1.
Copenhagen
–
Copenhagen, Danish, København, Latin, Hafnia) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. Copenhagen has an population of 1,280,371. The Copenhagen metropolitan area has just over 2 million inhabitants, the city is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand, another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road, originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. Beginning in the 17th century it consolidated its position as a centre of power with its institutions, defences. After suffering from the effects of plague and fire in the 18th century and this included construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and founding of such cultural institutions as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Later, following the Second World War, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing, since the turn of the 21st century, Copenhagen has seen strong urban and cultural development, facilitated by investment in its institutions and infrastructure. The city is the cultural, economic and governmental centre of Denmark, Copenhagens economy has seen rapid developments in the service sector, especially through initiatives in information technology, pharmaceuticals and clean technology. Since the completion of the Øresund Bridge, Copenhagen has become integrated with the Swedish province of Scania and its largest city, Malmö. With a number of connecting the various districts, the cityscape is characterized by parks, promenades. Copenhagen is home to the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1479, is the oldest university in Denmark. Copenhagen is home to the FC København and Brøndby football clubs, the annual Copenhagen Marathon was established in 1980. Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, the Copenhagen Metro serves central Copenhagen while the Copenhagen S-train network connects central Copenhagen to its outlying boroughs. Serving roughly 2 million passengers a month, Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, is the largest airport in the Nordic countries, the name of the city reflects its origin as a harbour and a place of commerce. The original designation, from which the contemporary Danish name derives, was Køpmannæhafn, meaning merchants harbour, the literal English translation would be Chapmans haven. The English name for the city was adapted from its Low German name, the abbreviations Kbh. or Kbhvn are often used in Danish for København, and kbh. for københavnsk. The chemical element hafnium is named for Copenhagen, where it was discovered, the bacterium Hafnia is also named after Copenhagen, Vagn Møller of the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen named it in 1954. Excavations in Pilestræde have also led to the discovery of a well from the late 12th century, the remains of an ancient church, with graves dating to the 11th century, have been unearthed near where Strøget meets Rådhuspladsen
Copenhagen
–
From upper left:
Christiansborg Palace,
Frederik's Church,
Tivoli Gardens and
Nyhavn.
Copenhagen
–
Reconstruction of Copenhagen c. 1500
Copenhagen
–
The
Tøjhus Arsenal (
1604)
Copenhagen
–
The
Børsen, former stock exchange (completed
1640)
2.
Philadelphia
–
In 1682, William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. Philadelphia was one of the capitals in the Revolutionary War. In the 19th century, Philadelphia became an industrial center. It became a destination for African-Americans in the Great Migration. The areas many universities and colleges make Philadelphia a top international study destination, as the city has evolved into an educational, with a gross domestic product of $388 billion, Philadelphia ranks ninth among world cities and fourth in the nation. Philadelphia is the center of activity in Pennsylvania and is home to seven Fortune 1000 companies. The Philadelphia skyline is growing, with a market of almost 81,900 commercial properties in 2016 including several prominent skyscrapers. The city is known for its arts, culture, and rich history, Philadelphia has more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city. Fairmount Park, when combined with the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the watershed, is one of the largest contiguous urban park areas in the United States. The 67 National Historic Landmarks in the city helped account for the $10 billion generated by tourism, Philadelphia is the only World Heritage City in the United States. Before Europeans arrived, the Philadelphia area was home to the Lenape Indians in the village of Shackamaxon, the Lenape are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government. They are also called Delaware Indians and their territory was along the Delaware River watershed, western Long Island. Most Lenape were pushed out of their Delaware homeland during the 18th century by expanding European colonies, Lenape communities were weakened by newly introduced diseases, mainly smallpox, and violent conflict with Europeans. Iroquois people occasionally fought the Lenape, surviving Lenape moved west into the upper Ohio River basin. The American Revolutionary War and United States independence pushed them further west, in the 1860s, the United States government sent most Lenape remaining in the eastern United States to the Indian Territory under the Indian removal policy. In the 21st century, most Lenape now reside in the US state of Oklahoma, with communities living also in Wisconsin, Ontario. The Dutch considered the entire Delaware River valley to be part of their New Netherland colony, in 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina and quickly spread out in the valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their defeat of the English colony of Maryland
Philadelphia
–
From top left, the Philadelphia skyline, a
statue of Benjamin Franklin, the
Liberty Bell, the
Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Philadelphia City Hall, and
Independence Hall
Philadelphia
–
An 18th century map of Philadelphia.
Philadelphia
–
Penn's Treaty with the Indians by
Benjamin West
Philadelphia
–
Benjamin Franklin, 1777
3.
Pennsylvania
–
Pennsylvania /ˌpɛnsᵻlˈveɪnjə/, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle, Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest, the 5th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The states five most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, the state capital, and its ninth-largest city, is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania has 140 miles of shoreline along Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary. The state is one of the 13 original founding states of the United States, it came into being in 1681 as a result of a land grant to William Penn. Part of Pennsylvania, together with the present State of Delaware, had earlier been organized as the Colony of New Sweden and it was the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, on December 12,1787. Independence Hall, where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were drafted, is located in the states largest city of Philadelphia, during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the south central region of the state. Valley Forge near Philadelphia was General Washingtons headquarters during the winter of 1777–78. Pennsylvania is 170 miles north to south and 283 miles east to west, of a total 46,055 square miles,44,817 square miles are land,490 square miles are inland waters, and 749 square miles are waters in Lake Erie. It is the 33rd largest state in the United States, Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Cities include Philadelphia, Reading, Lebanon and Lancaster in the southeast, Pittsburgh in the southwest, the tri-cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, the northeast includes the former anthracite coal mining communities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston City, and Hazleton. Erie is located in the northwest, the state has 5 regions, namely the Allegheny Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Erie Plain. Straddling two major zones, the majority of the state, with the exception of the corner, has a humid continental climate. The largest city, Philadelphia, has characteristics of the humid subtropical climate that covers much of Delaware. Moving toward the interior of the state, the winter climate becomes colder, the number of cloudy days increase. Western areas of the state, particularly locations near Lake Erie, can receive over 100 inches of snowfall annually, the state may be subject to severe weather from spring through summer into fall. Tornadoes occur annually in the state, sometimes in large numbers, the Tuscarora Nation took up temporary residence in the central portion of Pennsylvania ca. Both the Dutch and the English claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their lands in America
Pennsylvania
–
World's End State Park, Sullivan County
Pennsylvania
–
Flag
Pennsylvania
–
Autumn in North Branch Township,
Wyoming County, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
–
Penn's Treaty with the Indians, by
Edward Hicks
4.
