963 with the group The Wailers, he forged a distinctive songwriting and vocal style that would later resonate with audiences worldwide. The Wailers would go on to release some of the earliest reggae records with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry.
After the Wailers disbanded in 1974, Marley pursued a solo career upon his relocation to England that culminated in the release of the album Exodus in 1977, which established his worldwide reputation and produced his status as one of the world's best-selling artists of all time, with sales of more than 75 million records.
Exodus stayed on the British album charts for fifty-six consecutive weeks. It included four UK hit singles: "Exodus", "Waiting in Vain", "Jamming", and "One Love". In 1978 he released the album Kaya, which included the hit singles "Is This Love" and "Satisfy My Soul".
Diagnosed with a type of malignant melanoma in 1977, Marley died on 11 May 1981 in Miami at the age of 36. He was a committed Rastafari who infused his music with a sense of spirituality.
He is considered one of the most influential musicians of all time and credited with popularizing reggae music around the world, as well as serving as a symbol of Jamaican culture and identity. Marley has also evolved into a global symbol, which has been endlessly merchandised through a variety of mediums.
Britney Spears
YouTube Video with Britney Spears performing on the Ellen DeGeneres TV Show.
Pictured: Britney Spears performing with a live snake at the 2001 VMA Awards.
YouTube Video with Britney Spears performing on the Ellen DeGeneres TV Show.
Pictured: Britney Spears performing with a live snake at the 2001 VMA Awards.
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
After appearing in stage productions and television series, Spears signed with Jive Records in 1997 at age fifteen.
Her first two studio albums, ...Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000), are among the best-selling albums of all time and made Spears the best-selling teenage artist of all time. With first-week sales of over 1.3 million copies, Oops!... I Did It Again held the record for the fastest-selling album by a female artist in the United States for fifteen years.
Spears adopted a more mature and provocative style for her albums Britney (2001) and In the Zone (2003), and starred in the 2002 film Crossroads.
Spears was executive producer of her fifth studio album Blackout (2007), often referred to as her best work. Following a series of highly publicized personal problems, promotion for the album was limited, and Spears was involuntarily placed in a conservatorship. Since then, she released the chart-topping albums, Circus (2008) and Femme Fatale (2011), the latter of which became her most successful era of singles in the US charts.
Spears embarked on a four-year concert residency, Britney: Piece of Me, at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas to promote her next two albums Britney Jean (2013) and Glory (2016).
In 2019, Spears' legal battle over her conservatorship became more publicized and led to the establishment of the #FreeBritney movement. In 2021, the conservatorship was terminated following her public testimony in which she accused her management team and family of abuse.
Regarded as a pop icon, Spears has sold over 100 million records worldwide, including over 70 million in the United States, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. She has achieved six number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and four number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100: "...Baby One More Time", "Womanizer", "3", and "Hold It Against Me".
The "S&M" remix also topped the Billboard chart. Her singles "Oops!... I Did It Again", "Toxic", and "Scream & Shout" topped the charts in most countries. With "3" in 2009 and "Hold It Against Me" in 2011, Spears became the second artist after Mariah Carey in the Hot 100's history to debut at number one with two or more songs.
Her heavily choreographed videos earned her the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. She has earned numerous other awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award, 15 Guinness World Records, six MTV Video Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards (including the Millennium Award), the inaugural Radio Disney Icon Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Spears was ranked by Billboard as the eighth-biggest artist of the 2000s. In the United States, she is the fourth best-selling female album artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era as well as the best-selling female album artist of the 2000s.
"...Baby One More Time" was named the greatest debut single of all time by Rolling Stone in 2020.
In 2004, Spears launched a perfume brand with Elizabeth Arden, Inc.; sales exceeded $1.5 billion as of 2012.
Forbes has reported Spears as the highest-earning female musician of 2001 and 2012. By 2012, she had topped Yahoo!'s list of most searched celebrities seven times in twelve years.
Time named Spears one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021, while also winning the reader poll by receiving the highest number of votes.
Click here for more about Britney Spears.
After appearing in stage productions and television series, Spears signed with Jive Records in 1997 at age fifteen.
Her first two studio albums, ...Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000), are among the best-selling albums of all time and made Spears the best-selling teenage artist of all time. With first-week sales of over 1.3 million copies, Oops!... I Did It Again held the record for the fastest-selling album by a female artist in the United States for fifteen years.
Spears adopted a more mature and provocative style for her albums Britney (2001) and In the Zone (2003), and starred in the 2002 film Crossroads.
Spears was executive producer of her fifth studio album Blackout (2007), often referred to as her best work. Following a series of highly publicized personal problems, promotion for the album was limited, and Spears was involuntarily placed in a conservatorship. Since then, she released the chart-topping albums, Circus (2008) and Femme Fatale (2011), the latter of which became her most successful era of singles in the US charts.
Spears embarked on a four-year concert residency, Britney: Piece of Me, at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas to promote her next two albums Britney Jean (2013) and Glory (2016).
In 2019, Spears' legal battle over her conservatorship became more publicized and led to the establishment of the #FreeBritney movement. In 2021, the conservatorship was terminated following her public testimony in which she accused her management team and family of abuse.
Regarded as a pop icon, Spears has sold over 100 million records worldwide, including over 70 million in the United States, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. She has achieved six number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and four number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100: "...Baby One More Time", "Womanizer", "3", and "Hold It Against Me".
The "S&M" remix also topped the Billboard chart. Her singles "Oops!... I Did It Again", "Toxic", and "Scream & Shout" topped the charts in most countries. With "3" in 2009 and "Hold It Against Me" in 2011, Spears became the second artist after Mariah Carey in the Hot 100's history to debut at number one with two or more songs.
Her heavily choreographed videos earned her the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. She has earned numerous other awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award, 15 Guinness World Records, six MTV Video Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards (including the Millennium Award), the inaugural Radio Disney Icon Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Spears was ranked by Billboard as the eighth-biggest artist of the 2000s. In the United States, she is the fourth best-selling female album artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era as well as the best-selling female album artist of the 2000s.
"...Baby One More Time" was named the greatest debut single of all time by Rolling Stone in 2020.
In 2004, Spears launched a perfume brand with Elizabeth Arden, Inc.; sales exceeded $1.5 billion as of 2012.
Forbes has reported Spears as the highest-earning female musician of 2001 and 2012. By 2012, she had topped Yahoo!'s list of most searched celebrities seven times in twelve years.
Time named Spears one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021, while also winning the reader poll by receiving the highest number of votes.
Click here for more about Britney Spears.
Bruno Mars
YouTube Video Super Bowl 48 Bruno Mars-Full Performance Halftime Show
Pictured: Mars performing at the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on December 31, 2015
YouTube Video Super Bowl 48 Bruno Mars-Full Performance Halftime Show
Pictured: Mars performing at the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on December 31, 2015
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), professionally known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and choreographer.
Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, by a family of musicians, Mars began making music at a young age and performed in various musical venues in his hometown throughout his childhood. He graduated from high school and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career. Mars produced songs for other artists, co-founding the production team The Smeezingtons.
Mars had an unsuccessful stint with Motown Records, but then signed with Atlantic in 2009. He became recognized as a solo artist after lending his vocals to the songs "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy, which were international successes, and for which he co-wrote the hooks.
His debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010), was anchored by the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade", as well as the number-five single "The Lazy Song".
His second album, Unorthodox Jukebox, released in 2012, peaked at number one in the United States. The album spawned the international singles "Locked Out of Heaven", "When I Was Your Man" and "Treasure".
Mars has received many awards and nominations, including four Grammy Awards and was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world in 2011.
In December 2013, he was named "Artist of the Year" by Billboard and ranked number one on the Forbes 30 under 30 list. Throughout his singing career, he has sold over 100 million singles and albums worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.
However, as a performer, writer and producer his total sales surpass 130 million singles. Five of his singles are counted among the best-selling singles of all time. Mars has landed five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 since his career launched in 2010, faster than any male singer since Elvis Presley. In total, he has had six number-one singles on the Hot 100 chart.
Mars is known for his stage performances and retro showmanship. He is accompanied by his band, The Hooligans, which besides playing a variety of instruments such as electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums and horns, also serves as dancers and background singers. On stage, Mars is able to sing, dance and play a wide range of musical styles, including R&B and reggae.
Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, by a family of musicians, Mars began making music at a young age and performed in various musical venues in his hometown throughout his childhood. He graduated from high school and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career. Mars produced songs for other artists, co-founding the production team The Smeezingtons.
Mars had an unsuccessful stint with Motown Records, but then signed with Atlantic in 2009. He became recognized as a solo artist after lending his vocals to the songs "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy, which were international successes, and for which he co-wrote the hooks.
His debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010), was anchored by the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade", as well as the number-five single "The Lazy Song".
His second album, Unorthodox Jukebox, released in 2012, peaked at number one in the United States. The album spawned the international singles "Locked Out of Heaven", "When I Was Your Man" and "Treasure".
Mars has received many awards and nominations, including four Grammy Awards and was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world in 2011.
In December 2013, he was named "Artist of the Year" by Billboard and ranked number one on the Forbes 30 under 30 list. Throughout his singing career, he has sold over 100 million singles and albums worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.
However, as a performer, writer and producer his total sales surpass 130 million singles. Five of his singles are counted among the best-selling singles of all time. Mars has landed five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 since his career launched in 2010, faster than any male singer since Elvis Presley. In total, he has had six number-one singles on the Hot 100 chart.
Mars is known for his stage performances and retro showmanship. He is accompanied by his band, The Hooligans, which besides playing a variety of instruments such as electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums and horns, also serves as dancers and background singers. On stage, Mars is able to sing, dance and play a wide range of musical styles, including R&B and reggae.
Carole King
YouTube Video of Carole King Performing "It's Too Late" (1971)
Pictured: Carole King LEFT: Live album with James Taylor: “Live at the Troubadour”; RIGHT: performing at a pre-Grammy gala in 2015.
YouTube Video of Carole King Performing "It's Too Late" (1971)
Pictured: Carole King LEFT: Live album with James Taylor: “Live at the Troubadour”; RIGHT: performing at a pre-Grammy gala in 2015.
Carole King (born February 9, 1942) is an American composer and singer-songwriter. King's career began in the 1960s when she, along with her then husband Gerry Goffin, wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists, many of which have become standards.
She has continued writing for other artists since then. King's success as a performer in her own right did not come until the 1970s, when she sang her own songs, accompanying herself on the piano, in a series of albums and concerts.
After experiencing commercial disappointment with her debut album Writer, King scored her breakthrough with the album Tapestry, which topped the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks in 1971 and remained on the charts for more than six years.
In 2000 Billboard pop music researcher Joel Whitburn named King the most successful female songwriter of 1955–99 because she wrote or co-wrote 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100. King wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK. In 2005 music historian Stuart Devoy found her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts 1952–2005.
King has made 25 solo albums, the most successful being Tapestry, which held the record for most weeks at No. 1 by a female artist for more than 20 years. Her most recent non-compilation album was Live at the Troubadour in 2010, a collaboration with James Taylor that reached number 4 on the charts in its first week and has sold over 600,000 copies.
She has won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her songwriting. She is the recipient of the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first woman to be so honored.
She is also a 2015 Kennedy Center Honoree.
She has continued writing for other artists since then. King's success as a performer in her own right did not come until the 1970s, when she sang her own songs, accompanying herself on the piano, in a series of albums and concerts.
After experiencing commercial disappointment with her debut album Writer, King scored her breakthrough with the album Tapestry, which topped the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks in 1971 and remained on the charts for more than six years.
In 2000 Billboard pop music researcher Joel Whitburn named King the most successful female songwriter of 1955–99 because she wrote or co-wrote 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100. King wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK. In 2005 music historian Stuart Devoy found her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts 1952–2005.
King has made 25 solo albums, the most successful being Tapestry, which held the record for most weeks at No. 1 by a female artist for more than 20 years. Her most recent non-compilation album was Live at the Troubadour in 2010, a collaboration with James Taylor that reached number 4 on the charts in its first week and has sold over 600,000 copies.
She has won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her songwriting. She is the recipient of the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first woman to be so honored.
She is also a 2015 Kennedy Center Honoree.
Carly Simon
YouTube Video of Carly Simon singing "You Are So Vain"
Pictured: Carly Simon on the 1978 covers of People Magazine and Rolling Stone Magazine
YouTube Video of Carly Simon singing "You Are So Vain"
Pictured: Carly Simon on the 1978 covers of People Magazine and Rolling Stone Magazine
Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and children's author.
She first rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include,
and her four Gold certified singles,
After a brief stint with her sister Lucy Simon as duo group the Simon Sisters, she found great success as a solo artist with her 1971 self-titled debut album Carly Simon, which won her the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and spawned her first Top 10 single "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be".
Simon achieved international fame with her third album No Secrets which sat firmly at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for 5 weeks, and spawned the worldwide hit "You're So Vain", for which she received three Grammy nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Over the course of her career, Simon has amassed 24 Billboard Hot 100 charting singles, 28 Billboard Adult Contemporary charting singles, and has won two Grammy Awards. AllMusic called Simon, "One of the quintessential singer/songwriters of the '70s". Simon has a contralto vocal range.
For her 1988 hit "Let the River Run", from the film Working Girl, Simon became the first artist in history to win a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for a song composed and written, as well as performed, entirely by a single artist.
She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "You're So Vain" in 2004, and awarded the ASCAP Founders Award in 2012.
In 1995 and 1998, respectively, Simon received the Boston Music Awards Lifetime Achievement and a Berklee College of Music Honorary Doctor of Music Degree.
Simon is the former wife of another notable singer-songwriter, James Taylor. Simon and Taylor have two children together, Sarah "Sally" Maria Taylor and Benjamin "Ben" Simon Taylor, who are also musicians.
She first rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include,
- "Anticipation" (No. 13),
- "You Belong To Me" (No. 6),
- "Coming Around Again" (No. 18),
and her four Gold certified singles,
- "Jesse" (No. 11),
- "Mockingbird" (No. 5),
- "You're So Vain" (No. 1),
- and "Nobody Does It Better" (No. 2) from the 1977 James Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me".
After a brief stint with her sister Lucy Simon as duo group the Simon Sisters, she found great success as a solo artist with her 1971 self-titled debut album Carly Simon, which won her the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and spawned her first Top 10 single "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be".
Simon achieved international fame with her third album No Secrets which sat firmly at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for 5 weeks, and spawned the worldwide hit "You're So Vain", for which she received three Grammy nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Over the course of her career, Simon has amassed 24 Billboard Hot 100 charting singles, 28 Billboard Adult Contemporary charting singles, and has won two Grammy Awards. AllMusic called Simon, "One of the quintessential singer/songwriters of the '70s". Simon has a contralto vocal range.
For her 1988 hit "Let the River Run", from the film Working Girl, Simon became the first artist in history to win a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for a song composed and written, as well as performed, entirely by a single artist.
She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "You're So Vain" in 2004, and awarded the ASCAP Founders Award in 2012.
In 1995 and 1998, respectively, Simon received the Boston Music Awards Lifetime Achievement and a Berklee College of Music Honorary Doctor of Music Degree.
Simon is the former wife of another notable singer-songwriter, James Taylor. Simon and Taylor have two children together, Sarah "Sally" Maria Taylor and Benjamin "Ben" Simon Taylor, who are also musicians.
The Carpenters
YouTube Video The Carpenters LIVE - "We've Only Just Begun"
Pictured: Siblings Richard and Karen Carpenter
YouTube Video The Carpenters LIVE - "We've Only Just Begun"
Pictured: Siblings Richard and Karen Carpenter
The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter. Producing a distinctively soft musical style, they became among the best-selling music artists of all time.
During their 14-year career, the Carpenters recorded 11 albums, 31 singles, five television specials, and a short-lived television series.
Their career ended in 1983 by Karen's death from heart failure brought on by complications of anorexia. Extensive news coverage surrounding the circumstances of her death increased public awareness of eating disorders.
The duo's brand of melodic pop produced a record-breaking run of hit recordings on the American Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts, and they became leading sellers in the soft rock, easy listening and adult contemporary genres.
The Carpenters had three No. 1 singles and five No. 2 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and fifteen No. 1 hits on the Adult Contemporary chart. In addition, they had twelve top 10 singles. To date, the Carpenters' album and single sales total more than 100 million units.
During their 14-year career, the Carpenters recorded 11 albums, 31 singles, five television specials, and a short-lived television series.
Their career ended in 1983 by Karen's death from heart failure brought on by complications of anorexia. Extensive news coverage surrounding the circumstances of her death increased public awareness of eating disorders.
The duo's brand of melodic pop produced a record-breaking run of hit recordings on the American Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts, and they became leading sellers in the soft rock, easy listening and adult contemporary genres.
The Carpenters had three No. 1 singles and five No. 2 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and fifteen No. 1 hits on the Adult Contemporary chart. In addition, they had twelve top 10 singles. To date, the Carpenters' album and single sales total more than 100 million units.
Annie Lennox
YouTube Video of Annie Lennox performing at the Diamond Jubilee Concert in 2012
Pictured: Annie Lennox performing at the Rally for Human Rights during the International AIDS Conference 2010 in Vienna as part of her SING Campaign.
YouTube Video of Annie Lennox performing at the Diamond Jubilee Concert in 2012
Pictured: Annie Lennox performing at the Rally for Human Rights during the International AIDS Conference 2010 in Vienna as part of her SING Campaign.
Annie Lennox, OBE (born 25 December 1954), born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer, songwriter, political activist and philanthropist.
After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band The Tourists, she and fellow musician David A. Stewart went on to achieve major international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics. With a total of eight Brit Awards, including Best British Female Artist six times, Lennox has won more than any other female artist. She has also been named the "Brits Champion of Champions".
Lennox embarked on a solo career in 1992 with her debut album, Diva, which produced several hit singles including "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass".
To date, she has released six solo studio albums and a compilation album, The Annie Lennox Collection (2009). Aside from her eight Brit Awards, she has also collected four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award.
In 2002, Lennox received a Billboard Century Award; the highest accolade from Billboard Magazine. In 2004, she won both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Into the West", written for the soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
In addition to her career as a musician, Lennox is also a political and social activist, notable for raising money and awareness for HIV/ AIDS as it affects women and children in Africa.
In 2011, Lennox was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for her "tireless charity campaigns and championing of humanitarian causes".
On 4 June 2012 she performed at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert in front of Buckingham Palace. Lennox performed the song "Little Bird" during the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London on 12 August 2012.
Lennox has been named "The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive" by VH1 and one of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone.
In 2012, she was rated No. 22 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Music. She has earned the distinction of "most successful female British artist in UK music history" due to her commercial success since the early 1980s. As of June 2008, including her work within Eurythmics, Lennox had sold over 80 million records worldwide.
After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band The Tourists, she and fellow musician David A. Stewart went on to achieve major international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics. With a total of eight Brit Awards, including Best British Female Artist six times, Lennox has won more than any other female artist. She has also been named the "Brits Champion of Champions".
Lennox embarked on a solo career in 1992 with her debut album, Diva, which produced several hit singles including "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass".
