Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet storm and rock influence. Adult contemporary is generally a continuation of the easy listening and soft rock style that became popular in the 1960s and 1970s with some adjustments that reflect the evolution of pop/rock music.
Johnny Mathis concentrated on romantic readings of jazz and pop standards for the adult contemporary audience of the 1960s and 1970s.
In terms of record sales and career longevity, Barry Manilow is one of the most successful adult contemporary singers ever and the most best-selling of the 1970s.
"Careless Whisper" stayed at the No. 1 spot in the adult contemporary chart for 5 weeks. The song was George Michael's first solo single.
Latin artist Marc Anthony's self-titled English-language album released in 1999 had singles that crossed over to the AC charts.
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African-American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening, where U.S. record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa. It also had a resurgence in the mid-to late 1990s with the subgenre neo-soul, which added modern production elements and influence from hip-hop.
Ray Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles
James Brown was known as the "Godfather of Soul"
Sam Cooke is acknowledged as one of soul music's "forefathers".
Solomon Burke recorded for Atlantic in the 1960s