Soul music
–
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States, where 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, catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response between the lead vocalist and the chorus and a tense vocal sound. The style also occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds, Soul music reflected the African-American identity and it stressed the importance of an African-American culture. The new-found African-American consciousness led to new styles of music, which boasted pride in being black, Soul music dominated the U. S. R&B chart in the 1960s, and many recordings crossed over into the pop charts in the U. S. By 1968, the music genre had begun to splinter. Some soul artists developed funk music, while other singers and groups developed slicker, more sophisticated, by the early 1970s, soul music had been influenced by psychedelic rock and other genres, leading to psychedelic soul. The United States saw the development of neo soul around 1994, there are also several other subgenres and offshoots of soul music. The term soul had been used among African-American musicians to emphasize the feeling of being an African-American in the United States, according to another source, Soul music was the result of the urbanization and commercialization of rhythm and blues in the 60s. The phrase soul music itself, referring to music with secular lyrics, is first attested in 1961. The term soul in African-American parlance has connotations of African-American pride, gospel groups in the 1940s and 1950s occasionally used the term as part of their name. The jazz style that derived from gospel came to be called soul jazz, important innovators whose recordings in the 1950s contributed to the emergence of soul music included Clyde McPhatter, Hank Ballard, and Etta James. Ray Charles is often cited as popularizing the genre with his string of hits starting with 1954s I Got a Woman. Singer Bobby Womack said, Ray was the genius and he turned the world onto soul music. Charles was open in acknowledging the influence of Pilgrim Travelers vocalist Jesse Whitaker on his singing style, little Richard and James Brown were equally influential. Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson are also acknowledged as soul forefathers. Cooke became popular as the singer of gospel group The Soul Stirrers
Soul music
–
James Brown
Soul music
–
Al Green, influential soul performer
Soul music
–
Levi Stubbs singing lead with the Four Tops in 1966
Soul music
–
Isaac Hayes performing in 1973
5.
Motown
–
Motown is an American record company. The record company was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12,1958, the name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has also become a nickname for Detroit. Motown played an important role in the integration of popular music as an African American-owned record label that achieved significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence. During the 1960s, Motown achieved spectacular success for a record company,79 records in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 record chart between 1960 and 1969. The company was sold to MCA Inc. Motown was later sold to PolyGram in 1994, before being sold again to MCA Records successor, Universal Music Group, Motown spent much of the 2000s as a part of the Universal Music subsidiaries Universal Motown and Universal Motown Republic Group, and headquartered in New York City. From 2011 to 2014, Motown was a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group division of Universal Music. On April 1,2014, Universal Music Group announced the dissolution of Island Def Jam and it now operates out of the landmark Capitol Tower. For many decades, Motown was the highest-earning African American business in the United States, Berry Gordy got his start as a songwriter for local Detroit acts such as Jackie Wilson and the Matadors. Wilsons single Lonely Teardrops, written by Gordy, became a huge success and he realized that the more lucrative end of the business was in producing records and owning the publishing. In 1959, Billy Davis and Berry Gordys sisters Gwen and Anna started Anna Records, Davis and Gwen Gordy wanted Berry to be the company president, but Berry wanted to strike out on his own. On January 12,1959, he started Tamla Records, with a loan from his family. Gordy originally wanted to name the label Tammy Records, after the hit song popularized by Debbie Reynolds from the 1957 film Tammy, when he found the name was already in use, Berry decided on Tamla instead. Tamlas first release, in the Detroit area, was Marv Johnsons Come to Me in 1959 and its first hit was Barrett Strongs Money, which made it to number 2 on the Billboard R&B charts. Gordys first signed act was the Matadors, who changed their name to the Miracles. Their first release, Got a Job, was a record to the Silhouettes Get a Job. The Miracles first, minor hit was their single, 1959s Bad Girl, released in Detroit as the debut record on the Motown imprint
Motown
–
The
Hitsville U.S.A. Motown building at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit served as Motown's headquarters from 1959 until 1968, and became the Motown Historical Museum in 1985.
Motown
–
Motown
Motown
–
Berry Gordy House, known as Motown Mansion in
Detroit 's
Boston-Edison Historic District
6.
Universal Music Group
–
Universal Music Group is an American-French global music corporation that is a subsidiary of the Paris-based French media conglomerate Vivendi. UMGs global corporate headquarters are in Santa Monica, California and it is considered one of the Big Three record labels, along with Sony Music and Warner Music Group. Universal Music was once the music attached to film studio Universal Pictures and its origins go back to the formation of the American branch of Decca Records in September 1934. The Decca Record Co. Ltd. of England spun American Decca off in 1939, MCA Inc. merged with American Decca in 1962. The present organization was formed when its parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram in May 1998, however, the name had first appeared in 1996 when MCA Music Entertainment Group was renamed Universal Music Group. The PolyGram acquisition included Deutsche Grammophon which traces its ancestry to Berliner Gramophone making Deutsche Grammophon UMGs oldest unit, UMGs Canadian unit traces its ancestry to a Berliner Gramophone breakaway firm the Compo Company. With the 2004 acquisition of Universal Studios by General Electric and merging with GEs NBC and this is the second time a music company has done so, the first being the separation of Time Warner and Warner Music Group. On June 25,2007, Vivendi completed its €1.63 billion purchase of BMG Music Publishing, after receiving European Union regulatory approval, doug Morris stepped down from his position as CEO on January 1,2011. Former chairman/CEO of Universal Music International Lucian Grainge was promoted to CEO of the company, Grainge later replaced him as chairman on March 9,2011. Morris became the chairman of Sony Music Entertainment on July 1,2011. With Grainges appointment as CEO at UMG, Max Hole was promoted to COO of UMGI, starting in 2011 UMGs Interscope Geffen A&M Records will be signing contestants from American Idol/Idol series. On January 2011, UMG announced it was donating 200,000 master recordings from the 1920s to 1940s to the Library of Congress for preservation, in March 2011, Barry Weiss became chairman & CEO of The Island Def Jam Music Group & Universal Republic Records. Both companies are restructuring under Weiss, in December 2011, David Foster was named Chairman of Verve Music Group. Among the other companies that had competed for the music business was Warner Music Group which was reported to have made a $2 billion bid. However, IMPALA has said it would fight the merger, coincidentally, UMG sister company StudioCanal has owned the EMI Films library for several years. On September 21,2012, the sale of EMI to UMG was approved in Europe, UMG divested Mute Records, Parlophone, Roxy Recordings, MPS Records, Cooperative Music, Now Thats What I Call Music. Jazzland, Universal Greece, Sanctuary Records, Chrysalis Records, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics, the Beatles recorded music library was allowed to remain with UMG despite being considered part of Parlophone and is now managed by UMGs reorganized Capitol Music Group worldwide. Robbie Williams, who had recorded for Chrysalis, had his transferred to Universals Island Records
Universal Music Group
–
UMG headquarters in
Santa Monica,
California
Universal Music Group
–
Universal Music Publishing Headquarters in Santa Monica, California.