To date, she has released six solo studio albums and a compilation album, The Annie Lennox Collection (2009). Aside from her eight Brit Awards, she has also collected four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award.
In 2002, Lennox received a Billboard Century Award; the highest accolade from Billboard Magazine. In 2004, she won both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Into the West", written for the soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
In addition to her career as a musician, Lennox is also a political and social activist, notable for raising money and awareness for HIV/ AIDS as it affects women and children in Africa.
In 2011, Lennox was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for her "tireless charity campaigns and championing of humanitarian causes".
On 4 June 2012 she performed at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert in front of Buckingham Palace. Lennox performed the song "Little Bird" during the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London on 12 August 2012.
Lennox has been named "The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive" by VH1 and one of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone.
In 2012, she was rated No. 22 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Music. She has earned the distinction of "most successful female British artist in UK music history" due to her commercial success since the early 1980s. As of June 2008, including her work within Eurythmics, Lennox had sold over 80 million records worldwide.
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer and businesswoman.
Born into a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record.
Dion first gained international recognition in the 1980s by winning both the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest where she represented Switzerland.
Following a series of French albums in the early 1980s, she signed on to CBS Records Canada in 1986. In 1990, she released the English-language album Unison, establishing herself as a viable pop artist in North America and other English-speaking areas of the world.
During the 1990s, with the help of Angélil, she achieved worldwide fame after signing with Epic Records and releasing several English albums along with additional French albums, becoming one of the most successful artists in pop music history.
Two of her albums, Falling Into You (1996) and Let's Talk About Love (1997), were both certified diamond in the US, while her 1995 album D'eux is the best-selling French-language album of all time.
However, in 1999 at the height of her success, Dion announced a hiatus from entertainment to start a family and spend time with her husband, who had been diagnosed with cancer. She returned to the top of pop music in 2002 and signed to perform nightly in A New Day... (2003–07), a five-star theatrical show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada. It became the most successful residency show of all time, grossing over US $400 million.
Dion's music has been influenced by genres ranging from rock and R&B to gospel and classical. Her recordings are mainly in French and English, although she also sings in Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. While her releases have often received mixed critical reception, she is regarded as one of pop music's most influential voices.
Dion has won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. She is the second best-selling female artist in the US during the Nielsen SoundScan era. In 2004, after surpassing 175 million in album sales worldwide, she was presented with the Chopard Diamond Award at the World Music Awards. Dion remains the best-selling Canadian artist in history and one of the best-selling artists of all time with album sales of over 200 million copies worldwide.
Born into a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record.
Dion first gained international recognition in the 1980s by winning both the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest where she represented Switzerland.
Following a series of French albums in the early 1980s, she signed on to CBS Records Canada in 1986. In 1990, she released the English-language album Unison, establishing herself as a viable pop artist in North America and other English-speaking areas of the world.
During the 1990s, with the help of Angélil, she achieved worldwide fame after signing with Epic Records and releasing several English albums along with additional French albums, becoming one of the most successful artists in pop music history.
Two of her albums, Falling Into You (1996) and Let's Talk About Love (1997), were both certified diamond in the US, while her 1995 album D'eux is the best-selling French-language album of all time.
However, in 1999 at the height of her success, Dion announced a hiatus from entertainment to start a family and spend time with her husband, who had been diagnosed with cancer. She returned to the top of pop music in 2002 and signed to perform nightly in A New Day... (2003–07), a five-star theatrical show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada. It became the most successful residency show of all time, grossing over US $400 million.
Dion's music has been influenced by genres ranging from rock and R&B to gospel and classical. Her recordings are mainly in French and English, although she also sings in Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. While her releases have often received mixed critical reception, she is regarded as one of pop music's most influential voices.
Dion has won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. She is the second best-selling female artist in the US during the Nielsen SoundScan era. In 2004, after surpassing 175 million in album sales worldwide, she was presented with the Chopard Diamond Award at the World Music Awards. Dion remains the best-selling Canadian artist in history and one of the best-selling artists of all time with album sales of over 200 million copies worldwide.
Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and actor of film and television. He performed in a range of musical genres, including jazz, pop, rock'n'roll, folk, swing and country.
He started as a songwriter for Connie Francis, and recorded his own first million-seller "Splish Splash" in 1958.
This was followed by "Dream Lover," "Mack the Knife," and "Beyond the Sea," which brought him world fame. In 1962, he won a Golden Globe Award for his first film Come September, co-starring his first wife, Sandra Dee.
Throughout the 1960s, he became more politically active and worked on Robert F. Kennedy's Democratic presidential campaign. He was present on the night of June 4/5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles at the time of Kennedy's assassination.
The same year, he discovered that he had been brought up by his grandmother, not his mother, and that the girl he had thought to be his sister was actually his mother. These events deeply affected Darin and sent him into a long period of seclusion.
Although he made a successful television comeback, his health was beginning to fail, as he had always expected, following bouts of rheumatic fever in childhood. This knowledge of his vulnerability had always spurred him on to exploit his musical talent while still young. He died at age 37, following a heart operation in Los Angeles.
Click Here for more about Bobby Darin.
He started as a songwriter for Connie Francis, and recorded his own first million-seller "Splish Splash" in 1958.
This was followed by "Dream Lover," "Mack the Knife," and "Beyond the Sea," which brought him world fame. In 1962, he won a Golden Globe Award for his first film Come September, co-starring his first wife, Sandra Dee.
Throughout the 1960s, he became more politically active and worked on Robert F. Kennedy's Democratic presidential campaign. He was present on the night of June 4/5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles at the time of Kennedy's assassination.
The same year, he discovered that he had been brought up by his grandmother, not his mother, and that the girl he had thought to be his sister was actually his mother. These events deeply affected Darin and sent him into a long period of seclusion.
Although he made a successful television comeback, his health was beginning to fail, as he had always expected, following bouts of rheumatic fever in childhood. This knowledge of his vulnerability had always spurred him on to exploit his musical talent while still young. He died at age 37, following a heart operation in Los Angeles.
Click Here for more about Bobby Darin.
Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton, Jr. (born April 16, 1935) is an American pop music singer of Polish and Lithuanian ethnic background.
In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince of Poch", as his music pays tribute to his Polish heritage. Known for his angelic vocals in love songs, his most popular song, "Blue Velvet" (a cover of Tony Bennett's 1951 song), peaked at No. 1 on the now renamed Billboard Pop Singles Chart. It also served as inspiration for the film of the same name.
Background:
1960s:
After two years' service in the United States Army, when he served as a chaplain's assistant, Vinton was signed to Epic Records in 1960 as a bandleader: "A Young Man With a Big Band".
The break for the Epic Records contract had come after Vinton and his band appeared on Guy Lombardo's TV Talent Scouts program.
However, two albums and several singles were not successful, and with Epic ready to pull the plug, Vinton found his first hit single literally sitting in a reject pile. The song was titled "Roses Are Red (My Love)".
Vinton had to do his own promotion for the song; he bought one thousand copies and hired a young woman to deliver a copy of the record and a dozen red roses to every local DJ. It spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Arguably, his most famous song is 1963's "Blue Velvet," originally a minor hit for Tony Bennett in 1951, that also went to number one.
23 years later, David Lynch named his movie Blue Velvet after the song. In 1990, "Blue Velvet" reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart, after being featured in a Nivea commercial. The 1990 re-issue also hit #3 in the Irish Singles Chart and #7 in Australia.
In 1964, Vinton had two #1 hits, "There! I've Said It Again" (a #1 hit in 1945 for Vaughn Monroe) and "Mr. Lonely". Vinton's version of "There! I've Said It Again" is noteworthy for being the last U.S. Billboard number-one single of the pre-Beatles era, deposed from the Hot 100's summit by "I Want to Hold Your Hand".
Also noteworthy is the fact that Vinton continued to have big hit records during the British Invasion, scoring 16 top-ten hits, while Connie Francis, Ricky Nelson, the Shirelles, and other major artists of the early 1960s struggled to reach even the Top 30.
Vinton wrote "Mr. Lonely" during his chaplain's assistant service in the U.S. Army in the late 1950s. The song was recorded during the same 1962 session that produced "Roses Are Red" and launched Vinton's singing career.
It was released as an album track on the 1962 Roses Are Red (and other songs for the young & sentimental) LP. Despite pressure from Vinton to release it as a single, Epic instead had Buddy Greco release it and it flopped.
Two years and millions of records sold later, Bobby prevailed on Epic to include "Mr. Lonely" on his Bobby Vinton's Greatest Hits LP. Soon DJs picked up on the song and airplay resulted in demand for a single release. "Mr. Lonely" shot up the charts in the late fall of 1964 to reach #1 on the Hot 100 on 12 December 1964.
Epic then released the LP Bobby Vinton Mr. Lonely, giving the song a unique claim to fame since it now appeared on three Bobby Vinton albums released within two years. The song has continued to spin gold for its composer in the 45 years since it hit #1.
Harmony Korine named his 2007 film Mister Lonely after the latter, and it is now also the basis for Akon's hit, "Lonely".
In 1965, Vinton continued his "Lonely" success streak with the self-written "L-O-N-E-L-Y". "Long Lonely Nights" peaked at #12 and spawned an album, Bobby Vinton Sings for Lonely Nights.
Vinton's self-written 1966 hit, "Coming Home Soldier", was a favorite on request shows on the American Forces Network during the Cold War and Vietnam era, often called in by soldiers about to board the Freedom Bird that would take them back to the "Land of the Round Doorknobs".
Vinton's lush 1967 remake of "Please Love Me Forever", which reached #6 and sold over a million copies, began his string of twelve consecutive hits, all remakes, over seven years to reach the Hot 100. His 1968 hit, "I Love How You Love Me", surged to #9, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record by the RIAA.
1970s:
In the 1970s the "Polish Prince" continued to hit the Top 40, notably with "Ev'ry Day of My Life", produced by Jimmy "The Wiz" Wizner and CBS recording engineer Jim Reeves, which peaked at #24 on 29 April 1972, and "Sealed With a Kiss" hitting #19 on 19–26 August 1972.
Despite the success of the two hits, Epic Records decided to drop Vinton from his contract the next year, claiming that his days of selling records were over. Undeterred, Vinton spent $50,000 of his own money on "My Melody of Love", partially self-written and partially sung in Polish.
The suggestion for the song came from Vinton's mother. After Vinton was turned down by six major labels, ABC Records bought Vinton's idea, and the result was a multi-million selling single of simple lyrics that hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the Cashbox Top 100 chart, and #1 on the AC chart in 1974.
A gold album, Melodies of Love, followed as well as more Top 40 pop hits (the traditional "Beer Barrel Polka", also sung partially in Polish, and "Dick And Jane" in 1975), a successful half-hour variety show The Bobby Vinton Show (which aired from 1975 to 1978), which used "My Melody of Love" as its theme song; ABC Records subsequently released an album of songs performed on the show.
In 1978 CBS TV aired Bobby Vinton's Rock N' Rollers a one-hour special that achieved top ratings. Earlier in the decade, Vinton also starred in two John Wayne movies, Big Jake and The Train Robbers.
Honors and achievements:
He owned, and performed at, the Bobby Vinton Blue Velvet Theatre in Branson, Missouri until 2002, when the theater was sold to David King, creator and producer of Spirit of the Dance. Vinton returns to Branson annually for limited engagements at the theater.
Billboard Magazine called Bobby Vinton "the all-time most successful love singer of the 'Rock-Era'". From 1962 through 1972, Vinton had more Billboard #1 hits than any other male vocalist, including Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
In recognition of his recording career, Bobby Vinton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6916 Hollywood Blvd.
Vinton's alma mater, Duquesne University, awarded him an honorary doctorate in music in 1978.
In 2011, Grammy Award winner Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra recorded the "Polish Prince" song, a tip of the hat to Vinton, and included it on their Grammy-nominated "Not Just Another Polka" CD. The song was written by Johnny Prill and was based on the 1978 autobiography The Polish Prince – Bobby Vinton.
Acting:
Vinton appeared in seven acting roles during his singing career, commencing with the beach party movie Surf Party in 1964. He was also cast as Jeff McCandles in the 1971 John Wayne film, Big Jake and another Wayne film, The Train Robbers (1973), as Ben Young.
His last screen appearance was as Bobby Gaines in the 1983 episode "Chance of a Lifetime" on the NBC family drama television series, Boone, starring Barry Corbin, Tom Byrd, and Ronnie Claire Edwards.
Years earlier in 1965, he played George Reynolds in the episode "Patty and the Newspaper Game" on ABC's sitcom, The Patty Duke Show.
Personal life:
Vinton and his wife, Dolores "Dolly" Dobbins Vinton, have been married since December 17, 1962, and they have five children, in order from oldest to youngest, Robert, Kristin, Christopher, Jennifer (who later changed her name legally to Hannah after getting married), and Rebecca.
Robert "Robbie" played Vinton in the movie Goodfellas (1990). The Vintons make their home on the Gulf Coast in Englewood, Florida.
Click Here For Vinton's Discography
In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince of Poch", as his music pays tribute to his Polish heritage. Known for his angelic vocals in love songs, his most popular song, "Blue Velvet" (a cover of Tony Bennett's 1951 song), peaked at No. 1 on the now renamed Billboard Pop Singles Chart. It also served as inspiration for the film of the same name.
Background:
1960s:
After two years' service in the United States Army, when he served as a chaplain's assistant, Vinton was signed to Epic Records in 1960 as a bandleader: "A Young Man With a Big Band".
The break for the Epic Records contract had come after Vinton and his band appeared on Guy Lombardo's TV Talent Scouts program.
However, two albums and several singles were not successful, and with Epic ready to pull the plug, Vinton found his first hit single literally sitting in a reject pile. The song was titled "Roses Are Red (My Love)".
Vinton had to do his own promotion for the song; he bought one thousand copies and hired a young woman to deliver a copy of the record and a dozen red roses to every local DJ. It spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Arguably, his most famous song is 1963's "Blue Velvet," originally a minor hit for Tony Bennett in 1951, that also went to number one.
23 years later, David Lynch named his movie Blue Velvet after the song. In 1990, "Blue Velvet" reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart, after being featured in a Nivea commercial. The 1990 re-issue also hit #3 in the Irish Singles Chart and #7 in Australia.
In 1964, Vinton had two #1 hits, "There! I've Said It Again" (a #1 hit in 1945 for Vaughn Monroe) and "Mr. Lonely". Vinton's version of "There! I've Said It Again" is noteworthy for being the last U.S. Billboard number-one single of the pre-Beatles era, deposed from the Hot 100's summit by "I Want to Hold Your Hand".
Also noteworthy is the fact that Vinton continued to have big hit records during the British Invasion, scoring 16 top-ten hits, while Connie Francis, Ricky Nelson, the Shirelles, and other major artists of the early 1960s struggled to reach even the Top 30.
Vinton wrote "Mr. Lonely" during his chaplain's assistant service in the U.S. Army in the late 1950s. The song was recorded during the same 1962 session that produced "Roses Are Red" and launched Vinton's singing career.
It was released as an album track on the 1962 Roses Are Red (and other songs for the young & sentimental) LP. Despite pressure from Vinton to release it as a single, Epic instead had Buddy Greco release it and it flopped.
Two years and millions of records sold later, Bobby prevailed on Epic to include "Mr. Lonely" on his Bobby Vinton's Greatest Hits LP. Soon DJs picked up on the song and airplay resulted in demand for a single release. "Mr. Lonely" shot up the charts in the late fall of 1964 to reach #1 on the Hot 100 on 12 December 1964.
Epic then released the LP Bobby Vinton Mr. Lonely, giving the song a unique claim to fame since it now appeared on three Bobby Vinton albums released within two years. The song has continued to spin gold for its composer in the 45 years since it hit #1.
Harmony Korine named his 2007 film Mister Lonely after the latter, and it is now also the basis for Akon's hit, "Lonely".
In 1965, Vinton continued his "Lonely" success streak with the self-written "L-O-N-E-L-Y". "Long Lonely Nights" peaked at #12 and spawned an album, Bobby Vinton Sings for Lonely Nights.
Vinton's self-written 1966 hit, "Coming Home Soldier", was a favorite on request shows on the American Forces Network during the Cold War and Vietnam era, often called in by soldiers about to board the Freedom Bird that would take them back to the "Land of the Round Doorknobs".
Vinton's lush 1967 remake of "Please Love Me Forever", which reached #6 and sold over a million copies, began his string of twelve consecutive hits, all remakes, over seven years to reach the Hot 100. His 1968 hit, "I Love How You Love Me", surged to #9, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record by the RIAA.
1970s:
In the 1970s the "Polish Prince" continued to hit the Top 40, notably with "Ev'ry Day of My Life", produced by Jimmy "The Wiz" Wizner and CBS recording engineer Jim Reeves, which peaked at #24 on 29 April 1972, and "Sealed With a Kiss" hitting #19 on 19–26 August 1972.
Despite the success of the two hits, Epic Records decided to drop Vinton from his contract the next year, claiming that his days of selling records were over. Undeterred, Vinton spent $50,000 of his own money on "My Melody of Love", partially self-written and partially sung in Polish.
The suggestion for the song came from Vinton's mother. After Vinton was turned down by six major labels, ABC Records bought Vinton's idea, and the result was a multi-million selling single of simple lyrics that hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the Cashbox Top 100 chart, and #1 on the AC chart in 1974.
A gold album, Melodies of Love, followed as well as more Top 40 pop hits (the traditional "Beer Barrel Polka", also sung partially in Polish, and "Dick And Jane" in 1975), a successful half-hour variety show The Bobby Vinton Show (which aired from 1975 to 1978), which used "My Melody of Love" as its theme song; ABC Records subsequently released an album of songs performed on the show.
In 1978 CBS TV aired Bobby Vinton's Rock N' Rollers a one-hour special that achieved top ratings. Earlier in the decade, Vinton also starred in two John Wayne movies, Big Jake and The Train Robbers.
Honors and achievements:
He owned, and performed at, the Bobby Vinton Blue Velvet Theatre in Branson, Missouri until 2002, when the theater was sold to David King, creator and producer of Spirit of the Dance. Vinton returns to Branson annually for limited engagements at the theater.
Billboard Magazine called Bobby Vinton "the all-time most successful love singer of the 'Rock-Era'". From 1962 through 1972, Vinton had more Billboard #1 hits than any other male vocalist, including Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
In recognition of his recording career, Bobby Vinton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6916 Hollywood Blvd.
Vinton's alma mater, Duquesne University, awarded him an honorary doctorate in music in 1978.
In 2011, Grammy Award winner Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra recorded the "Polish Prince" song, a tip of the hat to Vinton, and included it on their Grammy-nominated "Not Just Another Polka" CD. The song was written by Johnny Prill and was based on the 1978 autobiography The Polish Prince – Bobby Vinton.
Acting:
Vinton appeared in seven acting roles during his singing career, commencing with the beach party movie Surf Party in 1964. He was also cast as Jeff McCandles in the 1971 John Wayne film, Big Jake and another Wayne film, The Train Robbers (1973), as Ben Young.
His last screen appearance was as Bobby Gaines in the 1983 episode "Chance of a Lifetime" on the NBC family drama television series, Boone, starring Barry Corbin, Tom Byrd, and Ronnie Claire Edwards.