Universal Music Group
–
Capitol Music Group headquarters at the Capitol records Building in Hollywood.
7.
Arista Records
–
/ˈɛ. rɪ. stə/ was a major American record label. It was a wholly owned unit of Sony Music Entertainment and was handled by Bertelsmann Music Group. The company operated under the RCA Music Group until 2011, the label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records. Until its demise in 2011, it was a distributor and promoter of albums throughout the United States. Today, the labels reissues and catalogue releases are handled by RCA Records, after being fired from CBS Records, Clive Davis was hired by Columbia Pictures in June 1974 to be a consultant for the companys record and music operations. The label was named Arista after New York Citys secondary school honor society, in early 1975, most of the artists who had been signed to Bell were let go, except David Cassidy, Tony Orlando and Dawn, and the 5th Dimension. Others, such as Suzi Quatro and Hot Chocolate, were farmed out to the Bell/Arista-distributed label, several Bell acts, such as Barry Manilow, the Bay City Rollers, and Melissa Manchester moved to Arista. The British Bell label kept that name for a couple of years before changing its name to Arista, the label was immortalized in the 1978 Rockpile song They Called It Rock, in the lyric, Arista says they love you/But the kids cant dance to this. In addition to Manilow, the Kinks, and Dionne Warwick, Arista signed Aretha Franklin in 1980, the labels most significant acquisition came in 1983 when Davis signed Warwicks cousin, Whitney Houston. Houston would eventually become Aristas biggest-selling recording artist, with sales of 200 million records worldwide, Arista had an imprint label in the 1970s called Arista Novus, which focused on contemporary jazz artists. A country music division, Career Records, was merged into the Arista Nashville division in 1997, Arista Austin was used in the late 1990s as a country label. Additionally, Arista was the North American distributor of Jive Records from 1981 until 1987, during the 1990s, Arista also distributed Logic, Rowdy and Heavenly Recordings. Looking to stave off bankruptcy, Columbia Pictures sold Arista to German-based Ariola Records in 1979, after Ariola purchased General Electrics RCA Records in 1986, the combined company was renamed Bertelsmann Music Group, though Aristas U. S. releases would not note BMG until 1987. Into the 1980s, Arista continued its success, including major UK act Secret Affair, over the years it acquired Northwestside Records, deConstruction Records, First Avenue Records, and Dedicated Records in the UK. In 1989, Arista entered into a joint venture with Antonio L. A. Reid and Babyface in the creation of LaFace Records record company of TLC, in 1993, Arista also entered into a joint-venture with Sean P. Diddy Combs to form Bad Boy Records. In 1997 Arista acquired Profile Records, the home of Run-D. M. C. in 1989, Arista signed Milli Vanilli, a duo consisting of Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan that was based in Germany. The label released its album, Girl You Know Its True, which was a remixed and re-edited version of All or Nothing. The album was certified platinum in the U. S. and charted five top-ten singles
Arista Records
–
Primary businesses
8.
Entertainment One Music
–
Entertainment One Music, a primary division of Entertainment One, is an independent record label in the United States. It has garnered the most Billboard hits of any independently owned music label in history and it is also distributed by the Universal Music Group in Europe under the name eOne Universal. On January 22,2009, Koch Records was officially branded as E1 Music by parent company Entertainment One, E1 Entertainment acquired KOCH Entertainment in June 2005, and renamed the company E1 Music. Since its inception as KOCH Records, E1 Music has charted over 100 albums on Billboards Independent Chart, E1 Music has been the number one independent label according to Billboard for the last six years and quickly grew to become North Americas largest independently owned and distributed record label. E1 Music covers all genres from adult-contemporary to rock, hip hop/urban to country. E1 Music was formed in January 1987 as Koch Records to serve as the North American umbrella for Koch Entertainment. They would sign many country, classical, and rock acts including Ringo Starr, Joan Baez, Chris Brubeck, Bob James, the label soon began to gain ground on the other independent record labels in the United States. In the 2000s, they began to sign hip hop acts. They signed various distribution deals with labels like Open Bar Entertainment, Terror Squad, D-Block Records, in 2004, they were able to sign a deal with Snoop Dogg and his Doggystyle Records along with Mobb Deep. They hired Snoop Dogg on to head up their western spin off Koch West, Koch also added onto their roster, Camron and his Diplomat Records. Diplomat rapper, Jim Jones would rise to prominence on the label through the deal, Koch later signed Yonkers rapper, J-Hood and his label On Da Grind Ent. Koch has also had releases from 2Pac, Tha Dogg Pound, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger and Gangsta Advisory. In 2007, when they signed J-Hood they gave him a big position in their Koch East division, J-Hood never released this album and he was booted from D-Block. In 2007, they signed a deal with Foxy Brown and her Black Rose Entertainment, as well as with Ray J. Slim Thug was signed to the label along with his Boss Hoggs label in late 2005. Latin Thug Records was formed by CEO Reyes to build a business with his brother and acting VP of A&R Mellow Man Ace that would focus on releasing personal projects. The label represents the extended Latin Thug family, including projects from Sen and Mellow and collaborations with B Real, Soul Assassins. In March 2008, the company signed neo-soul singer Dwele to their lineup, in October 2008, they signed also pop-jazz singer Basia, and released her comeback album Its That Girl Again a year later. Koch Records also releases music, such as Pokémon, Barney, Sesame Street, The Wiggles
Entertainment One Music
–
Entertainment One U.S. LP
9.
Decca Records
–
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U. S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis along with American Deccas first president Jack Kapp and later American Decca president Milton Rackmil. In 1937, as a result of anticipating Nazi aggression leading to World War II, Lewis sold American Decca, the British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while the American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre. Both wings are now part of the Universal Music Group, which is owned by Vivendi, the US Decca label was the foundation company that evolved into UMG. The name Decca was coined by Wilfred S. Samuel by merging the word Mecca with the initial D of their logo Dulcet or their trademark Dulcephone, Samuel, a linguist, chose Decca as a brand name as it was easy to pronounce in most languages. The name dates back to a gramophone called the Decca Dulcephone patented in 1914 by musical instrument makers Barnett Samuel. That company was renamed the Decca Gramophone Co. Ltd. Within years, Decca Records Ltd. was the second largest record label in the world, Decca bought the UK branch of Brunswick Records and continued to run it under that name. In the 1950s the American Decca studios were located in the Pythian Temple in New York City, in classical music, Decca had a long way to go from its modest beginnings to catch up with the established HMV and Columbia labels. The pre-war classical repertoire on Decca was not extensive, but was select, heinrich Schlusnus made important pre-war lieder recordings for Decca. John Culshaw, who joined Decca in 1946 in a junior post and he revolutionised recording – of opera, in particular. Hitherto, the practice had been to put microphones in front of the performers, Culshaw was determined to make recordings that would be a theatre of the mind, making the listeners experience at home not second best to being in the opera house, but a wholly different experience. To that end he got the singers to move about in the studio as they would onstage, used sound effects and different acoustics. His skill, coupled with Decca engineering, took Decca into the first flight of recording companies and his pioneering recording of Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen conducted by Georg Solti was a huge artistic and commercial success. In the wake of Deccas lead, artists such as Herbert von Karajan, Joan Sutherland, however, Culshaw was, strictly speaking, not the first to do this. Far from being a mere rendering of the score, the 3-LP album set used sound effects to recreate the production as if the listener were watching a stage performance of the work. Until 1947, American Decca issued British Decca classical music recordings, afterwards, British Decca took over distribution through its new American subsidiary London Records. American Decca actively re-entered the classical music field in 1950 with distribution deals from Deutsche Grammophon, American Decca began issuing its own classical music recordings in 1956 when Israel Horowitz joined Decca to head its classical music operations
Decca Records
–
Original 1929 Decca release of Sea Drift by
Delius, first published recording of the work, but deleted by 1936
Decca Records
–
Decca Records
10.
L.A. Reid
–
Antonio Marquis L. A. Reid is an American music executive, musician, songwriter, record producer, author and former television music competition judge. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. Reid was also the founder and CEO of Hitco Music Publishing, based in New York, Reid first began his music career as a drummer, with his first appearance on record being with the Cincinnati funk rock outfit Pure Essence. Pure Essence released one solitary 45 in the mid-1970s and they later appeared on local FM rock radio station WEBNs second annual LP compilation, but the group was renamed Essence. Reid would experience more success when he became a member of the 1980s R&B band The Deele, best known for their 1988 hit Two Occasions. The band had broken up before the success of the single, the song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. After The Deele disbanded, Reid and band mate Kenneth Babyface Edmonds founded LaFace in 1989 through a joint venture with Arista Records, with funding from Arista Records creator Clive Davis. The label soon became one of the destinations for popular African-American entertainers who created Black Pop music that was easily accessible to both Urban and Top 40 radio formats. Reid signed 14-year-old Usher to the label, whose six album releases have sold 65 million units worldwide, other popular acts on the label during its peak include Toni Braxton, TLC, and Outkast. Both TLC and Toni Braxton went on to more than 65 million records each. Initially headquartered in Atlanta, the played a significant role in building the current landscape of the Atlanta music industry. Hitco Publishing Group With the belief that good songwriting is essential to the success of recording artists, Reid formed the Hitco Publishing Group in 1996 and he gave the future senior vice president of Island Def Jam Music Group his first position as an inter-level creative person at Hitco. In May 2000, Edmonds and Reid sold their remaining 50% stake in LaFace to parent company BMG, the label became an imprint of Arista Records, with Arista taking on sales, marketing, and promotional duties for its acts. At this time, Reid also succeeded his mentor Clive Davis as president of Arista Records, in 2000, LaFace was merged into Arista Records with Reid being promoted to president and CEO of Arista Records. In 1997 Reid was accepted to the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in preparation to become CEO of Arista Records in 2000, Reid signed his first unknown artist, pop/rocker Avril Lavigne, to Arista. Her debut album Let Go sold 6 million copies in the United States, as president of Arista Records, Reid brought the company great success by signing artists such as P. nk and Ciara. Outkasts Speakerboxxx/The Love Below also went on to sell 10 million copies and won a Grammy Award for Album of the year. Following the merger of Sony and BMG, L. A. Reid was released from his contract at Arista in 2004 and quickly became the chairman, Reid stepped down as Chairman/CEO of Island Def Jam in March 2011
L.A. Reid
–
Reid at
The X Factor in June 2011
L.A. Reid
–
L.A. Reid and
Mariah Carey in 2005
11.