Years earlier in 1965, he played George Reynolds in the episode "Patty and the Newspaper Game" on ABC's sitcom, The Patty Duke Show.
Personal life:
Vinton and his wife, Dolores "Dolly" Dobbins Vinton, have been married since December 17, 1962, and they have five children, in order from oldest to youngest, Robert, Kristin, Christopher, Jennifer (who later changed her name legally to Hannah after getting married), and Rebecca.
Robert "Robbie" played Vinton in the movie Goodfellas (1990). The Vintons make their home on the Gulf Coast in Englewood, Florida.
Click Here For Vinton's Discography
Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer and the top-charting solo female vocalist of the 1960s. She sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s, and is ranked fourth in that decade surpassed only by Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Ray Charles.
She is perhaps best known in the United States for her 1960 hit "I'm Sorry", and 1958's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", a United States holiday standard for more than 50 years.
At 4 ft 9 inches tall (approximately 145 cm), she received the nickname Little Miss Dynamite in 1957 after recording the song "Dynamite" and was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following.
Lee's popularity faded in the late 1960s as her voice matured, but she continued a successful recording career by returning to her roots as a country singer with a string of hits through the 1970s and 1980s. She is a member of the Rock and Roll, Country Music and Rockabilly Halls of Fame. She is also a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Brenda currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Click here for more about Brenda Lee.
She is perhaps best known in the United States for her 1960 hit "I'm Sorry", and 1958's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", a United States holiday standard for more than 50 years.
At 4 ft 9 inches tall (approximately 145 cm), she received the nickname Little Miss Dynamite in 1957 after recording the song "Dynamite" and was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following.
Lee's popularity faded in the late 1960s as her voice matured, but she continued a successful recording career by returning to her roots as a country singer with a string of hits through the 1970s and 1980s. She is a member of the Rock and Roll, Country Music and Rockabilly Halls of Fame. She is also a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Brenda currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Click here for more about Brenda Lee.
Chubby Checker
YouTube Video of Chubby Checker singing "The Twist" on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" TV show
Pictured: Album Covers
YouTube Video of Chubby Checker singing "The Twist" on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" TV show
Pictured: Album Covers
Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans, October 3, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist".
In September 2008 "The Twist" topped Billboard's list of the most popular singles to have appeared in the Hot 100 since its debut in 1958, an honor it maintained for an August 2013 update of the list. He also popularized the Limbo Rock and its trademark limbo dance, as well as various dance styles such as the fly.
Checker is the only recording artist to place five albums in the Top 12 all at once. The performer has often claimed to have personally changed the way we dance to the beat of music, as when he told Billboard, "Anyplace on the planet, when someone has a song that has a beat, they're on the floor dancing apart to the beat. And before Chubby Checker, it wasn't here."
Clay Cole agreed: "Chubby Checker has never been properly acknowledged for one major contribution to pop culture—Chubby and the Twist got adults out and onto the dance floor for the first time. Before the Twist dance phenomenon, grownups did not dance to teenage music."
Click here for more about Chubby Checkers.
In September 2008 "The Twist" topped Billboard's list of the most popular singles to have appeared in the Hot 100 since its debut in 1958, an honor it maintained for an August 2013 update of the list. He also popularized the Limbo Rock and its trademark limbo dance, as well as various dance styles such as the fly.
Checker is the only recording artist to place five albums in the Top 12 all at once. The performer has often claimed to have personally changed the way we dance to the beat of music, as when he told Billboard, "Anyplace on the planet, when someone has a song that has a beat, they're on the floor dancing apart to the beat. And before Chubby Checker, it wasn't here."
Clay Cole agreed: "Chubby Checker has never been properly acknowledged for one major contribution to pop culture—Chubby and the Twist got adults out and onto the dance floor for the first time. Before the Twist dance phenomenon, grownups did not dance to teenage music."
Click here for more about Chubby Checkers.
Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (Enya Patricia Brennan; born 17 May 1961), known professionally as Enya, is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician, and producer.
Born and raised in County Donegal,Ireland, Enya began her music career when she joined her family's Celtic band Clannad, in 1980.
She left the group in 1982 to pursue a solo career with producer and arranger Nicky Ryan and his wife, poet and lyricist Roma Ryan, developing her distinct sound of multi-tracked vocals, keyboards, and elements of folk, classical, church, and Celtic music.
As a solo artist, Enya composed the soundtrack to The Frog Prince (1985) and the 1987 BBC documentary series The Celts which was released as her first album, Enya (1987).
She then received worldwide success with Watermark (1988) and its lead single "Orinoco Flow", which reached the top 10 in ten countries.
Her follow-up albums Shepherd Moons (1991), The Memory of Trees (1995) and A Day Without Rain (2000) continued Enya's commercial success through the 1990s and 2000s, with each one selling millions worldwide.
A Day Without Rain includes the single "Only Time" which reached No. 10 in the US and remains the biggest selling New age album with 16 million copies sold.
Following the release of Amarantine (2005) and And Winter Came... (2008), Enya took an extended break from writing and recording music. She returned in 2012 and released Dark Sky Island (2015).
Enya is known for her private lifestyle and has yet to undergo a concert tour. Her discography includes nine studio albums that have sold 26.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the US and an estimated 75 million worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling artists.
She is Ireland's best-selling solo artist, and has sung in ten languages. Enya has won several awards, including seven World Music Awards, four Grammy Awards, and a nomination for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for "May It Be", a song she recorded for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).
For more about Enya, click here.
Born and raised in County Donegal,Ireland, Enya began her music career when she joined her family's Celtic band Clannad, in 1980.
She left the group in 1982 to pursue a solo career with producer and arranger Nicky Ryan and his wife, poet and lyricist Roma Ryan, developing her distinct sound of multi-tracked vocals, keyboards, and elements of folk, classical, church, and Celtic music.
As a solo artist, Enya composed the soundtrack to The Frog Prince (1985) and the 1987 BBC documentary series The Celts which was released as her first album, Enya (1987).
She then received worldwide success with Watermark (1988) and its lead single "Orinoco Flow", which reached the top 10 in ten countries.
Her follow-up albums Shepherd Moons (1991), The Memory of Trees (1995) and A Day Without Rain (2000) continued Enya's commercial success through the 1990s and 2000s, with each one selling millions worldwide.
A Day Without Rain includes the single "Only Time" which reached No. 10 in the US and remains the biggest selling New age album with 16 million copies sold.
Following the release of Amarantine (2005) and And Winter Came... (2008), Enya took an extended break from writing and recording music. She returned in 2012 and released Dark Sky Island (2015).
Enya is known for her private lifestyle and has yet to undergo a concert tour. Her discography includes nine studio albums that have sold 26.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the US and an estimated 75 million worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling artists.
She is Ireland's best-selling solo artist, and has sung in ten languages. Enya has won several awards, including seven World Music Awards, four Grammy Awards, and a nomination for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for "May It Be", a song she recorded for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).
For more about Enya, click here.
Alois Maxwell Hirt (November 7, 1922 – April 27, 1999) was an American trumpeter and bandleader.
He is best remembered for his million-selling recordings of "Java" and the accompanying album Honey in the Horn(1963), and for the theme song to The Green Hornet.
His nicknames included "Jumbo" and "The Round Mound of Sound".
Colin Escott, an author of musician biographies, wrote that RCA Victor Records, for which Hirt had recorded most of his best-selling recordings and for which he had spent much of his professional recording career, had dubbed him with another moniker: "The King."
Hirt was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in November 2009.
He is best remembered for his million-selling recordings of "Java" and the accompanying album Honey in the Horn(1963), and for the theme song to The Green Hornet.
His nicknames included "Jumbo" and "The Round Mound of Sound".
Colin Escott, an author of musician biographies, wrote that RCA Victor Records, for which Hirt had recorded most of his best-selling recordings and for which he had spent much of his professional recording career, had dubbed him with another moniker: "The King."
Hirt was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in November 2009.
Cyndi Lauper
YouTube Video: Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want To Have Fun (Official Video)
Pictured: Cyndi Lauper in Concert
YouTube Video: Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want To Have Fun (Official Video)
Pictured: Cyndi Lauper in Concert
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT activist. Her career has spanned over 30 years.
Her debut solo album She's So Unusual (1983) was the first debut female album to chart four top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100—"Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop", and "All Through the Night" earned Lauper the Best New Artist award at the 27th Grammy Awards in 1985.
Her success continued with the soundtrack for the motion picture The Goonies and her second record True Colors (1986). This album included the number one hit of the same name and "Change of Heart" which peaked at number 3.
Since 1989, Lauper has released ten studio albums and participated in many other projects. In 2010, Memphis Blues, became Billboard's most successful blues album of the year, remaining at #1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart for 13 consecutive weeks.
In 2013, Lauper won the Tony Award for Best Original Score for composing the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, making her the first woman to win the category by herself. The musical was awarded five other Tonys including Tony Award for Best New Musical. In 2014, Lauper was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for the cast recording.
In 2016 the West End production won Best New Musical at the Olivier Awards. Lauper has established herself as a pop culture icon, winning awards at the Grammy, Emmy, Tony, New York's Outer Critics Circle, MTV VMA, Billboard, and AMA awards.
Lauper won the inaugural Best Female Video prize at the 1984 VMAs for Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. This music video is recognized by MTV, VH1 and Rolling Stone as one of the greatest ever music videos.
She is featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum's Women Who Rock exhibit.
Her debut album is included in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, while Time After Time is included in Vh1's list of the 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 years. VH1 has ranked Lauper No. 58 of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll.
Lauper is one of only twenty artists to achieve "GET" status by winning competitive Grammy, Emmy, and Tony awards. Lauper is also noted for appearing in the first-ever WWE WrestleMania, managing wrestler Wendi Richter who won the WWF Women's Championship in 1985.
In 2015 Lauper was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. To date she has sold over 50 million records and 20 million singles.
Lauper has also been celebrated for her humanitarian work, particularly as an advocate for gay and transgender rights in the United States. Her charitable efforts were acknowledged in 2013 when the singer was invited as a special guest to attend President Barack Obama's second-term inaugural.
Her debut solo album She's So Unusual (1983) was the first debut female album to chart four top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100—"Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop", and "All Through the Night" earned Lauper the Best New Artist award at the 27th Grammy Awards in 1985.
Her success continued with the soundtrack for the motion picture The Goonies and her second record True Colors (1986). This album included the number one hit of the same name and "Change of Heart" which peaked at number 3.
Since 1989, Lauper has released ten studio albums and participated in many other projects. In 2010, Memphis Blues, became Billboard's most successful blues album of the year, remaining at #1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart for 13 consecutive weeks.
In 2013, Lauper won the Tony Award for Best Original Score for composing the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, making her the first woman to win the category by herself. The musical was awarded five other Tonys including Tony Award for Best New Musical. In 2014, Lauper was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for the cast recording.
In 2016 the West End production won Best New Musical at the Olivier Awards. Lauper has established herself as a pop culture icon, winning awards at the Grammy, Emmy, Tony, New York's Outer Critics Circle, MTV VMA, Billboard, and AMA awards.
Lauper won the inaugural Best Female Video prize at the 1984 VMAs for Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. This music video is recognized by MTV, VH1 and Rolling Stone as one of the greatest ever music videos.
She is featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum's Women Who Rock exhibit.
Her debut album is included in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, while Time After Time is included in Vh1's list of the 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 years. VH1 has ranked Lauper No. 58 of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll.
Lauper is one of only twenty artists to achieve "GET" status by winning competitive Grammy, Emmy, and Tony awards. Lauper is also noted for appearing in the first-ever WWE WrestleMania, managing wrestler Wendi Richter who won the WWF Women's Championship in 1985.
In 2015 Lauper was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. To date she has sold over 50 million records and 20 million singles.
Lauper has also been celebrated for her humanitarian work, particularly as an advocate for gay and transgender rights in the United States. Her charitable efforts were acknowledged in 2013 when the singer was invited as a special guest to attend President Barack Obama's second-term inaugural.
George Michael
YouTube Video of George Michael singing "Faith"
Pictured: George Michael performing during his 25 Live tour in 2008.
YouTube Video of George Michael singing "Faith"
Pictured: George Michael performing during his 25 Live tour in 2008.
Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (born 25 June 1963), known professionally by his stage name George Michael, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to fame during the 1980s and 1990s with his style of post-disco dance-pop. He has also been characterized as a blue-eyed soul singer, although his material draws more from middle of the road pop than soul music.
Michael has sold more than 80 million records worldwide. His 1987 debut solo album, Faith, has on its own sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Michael has garnered seven number one singles in the UK and eight number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.
In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked Michael the 40th most successful artist on the Billboard Hot 100 Top All Time Artists list.
Michael has won numerous music awards throughout his 30-year career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male twice, four MTV Video Music Awards, four Ivor Novello Awards, three American Music Awards, and two Grammy Awards from eight nominations.
In 2004, the Radio Academy named Michael the most played artist on British radio during the period 1984–2004. The documentary A Different Story, released in 2005, covered his career and personal life.
In 2006, George Michael announced his first tour in 15 years, the worldwide 25 Live tour, spanning three individual tours over the course of three years (2006, 2007 and 2008).
Michael has sold more than 80 million records worldwide. His 1987 debut solo album, Faith, has on its own sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Michael has garnered seven number one singles in the UK and eight number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.
In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked Michael the 40th most successful artist on the Billboard Hot 100 Top All Time Artists list.
Michael has won numerous music awards throughout his 30-year career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male twice, four MTV Video Music Awards, four Ivor Novello Awards, three American Music Awards, and two Grammy Awards from eight nominations.
In 2004, the Radio Academy named Michael the most played artist on British radio during the period 1984–2004. The documentary A Different Story, released in 2005, covered his career and personal life.
In 2006, George Michael announced his first tour in 15 years, the worldwide 25 Live tour, spanning three individual tours over the course of three years (2006, 2007 and 2008).
Gloria Estefan (born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; September 1, 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman.
She started off her career as the leading vocalist in the group called "Miami Latin Boys" which was eventually known as Miami Sound Machine.
Her breakthrough success with "Conga" in 1985 made her known worldwide. It won the grand prix in the 15th annual Tokyo Music Festival in Japan. This is her signature song.
In the summer of 1988 she and the band got their first number-one hit for the song "Anything For You". She is a contralto.
In March 1990, she had a severe accident in her tour bus. She made her comeback in March 1991 with a new world tour and album called Into The Light.
Her 1993 Spanish-language album Mi Tierra won the first of her three Grammy Awards for Best Tropical Latin Album. It was the first number-one album on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, established when it was released.
It was also the first Diamond album in Spain. Many of her songs like,
all of which became international hits, with chart-topping scores.
Estefan has sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide, including 31.5 million in the United States alone.
She has won seven Grammy Awards. Estefan also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Las Vegas Walk of Fame.
In 2015, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contributions to American music. Estefan also won an MTV Video Music Award, and two ACE Awards. She was honored with the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement as well as being named BMI Songwriter of the Year.
She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has received multiple Billboard Awards. She is also on the list of VH1 top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and in Billboard's Top 100 Greatest Artist Of All time.
She started off her career as the leading vocalist in the group called "Miami Latin Boys" which was eventually known as Miami Sound Machine.
Her breakthrough success with "Conga" in 1985 made her known worldwide. It won the grand prix in the 15th annual Tokyo Music Festival in Japan. This is her signature song.
In the summer of 1988 she and the band got their first number-one hit for the song "Anything For You". She is a contralto.
In March 1990, she had a severe accident in her tour bus. She made her comeback in March 1991 with a new world tour and album called Into The Light.
Her 1993 Spanish-language album Mi Tierra won the first of her three Grammy Awards for Best Tropical Latin Album. It was the first number-one album on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, established when it was released.
It was also the first Diamond album in Spain. Many of her songs like,
- "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You",
- "1-2-3",
- "Get On Your Feet",
- "Here We Are",
- "Coming Out of the Dark",
- "Bad Boy",
- "Oye!",
- "Party Time"
- and a remake of Vicki Sue Robinson's "Turn the Beat Around"
all of which became international hits, with chart-topping scores.
Estefan has sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide, including 31.5 million in the United States alone.
She has won seven Grammy Awards. Estefan also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Las Vegas Walk of Fame.
In 2015, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contributions to American music. Estefan also won an MTV Video Music Award, and two ACE Awards. She was honored with the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement as well as being named BMI Songwriter of the Year.
She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has received multiple Billboard Awards. She is also on the list of VH1 top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and in Billboard's Top 100 Greatest Artist Of All time.
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
A five-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the No. 3 single "Fire and Rain" and had his first No. 1 hit the following year with "You've Got a Friend", a recording of Carole King's classic song.
His 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 12 million US copies.
Following his 1977 album, JT, he has retained a large audience over the decades. Every album that he released from 1977 to 2007 sold over a million copies.
His chart performance had a resurgence during the late 1990s and 2000s, when he recorded some of his most-awarded work (including Hourglass, October Road, and Covers). He achieved his first number one album in the US in 2015 with his recording Before This World.
A five-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the No. 3 single "Fire and Rain" and had his first No. 1 hit the following year with "You've Got a Friend", a recording of Carole King's classic song.
His 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 12 million US copies.
Following his 1977 album, JT, he has retained a large audience over the decades. Every album that he released from 1977 to 2007 sold over a million copies.
His chart performance had a resurgence during the late 1990s and 2000s, when he recorded some of his most-awarded work (including Hourglass, October Road, and Covers). He achieved his first number one album in the US in 2015 with his recording Before This World.
Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress.
Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 30 years.
The youngest child of the Jackson family, she began her career with the variety television series The Jacksons in 1976 and went on to appear in other television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times and Fame.
After signing a recording contract with A&M Records in 1982, she became a pop icon following the release of her third studio album Control (1986). Her collaborations with record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis incorporated elements of rhythm and blues, funk, disco, rap, and industrial beats, which led to crossover success in popular music.
In addition to receiving recognition for the innovation in her records, choreography, music videos, and prominence on radio airplay and MTV, she was acknowledged as a role model for her socially conscious lyrics.
In 1991 she signed the first of two record-breaking, multimillion-dollar contracts with Virgin Records, establishing her as one of the highest paid artists in the industry. Her debut album under the label, Janet (1993), saw her develop a public image as a sex symbol as she began to explore sexuality in her work.
That same year, she appeared in her first starring film role in Poetic Justice; since then she has continued to act in feature films.
By the end of the 1990s, she was named the second most successful recording artist of the decade. The release of her seventh studio album All for You (2001) coincided with a celebration of her impact on popular music as the inaugural MTV Icon.
After parting ways with Virgin she released her tenth studio album Discipline (2008), her first and only album with Island Records. In 2015 she partnered with BMG Rights Management to launch her own record label, Rhythm Nation and released her eleventh studio album Unbreakable the same year.
Having sold over 100 million records, she is ranked as one of the best-selling artists in the history of contemporary music.
She has amassed an extensive catalog, with singles such as "Nasty", "Rhythm Nation", "That's the Way Love Goes", "Together Again" and "All for You" among her signature songs; she holds the record for the most consecutive top 10 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart by a female artist with 18.