Babyface (musician)
–
For the guitarist and Beard Of Wales, see Thee Faction. Kenneth Brian Edmonds, known professionally as Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter and he has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career, and has won 11 Grammy Awards. Edmonds was born on April 10,1959, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Marvin, Barbara was a production operator at a pharmaceutical plant. Edmonds, who is the fifth of six brothers, attended North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, when he was in eighth grade, Edmonds father died of lung cancer, leaving his mother to raise her sons alone. At this stage, Edmonds became determined to have a career in music, Edmonds later played with funk performer Bootsy Collins, who tagged him Babyface because of his youthful look. He also performed in the group Manchild as a guitarist and he played keyboards in the light-funk and R&B group the Deele. One of his first major credits as a songwriter for outside artists came when he wrote the tune Slow Jam for the R&B band Midnight Star in 1983, Babyface remained in the Deele until 1988, when both he and Reid left the group. His album Playlist consists of eight songs and two original works. It was released on September 18,2007 and it was the first album on the newly re-launched Mercury Records label. On February 4,2014, he released a Grammy Award-winning duet album with Toni Braxton titled Love, Marriage & Divorce on Motown Records. In the late 1980s, he contributed to the creation of new jack swing, writing and producing music for the likes of Bobby Brown, Karyn White, Pebbles, Paula Abdul, in 1989, Edmonds co-founded LaFace Records with Reid. Three of the early artists TLC, Usher, and Toni Braxton were very successful. TLCs second album CrazySexyCool, for which he wrote and produced some of the hits, under his direction, TLC was able to sell more than 60 million albums worldwide, and a combined total of 75 million records. Toni Braxtons first two albums, Toni Braxton and Secrets, for which he wrote the majority of the songs, Babyface helped form the popular late-1990s R&B group Az Yet. Edmonds also helped to mold and work some of his then-wife Tracey Edmonds acts, such as Jon B. Edmonds has worked with many performers in contemporary music. “I’m Your Baby Tonight”, produced for Whitney Houston, was his first No.1 Top 40 hit in the US. He also wrote and produced Boyz II Mens 1992 End of the Road and 1994 Ill Make Love to You and he received three consecutive Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year from 1995 to 1997
Babyface (musician)
–
Edmonds in May 2013
Babyface (musician)
–
Edmonds performing in 2009
12.
Mariah Carey
–
Mariah Carey is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. In 1990, Carey 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 Columbias 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, 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. In 1998, she was honored as the worlds best-selling recording artist of the 1990s at the World Music Awards, 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 soundtrack in 2001. The project was received and led to a general decline in the singers career. Careys recording contract was out for $50 million by Virgin. After a relatively unsuccessful period, she returned to the top of music charts with The Emancipation of Mimi, Carey once again ventured into film with a well-received supporting role in Precious, 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, 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, Carey gained her 18th number-one single in the United States, in 2012, the singer was ranked second on VH1s list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music. Mariah Carey was born in Huntington, New York, to Patricia and her mother is of Irish descent, while her father had African-American and Afro-Venezuelan ancestry. The surname Carey was adopted by her Venezuelan grandfather, Francisco Núñez, Patricia was an occasional opera singer and vocal coach before she met Alfred in 1960. As he began earning a living as an engineer, the couple married later that year. After their elopement, Patricias family disowned her for marrying a black man, Carey later explained that she felt neglected by her maternal family while growing up, which affected her greatly. In the years between the births of Careys older sister Alison and herself, the Carey family struggled within the community due to their ethnicity, Careys name was derived from the song They Call the Wind Maria, originally from the 1951 Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. When Carey was three, her parents divorced, after their separation, Alison moved in with her father, while the other two children, Mariah and brother Morgan, remained with their mother. Carey grew apart from her father and would stop seeing him altogether. By age four, she recalled that she had begun to sneak the radio under her covers at night, during elementary school, she excelled in subjects that she enjoyed, such as music, art, and literature, but did not find interest in others
Mariah Carey
–
Carey performing on
Good Morning America in May 2013
Mariah Carey
–
Carey exiting the
Shepherd's Bush Theatre after promoting her single "Vision of Love" on
The Wogan Show, in 1990
Mariah Carey
–
Carey performing "One Sweet Day" alongside
Boyz II Men, during a taping at
Madison Square Garden on October, 1995.
Mariah Carey
–
Carey at the
Edwards Air Force Base during the making of the "
I Still Believe " music video on December, 1998.
13.
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
–
James Samuel Jimmy Jam Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed success since the 1980s with various artists. They have written 31 top ten hits in the UK and 41 in the US, Jimmy Jam is the son of Cornbread Harris, a Minneapolis blues and jazz musician. Jimmy Jam met Lewis while in school in Minneapolis. They did not meet in class, however, but while attending a TRIO Upward Bound program on the University of Minnesota campus and they formed a band called Flyte Tyme, which evolved into The Time. In 1981, they were joined by Morris Day and toured with Prince as his opening act, as members of The Time, they played instruments on two of the groups five albums. The pair asked Andrews to manage them, and through her relationships Andrews first introduced Jam and they produced their first masters for Avant for the SOS Band. Andrews set-up Jam and Lewiss company Flyte Tyme Productions as a business entity, the producers went on to produce several other masters for Avant under Dina Andrews Management for the SOS Band, Cherrelle, Alexander ONeal and Change. The pair was fired by Prince from a tour after a blizzard left them unable to rejoin during a break to produce music for The SOS Band. However, one of the tracks they were producing, Just Be Good to Me, became a hit and sealed the duos reputation, the duo would rejoin The Time for two albums, 1990s Pandemonium and the 2011 album Condensate under the name the Original 7ven. The duo was noted for use of the Roland TR-808 drum machine. Their collaboration on her album, 1989s Rhythm Nation 1814. In 1991, they founded a label, Perspective Records. Later that year, their newly minted label experienced success with a Minneapolis-based gospel/R&B collective of artists known as Sounds of Blackness and their debut single, Optimistic served as a groundbreaking anthem stressing positivity and encouragement. The song served as a summer and fall anthem and began propelling Jam, other successes followed with Blackness as well as music from labelmates Mint Condition, Lo-Key. and Solo. A highlight for Perspective was the opportunity to release the soundtrack for the 1992 motion picture Mo Money, Executive produced by Jam and Lewis, the soundtrack featured cuts from Mint Condition, Ralph Tresvant and Caron Wheeler, as well as a duet by Janet Jackson and Luther Vandross. Blige, Mariah Carey, Prince, Spice Girls, Vanessa Williams, George Michael, Melanie B, Rod Stewart, Kelly Price, Gwen Stefani, New Edition, Eric Benet, Pia Zadora, SOLO, and The Human League. In 1999, they produced the hit Open My Heart by Yolanda Adams which helped her popularity, Terry Lewis married R&B singer Karyn White, with whom he had a daughter, Ashley Nicole Lewis
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
14.
Sean Combs
–
Sean John Combs, also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, Puffy, P. Diddy and Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, record producer and entrepreneur. He was born in Harlem and was raised in Mount Vernon and he worked as a talent director at Uptown Records before founding his label Bad Boy Entertainment in 1993. His debut album No Way Out has been certified seven times platinum and was followed by successful albums such as Forever, The Saga Continues. in 2009 Combs formed the musical group Diddy – Dirty Money and released the critically well-reviewed and commercially successful album Last Train to Paris. Combs has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and is the producer of MTVs Making the Band, in 2016 Forbes estimated Combs net worth at $750 million. Sean John Combs was born on November 4,1969 in Harlem in Manhattan, New York City, and was raised in Mount Vernon, New York. His mother, Janice, was a model and teachers assistant and his father, at age 33, Melvin was shot to death while sitting in his car on Central Park West, when Combs was 2 years old. Combs graduated from the Roman Catholic Mount Saint Michael Academy in 1987 and he played football for the academy, and his team won a division title in 1986. Combs said that he was given the nickname Puff as a child, after dropping out of Howard University in 1990, after two years as a business major, Combs became an intern at New Yorks Uptown Records. While talent director at Uptown, he helped develop Jodeci and Mary J. Blige, in his college days Combs had a reputation for throwing parties, some of which attracted up to a thousand participants. In 1991, Combs promoted an AIDS fundraiser with Heavy D held at the City College of New York gymnasium, the event was oversold, and a stampede occurred in which nine people died. In 1993, after being fired from Uptown, Combs established his new label Bad Boy Entertainment as a joint venture with Arista Records, taking then-newcomer The Notorious B. I. G. with him. Both The Notorious B. I. G. and Craig Mack quickly released hit singles, followed by successful LPs, Combs signed more acts to Bad Boy, including Carl Thomas, Faith Evans,112, Total, and Father MC. The Hitmen, his production team, worked with Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, SWV, Aretha Franklin. Mase and The Lox joined Bad Boy just as a widely publicized rivalry with the West Coasts Death Row Records was beginning, Combs and The Notorious B. I. G. were criticized and parodied by Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight in songs and interviews during the mid-1990s. During 1994–1995, Combs produced several songs for TLCs CrazySexyCool, which finished the decade as number 25 on Billboards list of top pop albums of the decade, in 1997, under the name Puff Daddy, Combs recorded his first commercial vocal work as a rapper. His debut single, Cant Nobody Hold Me Down, spent 28 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his debut album, No Way Out, was released on July 1,1997, through Bad Boy Records. Originally titled Hell up in Harlem, the album underwent several changes after The Notorious B. I. G. was killed on March 9,1997, several of the labels artists made guest appearances on the album. No Way Out was a significant success, particularly in the United States, four other singles, Cant Nobody Hold Me Down, Its All About the Benjamins, Been Around the World, and Victory, were also released
Sean Combs
–
Combs performing in December 2010
Sean Combs
–
Bad Boy Entertainment Worldwide headquarters on
Broadway near
Times Square. A billboard of Combs is in the distance.
Sean Combs
–
Combs with his sons Christian and Justin at the
Spider-Man 3 premiere (2007)
Sean Combs
–
Combs' star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
15.
Brandy Norwood
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Brandy Rayana Norwood, known professionally as Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. Born into a family in McComb, Mississippi and raised in Carson, California, she began her career as a child. In 1993, Norwood signed with Atlantic Records, the following year, she released her self-titled debut album, which was certified quadruple Platinum in the US, selling six million copies worldwide. Norwood starred in the UPN sitcom Moesha as the title character and her second album, Never Say Never, sold 16 million copies worldwide, featured two number one singles, and earned Norwood her first Grammy Award. This launched her international stardom, with films, endorsements, sold out concert tours. Throughout the 2000s, Norwood held a position in the pop industry. In 2002, she starred in the reality series Brandy, Special Delivery and her third and fourth albums, Full Moon and Afrodisiac, were released to critical and commercial success. She served as a judge on the first season of Americas Got Talent before being involved in a widely publicized car accident in 2006, after several lawsuits stemming from the accident, Norwoods fifth album, Human, was released to commercial failure. In the 2010s, Norwood received a critical and commercial resurgence, in 2010, she returned to television as a contestant on the eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars and starred in the reality series Brandy & Ray J, A Family Business. In 2012 she became a regular in the BET series The Game. In April 2015, Norwood made her Broadway debut in the musical Chicago and she starred in and executive produced a new sitcom Zoe Ever After on the BET network in January 2016. Throughout her career, she has sold over 40 million records worldwide, the Recording Industry Association of America lists Norwood as one of the top selling artists in the United States, with 10.5 million certified albums. Her work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award, one American Music Award and she is the older sister of entertainer Ray J, as well as a cousin of rapper Snoop Dogg. Raised in a Christian home, Norwood started singing through her fathers work as part of the church choir. In 1983, her parents relocated to Los Angeles, California, Norwood began entering talent shows by the time she was eleven, and, as part of a youth singing group, performed at several public functions. To manage her daughter, Norwoods mother soon resigned from her job, while Norwood herself dropped out of Hollywood High School later, and was tutored privately from tenth grade on. During the early stages of her debut album, Norwood was selected for a role in the ABC sitcom Thea. Norwood recalled that she appreciated the cancellation of the show as she was unenthusiastic about acting at the time, and she stated, I felt bad for everybody else but me
Brandy Norwood
–
Brandy, photographed by Kat Morgan, in 2015
Brandy Norwood
–
Brandy
Brandy Norwood
–
Norwood performing in a concert in July 2004.
16.