In 2009, Billboard magazine released its list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, placing her at number seven, while in 2010, ranking her fifth among the "Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years". One of the world's most awarded artists, her longevity, records and achievements reflect her influence in shaping and redefining the scope of popular music. She has been cited as an inspiration among numerous performers.
Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 30 years.
The youngest child of the Jackson family, she began her career with the variety television series The Jacksons in 1976 and went on to appear in other television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times and Fame.
After signing a recording contract with A&M Records in 1982, she became a pop icon following the release of her third studio album Control (1986). Her collaborations with record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis incorporated elements of rhythm and blues, funk, disco, rap, and industrial beats, which led to crossover success in popular music.
In addition to receiving recognition for the innovation in her records, choreography, music videos, and prominence on radio airplay and MTV, she was acknowledged as a role model for her socially conscious lyrics.
In 1991 she signed the first of two record-breaking, multimillion-dollar contracts with Virgin Records, establishing her as one of the highest paid artists in the industry. Her debut album under the label, Janet (1993), saw her develop a public image as a sex symbol as she began to explore sexuality in her work.
That same year, she appeared in her first starring film role in Poetic Justice; since then she has continued to act in feature films.
By the end of the 1990s, she was named the second most successful recording artist of the decade. The release of her seventh studio album All for You (2001) coincided with a celebration of her impact on popular music as the inaugural MTV Icon.
After parting ways with Virgin she released her tenth studio album Discipline (2008), her first and only album with Island Records. In 2015 she partnered with BMG Rights Management to launch her own record label, Rhythm Nation and released her eleventh studio album Unbreakable the same year.
Having sold over 100 million records, she is ranked as one of the best-selling artists in the history of contemporary music.
She has amassed an extensive catalog, with singles such as "Nasty", "Rhythm Nation", "That's the Way Love Goes", "Together Again" and "All for You" among her signature songs; she holds the record for the most consecutive top 10 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart by a female artist with 18.
In 2009, Billboard magazine released its list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, placing her at number seven, while in 2010, ranking her fifth among the "Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years". One of the world's most awarded artists, her longevity, records and achievements reflect her influence in shaping and redefining the scope of popular music. She has been cited as an inspiration among numerous performers.
The Jackson 5
- YouTube Video: The Jackson 5 performing "I Want You Back"
- YouTube Video: THE JACKSON 5 - I'll Be There Jim Nabors FULL HQ performance (NEWLY FOUND FOOTAGE!!)
- YouTube Video: Can You Feel It/ ABC/ The Love You Save - The Jacksons
The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family.
The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most of their career consisted of brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. They were managed by their father Joe Jackson. The group were among the first African American performers to attain a crossover following.
The Jackson 5 performed in talent shows and clubs on the Chitlin' Circuit, then signed with Steeltown Records in 1967 and released two singles.
In 1968, they left Steeltown Records and signed with Motown, where they were the first group to debut with four consecutive number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the songs "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There".
They also achieved sixteen Top-40 singles on the chart.
The group left Motown for Epic Records in early 1976, with the exception of Jermaine, who was replaced by youngest brother Randy. At Epic, they released four studio albums and one live album between 1976 and 1981, including the successful albums Destiny (1978) and Triumph (1980) and the singles "Enjoy Yourself", "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", and "Can You Feel It".
The brothers also released solo albums, most successfully Michael. In 1983, Jermaine reunited with the band to perform on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever TV special.
They released the Victory album the following year, followed by an extensive tour which also featured songs from Michael's solo albums. After the Victory tour, Michael and Marlon left the group. The remaining four released the poorly received 2300 Jackson Street album in 1989 before being dropped from their label.
In 2001, the Jacksons reunited on Michael's 30th Anniversary Celebration TV special. The four eldest of the brothers embarked on their Unity Tour in 2012 following Michael's death, and they planned several major performances for 2017.
According to some sources, The Jackson 5 have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. In 1980, the brothers were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as the Jacksons. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
Two of the band's recordings ("ABC" and "I Want You Back") are among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and, alongside "I'll Be There", were also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Click here for more about the Jackson 5
The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most of their career consisted of brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. They were managed by their father Joe Jackson. The group were among the first African American performers to attain a crossover following.
The Jackson 5 performed in talent shows and clubs on the Chitlin' Circuit, then signed with Steeltown Records in 1967 and released two singles.
In 1968, they left Steeltown Records and signed with Motown, where they were the first group to debut with four consecutive number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the songs "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There".
They also achieved sixteen Top-40 singles on the chart.
The group left Motown for Epic Records in early 1976, with the exception of Jermaine, who was replaced by youngest brother Randy. At Epic, they released four studio albums and one live album between 1976 and 1981, including the successful albums Destiny (1978) and Triumph (1980) and the singles "Enjoy Yourself", "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", and "Can You Feel It".
The brothers also released solo albums, most successfully Michael. In 1983, Jermaine reunited with the band to perform on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever TV special.
They released the Victory album the following year, followed by an extensive tour which also featured songs from Michael's solo albums. After the Victory tour, Michael and Marlon left the group. The remaining four released the poorly received 2300 Jackson Street album in 1989 before being dropped from their label.
In 2001, the Jacksons reunited on Michael's 30th Anniversary Celebration TV special. The four eldest of the brothers embarked on their Unity Tour in 2012 following Michael's death, and they planned several major performances for 2017.
According to some sources, The Jackson 5 have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. In 1980, the brothers were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as the Jacksons. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
Two of the band's recordings ("ABC" and "I Want You Back") are among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and, alongside "I'll Be There", were also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Click here for more about the Jackson 5
Michael Jackson
- YouTube Video: Michael Jackson performing the "Moon Walk"
- YouTube Video: Michael Jackson performing "Billie Jean"
- YouTube Video of Michael Jackson performing Live At Wembley (July 16, 1988)
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist.
Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century.
Over a four-decade career, his contributions to music, dance, and fashion, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture. Jackson influenced artists across many music genres; through stage and video performances, he popularized complicated dance moves such as the moonwalk, to which he gave the name, as well as the robot. He is the most awarded musician in history.
The eighth child of the Jackson family, Jackson made his professional debut in 1964 with his older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5 (later known as the Jacksons: See preceding topic). Jackson began his solo career in 1971 while at Motown Records.
Michael became a solo star with his 1979 album Off the Wall. His music videos, including those for "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller" from his 1982 album Thriller, are credited with breaking racial barriers and transforming the medium into an artform and promotional tool.
He helped propel the success of MTV and continued to innovate with videos for the following albums:
Thriller became the best-selling album of all time, while Bad was the first album to produce five U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.
From the late 1980s, Jackson became a figure of controversy and speculation due to his changing appearance, relationships, behavior, and lifestyle. In 1993, he was accused of sexually abusing the child of a family friend. The lawsuit was settled out of civil court; Jackson was not indicted due to lack of evidence. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of further child sexual abuse allegations and several other charges. The FBI found no evidence of criminal conduct on Jackson's behalf in either case.
In 2009, while he was preparing for a series of comeback concerts, This Is It, Jackson died from an overdose of propofol administered by his personal physician, Conrad Murray, who was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter.
His death triggered reactions around the world, creating unprecedented surges of Internet traffic and a spike in sales of his music. A televised memorial service to Jackson, held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, was viewed by an estimated over 2.5 billion people globally.
Jackson is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 400 million records worldwide. He had 13 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles (more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era) and was the first artist to have a top-ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades. He is regarded by the RIAA as the highest-selling individual music artist of all time worldwide. His honors include:
Jackson's inductions also include:
Click here for more about Michael Jackson.
Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century.
Over a four-decade career, his contributions to music, dance, and fashion, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture. Jackson influenced artists across many music genres; through stage and video performances, he popularized complicated dance moves such as the moonwalk, to which he gave the name, as well as the robot. He is the most awarded musician in history.
The eighth child of the Jackson family, Jackson made his professional debut in 1964 with his older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5 (later known as the Jacksons: See preceding topic). Jackson began his solo career in 1971 while at Motown Records.
Michael became a solo star with his 1979 album Off the Wall. His music videos, including those for "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller" from his 1982 album Thriller, are credited with breaking racial barriers and transforming the medium into an artform and promotional tool.
He helped propel the success of MTV and continued to innovate with videos for the following albums:
- Bad (1987),
- Dangerous (1991),
- HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995),
- and Invincible (2001).
Thriller became the best-selling album of all time, while Bad was the first album to produce five U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.
From the late 1980s, Jackson became a figure of controversy and speculation due to his changing appearance, relationships, behavior, and lifestyle. In 1993, he was accused of sexually abusing the child of a family friend. The lawsuit was settled out of civil court; Jackson was not indicted due to lack of evidence. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of further child sexual abuse allegations and several other charges. The FBI found no evidence of criminal conduct on Jackson's behalf in either case.
In 2009, while he was preparing for a series of comeback concerts, This Is It, Jackson died from an overdose of propofol administered by his personal physician, Conrad Murray, who was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter.
His death triggered reactions around the world, creating unprecedented surges of Internet traffic and a spike in sales of his music. A televised memorial service to Jackson, held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, was viewed by an estimated over 2.5 billion people globally.
Jackson is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 400 million records worldwide. He had 13 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles (more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era) and was the first artist to have a top-ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades. He is regarded by the RIAA as the highest-selling individual music artist of all time worldwide. His honors include:
- 15 Grammy Awards,
- 6 Brit Awards, a Golden Globe Award,
- and 39 Guinness World Records,
- including the "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time".
Jackson's inductions also include:
- the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (twice),
- the Vocal Group Hall of Fame,
- the Songwriters Hall of Fame,
- the Dance Hall of Fame (the only recording artist to be inducted),
- and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame.
Click here for more about Michael Jackson.
Joan Baez (born January 9, 1941 as Joan Chandos Baez) is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician, and activist whose contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest or social justice.
Baez has performed publicly for over 55 years, releasing over 30 albums. Fluent in Spanish as well as in English, she has also recorded songs in at least six other languages.
She is regarded as a folk singer, although her music has diversified since the counterculture days of the 1960s and now encompasses everything from folk rock and pop to country and gospel music.
Although a songwriter herself, Baez generally interprets other composers' work, having recorded songs by the Allman Brothers Band, the Beatles, Jackson Browne, Leonard Cohen, Woody Guthrie, Violeta Parra, The Rolling Stones, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and many others.
In recent years, she has found success interpreting songs of modern songwriters such as Ryan Adams, Josh Ritter, Steve Earle and Natalie Merchant. Her recordings include many topical songs and material dealing with social issues.
She began her recording career in 1960 and achieved immediate success. Her first three albums, Joan Baez, Joan Baez, Vol. 2, and Joan Baez in Concert all achieved gold record status and stayed on the Billboard and other record album charts for two years.
Baez has had a popular hit song with "Diamonds & Rust" and hit covers of Phil Ochs's "There but for Fortune" and The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". Other songs associated with Baez include "Farewell, Angelina", "Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word", "Joe Hill", "Sweet Sir Galahad" and "We Shall Overcome".
She was one of the first major artists to record the songs of Bob Dylan in the early 1960s; Baez was already an internationally celebrated artist and did much to popularize his early songwriting efforts.
Baez also performed three songs at the 1969 Woodstock Festival and has displayed a lifelong commitment to political and social activism in the fields of nonviolence, civil rights, human rights and the environment.
Baez has performed publicly for over 55 years, releasing over 30 albums. Fluent in Spanish as well as in English, she has also recorded songs in at least six other languages.
She is regarded as a folk singer, although her music has diversified since the counterculture days of the 1960s and now encompasses everything from folk rock and pop to country and gospel music.
Although a songwriter herself, Baez generally interprets other composers' work, having recorded songs by the Allman Brothers Band, the Beatles, Jackson Browne, Leonard Cohen, Woody Guthrie, Violeta Parra, The Rolling Stones, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and many others.
In recent years, she has found success interpreting songs of modern songwriters such as Ryan Adams, Josh Ritter, Steve Earle and Natalie Merchant. Her recordings include many topical songs and material dealing with social issues.
She began her recording career in 1960 and achieved immediate success. Her first three albums, Joan Baez, Joan Baez, Vol. 2, and Joan Baez in Concert all achieved gold record status and stayed on the Billboard and other record album charts for two years.
Baez has had a popular hit song with "Diamonds & Rust" and hit covers of Phil Ochs's "There but for Fortune" and The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". Other songs associated with Baez include "Farewell, Angelina", "Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word", "Joe Hill", "Sweet Sir Galahad" and "We Shall Overcome".
She was one of the first major artists to record the songs of Bob Dylan in the early 1960s; Baez was already an internationally celebrated artist and did much to popularize his early songwriting efforts.
Baez also performed three songs at the 1969 Woodstock Festival and has displayed a lifelong commitment to political and social activism in the fields of nonviolence, civil rights, human rights and the environment.
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, activist, actor and humanitarian, whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singer, starting in the 1970s.
He was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and one of its best-selling artists. By 1974, he was firmly established as America's best-selling performer, and AllMusic has described Denver as "among the most beloved entertainers of his era".
After traveling and living in numerous locations while growing up in his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. Throughout his life, Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed, with total sales of over 33 million.
He recorded and performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, his enthusiasm for music, and his relationship trials. Denver's music appeared on a variety of charts, including country music, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, in all earning him twelve gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs:
Denver further starred in films and several notable television specials in the 1970s and 1980s. In the following decade, he continued to record, but also focused on calling attention to environmental issues, lent his vocal support to space exploration, and testified in front of Congress to protest against censorship in music.
He was known for his love of the state of Colorado, which he sang about numerous times. He lived in Aspen, Colorado, for much of his life. He was named Poet laureate of the state in 1974. The Colorado state legislature also adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its state songs in 2007. Denver was an avid pilot and died in a single-fatality crash of his personal experimental aircraft at the age of 53.
He was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and one of its best-selling artists. By 1974, he was firmly established as America's best-selling performer, and AllMusic has described Denver as "among the most beloved entertainers of his era".
After traveling and living in numerous locations while growing up in his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. Throughout his life, Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed, with total sales of over 33 million.
He recorded and performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, his enthusiasm for music, and his relationship trials. Denver's music appeared on a variety of charts, including country music, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, in all earning him twelve gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs:
- "Take Me Home, Country Roads",
- "Annie's Song",
- "Rocky Mountain High",
- "Thank God I'm a Country Boy",
- and "Sunshine on My Shoulders".
Denver further starred in films and several notable television specials in the 1970s and 1980s. In the following decade, he continued to record, but also focused on calling attention to environmental issues, lent his vocal support to space exploration, and testified in front of Congress to protest against censorship in music.
He was known for his love of the state of Colorado, which he sang about numerous times. He lived in Aspen, Colorado, for much of his life. He was named Poet laureate of the state in 1974. The Colorado state legislature also adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its state songs in 2007. Denver was an avid pilot and died in a single-fatality crash of his personal experimental aircraft at the age of 53.
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (born 23 September 1943), better known as Julio Iglesias, is a Spanish singer and songwriter who has sold over 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages, has released over 80 albums, and has more than 400 gold and platinum records certified, making him one of the best selling artists of all time and the best selling Latin artist in history.
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Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for additional information:
Justin Drew Bieber (born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After a talent manager discovered him through his YouTube videos covering songs in 2008 and signed to RBMG, Bieber released his debut EP, My World, in late 2009. It was certified platinum in the U.S.
He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut record chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Bieber released his first full-length studio album, My World 2.0, in 2010. It debuted at or near number one in several countries and was certified triple platinum in the U.S. It was preceded by his most successful single to date, "Baby".
Following his debut album, he had his first headlining tour, the My World Tour, released the remix albums My Worlds Acoustic and Never Say Never – The Remixes—and the 3D biopic-concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.
He released his second studio album, Under the Mistletoe, in November 2011, when it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Bieber released his third studio album, Believe, in 2012. His fourth studio album Purpose was released in November 2015.
His U.S. album and singles sales total 44.7 million. He has sold an estimated 100 million records, making him the best-selling male Canadian artist and one of the world’s best-selling music artists.
He has won numerous fan-voted awards, including American Music Award for Artist of the Year in 2010 and 2012. In his career, he has received three Grammy nominations, winning one for Best Dance Recording for the song "Where Are Ü Now" at the 2016 ceremony.
His fan base, dubbed "beliebers", largely consists of early to mid-adolescent girls. He has been listed four times by Forbes magazine among the top ten most powerful celebrities in the world in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016. Bieber also became the first artist to surpass 10 billion total video views on Vevo.
He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut record chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Bieber released his first full-length studio album, My World 2.0, in 2010. It debuted at or near number one in several countries and was certified triple platinum in the U.S. It was preceded by his most successful single to date, "Baby".
Following his debut album, he had his first headlining tour, the My World Tour, released the remix albums My Worlds Acoustic and Never Say Never – The Remixes—and the 3D biopic-concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.
He released his second studio album, Under the Mistletoe, in November 2011, when it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Bieber released his third studio album, Believe, in 2012. His fourth studio album Purpose was released in November 2015.
His U.S. album and singles sales total 44.7 million. He has sold an estimated 100 million records, making him the best-selling male Canadian artist and one of the world’s best-selling music artists.
He has won numerous fan-voted awards, including American Music Award for Artist of the Year in 2010 and 2012. In his career, he has received three Grammy nominations, winning one for Best Dance Recording for the song "Where Are Ü Now" at the 2016 ceremony.
His fan base, dubbed "beliebers", largely consists of early to mid-adolescent girls. He has been listed four times by Forbes magazine among the top ten most powerful celebrities in the world in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016. Bieber also became the first artist to surpass 10 billion total video views on Vevo.
Justin Timberlake
YouTube Video: CAN'T STOP THE FEELING!
First Listen (Featuring the cast of DreamWorks Animation's Trolls)
YouTube Video: CAN'T STOP THE FEELING!
First Listen (Featuring the cast of DreamWorks Animation's Trolls)
Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer.
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, he appeared on the television shows Star Search and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club as a child. In the late 1990s, Timberlake rose to prominence as one of the two lead vocalists and youngest member of NSYNC, which eventually became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
During the group's hiatus, Timberlake released his debut solo album, the R&B-focused Justified (2002), which included the successful singles "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body", and earned his first two Grammy Awards.
His critically acclaimed second album, FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), characterized by its wide range of musical influences, debuted atop the US Billboard 200 and produced the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around... Comes Around".
With his first two albums exceeding sales of 10 million copies worldwide, he was established as one of the most commercially successful singers of the decade. He also has collaborated with other artists, including "Give It to Me" (with Timbaland) and "4 Minutes" (with Madonna).
From 2008 through 2012, Timberlake focused on his acting career, effectively putting his music career on hiatus; he held starring roles in the films The Social Network, Bad Teacher, In Time, and Friends with Benefits.
Timberlake resumed his music career in 2013 with his third and fourth albums The 20/20 Experience and The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2, exploring neo soul styles with the song structures of 1960s and 1970s rock. The former became the best-selling album of the year in the US with the largest sales week, and spawned the top-three singles "Suit & Tie" and "Mirrors", while the latter produced the top-ten song "Not a Bad Thing".