112 (group)
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112 is an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia. Formerly artists on Bad Boy Records, the group signed to the Def Soul roster in 2002 and they had great success in the late 1990s and early 2000s with hits such as Only You, Anywhere and the Grammy-nominated single, Peaches and Cream. The group most notably won a Grammy Award in 1997 for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, for featuring in the song Ill Be Missing You with Sean Combs, the group had its start when the members met while attending high school. The original group consisting of Daron Jones, Michael Keith, & Reginald Finley sang together while Jones & Keith were in middle school & Finley was in high school. Once they joined Finley in high school they met fellow schoolmate Aldon Lagon who was working at a local McDonalds in Atlanta & added him due to his bass voice. They then met a high tenor vocalist Marvin Scandrick they sang with in the school chorus. Known as Forte at the time, the group performed talent shows and performed at churches, the group then changed their name from Forte to 112 after the Atlanta club where Combs first had the boys to audition. Soon afterwards they found living in New York City, recording their debut album 112. Released in 1996, the album went double platinum. The album which was produced by Tim & Bob entered into the top 5 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. It featured the hit singles Only You and Cupid, both of which peaked at #13 on the Hot 100 and #3 and #2 on the R&B charts respectively, the group also contributed to records by artists including The Notorious B. I. G. In the years followed, they toured with other performers such as Whitney Houston. A series of tracks by 112 populated the charts in 1997, beginning with the Tim & Bob produced single Come See Me. Cupid, Produced by Arnold Hennings, released in May, made the top 10 and was certified gold in the same month, another 1997 single, Ill Be Missing You, hit the top 40 in June and was certified triple platinum by July. Attaining the number one position by August, the song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1997. Ill Be Missing You sat at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for eleven weeks, the track also topped the R&B singles, R&B singles sales, and rap singles charts for eight weeks running. The group booked tours with the Isley brothers, Keith Sweat, and New Edition, as well as with Puff Daddy, the group spent 18 successive months on the road fulfilling tour commitments. Their second album, Room 112 was released in 1998, and featured the hits, Love Me featuring Mase, both the album and the song Love Me were certified gold
112 (group)
–
Part III (2001)
17.
Brian McKnight
–
Brian McKnight is an American R&B singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays eight instruments including piano, guitar, bass guitar, percussion, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and he is one of the very few leggiero tenors in the pop genre. McKnight is perhaps most recognized for his falsetto and belting range. McKnights work has earned him 16 Grammy Awards nominations, though he has never won and he is third only to Morten Lindberg and Snoop Dogg for the record of most Grammy nominations without a win. McKnight was born in Buffalo, New York and his musical career began in childhood when he became a member of his church choir. In 1990, McKnights older brother, Claude McKnight III, and his band, Take 6 and this encouraged McKnight to shop his own demo tapes and by the age of 19, he signed his first recording deal with Mercury Records subsidiary, Wing Records. In 1992, Brian McKnight was released, and his debut album peaked at fifty-eight in the Billboard 200 chart. It was followed by two albums for Mercury, 1995s I Remember You and 1997s Anytime. Anytime, McKnights final album with Mercury, sold two million copies and was nominated for a Grammy. The video for Anytime, directed by Darren Grant, was nominated for Best Male Video at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, in 1997, McKnight recorded Remember the Magic for Disney Worlds 25th anniversary. McKnight signed with Motown in 1998 and released the Christmas album Bethlehem, in 1999, McKnight released Back at One, his most successful album to date, which eventually went on to sell over 3 million copies. Also Back at One is one of four of McKnights studio albums to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, in 2004, McKnight co-wrote with Australian Soul artist Guy Sebastian the song Wait, off Sebastians Beautiful Life album. In October 2007, McKnight made his Broadway debut in the show Chicago, from 2006 to 2010 he hosted a radio show, The Brian McKnight Morning Show with Pat Prescott on KTWV The Wave in Los Angeles, CA. The show was briefly simulcast on KHJZ-FM, Smooth Jazz 95.7 The Wave in Houston, on January 26,2009, McKnight hosted The Brian McKnight Show from 7PM-Midnight on 98.7 KISS FM in New York City. In 2009, he appeared in the season of Celebrity Apprentice. Each celebrity played to raise money for the charity of his or her choice, McKnight elected to play for Youthville USA. From September 2009 to May 2010, McKnight served as the personality and hosted The Brian McKnight Show. The show was cancelled on May 29,2010 after one season, on March 31,2011 McKnight sang the National Anthem for MLB Opening Day in Cincinnati, Ohio with his sons Brian, Jr. and Niko
Brian McKnight
–
McKnight at the 2014 Pioneer of African American Achievement Awards Gala
18.
Shawn Stockman
–
Shawn Patrick Stockman is an American singer, songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of the vocal group Boyz II Men. He is currently a judge on the television show The Sing-Off, alongside Jewel Kilcher, Ben Folds, Stockman recorded a solo album as a side project during the late 1990s, but the LP was never released. He has written the songs Forever, Hot Thing, and Let It Go, Shawn went to CAPA in South Philadelphia. He was a major and this is where he met the other members of Boyz II Men. Shawn wrote and sang the song Visions of a Sunset for the Mr. Hollands Opus film soundtrack and he got his singing start with the Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale at the age of 8. Most recently, Stockman started his own label called Soul Chemistry Projects. He has also recorded a cover of Beyoncé Knowles hit song If I Were a Boy, Shawn has been serving as a judge along with Ben Folds, Nicole Scherzinger, Sara Bareilles, and Jewel Kilcher on NBCs The Sing-Off with host Nick Lachey. The show first premiered on December 14,2009, the season premiered on December 6,2010, the third season premiered on September 19,2011. Stockman is the cousin of Atlanta-based neo-soul singer Anthony David, official website Shawn Stockman at the Internet Movie Database Shawn Stockman at Allmusic
Shawn Stockman
–
Stockman in January 2012
19.