In 2016, Timberlake will voice the lead character in DreamWorks Animation's Trolls, which soundtrack includes his fifth Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single, "Can't Stop the Feeling!".
Cemented as a touring solo artist, Timberlake plays several instruments in his live performances, accompanied by his band, The Tennessee Kids. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2007 and 2013.
Timberlake's work has earned him numerous awards and accolades, including nine Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, ten Billboard Music Awards, and four Emmy Awards, the latter being for his appearances on Saturday Night Live.
His other ventures include record label Tennman Records, fashion label William Rast, and the restaurants Destino and Southern Hospitality.
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, he appeared on the television shows Star Search and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club as a child. In the late 1990s, Timberlake rose to prominence as one of the two lead vocalists and youngest member of NSYNC, which eventually became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
During the group's hiatus, Timberlake released his debut solo album, the R&B-focused Justified (2002), which included the successful singles "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body", and earned his first two Grammy Awards.
His critically acclaimed second album, FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), characterized by its wide range of musical influences, debuted atop the US Billboard 200 and produced the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around... Comes Around".
With his first two albums exceeding sales of 10 million copies worldwide, he was established as one of the most commercially successful singers of the decade. He also has collaborated with other artists, including "Give It to Me" (with Timbaland) and "4 Minutes" (with Madonna).
From 2008 through 2012, Timberlake focused on his acting career, effectively putting his music career on hiatus; he held starring roles in the films The Social Network, Bad Teacher, In Time, and Friends with Benefits.
Timberlake resumed his music career in 2013 with his third and fourth albums The 20/20 Experience and The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2, exploring neo soul styles with the song structures of 1960s and 1970s rock. The former became the best-selling album of the year in the US with the largest sales week, and spawned the top-three singles "Suit & Tie" and "Mirrors", while the latter produced the top-ten song "Not a Bad Thing".
In 2016, Timberlake will voice the lead character in DreamWorks Animation's Trolls, which soundtrack includes his fifth Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single, "Can't Stop the Feeling!".
Cemented as a touring solo artist, Timberlake plays several instruments in his live performances, accompanied by his band, The Tennessee Kids. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2007 and 2013.
Timberlake's work has earned him numerous awards and accolades, including nine Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, ten Billboard Music Awards, and four Emmy Awards, the latter being for his appearances on Saturday Night Live.
His other ventures include record label Tennman Records, fashion label William Rast, and the restaurants Destino and Southern Hospitality.
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer and songwriter. After singing in church during her childhood, she pursued a career in gospel music as a teenager.
Perry signed with Red Hill Records and released her debut studio album Katy Hudson under her birth name in 2001, which was commercially unsuccessful.
She moved to Los Angeles the following year to venture into secular music after Red Hill ceased operations and she subsequently began working with producers Glen Ballard, Dr. Luke, and Max Martin.
After adopting the stage name Katy Perry and being dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group and Columbia Records, she signed a recording contract with Capitol Records in April 2007.
Perry rose to fame in 2008 with the release of the singles "I Kissed a Girl" – which sparked controversy for its homosexual themes – and "Hot n Cold" from her second album, a pop rock record titled One of the Boys.
Her third album, Teenage Dream (2010), ventured into disco, and contained the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" as well as the number-three single "The One That Got Away".
The album became the first by a female artist to produce five number-one songs in the U.S., and the second overall after Michael Jackson's album Bad.
In March 2012, she re-issued the album as Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, which produced the songs "Part of Me" and "Wide Awake". Her fourth album, Prism, was released in 2013, and is influenced by pop and dance. She became the first artist with multiple videos to reach one billion views on Vevo with the videos for its songs "Roar" and "Dark Horse".
Perry has received many awards, including four Guinness World Records, and been included in the Forbes list of "Top-Earning Women In Music" (2011–15).
Her estimated net worth as of 2016 is $125 million. She is one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, having sold 100 million records globally throughout her career. In film, she released an autobiographical documentary titled Katy Perry: Part of Me in 2012, and voiced Smurfette in the 2011 film The Smurfs and its sequel in 2013.
Perry signed with Red Hill Records and released her debut studio album Katy Hudson under her birth name in 2001, which was commercially unsuccessful.
She moved to Los Angeles the following year to venture into secular music after Red Hill ceased operations and she subsequently began working with producers Glen Ballard, Dr. Luke, and Max Martin.
After adopting the stage name Katy Perry and being dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group and Columbia Records, she signed a recording contract with Capitol Records in April 2007.
Perry rose to fame in 2008 with the release of the singles "I Kissed a Girl" – which sparked controversy for its homosexual themes – and "Hot n Cold" from her second album, a pop rock record titled One of the Boys.
Her third album, Teenage Dream (2010), ventured into disco, and contained the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" as well as the number-three single "The One That Got Away".
The album became the first by a female artist to produce five number-one songs in the U.S., and the second overall after Michael Jackson's album Bad.
In March 2012, she re-issued the album as Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, which produced the songs "Part of Me" and "Wide Awake". Her fourth album, Prism, was released in 2013, and is influenced by pop and dance. She became the first artist with multiple videos to reach one billion views on Vevo with the videos for its songs "Roar" and "Dark Horse".
Perry has received many awards, including four Guinness World Records, and been included in the Forbes list of "Top-Earning Women In Music" (2011–15).
Her estimated net worth as of 2016 is $125 million. She is one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, having sold 100 million records globally throughout her career. In film, she released an autobiographical documentary titled Katy Perry: Part of Me in 2012, and voiced Smurfette in the 2011 film The Smurfs and its sequel in 2013.
Kelly Clarkson
YouTube Video of Kelly Clarkson singing "Before your love a moment like this" at the 2002 American Idol finale live performance
YouTube Video of Kelly Clarkson singing "Before your love a moment like this" at the 2002 American Idol finale live performance
Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and occasional actress. She rose to fame in 2002 after winning the inaugural season of American Idol, and has since been referred to as the "Original American Idol" and the "Queen of Covers".
Her debut single, "Before Your Love"/"A Moment Like This", topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became the best-selling single of 2002 in the United States. She became the runner-up of World Idol the following year.
Clarkson's debut studio album, Thankful (2003), debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) while selling over 4.5 million copies worldwide. Its lead single, "Miss Independent", reached the top ten in many nations.
Trying to reinvent her own image, Clarkson decided to part ways with American Idol management and developed a rock-oriented sound for her second album, Breakaway (2004). It sold over 15 million copies worldwide and earned Clarkson two Grammy Awards.
Taking creative control of her third album, My December (2007), she served as the executive producer and co-wrote the entire album's material. However, she fought with her label, in particular Clive Davis, who was dissatisfied with her musical direction. The feud resulted the reluctance of her label to promote the album.
Clarkson's fourth album, All I Ever Wanted (2009), became her second album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Its lead single, "My Life Would Suck Without You", holds the record for the biggest jump to number one on the Hot 100.
Clarkson's fifth studio album, Stronger (2011), won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, making her the only act to receive the award twice. The album scored her third number-one song on the Hot 100, "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)".
Clarkson's sixth album and first Christmas music release, Wrapped in Red (2013), became the best-selling holiday album of the year, making her the first American female artist to achieve this goal. In 2015, Clarkson released her seventh studio album, Piece by Piece, which was her third album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Its title track became her eleventh top-ten entry on the Hot 100.
Apart from her work in music, Clarkson has also ventured into television and film, beginning with her leading role in the romantic musical From Justin to Kelly (2003). She is known for her vocal versatility and range.
Her music has mainly dealt with themes of heartbreak, independence, and self-empowerment for women and young teens. Her musical work has also gained her numerous accolades, including three Grammy Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, four American Music Awards, and two Academy of Country Music Awards.
In a career spanning over a decade, Clarkson has accumulated 100 Billboard number-one hits and sold over 25 million albums worldwide.
In 2012, she was ranked nineteenth on VH1's list of "100 Greatest Women in Music." Billboard also ranked Clarkson as the 14th-best-selling artist of the 2000s.
Her debut single, "Before Your Love"/"A Moment Like This", topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became the best-selling single of 2002 in the United States. She became the runner-up of World Idol the following year.
Clarkson's debut studio album, Thankful (2003), debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) while selling over 4.5 million copies worldwide. Its lead single, "Miss Independent", reached the top ten in many nations.
Trying to reinvent her own image, Clarkson decided to part ways with American Idol management and developed a rock-oriented sound for her second album, Breakaway (2004). It sold over 15 million copies worldwide and earned Clarkson two Grammy Awards.
Taking creative control of her third album, My December (2007), she served as the executive producer and co-wrote the entire album's material. However, she fought with her label, in particular Clive Davis, who was dissatisfied with her musical direction. The feud resulted the reluctance of her label to promote the album.
Clarkson's fourth album, All I Ever Wanted (2009), became her second album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Its lead single, "My Life Would Suck Without You", holds the record for the biggest jump to number one on the Hot 100.
Clarkson's fifth studio album, Stronger (2011), won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, making her the only act to receive the award twice. The album scored her third number-one song on the Hot 100, "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)".
Clarkson's sixth album and first Christmas music release, Wrapped in Red (2013), became the best-selling holiday album of the year, making her the first American female artist to achieve this goal. In 2015, Clarkson released her seventh studio album, Piece by Piece, which was her third album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Its title track became her eleventh top-ten entry on the Hot 100.
Apart from her work in music, Clarkson has also ventured into television and film, beginning with her leading role in the romantic musical From Justin to Kelly (2003). She is known for her vocal versatility and range.
Her music has mainly dealt with themes of heartbreak, independence, and self-empowerment for women and young teens. Her musical work has also gained her numerous accolades, including three Grammy Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, four American Music Awards, and two Academy of Country Music Awards.
In a career spanning over a decade, Clarkson has accumulated 100 Billboard number-one hits and sold over 25 million albums worldwide.
In 2012, she was ranked nineteenth on VH1's list of "100 Greatest Women in Music." Billboard also ranked Clarkson as the 14th-best-selling artist of the 2000s.
Kool & the Gang
YouTube Video: Kool & The Gang - Summer Madness
Pictured: (L-R) George Brown, Robert “Kool” Bell, Dennis Thomas and Ronald Bell
YouTube Video: Kool & The Gang - Summer Madness
Pictured: (L-R) George Brown, Robert “Kool” Bell, Dennis Thomas and Ronald Bell
Kool & the Gang is an American jazz, R&B, soul, funk, and disco group, originally formed in 1964 as the Jazziacs based in Jersey City, New Jersey.
They went through several musical phases during their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then funk and R&B, progressing to a smooth pop-funk ensemble, and in the post-millennium creating music with a modern, electro-pop sound. They have sold over 70 million albums worldwide.
The group's main members over the years included brothers Robert "Kool" Bell (Muhammad Bayyan) on bass and Ronald Bell (Khalis Bayyan) on tenor saxophone, lead vocalist James "J.T." Taylor, George Brown on drums, Larry Gittens on trumpet, Dennis Thomas on alto saxophone, Claydes Charles Smith on guitar, and Rick West (Westfield) on keyboards.
Click here for more about Kool & The Gang
They went through several musical phases during their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then funk and R&B, progressing to a smooth pop-funk ensemble, and in the post-millennium creating music with a modern, electro-pop sound. They have sold over 70 million albums worldwide.
The group's main members over the years included brothers Robert "Kool" Bell (Muhammad Bayyan) on bass and Ronald Bell (Khalis Bayyan) on tenor saxophone, lead vocalist James "J.T." Taylor, George Brown on drums, Larry Gittens on trumpet, Dennis Thomas on alto saxophone, Claydes Charles Smith on guitar, and Rick West (Westfield) on keyboards.
Click here for more about Kool & The Gang
Lady Gaga
YouTube Video of Lady Gaga with Tony Bennett: The Lady is a Tramp (from Duets II: The Great Performances)
Pictured (L-R): Lady Gaga arriving at the Grammys in an egg in 2011, in an orbit dress in 2010 and in a silver gown in 2015.
YouTube Video of Lady Gaga with Tony Bennett: The Lady is a Tramp (from Duets II: The Great Performances)
Pictured (L-R): Lady Gaga arriving at the Grammys in an egg in 2011, in an orbit dress in 2010 and in a silver gown in 2015.
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress.
She performed initially in theater, appearing in high school plays, and studied at CAP21 through New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before dropping out to pursue a musical career.
After leaving a rock band, participating in the Lower East Side's avant garde performance art circuit, and being dropped from a contract with Def Jam Recordings, Gaga worked as a songwriter for Sony/ATV Music Publishing. From there, recording artist Akon noticed her vocal abilities and helped her to sign a joint deal with Interscope Records and his own KonLive Distribution.
Her debut album The Fame (2008) was a critical and commercial success that produced global chart-topping singles such as "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". A follow-up extended play (EP), The Fame Monster (2009), was met with a similar reception and "Bad Romance", "Telephone", and "Alejandro" were released becoming successful singles.
Her second full-length album Born This Way was released in 2011, topping the charts in more than 20 countries, including the United States, where it sold over one million copies in its first week. The album produced the number-one single "Born This Way". Her third album Artpop, released in 2013, topped the US charts and included the successful single "Applause".
In 2014, Gaga released a collaborative jazz album with Tony Bennett titled Cheek to Cheek, which became her third consecutive number one in the United States.
For her work in the television series American Horror Story: Hotel, Gaga won a Golden Globe Award in 2016.
With global album and single sales of 27 million and 146 million respectively, as of January 2016, she is one of the best-selling musicians of all time. Her achievements include twelve Guinness World Records, three Brit Awards, and six Grammy Awards.
She is also the first artist to win the Songwriters Hall of Fame's Contemporary Icon Award. Other accolades include a Fashion Icon lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (2011), regular appearances on Billboard's Artists of the Year lists and Forbes's power and earnings rankings.
In 2013, Gaga finished second on Time's readers' poll of the most influential people of the past ten years, while in 2015, she was named Billboard's Woman of the Year.
She is known for her philanthropic work and social activism, including LGBT rights and her own non-profit organization, the Born This Way Foundation, which focuses on promoting youth empowerment and combating bullying.
Click here for more about Lady Gaga.
She performed initially in theater, appearing in high school plays, and studied at CAP21 through New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before dropping out to pursue a musical career.
After leaving a rock band, participating in the Lower East Side's avant garde performance art circuit, and being dropped from a contract with Def Jam Recordings, Gaga worked as a songwriter for Sony/ATV Music Publishing. From there, recording artist Akon noticed her vocal abilities and helped her to sign a joint deal with Interscope Records and his own KonLive Distribution.
Her debut album The Fame (2008) was a critical and commercial success that produced global chart-topping singles such as "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". A follow-up extended play (EP), The Fame Monster (2009), was met with a similar reception and "Bad Romance", "Telephone", and "Alejandro" were released becoming successful singles.
Her second full-length album Born This Way was released in 2011, topping the charts in more than 20 countries, including the United States, where it sold over one million copies in its first week. The album produced the number-one single "Born This Way". Her third album Artpop, released in 2013, topped the US charts and included the successful single "Applause".
In 2014, Gaga released a collaborative jazz album with Tony Bennett titled Cheek to Cheek, which became her third consecutive number one in the United States.
For her work in the television series American Horror Story: Hotel, Gaga won a Golden Globe Award in 2016.
With global album and single sales of 27 million and 146 million respectively, as of January 2016, she is one of the best-selling musicians of all time. Her achievements include twelve Guinness World Records, three Brit Awards, and six Grammy Awards.
She is also the first artist to win the Songwriters Hall of Fame's Contemporary Icon Award. Other accolades include a Fashion Icon lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (2011), regular appearances on Billboard's Artists of the Year lists and Forbes's power and earnings rankings.
In 2013, Gaga finished second on Time's readers' poll of the most influential people of the past ten years, while in 2015, she was named Billboard's Woman of the Year.
She is known for her philanthropic work and social activism, including LGBT rights and her own non-profit organization, the Born This Way Foundation, which focuses on promoting youth empowerment and combating bullying.
Click here for more about Lady Gaga.
Tony Bennett
YouTube Video: Tony Bennett - I Left My Heart in San Francisco (from MTV Unplugged)
Pictured below: Tony Bennett's Season of Celebration: At 90, the Singer Reflects On a Life Rich with Collaborations, from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga
YouTube Video: Tony Bennett - I Left My Heart in San Francisco (from MTV Unplugged)
Pictured below: Tony Bennett's Season of Celebration: At 90, the Singer Reflects On a Life Rich with Collaborations, from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz.
He is also a painter, having created works under the name Anthony Benedetto that are on permanent public display in several institutions. He is the founder of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, New York.
Born and raised in Astoria to an Italian-American family, Bennett began singing at an early age. He fought in the final stages of World War II as a U.S. Army infantryman in the European Theater.
Afterward, he developed his singing technique, signed with Columbia Records and had his first number-one popular song with "Because of You" in 1951. Several top hits such as "Rags to Riches" followed in the early 1950s. He then refined his approach to encompass jazz singing.
He reached an artistic peak in the late 1950s with albums such as The Beat of My Heart and Basie Swings, Bennett Sings. In 1962, Bennett recorded his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco".
His career and his personal life experienced an extended downturn during the height of the rock music era.
Bennett staged a comeback in the late 1980s and 1990s, putting out gold record albums again and expanding his reach to the MTV Generation while keeping his musical style intact. He has won 19 Grammy Awards(including a Lifetime Achievement Award, presented in 2001) and two Emmy Awards, and was named an NEA Jazz Master and a Kennedy Center Honoree. He has sold over 50 million records worldwide.
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He is also a painter, having created works under the name Anthony Benedetto that are on permanent public display in several institutions. He is the founder of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, New York.
Born and raised in Astoria to an Italian-American family, Bennett began singing at an early age. He fought in the final stages of World War II as a U.S. Army infantryman in the European Theater.
Afterward, he developed his singing technique, signed with Columbia Records and had his first number-one popular song with "Because of You" in 1951. Several top hits such as "Rags to Riches" followed in the early 1950s. He then refined his approach to encompass jazz singing.
He reached an artistic peak in the late 1950s with albums such as The Beat of My Heart and Basie Swings, Bennett Sings. In 1962, Bennett recorded his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco".
His career and his personal life experienced an extended downturn during the height of the rock music era.
Bennett staged a comeback in the late 1980s and 1990s, putting out gold record albums again and expanding his reach to the MTV Generation while keeping his musical style intact. He has won 19 Grammy Awards(including a Lifetime Achievement Award, presented in 2001) and two Emmy Awards, and was named an NEA Jazz Master and a Kennedy Center Honoree. He has sold over 50 million records worldwide.
Click here for more about Tony Bennett.
Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong
YouTube Video of Louis Armstrong - Satchmo At His Best - Legends In Concert
Pictured: Louis Armstrong appearing on two magazine covers (Time and Life)
YouTube Video of Louis Armstrong - Satchmo At His Best - Legends In Concert
Pictured: Louis Armstrong appearing on two magazine covers (Time and Life)
Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in jazz.
Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance.
With his instantly recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at scat singing.
Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin color was secondary to his music in an America that was extremely racially divided.
He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation in the Little Rock Crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society which were highly restricted for black men of his era.
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Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance.
With his instantly recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at scat singing.
Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin color was secondary to his music in an America that was extremely racially divided.
He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation in the Little Rock Crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society which were highly restricted for black men of his era.
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Johnny Mathis
YouTube Video of Johnny Mathis singing "The Twelfth of Never"
Pictured: Johnny Mathis Greatest Hits Album Cover.
YouTube Video of Johnny Mathis singing "The Twelfth of Never"
Pictured: Johnny Mathis Greatest Hits Album Cover.
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music and jazz. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status and 73 making the Billboard charts to date.
Mathis has sold well over 350 million records worldwide, according to Guinness Book of World Records writer and charts music historian Paul Gambaccini and other sources. This makes Mathis the third biggest selling artist of the 20th century.
Although he is frequently described as a romantic singer, his discography includes jazz, traditional pop, Brazilian music, Spanish music, soul music, rhythm and blues, soft rock, Broadway theatre, Tin Pan Alley standards, some blues and country songs, and even a few disco songs for his album Mathis Magic in 1979. Mathis also recorded six albums of Christmas music.
In a 1968 interview, Mathis cited Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, and Bing Crosby among his musical influences.
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Mathis has sold well over 350 million records worldwide, according to Guinness Book of World Records writer and charts music historian Paul Gambaccini and other sources. This makes Mathis the third biggest selling artist of the 20th century.
Although he is frequently described as a romantic singer, his discography includes jazz, traditional pop, Brazilian music, Spanish music, soul music, rhythm and blues, soft rock, Broadway theatre, Tin Pan Alley standards, some blues and country songs, and even a few disco songs for his album Mathis Magic in 1979. Mathis also recorded six albums of Christmas music.
In a 1968 interview, Mathis cited Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, and Bing Crosby among his musical influences.
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Bing Crosby
YouTube Video of Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas"
Pictured: Bing Crosby Christmas Album Cover
YouTube Video of Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas"
Pictured: Bing Crosby Christmas Album Cover
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby, Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark warm bass-baritone voice made him the best-selling recording artist of the 20th century, having sold over one billion records, tapes, compact discs and digital downloads around the world.
The first multimedia star, from 1931 to 1954 Crosby was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses. His early career coincided with technical recording innovations such as the microphone. This allowed him to develop a laid-back, intimate singing style that influenced many of the popular male singers who followed him, including Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, and Dean Martin.
Yank magazine recognized Crosby as the person who had done the most for American G.I. morale during World War II and, during his peak years, around 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. Also in 1948, the Music Digest estimated that Crosby recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music.
Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Father Chuck O'Malley in the 1944 motion picture Going My Way, and was nominated for his reprise of the role in The Bells of St. Mary's opposite Ingrid Bergman the next year, becoming the first of six actors to be nominated twice for playing the same character.
In 1963, Crosby received the first Grammy Global Achievement Award. He is one of the 22 people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (a star for motion pictures, radio, and audio recording).
Crosby also exerted an important influence on the development of the postwar recording industry. He became the first performer to pre-record his radio shows and master his commercial recordings onto magnetic tape. Through the medium of recording, Crosby constructed his radio programs with the same directorial tools and craftsmanship (editing, retaking, rehearsal, time shifting) used in motion picture production, which became the industry standard.
In addition to his work with early tape recording, he helped to finance the development of videotape, bought television stations, bred racehorses, and co-owned the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team.
The first multimedia star, from 1931 to 1954 Crosby was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses. His early career coincided with technical recording innovations such as the microphone. This allowed him to develop a laid-back, intimate singing style that influenced many of the popular male singers who followed him, including Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, and Dean Martin.
Yank magazine recognized Crosby as the person who had done the most for American G.I. morale during World War II and, during his peak years, around 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. Also in 1948, the Music Digest estimated that Crosby recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music.
Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Father Chuck O'Malley in the 1944 motion picture Going My Way, and was nominated for his reprise of the role in The Bells of St. Mary's opposite Ingrid Bergman the next year, becoming the first of six actors to be nominated twice for playing the same character.
In 1963, Crosby received the first Grammy Global Achievement Award. He is one of the 22 people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (a star for motion pictures, radio, and audio recording).
Crosby also exerted an important influence on the development of the postwar recording industry. He became the first performer to pre-record his radio shows and master his commercial recordings onto magnetic tape. Through the medium of recording, Crosby constructed his radio programs with the same directorial tools and craftsmanship (editing, retaking, rehearsal, time shifting) used in motion picture production, which became the industry standard.
In addition to his work with early tape recording, he helped to finance the development of videotape, bought television stations, bred racehorses, and co-owned the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team.
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou, 21 July 1948), commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, humanitarian, and education philanthropist.
His 1967 debut album reached the top 10 in the UK, and the album's title song "Matthew and Son" charted at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
His albums Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971) were both certified triple platinum in the US by the RIAA. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and Islamic music.
His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, and fifteen weeks at number one in the Australian ARIA Charts. He earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for "The First Cut Is the Deepest", and the song has been a hit for four different artists.
His other hit songs include "Father and Son", "Wild World", "Peace Train", "Moonshadow", and "Morning Has Broken". In 2007 he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection.
In December 1977, Stevens converted to Islam, and he adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned all his guitars for charity and left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He was embroiled in a long-running controversy regarding comments he made in 1989 about the death fatwa on author Salman Rushdie.
He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace from two organisations founded by Mikhail Gorbachev.
In 2006, he returned to pop music – releasing his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, titled An Other Cup. With that release and subsequent ones, he dropped the surname "Islam" from the album cover art – using the stage name Yusuf as a mononym.
In 2009, he released the album Roadsinger, and in 2014, he released the album Tell 'Em I'm Gone, and began his first US tour since 1978. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. His second North American tour since his resurgence, featuring 12 shows in intimate venues, began on 12 September 2016.
For more about Cat Stevens, click here.
His 1967 debut album reached the top 10 in the UK, and the album's title song "Matthew and Son" charted at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
His albums Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971) were both certified triple platinum in the US by the RIAA. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and Islamic music.
His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, and fifteen weeks at number one in the Australian ARIA Charts. He earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for "The First Cut Is the Deepest", and the song has been a hit for four different artists.
His other hit songs include "Father and Son", "Wild World", "Peace Train", "Moonshadow", and "Morning Has Broken". In 2007 he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection.
In December 1977, Stevens converted to Islam, and he adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned all his guitars for charity and left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He was embroiled in a long-running controversy regarding comments he made in 1989 about the death fatwa on author Salman Rushdie.
He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace from two organisations founded by Mikhail Gorbachev.
In 2006, he returned to pop music – releasing his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, titled An Other Cup. With that release and subsequent ones, he dropped the surname "Islam" from the album cover art – using the stage name Yusuf as a mononym.
In 2009, he released the album Roadsinger, and in 2014, he released the album Tell 'Em I'm Gone, and began his first US tour since 1978. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. His second North American tour since his resurgence, featuring 12 shows in intimate venues, began on 12 September 2016.
For more about Cat Stevens, click here.
Conway Twitty (born Harold Lloyd Jenkins; September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993) was an American country music singer. He also had success in the rock and roll, rock, R&B, and pop genres.
From 1971 to 1976, Twitty received a string of Country Music Association awards for duets with Loretta Lynn. Although never a member of the Grand Ole Opry, he was inducted into both the Country Music and Rockabilly Halls of Fame.
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From 1971 to 1976, Twitty received a string of Country Music Association awards for duets with Loretta Lynn. Although never a member of the Grand Ole Opry, he was inducted into both the Country Music and Rockabilly Halls of Fame.
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Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. CC OOnt (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s.
He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and internationally as a folk-rock legend.
Lightfoot's songs, including "For Lovin' Me", "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Ribbon of Darkness"—a number one hit on the U.S. country chart with Marty Robbins's cover in 1965—and "Black Day in July" about the 1967 Detroit riot, brought him international recognition in the 1960s.
He experienced chart success in Canada with his own recordings, beginning in 1962 with the No. 3 hit "(Remember Me) I'm the One". Lightfoot's recordings then made an impact on the international music charts as well in the 1970s, with songs such as "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970) his first U.S. top 10 hit reaching #5. "Sundown" (1974) a #1 hit, "Carefree Highway" (1974) which followed reaching #10, "Rainy Day People" (1975) at #25, and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976) (No. 2, Hot 100).
Some of Lightfoot's albums have achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally. His songs have been recorded by some of the world's most renowned recording artists, including:
Robbie Robertson of the Band described Lightfoot as "a national treasure". Bob Dylan, also a Lightfoot fan, called him one of his favorite songwriters and, in an often-quoted tribute, Dylan observed that when he heard a Lightfoot song he wished "it would last forever".
Lightfoot was a featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (arts) in 1979 and the Companion of the Order of Canada—Canada's highest civilian honour—in 2003.
In November 1997, Lightfoot was awarded the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts.
On February 6, 2012, Lightfoot was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. In June that year he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. On June 6, 2015, Lightfoot received an honorary doctorate of music in his hometown of Orillia from Lakehead University.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for further amplification about Gordon Lightfoot:
He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and internationally as a folk-rock legend.
Lightfoot's songs, including "For Lovin' Me", "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Ribbon of Darkness"—a number one hit on the U.S. country chart with Marty Robbins's cover in 1965—and "Black Day in July" about the 1967 Detroit riot, brought him international recognition in the 1960s.
He experienced chart success in Canada with his own recordings, beginning in 1962 with the No. 3 hit "(Remember Me) I'm the One". Lightfoot's recordings then made an impact on the international music charts as well in the 1970s, with songs such as "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970) his first U.S. top 10 hit reaching #5. "Sundown" (1974) a #1 hit, "Carefree Highway" (1974) which followed reaching #10, "Rainy Day People" (1975) at #25, and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976) (No. 2, Hot 100).
Some of Lightfoot's albums have achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally. His songs have been recorded by some of the world's most renowned recording artists, including:
- Elvis Presley,
- Johnny Cash,
- Hank Williams Jr.,
- The Kingston Trio,
- Marty Robbins,
- Jerry Lee Lewis,
- Neil Young,
- Bob Dylan,
- Judy Collins,
- Barbra Streisand,
- Johnny Mathis,
- Herb Alpert,
- Harry Belafonte,
- Scott Walker,
- Sarah McLachlan,
- Eric Clapton,
- John Mellencamp,
- Jack Jones,
- Bobby Vee,
- Roger Whittaker,
- Peter, Paul and Mary,
- Glen Campbell,
- The Irish Rovers,
- Nico,
- Olivia Newton-John,
- Paul Weller,
- and Ultra Naté.
Robbie Robertson of the Band described Lightfoot as "a national treasure". Bob Dylan, also a Lightfoot fan, called him one of his favorite songwriters and, in an often-quoted tribute, Dylan observed that when he heard a Lightfoot song he wished "it would last forever".
Lightfoot was a featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (arts) in 1979 and the Companion of the Order of Canada—Canada's highest civilian honour—in 2003.
In November 1997, Lightfoot was awarded the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts.
On February 6, 2012, Lightfoot was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. In June that year he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. On June 6, 2015, Lightfoot received an honorary doctorate of music in his hometown of Orillia from Lakehead University.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for further amplification about Gordon Lightfoot:
- Early years
- United Artists years
- Warner Bros./Reprise years
- Illness and return to performing
- Legacy
- Sound
- Personal life
- Honours and awards
- Discography
- See also:
Robert Thomas Velline (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American pop singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s. According to Billboard magazine, he had thirty-eight Hot 100 chart hits, ten of which reached the Top 20. He had six gold singles in his career.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Bobby Vee:
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Bobby Vee:
Gwen Renée Stefani ( born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and fashion designer. She is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt that experienced major success after their breakthrough studio album Tragic Kingdom (1995) along with various successful singles, including "Just a Girl", "Don't Speak", "Hey Baby", and "It's My Life".
During the band's hiatus, Stefani embarked on a solo pop career in 2004 by releasing her debut studio album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Inspired by pop music from the 1980s, the album was met with both critical and commercial success.
It spawned three commercially successful singles: "What You Waiting For?", "Rich Girl", and "Hollaback Girl", the latter reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 while also becoming the first US download to sell one million copies.
In 2006 Stefani released her second studio album The Sweet Escape. The album produced two successful singles: "Wind It Up" and the album's title track "The Sweet Escape". Her third solo album This Is What the Truth Feels Like was released in March 2016 and became her first solo number-one album on the Billboard 200.
Stefani has won three Grammy Awards. As a solo artist she has received various accolades, including an American Music Award, Brit Award, World Music Award and two Billboard Music Awards.
In 2003, she debuted her clothing line L.A.M.B. and expanded her collection with the 2005 Harajuku Lovers line, drawing inspiration from Japanese culture and fashion. Stefani performs and makes public appearances with four back-up dancers known as the Harajuku Girls.
She was married to British musician Gavin Rossdale from 2002 to 2015 and they have three sons.
Billboard magazine ranked Stefani the 54th most successful artist and 37th most successful Hot 100 artist of the 2000–09 decade. VH1 ranked her 13th on their "100 Greatest Women in Music" list in 2012. Including her work with No Doubt, Stefani has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Gwen Stefani:
During the band's hiatus, Stefani embarked on a solo pop career in 2004 by releasing her debut studio album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Inspired by pop music from the 1980s, the album was met with both critical and commercial success.
It spawned three commercially successful singles: "What You Waiting For?", "Rich Girl", and "Hollaback Girl", the latter reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 while also becoming the first US download to sell one million copies.
In 2006 Stefani released her second studio album The Sweet Escape. The album produced two successful singles: "Wind It Up" and the album's title track "The Sweet Escape". Her third solo album This Is What the Truth Feels Like was released in March 2016 and became her first solo number-one album on the Billboard 200.
Stefani has won three Grammy Awards. As a solo artist she has received various accolades, including an American Music Award, Brit Award, World Music Award and two Billboard Music Awards.
In 2003, she debuted her clothing line L.A.M.B. and expanded her collection with the 2005 Harajuku Lovers line, drawing inspiration from Japanese culture and fashion. Stefani performs and makes public appearances with four back-up dancers known as the Harajuku Girls.
She was married to British musician Gavin Rossdale from 2002 to 2015 and they have three sons.
Billboard magazine ranked Stefani the 54th most successful artist and 37th most successful Hot 100 artist of the 2000–09 decade. VH1 ranked her 13th on their "100 Greatest Women in Music" list in 2012. Including her work with No Doubt, Stefani has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Gwen Stefani:
- Life and career
- Other ventures
- Personal life
- Artistry
- Public image
- Achievements and legacy
- Philanthropy
- Discography
- Tours
- Filmography
Harry Belafonte
YouTube Video: Harry Belafonte - Banana Boat Song (live) 1997
Pictured: Three album covers of music by Harry Belafonte
YouTube Video: Harry Belafonte - Banana Boat Song (live) 1997
Pictured: Three album covers of music by Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born March 1, 1927) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and social activist. One of the most successful African-American pop stars in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s.
His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) is the first million selling LP by a single artist. Belafonte is perhaps best known for singing "The Banana Boat Song", with its signature lyric "Day-O". He has recorded in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards.
He has also starred in several films, most notably in Otto Preminger's hit musical Carmen Jones (1954), Island in the Sun (1957) and Robert Wise's Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).
Belafonte was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and one of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s confidants.
Throughout his career he has been an advocate for political and humanitarian causes, such as the anti-apartheid movement and USA for Africa. Since 1987 he has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In recent years he has been a vocal critic of the policies of both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidential administrations. Harry Belafonte now acts as the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues.
Belafonte has won three Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. In 1989 he received the Kennedy Center Honors. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994. In 2014, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy’s 6th Annual Governors Awards. In March 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Harry Belafonte:
His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) is the first million selling LP by a single artist. Belafonte is perhaps best known for singing "The Banana Boat Song", with its signature lyric "Day-O". He has recorded in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards.
He has also starred in several films, most notably in Otto Preminger's hit musical Carmen Jones (1954), Island in the Sun (1957) and Robert Wise's Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).
Belafonte was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and one of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s confidants.
Throughout his career he has been an advocate for political and humanitarian causes, such as the anti-apartheid movement and USA for Africa. Since 1987 he has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In recent years he has been a vocal critic of the policies of both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidential administrations. Harry Belafonte now acts as the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues.
Belafonte has won three Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. In 1989 he received the Kennedy Center Honors. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994. In 2014, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy’s 6th Annual Governors Awards. In March 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Harry Belafonte:
- Early life
- Music career
- Film career
- Personal life
- Political and humanitarian activism
- Discography
- Filmography
- Television work
- Concert videos
- Stage work
- See also List of peace activists
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins (born May 1, 1939), affectionately known as "Judy Blue Eyes", is an American singer and songwriter known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records (which has included folk music, show tunes, pop music, rock and roll and standards) and for her social activism.
Collins' debut album A Maid of Constant Sorrow was released in 1961, but it was the lead single from her 1967 album Wildflowers, "Both Sides, Now" — written by Joni Mitchell — that gave Collins international prominence. The single hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and won Collins her first Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance. She enjoyed further success with her recordings of "Someday Soon", "Chelsea Morning", "Amazing Grace", and "Cook with Honey".
Collins experienced the biggest success of her career with her recording of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" from her best-selling 1975 album Judith. The single charted on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in 1975 and then again in 1977, spending 27 nonconsecutive weeks on the chart and earning Collins a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, as well as a Grammy Award for Sondheim for Song of the Year.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Judy Collins:
Collins' debut album A Maid of Constant Sorrow was released in 1961, but it was the lead single from her 1967 album Wildflowers, "Both Sides, Now" — written by Joni Mitchell — that gave Collins international prominence. The single hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and won Collins her first Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance. She enjoyed further success with her recordings of "Someday Soon", "Chelsea Morning", "Amazing Grace", and "Cook with Honey".
Collins experienced the biggest success of her career with her recording of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" from her best-selling 1975 album Judith. The single charted on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in 1975 and then again in 1977, spending 27 nonconsecutive weeks on the chart and earning Collins a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, as well as a Grammy Award for Sondheim for Song of the Year.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Judy Collins:
- Musical career
- Activism
- Personal life
- Awards and recognition
- Discography
- Charted singles
- Filmography
- Bibliography
- RIAA Certifications
- See also: List of peace activists
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell, CC (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and painter. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever", and AllMusic has stated, "When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century".
Drawing from folk, pop, rock and jazz, Mitchell's songs often reflect social and environmental ideals as well as her feelings about romance, confusion, disillusionment and joy.
Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatchewan and western Canada before busking in the streets and shoddy nightclubs of Toronto.
In 1965, she moved to the United States and began touring. Some of her original songs ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "The Circle Game") were covered by folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album in 1968.
Settling in Southern California, Mitchell, with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock", helped define an era and a generation. Her 1971 recording Blue was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Mitchell switched labels and began moving toward jazz rhythms by way of lush pop textures on 1974's Court and Spark, her best-selling LP, featuring the radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris".
Her wide-ranging contralto vocals and distinctive open-tuned guitar and piano compositions grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she explored jazz, melding it with influences of rock and roll, R&B, classical music, and non-western beats.
In the late 1970s, she began working closely with noted jazz musicians, among them Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, and Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings. She turned again toward pop, embraced electronic music, and engaged in political protest.
She is the sole producer credited on most of her albums, including all her work in the 1970s. A blunt critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th, and reportedly last, album of original songs in 2007.
With roots in visual art, Mitchell designed her own album covers. She describes herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance".
Click here for more about Joni Mitchell.
Drawing from folk, pop, rock and jazz, Mitchell's songs often reflect social and environmental ideals as well as her feelings about romance, confusion, disillusionment and joy.
Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatchewan and western Canada before busking in the streets and shoddy nightclubs of Toronto.
In 1965, she moved to the United States and began touring. Some of her original songs ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "The Circle Game") were covered by folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album in 1968.
Settling in Southern California, Mitchell, with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock", helped define an era and a generation. Her 1971 recording Blue was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Mitchell switched labels and began moving toward jazz rhythms by way of lush pop textures on 1974's Court and Spark, her best-selling LP, featuring the radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris".
Her wide-ranging contralto vocals and distinctive open-tuned guitar and piano compositions grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she explored jazz, melding it with influences of rock and roll, R&B, classical music, and non-western beats.
In the late 1970s, she began working closely with noted jazz musicians, among them Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, and Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings. She turned again toward pop, embraced electronic music, and engaged in political protest.
She is the sole producer credited on most of her albums, including all her work in the 1970s. A blunt critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th, and reportedly last, album of original songs in 2007.
With roots in visual art, Mitchell designed her own album covers. She describes herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance".
Click here for more about Joni Mitchell.
Henry Mancini
YouTube Video The Pink Panther Theme - Henry Mancini & His Orchestra
Pictured: Two Album Covers for Henry Mancini
YouTube Video The Pink Panther Theme - Henry Mancini & His Orchestra
Pictured: Two Album Covers for Henry Mancini
Enrico Nicola "Henry" Mancini (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor and arranger, who is best remembered for his film and television scores. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and twenty Grammy Awards, plus a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
His best known works include the jazz-idiom theme to The Pink Panther film series ("The Pink Panther Theme"), his "Moon River" to Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the theme to the Peter Gunn television series. The Peter Gunn theme won the first Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Mancini also had a long collaboration on film scores with the film director Blake Edwards.
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His best known works include the jazz-idiom theme to The Pink Panther film series ("The Pink Panther Theme"), his "Moon River" to Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the theme to the Peter Gunn television series. The Peter Gunn theme won the first Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Mancini also had a long collaboration on film scores with the film director Blake Edwards.
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Herb Alpert
YouTube Video Herb Alpert - This Guy's In Love With You
Pictured: Herb Alpert (L) In concert; (R) being awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama in 2013
YouTube Video Herb Alpert - This Guy's In Love With You
Pictured: Herb Alpert (L) In concert; (R) being awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama in 2013
Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB.
Alpert is also a recording industry executive, the "A" of A&M Records, a recording label he and business partner Jerry Moss founded and eventually sold to PolyGram.
Alpert also has created abstract expressionist paintings and sculpture over two decades, which are publicly displayed on occasion. Alpert and wife, Lani Hall, are substantial philanthropists through the operation of the Herb Alpert Foundation.
Alpert's musical accomplishments include five No. 1 albums and 28 albums total on the Billboard Album chart, nine Grammy Awards, fourteen platinum albums, and fifteen gold albums.
Alpert has sold 72 million records worldwide. Alpert is the only recording artist to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop chart as both a vocalist ("This Guy's in Love with You", 1968), and an instrumentalist ("Rise", 1979).
For more about Herb Alpert, click on any of the following blue hyperlinks:
Alpert is also a recording industry executive, the "A" of A&M Records, a recording label he and business partner Jerry Moss founded and eventually sold to PolyGram.
Alpert also has created abstract expressionist paintings and sculpture over two decades, which are publicly displayed on occasion. Alpert and wife, Lani Hall, are substantial philanthropists through the operation of the Herb Alpert Foundation.
Alpert's musical accomplishments include five No. 1 albums and 28 albums total on the Billboard Album chart, nine Grammy Awards, fourteen platinum albums, and fifteen gold albums.
Alpert has sold 72 million records worldwide. Alpert is the only recording artist to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop chart as both a vocalist ("This Guy's in Love with You", 1968), and an instrumentalist ("Rise", 1979).
For more about Herb Alpert, click on any of the following blue hyperlinks:
- Early life and career
- The Tijuana Brass years
- Post-Brass musical career
- A&M Records and Almo Sounds
- Visual arts
- Awards and honors
- Charitable activities
- Business Ventures
- Personal life
- In popular culture
- Singles
- Discography
- See also:
- 20th century brass instrumentalists
- Herb Alpert: Music for Your Eyes documentary (2003)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
- List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
- List of number-one hits (United States)
- List of trumpeter
Lena Horne
YouTube Video of Lena Horne singing "Stormy Weather"
Pictured: Two Album Covers by Lena Horne
YouTube Video of Lena Horne singing "Stormy Weather"
Pictured: Two Album Covers by Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an African American jazz and pop music singer, dancer, actress, and civil rights activist.
Horne's career spanned over 70 years appearing in film, television, and theater. Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of 16 and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the 1943 films Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather.
Because of the Red Scare and her political activism, Horne found herself blacklisted and unable to get work in Hollywood.
Returning to her roots as a nightclub performer, Horne took part in the March on Washington in August 1963 and continued to work as a performer, both in nightclubs and on television while releasing well-received record albums.
She announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than three hundred performances on Broadway.
She then toured the country in the show, earning numerous awards and accolades. Horne continued recording and performing sporadically into the 1990s, disappearing from the public eye in 2000.
Horne died of congestive heart failure on May 9, 2010, at the age of 92.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for additional background about Lena Horne:
Horne's career spanned over 70 years appearing in film, television, and theater. Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of 16 and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the 1943 films Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather.
Because of the Red Scare and her political activism, Horne found herself blacklisted and unable to get work in Hollywood.
Returning to her roots as a nightclub performer, Horne took part in the March on Washington in August 1963 and continued to work as a performer, both in nightclubs and on television while releasing well-received record albums.
She announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than three hundred performances on Broadway.
She then toured the country in the show, earning numerous awards and accolades. Horne continued recording and performing sporadically into the 1990s, disappearing from the public eye in 2000.
Horne died of congestive heart failure on May 9, 2010, at the age of 92.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for additional background about Lena Horne:
- Early life
- Career
- Civil rights activism
- Personal life
- Death
- Legacy
- Awards and recognition
- Filmography
- Discography
- Albums
- Singles including as featured vocalist
Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1969 or 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress.
In 1990, she rose to fame with the release of "Vision of Love" from her eponymous debut album. The album produced four chart-topping singles in the US and began what would become a string of commercially successful albums which solidified the singer as Columbia's highest selling act.
Carey and Boyz II Men spent a record sixteen weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995–1996 with "One Sweet Day", which remains the longest-running number-one song in US chart history.
Following a contentious divorce from Sony Music head Tommy Mottola, Carey adopted a new image and traversed towards hip hop with the release of Butterfly (1997). In 1998, she was honored as the world's best-selling recording artist of the 1990s at the World Music Awards and subsequently named the best-selling female artist of the millennium in 2000.
Carey parted with Columbia in 2000, and signed a record-breaking $100 million recording contract with Virgin Records America. In the weeks prior to the release of her film Glitter and its accompanying soundtrack in 2001, she suffered a physical and emotional breakdown and was hospitalized for severe exhaustion.
The project was poorly received and led to a general decline in the singer's career. Carey's recording contract was bought out for $50 million by Virgin and she signed a multi-million dollar deal with Island Records the following year.
After a relatively unsuccessful period, she returned to the top of music charts with The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). The album became the best-selling album in the US and the second best-seller worldwide in 2005 and produced "We Belong Together", which became her most successful single of the 2000s, and was later named "Song of the Decade" by Billboard.
Carey once again ventured into film with a well-received supporting role in Precious (2009), and was awarded the "Breakthrough Performance Award" at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Throughout her career, Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. According to the RIAA, she is the third-best-selling female artist in the United States, with 63.5 million certified albums.
With the release of "Touch My Body" (2008), Carey gained her 18th number-one single in the United States, more than any other solo artist.
In 2012, the singer was ranked second on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Women in Music". Aside from her commercial accomplishments, Carey has won 5 Grammy Awards, 19 World Music Awards, 11 American Music Awards, and 14 Billboard Music Awards and has been consistently credited with inspiring a generation of singers.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Mariah Carey:
In 1990, she rose to fame with the release of "Vision of Love" from her eponymous debut album. The album produced four chart-topping singles in the US and began what would become a string of commercially successful albums which solidified the singer as Columbia's highest selling act.
Carey and Boyz II Men spent a record sixteen weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995–1996 with "One Sweet Day", which remains the longest-running number-one song in US chart history.
Following a contentious divorce from Sony Music head Tommy Mottola, Carey adopted a new image and traversed towards hip hop with the release of Butterfly (1997). In 1998, she was honored as the world's best-selling recording artist of the 1990s at the World Music Awards and subsequently named the best-selling female artist of the millennium in 2000.
Carey parted with Columbia in 2000, and signed a record-breaking $100 million recording contract with Virgin Records America. In the weeks prior to the release of her film Glitter and its accompanying soundtrack in 2001, she suffered a physical and emotional breakdown and was hospitalized for severe exhaustion.
The project was poorly received and led to a general decline in the singer's career. Carey's recording contract was bought out for $50 million by Virgin and she signed a multi-million dollar deal with Island Records the following year.
After a relatively unsuccessful period, she returned to the top of music charts with The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). The album became the best-selling album in the US and the second best-seller worldwide in 2005 and produced "We Belong Together", which became her most successful single of the 2000s, and was later named "Song of the Decade" by Billboard.
Carey once again ventured into film with a well-received supporting role in Precious (2009), and was awarded the "Breakthrough Performance Award" at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Throughout her career, Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. According to the RIAA, she is the third-best-selling female artist in the United States, with 63.5 million certified albums.
With the release of "Touch My Body" (2008), Carey gained her 18th number-one single in the United States, more than any other solo artist.
In 2012, the singer was ranked second on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Women in Music". Aside from her commercial accomplishments, Carey has won 5 Grammy Awards, 19 World Music Awards, 11 American Music Awards, and 14 Billboard Music Awards and has been consistently credited with inspiring a generation of singers.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Mariah Carey:
- Early life
- Career
- 1988–1992: Mariah Carey and Emotions
- 1993–1996: Music Box and Daydream
- 1997–2000: New image and independence, Butterfly, and Rainbow
- 2001–2004: Personal and professional struggles, Glitter, and Charmbracelet
- 2005–2007: Resurgence with The Emancipation of Mimi
- 2008–2009: E=MC², Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, and Precious
- 2010–2014: Merry Christmas II You, American Idol, and Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse
- 2015–present: Residency show, A Christmas Melody, and Mariah's World
- Philanthropy and other activities
- Artistry
- Legacy
- Personal life
- Awards and honors
- Discography
- Filmography
- Concerts
- See also:
- List of best-selling singles
- List of best-selling albums
- List of best-selling music artists
- List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
- List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones
- List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100
- List of artists who reached number one on the US dance chart
- Artists with the most number-ones on the US dance chart
Christina María Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. Born in Staten Island, New York and raised in Rochester and Wexford, Pennsylvania, she appeared on the television series Star Search and The Mickey Mouse Club in her early years.
After recording "Reflection", the theme for Disney's 1998 film Mulan, Aguilera signed with RCA Records.
She rose to prominence with her 1999 self-titled debut album that spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number one singles; "Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)".
The following year, Aguilera released two studio albums; the Spanish-language album Mi Reflejo and the holiday album My Kind of Christmas. She assumed creative control for her fourth studio album, Stripped (2002), which produced "Dirrty", "Beautiful", and "Fighter".
Aguilera's fifth studio album, Back to Basics (2006), debuted at number one on the album charts of ten countries and spawned the tracks "Ain't No Other Man" and "Hurt".
In 2010, Aguilera released her sixth studio album Bionic and starred in the film Burlesque.
The following year, she debuted as a coach on the reality competition television series The Voice; she has since appeared on six of its eleven seasons.
Her seventh studio album, Lotus, was released in 2012. Aguilera has also been featured on several successful collaborations during her career, including "Lady Marmalade", "Moves like Jagger", and "Say Something".
Aguilera has been recognized as a pop icon and earned the title "Pop Princess" in her early years. Her work has earned her five Grammy Awards, one Latin Grammy Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has sold over 17.9 million albums in the United States as of 2014 and 50 million albums worldwide as of 2015.
In 2009, she ranked at number 58 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, thereby becoming the youngest and the only artist under 30 to be named.
Billboard recognized her as the 20th most successful artist of the 2000s, and Time listed Aguilera among the top 100 Most Influential People in the World of 2013. Aside from her work in the entertainment industry, Aguilera is involved in charitable activities through human rights, world issues, and her work as a UN ambassador for the World Food Programme.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Christina Aguilera:
After recording "Reflection", the theme for Disney's 1998 film Mulan, Aguilera signed with RCA Records.
She rose to prominence with her 1999 self-titled debut album that spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number one singles; "Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)".
The following year, Aguilera released two studio albums; the Spanish-language album Mi Reflejo and the holiday album My Kind of Christmas. She assumed creative control for her fourth studio album, Stripped (2002), which produced "Dirrty", "Beautiful", and "Fighter".
Aguilera's fifth studio album, Back to Basics (2006), debuted at number one on the album charts of ten countries and spawned the tracks "Ain't No Other Man" and "Hurt".
In 2010, Aguilera released her sixth studio album Bionic and starred in the film Burlesque.
The following year, she debuted as a coach on the reality competition television series The Voice; she has since appeared on six of its eleven seasons.
Her seventh studio album, Lotus, was released in 2012. Aguilera has also been featured on several successful collaborations during her career, including "Lady Marmalade", "Moves like Jagger", and "Say Something".
Aguilera has been recognized as a pop icon and earned the title "Pop Princess" in her early years. Her work has earned her five Grammy Awards, one Latin Grammy Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has sold over 17.9 million albums in the United States as of 2014 and 50 million albums worldwide as of 2015.
In 2009, she ranked at number 58 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, thereby becoming the youngest and the only artist under 30 to be named.
Billboard recognized her as the 20th most successful artist of the 2000s, and Time listed Aguilera among the top 100 Most Influential People in the World of 2013. Aside from her work in the entertainment industry, Aguilera is involved in charitable activities through human rights, world issues, and her work as a UN ambassador for the World Food Programme.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Christina Aguilera:
Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato (born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress.
After making her debut as a child actress in Barney & Friends, Lovato rose to prominence in 2008 when she starred in the Disney Channel television film Camp Rock and signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records.
Her debut album, Don't Forget (2008), debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. In 2009, Lovato received her own television series, Sonny with a Chance. The following album, Here We Go Again, debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, while its title track became her first single to reach the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at fifteen.
Both albums have been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
After the release of additional television films and their soundtracks in 2010, Lovato's personal issues put her career on hiatus and ended Sonny with a Chance after its second season. Her third album, Unbroken (2011), addresses several of her difficulties.
Its lead single, "Skyscraper", became Lovato's second top 10 entry in the US, while its second single, "Give Your Heart a Break", was certified triple platinum in the country. Lovato was a judge and mentor on the American version of The X Factor in 2012 and 2013.
Her third album, Demi (2013), had first-week sales of 110,000 copies (the best debut week of Lovato's recording career) and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. Its lead single, "Heart Attack", became her third top 10 in the US and her first in the UK. Lovato's fifth album, Confident (2015), debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Its lead single "Cool for the Summer" was eventually certified double platinum by the RIAA.
Musically, Lovato is considered a pop, pop rock, and R&B artist. Lovato has received a number of accolades, including an MTV Video Music Award, 13 Teen Choice Awards, five People's Choice Awards, an ALMA Award, a Latin American Music Award and a Grammy Award nomination.
In 2013, Maxim ranked her 26th on its Hot 100 list and Billboard ranked her second on its Social 50 Artists of the Year list. Outside the entertainment industry, Lovato is involved with several social and environmental causes. In May 2013, she was cited for her dedication as a mentor to teens and young adults with mental health challenges at a National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day hosted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in Washington, D.C.
She has also become an advocate for the LGBT community. In 2014, she was announced as the Grand Marshal for LA Pride week, and that same year she became the face for Human Rights Campaign's Americans for Marriage Equality Campaign. In April 2016, Lovato was honored with the GLAAD Vanguard Award for making a significant difference in promoting equal rights for LGBT people.
After making her debut as a child actress in Barney & Friends, Lovato rose to prominence in 2008 when she starred in the Disney Channel television film Camp Rock and signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records.
Her debut album, Don't Forget (2008), debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. In 2009, Lovato received her own television series, Sonny with a Chance. The following album, Here We Go Again, debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, while its title track became her first single to reach the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at fifteen.
Both albums have been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
After the release of additional television films and their soundtracks in 2010, Lovato's personal issues put her career on hiatus and ended Sonny with a Chance after its second season. Her third album, Unbroken (2011), addresses several of her difficulties.
Its lead single, "Skyscraper", became Lovato's second top 10 entry in the US, while its second single, "Give Your Heart a Break", was certified triple platinum in the country. Lovato was a judge and mentor on the American version of The X Factor in 2012 and 2013.
Her third album, Demi (2013), had first-week sales of 110,000 copies (the best debut week of Lovato's recording career) and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. Its lead single, "Heart Attack", became her third top 10 in the US and her first in the UK. Lovato's fifth album, Confident (2015), debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Its lead single "Cool for the Summer" was eventually certified double platinum by the RIAA.
Musically, Lovato is considered a pop, pop rock, and R&B artist. Lovato has received a number of accolades, including an MTV Video Music Award, 13 Teen Choice Awards, five People's Choice Awards, an ALMA Award, a Latin American Music Award and a Grammy Award nomination.
In 2013, Maxim ranked her 26th on its Hot 100 list and Billboard ranked her second on its Social 50 Artists of the Year list. Outside the entertainment industry, Lovato is involved with several social and environmental causes. In May 2013, she was cited for her dedication as a mentor to teens and young adults with mental health challenges at a National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day hosted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in Washington, D.C.
She has also become an advocate for the LGBT community. In 2014, she was announced as the Grand Marshal for LA Pride week, and that same year she became the face for Human Rights Campaign's Americans for Marriage Equality Campaign. In April 2016, Lovato was honored with the GLAAD Vanguard Award for making a significant difference in promoting equal rights for LGBT people.
Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), better known by his stage name Elvis Costello, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as part of London's pub rock scene in the early 1970s and later became associated with the first wave of the British punk and new wave movement that emerged in the mid-to-late 1970s.
His critically acclaimed debut album, My Aim Is True, was released in 1977. Shortly after recording it, he formed the Attractions as his backing band.
His second album, This Year's Model, was released in 1978, and was ranked number 11 by Rolling Stone on its list of the best albums from 1967–1987. His third album, Armed Forces, was released in 1979, and features his most successful single "Oliver's Army". His first three albums all appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Costello and the Attractions toured and recorded together for the better part of a decade, though differences between them caused a split by 1986. Much of Costello's work since has been as a solo artist, though reunions with members of the Attractions have been credited to the group over the years. Steeped in wordplay, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broad.
His music has drawn on many diverse genres; one critic described him as a "pop encyclopaedia", able to "reinvent the past in his own image".
He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award, and has twice been nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male Singer. In 2003, Costello and the Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Costello number 80 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Costello has co-written several original songs for motion pictures, including "God Give Me Strength" from Grace of My Heart (1996, with Burt Bacharach) and "The Scarlet Tide" from Cold Mountain (2003, with T-Bone Burnett). For the latter, Costello was nominated (along with Burnett) for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
His critically acclaimed debut album, My Aim Is True, was released in 1977. Shortly after recording it, he formed the Attractions as his backing band.
His second album, This Year's Model, was released in 1978, and was ranked number 11 by Rolling Stone on its list of the best albums from 1967–1987. His third album, Armed Forces, was released in 1979, and features his most successful single "Oliver's Army". His first three albums all appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Costello and the Attractions toured and recorded together for the better part of a decade, though differences between them caused a split by 1986. Much of Costello's work since has been as a solo artist, though reunions with members of the Attractions have been credited to the group over the years. Steeped in wordplay, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broad.
His music has drawn on many diverse genres; one critic described him as a "pop encyclopaedia", able to "reinvent the past in his own image".
He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award, and has twice been nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male Singer. In 2003, Costello and the Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Costello number 80 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Costello has co-written several original songs for motion pictures, including "God Give Me Strength" from Grace of My Heart (1996, with Burt Bacharach) and "The Scarlet Tide" from Cold Mountain (2003, with T-Bone Burnett). For the latter, Costello was nominated (along with Burnett) for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
Harry Chapin
YouTube Video: Harry Chapin - Cat's in the Cradle 1977
Pictured: Two Harry Chapin Album Covers
YouTube Video: Harry Chapin - Cat's in the Cradle 1977
Pictured: Two Harry Chapin Album Covers
Harry Forster Chapin (December 7, 1942 – July 16, 1981) was an American singer-songwriter best known for his folk rock songs including "Taxi", "W*O*L*D", and the No. 1 hit "Cat's in the Cradle".
Chapin was also a dedicated humanitarian who fought to end world hunger; he was a key participant in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977. In 1987, Chapin was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his humanitarian work.
Click here for more about Harry Chapin.
Chapin was also a dedicated humanitarian who fought to end world hunger; he was a key participant in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977. In 1987, Chapin was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his humanitarian work.
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James Joseph "Jim" Croce (January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and popular rock singer of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and singles. His songs "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "Time in a Bottle" reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
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Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and singles. His songs "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "Time in a Bottle" reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
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Michael Bolotin (born February 26, 1953), known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter.
Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo albums and those he recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack. He became better known for his series of pop rock ballads, recorded after a stylistic change in the late 1980s.
Bolton's achievements include selling more than 75 million records, recording eight top 10 albums and two number-one singles on the Billboard charts, as well as winning multiple American Music Awards and Grammy Awards.
Click here for more about Michael Bolton.
Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo albums and those he recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack. He became better known for his series of pop rock ballads, recorded after a stylistic change in the late 1980s.
Bolton's achievements include selling more than 75 million records, recording eight top 10 albums and two number-one singles on the Billboard charts, as well as winning multiple American Music Awards and Grammy Awards.
Click here for more about Michael Bolton.
Michael Steven Bublé (born 9 September 1975) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. He was recognized as an Italian citizen since birth by jure sanguinis in 2005. He has won several awards, including four Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards.
His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found a worldwide audience with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible which reached number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, the UK Albums Chart, the US Billboard 200, the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and several European charts.
Bublé's 2009 album Crazy Love debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 after three days of sales, and remained there for two weeks. It was also his fourth number one album on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart.
His 2011 holiday album, Christmas, was in first place on the Billboard 200 for the final four weeks of 2011 and the first week of 2012, totalling five weeks atop the chart, it also made the top 5 in the United Kingdom. With this, Christmas became his third-consecutive number-one album on the chart. To Be Loved was released in April 2013.
As of 2013, Bublé has sold over 55 million albums worldwide.
Click here for more about Michael Bublé.
His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found a worldwide audience with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible which reached number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, the UK Albums Chart, the US Billboard 200, the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and several European charts.
Bublé's 2009 album Crazy Love debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 after three days of sales, and remained there for two weeks. It was also his fourth number one album on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart.
His 2011 holiday album, Christmas, was in first place on the Billboard 200 for the final four weeks of 2011 and the first week of 2012, totalling five weeks atop the chart, it also made the top 5 in the United Kingdom. With this, Christmas became his third-consecutive number-one album on the chart. To Be Loved was released in April 2013.
As of 2013, Bublé has sold over 55 million albums worldwide.
Click here for more about Michael Bublé.
Neil Diamond Pictured: Two Neil Diamond Album Covers
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actor. One of the world's best-selling artists of all time, he has sold over 120 million records worldwide since the start of his career in the 1960s.
With 38 songs in the Top 10, he is the second most successful artist in the history of the Billboard Adult Contemporary Top 10 charts. His songs have been covered internationally by many performers from a variety of musical genres.
Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Additionally, he received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 and in 2011 was an honoree at Kennedy Center.
On the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, he has had eleven No. 1 singles:
"Sweet Caroline" is played frequently at sporting events, and has become an anthem for the Boston Red Sox.
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With 38 songs in the Top 10, he is the second most successful artist in the history of the Billboard Adult Contemporary Top 10 charts. His songs have been covered internationally by many performers from a variety of musical genres.
Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Additionally, he received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 and in 2011 was an honoree at Kennedy Center.
On the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, he has had eleven No. 1 singles:
- "Cracklin' Rosie",
- "Song Sung Blue",
- "Longfellow Serenade",
- "I've Been This Way Before",
- "If You Know What I Mean",
- "Desiree",
- "You Don't Bring Me Flowers",
- "America",
- "Yesterday's Songs",
- "Heartlight",
- and "I'm a Believer".
"Sweet Caroline" is played frequently at sporting events, and has become an anthem for the Boston Red Sox.
Click Here for more about Neil Diamond.
Neil Sedaka
YouTube Video of Neil Sedaka singing "Breaking up is hard to do"
Pictured below: Two Album Covers
YouTube Video of Neil Sedaka singing "Breaking up is hard to do"
Pictured below: Two Album Covers
Neil Sedaka (born March 13, 1939) is an American pop singer, pianist, composer and record producer. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and others, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard Greenfield and Phil Cody.
Click Here for more about Neil Sedaka.
Click Here for more about Neil Sedaka.
Norah Jones (born Geetali Norah Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Throughout her career, Jones has won numerous awards and has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide/ Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000–2009 decade. She has won nine Grammy Awards and was 60th on Billboard magazine's artists of the 2000–2009 decade chart.
In 2002, Jones launched her solo music career with the release of Come Away with Me, a commercially successful and critically acclaimed album that was a fusion of jazz with country music and pop. It was certified Diamond, selling over 27 million copies. The record earned Jones five Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist.
Her subsequent studio albums Feels Like Home, released in 2004; Not Too Late, released in 2007, the same year she made her film debut in My Blueberry Nights; and 2009's The Fall all gained Platinum status, selling over a million copies each They were also generally well received by critics.
Jones' fifth studio album, Little Broken Hearts, was released on April 27, 2012, and her most recent, sixth studio album, Day Breaks, was released on October 7, 2016.
Jones is the daughter of Indian sitar player and composer Ravi Shankar, and is the half-sister of fellow musician Anoushka Shankar.
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In 2002, Jones launched her solo music career with the release of Come Away with Me, a commercially successful and critically acclaimed album that was a fusion of jazz with country music and pop. It was certified Diamond, selling over 27 million copies. The record earned Jones five Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist.
Her subsequent studio albums Feels Like Home, released in 2004; Not Too Late, released in 2007, the same year she made her film debut in My Blueberry Nights; and 2009's The Fall all gained Platinum status, selling over a million copies each They were also generally well received by critics.
Jones' fifth studio album, Little Broken Hearts, was released on April 27, 2012, and her most recent, sixth studio album, Day Breaks, was released on October 7, 2016.
Jones is the daughter of Indian sitar player and composer Ravi Shankar, and is the half-sister of fellow musician Anoushka Shankar.
Click Here for more about Norah Jones.
Billie Eilish
- YouTube Video: Billie Eilish - Your Power (Live On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/2021)
- YouTube Video: Billie Eilish “When the Party’s Over” Live on the Howard Stern Show
- YouTube Video: Billie Eilish Carpool Karaoke
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell (born December 18, 2001) is an American singer and songwriter. She first gained attention in 2015 when she uploaded the song "Ocean Eyes" to SoundCloud, which was subsequently released by the Interscope Records subsidiary Darkroom. The song was written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom she collaborates on music and live shows. Her debut EP, Don't Smile at Me (2017), became a sleeper hit, reaching the top 15 in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.
Eilish's debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019), debuted atop the US Billboard 200, reached number-one in the UK, and became one of the best-selling albums of 2019. The album's fifth single "Bad Guy" became her first number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2020, she performed the theme song "No Time to Die" for the James Bond film of the same name, which became her first number-one single in the UK. Her later singles "Everything I Wanted", "My Future", "Therefore I Am", and "Your Power" peaked within the top 10 in the US and UK.
Eilish has received several accolades, including:
In 2019, Time magazine placed her on their inaugural Time 100 Next list. Eilish is the 26th-highest-certified artist of the digital singles era, according to the RIAA, and one of the most successful artists of the 2010s decade, according to Billboard.
Click Here for more about Billie Eilish.
Eilish's debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019), debuted atop the US Billboard 200, reached number-one in the UK, and became one of the best-selling albums of 2019. The album's fifth single "Bad Guy" became her first number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2020, she performed the theme song "No Time to Die" for the James Bond film of the same name, which became her first number-one single in the UK. Her later singles "Everything I Wanted", "My Future", "Therefore I Am", and "Your Power" peaked within the top 10 in the US and UK.
Eilish has received several accolades, including:
- seven Grammy Awards,
- two American Music Awards,
- two Guinness World Records,
- three MTV Video Music Awards,
- and two Brit Awards.
- She is the youngest person and the second in history to win the four main Grammy categories in the same year:
In 2019, Time magazine placed her on their inaugural Time 100 Next list. Eilish is the 26th-highest-certified artist of the digital singles era, according to the RIAA, and one of the most successful artists of the 2010s decade, according to Billboard.
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Jon Batiste and Stay HumanPictured: Jon Batiste (in front) playing the melodica
Jonathan Michael Batiste (born November 11, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, composer, bandleader, and television personality. He has recorded and performed with artists in various genres of music (Stevie Wonder, Prince, Willie Nelson, Lenny Kravitz, Ed Sheeran, Roy Hargrove, and Mavis Staples), released his own recordings, and performed in more than 40 countries.
Batiste regularly tours with his band Stay Human, and appears with them nightly as bandleader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since 2015.
Batiste also serves as the music director of The Atlantic and the Creative Director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.
In 2020, Batiste co-composed the score for the Pixar animated film Soul, for which he received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award and a BAFTA Film Award (all shared with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross).
As of 2022, Batiste has garnered five Grammy Awards from 14 nominations, including an Album of the Year win for his album We Are.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Jon Batiste:
Batiste regularly tours with his band Stay Human, and appears with them nightly as bandleader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since 2015.
Batiste also serves as the music director of The Atlantic and the Creative Director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.
In 2020, Batiste co-composed the score for the Pixar animated film Soul, for which he received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award and a BAFTA Film Award (all shared with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross).
As of 2022, Batiste has garnered five Grammy Awards from 14 nominations, including an Album of the Year win for his album We Are.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Jon Batiste:
- Early life and education
- Career
- Personal life
- Influences and music style
- Activism and philanthropy
- Discography
- Awards and accolades
- See also:
- Official website
- Jon Batiste at IMDb
- "Jon Batiste: Staying Human", interview by Bob Kenselaar, All About Jazz, January 2013,
- The Batiste Family
Pink (Singer)
- YouTube Video: Pink Singing the National Anthem at the 2022 Superbowl
- YouTube Video of the Top 20 Unbelievable Pink Performances
- YouTube Video: Watch Pink Perform "Glitter In The Air" At The 2010 GRAMMYs Show
Alecia Beth Moore Hart (born September 8, 1979), known professionally as Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She was originally a member of the girl group Choice. In 1995, LaFace Records saw potential in Pink and offered her a solo recording contract.
Her R&B-influenced debut studio album Can't Take Me Home (2000) was certified double-platinum in the United States and spawned two Billboard Hot 100 top-ten songs: "There You Go" and "Most Girls".
She gained further recognition with the collaborative single "Lady Marmalade" from the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack, which topped many charts worldwide. Refocusing her sound to pop rock with her second studio album Missundaztood (2001), the album sold more than 13 million copies worldwide and yielded the international hit songs "Get the Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me", and "Just Like a Pill".
While Pink's third studio album, Try This (2003), sold significantly less than her previous work, it earned her the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
She returned to the top of record charts with her fourth and fifth studio albums, I'm Not Dead (2006) and Funhouse (2008), which spawned the top-ten entries "Who Knew" and "U + Ur Hand", as well as the number-one single "So What".
Pink's sixth studio album, The Truth About Love (2012), was her first Billboard 200 number-one album and spawned her fourth US number-one single, "Just Give Me a Reason". In 2014,
Pink recorded a collaborative album, Rose Ave., with Canadian musician Dallas Green under a folk music duo named You+Me.
Her next studio albums, Beautiful Trauma (2017) and Hurts 2B Human (2019), both debuted at atop the Billboard 200 chart, with the former becoming the world's third best-selling album of the year.
Pink is regarded as “Pop Royalty” for her distinctive raspy voice and acrobatic stage presence. Pink has sold over 135 million records worldwide (60 million albums and 75 million singles), making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Her accolades include:
In 2009, Billboard named Pink the Pop Songs Artist of the Decade. Pink was also the second most-played female solo artist in the United Kingdom during the 2000s decade, behind only Madonna. VH1 ranked her at number ten on their list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music, while Billboard awarded her the Woman of the Year award in 2013.
At the 63rd annual BMI Pop Awards, she received the BMI President's Award for "her outstanding achievement in songwriting and global impact on pop culture and the entertainment industry."
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the Musical Artist Pink:
Her R&B-influenced debut studio album Can't Take Me Home (2000) was certified double-platinum in the United States and spawned two Billboard Hot 100 top-ten songs: "There You Go" and "Most Girls".
She gained further recognition with the collaborative single "Lady Marmalade" from the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack, which topped many charts worldwide. Refocusing her sound to pop rock with her second studio album Missundaztood (2001), the album sold more than 13 million copies worldwide and yielded the international hit songs "Get the Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me", and "Just Like a Pill".
While Pink's third studio album, Try This (2003), sold significantly less than her previous work, it earned her the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
She returned to the top of record charts with her fourth and fifth studio albums, I'm Not Dead (2006) and Funhouse (2008), which spawned the top-ten entries "Who Knew" and "U + Ur Hand", as well as the number-one single "So What".
Pink's sixth studio album, The Truth About Love (2012), was her first Billboard 200 number-one album and spawned her fourth US number-one single, "Just Give Me a Reason". In 2014,
Pink recorded a collaborative album, Rose Ave., with Canadian musician Dallas Green under a folk music duo named You+Me.
Her next studio albums, Beautiful Trauma (2017) and Hurts 2B Human (2019), both debuted at atop the Billboard 200 chart, with the former becoming the world's third best-selling album of the year.
Pink is regarded as “Pop Royalty” for her distinctive raspy voice and acrobatic stage presence. Pink has sold over 135 million records worldwide (60 million albums and 75 million singles), making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Her accolades include:
- three Grammy Awards,
- two Brit Awards,
- a Daytime Emmy Award
- and seven MTV Video Music Awards, including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
In 2009, Billboard named Pink the Pop Songs Artist of the Decade. Pink was also the second most-played female solo artist in the United Kingdom during the 2000s decade, behind only Madonna. VH1 ranked her at number ten on their list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music, while Billboard awarded her the Woman of the Year award in 2013.
At the 63rd annual BMI Pop Awards, she received the BMI President's Award for "her outstanding achievement in songwriting and global impact on pop culture and the entertainment industry."
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the Musical Artist Pink:
- Early life and family
- Career
- 1995–1998: Career beginnings
- 1999–2002: Can't Take Me Home and Missundaztood
- 2003–2007: Try This and I'm Not Dead
- 2008–2011: Funhouse and Greatest Hits... So Far!!!
- 2012–2015: The Truth About Love and You+Me
- 2016–2020: Beautiful Trauma, Hurts 2B Human and hiatus
- 2021–present: All I Know So Far and Trustfall
- Artistry
- Public image
- Legacy
- Personal life
- Awards and achievements
- Discography
- Filmography
- Tours
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James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapism" and promoted enjoying life and following passions.
Buffett recorded many hit songs, including those known as "The Big 8":
His other popular songs include "Son of a Son of a Sailor" (1978), "One Particular Harbour" (1983), and "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" with Alan Jackson (2003). Buffett formed the Coral Reefer Band in 1975.
Of the over 30 albums released by Buffett, eight are certified gold and nine are certified platinum or multi-platinum by the RIAA. In total, Buffett sold over 20 million certified records worldwide, placing him amongst the world's best-selling music artists.
In addition to two Grammy Award nominations, Buffett was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category in 2024.
Buffett also parlayed the "island escapism" lifestyle of his music into several business ventures, including Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant chain, the now-defunct Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain, and ventures in hotels, casinos, liquor, and retirement communities.
With a net worth of $1 billion, Buffett was one of the world's richest musicians and celebrities. He was also a bestselling author. His devoted fans are known as "Parrotheads"
Click Here for More about Jimmy Buffett.
Buffett recorded many hit songs, including those known as "The Big 8":
- "Margaritaville" (1977), which is ranked 234th on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century";
- "Come Monday" (1974);
- "Fins" (1979);
- "Volcano" (1979);
- "A Pirate Looks at Forty" (1974);
- "Cheeseburger in Paradise" (1978);
- "Why Don't We Get Drunk" (1973);
- and "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" (1977).
His other popular songs include "Son of a Son of a Sailor" (1978), "One Particular Harbour" (1983), and "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" with Alan Jackson (2003). Buffett formed the Coral Reefer Band in 1975.
Of the over 30 albums released by Buffett, eight are certified gold and nine are certified platinum or multi-platinum by the RIAA. In total, Buffett sold over 20 million certified records worldwide, placing him amongst the world's best-selling music artists.
In addition to two Grammy Award nominations, Buffett was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category in 2024.
Buffett also parlayed the "island escapism" lifestyle of his music into several business ventures, including Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant chain, the now-defunct Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain, and ventures in hotels, casinos, liquor, and retirement communities.
With a net worth of $1 billion, Buffett was one of the world's richest musicians and celebrities. He was also a bestselling author. His devoted fans are known as "Parrotheads"
Click Here for More about Jimmy Buffett.