Wanya Morris
–
Wanyá Jermaine Morris is an American singer, best known as a member of the R&B group Boyz II Men. He grew up in the Richard Allen neighborhood of Philadelphia, Morris previously dated R&B singer Brandy in the mid 90s. Once dated TLC rap singer Lisa Left-Eye Lopes, the remained friends and he sang a song with her called Let It Out. He currently resides in New Jersey with his wife and children, on March 8,2016, Morris was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on season 22 of Dancing with the Stars. He was partnered with professional dancer Lindsay Arnold, millennium Renaissance Unreleased Happy in Hell (with Colt Ford Boyz II Men Official website Wanya Morris record label website Wanya Morris at the Internet Movie Database Wanya Morris at Allmusic
Wanya Morris
–
Wanya Morris
20.
Michael McCary
–
Michael Mike Sean McCary is an American singer, best known as the former bass singer of the R&B group Boyz II Men. In 2003, Michael McCary left Boyz II Men due to back problems, resulting from multiple sclerosis. McCary plays in the film Mannsfield 12, in which he takes on the role of Herold and he has also appeared on the television game show Identity on March 24,2007. Lately, Michael has been seen in the room as a celebrity juror on a TV show that airs daily called Jury Duty. He was also shown in the pilot for a show with Paula Poundstone called A Pound of Paula. McCary is the son of Omarnetta Thomas and Robert McCary Sr and he has a brother named Robert McCary Jr. Michael was due to make a long-awaited return to the group in 2011 for their twenty-year anniversary album with all new material. However, negotiations between McCary and the group broke down, and this was confirmed by Boyz II Men via their website and he is the step-brother of fellow singer Will Downing. Boyz II Men Official website Michael McCary at the Internet Movie Database Michael McCary at Allmusic
Michael McCary
–
McCary in January 2012
21.
A cappella
–
A cappella music is specifically group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It contrasts with cantata, which is usually accompanied singing, the term a cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato style. The term is used, albeit rarely, as a synonym for alla breve. A cappella music was used in religious music, especially church music as well as anasheed. Gregorian chant is an example of a singing, as is the majority of secular vocal music from the Renaissance. The madrigal, up until its development in the early Baroque into a form, is also usually in a cappella form. Jewish and Christian music were originally a cappella, and this practice has continued in both of these religions as well as in Islam, the polyphony of Christian a cappella music began to develop in Europe around the late 15th century AD, with compositions by Josquin des Prez. The early a cappella polyphonies may have had an accompanying instrument, by the 16th century, a cappella polyphony had further developed, but gradually, the cantata began to take the place of a cappella forms. 16th century a cappella polyphony, nonetheless, continued to influence church composers throughout this period and to the present day. Recent evidence has shown some of the early pieces by Palestrina. Such is seen in the life of Palestrina becoming an influence on Bach. In the Byzantine Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches, bishop Kallistos Ware says, The service is sung, even though there may be no choir. In the Orthodox Church today, as in the early Church, singing is unaccompanied and this a cappella behavior arises from strict interpretation of Psalms 150, which states, Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Divine Liturgies and Western Rite masses composed by composers such as Peter Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Arkhangelsky. Certain high church services and other events in liturgical churches may be a cappella. Many Mennonites also conduct some or all of their services without instruments, sacred Harp, a type of folk music, is an a cappella style of religious singing with shape notes, usually sung at singing conventions. Opponents of musical instruments in the Christian worship believe that opposition is supported by the Christian scriptures. There is no reference to music in early church worship in the New Testament
A cappella
–
The Hullabahoos, a popular a cappella group at the
University of Virginia, were featured in the movie
Pitch Perfect
A cappella
–
The Oxford Alternotives, the oldest a cappella group at the University of Oxford in the UK
A cappella
–
The Sweet Nothings are one of the University of Exeter's eight A Capella groups. They are one of the oldest and most successful girl groups in the UK
A cappella
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The MadHatters are a collegiate a cappella group from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
22.
End of the Road
–
End of the Road is a single recorded by American R&B group Boyz II Men for the Boomerang soundtrack. It was released in 1992 and written and produced by Kenneth Babyface Edmonds, L. A. Reid, the song achieved overwhelming domestic and international success. In the United States, End of the Road spent a record breaking 13 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Whitney Houston would later break this record in the year, with I Will Always Love You. Boyz II Men would later match, and break Houstons record, internationally, End of the Road reached #1 in Australia, United Kingdom and the Hot 100 Eurochart, among others. Due to the success of the single, Boyz II Mens debut album Cooleyhighharmony was re issued in 1992 and 1993 to include the song. At the 1993 Grammy Awards, End of the Road was nominated for two Grammys, winning both, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and Best R&B Song, End of the Road is considered one of the most successful songs of all time. It was the #1 single of 1992 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 1992 and it is ranked by Billboard as the sixth most successful song of the decade 1990–1999. End of the Road was released on June 30,1992 and it was released as a single from the Boomerang soundtrack and did not originally appear on Boyz II Mens debut album, CooleyHighHarmony. It was released after all singles from their debut had been released, End of the Road debuted at #53 on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 18,1992. Within 4 weeks, it reached #1, holding the position for 13 consecutive weeks from August 15,1992 - November 7,1992 and it also spent four weeks atop of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It was also performed by guitarist Paul Jackson Jr. on his 1993 album A River In The Desert, bassist Michael Manson covered the song from his 2008 album Up Front. Marcela Morelo recorded a Spanish version of the song in her 2009 album Otro plan, south Korean boy group U-KISS did an a cappella version of the hit song. Westlife covered this on a cappella, in addition, Boyz II Men included a Spanish-language version on their Spanish-language compilation Evolución. During the series finale of the sitcom A Different World, Whitley led everyone in singing End of the Road at hers, American Idol season ten contestant Stefano Langone performed the song during Idol Goes to the Movies week. An a cappella version was re-recorded for Boyz II Mens 2007 album, Motown, another re-recorded version appears on Boyz II Mens 2011 album, Twenty. A reggae cover was recorded by Frankie Paul in 1996 for his Jet Star album, keyshia Cole sampled the song on her single Trust and Believe, from her 2012 album, Woman to Woman. JLS sang this on their last tour, Goodbye – The Greatest Hits, in Muppets Most Wanted, the song is covered by the Gulag prisoners
End of the Road
–
"End of the Road"
23.
Billboard Hot 100
–
The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales, radio play and online streaming, the weekly sales period was originally Monday to Sunday, when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but was changed to Friday to Thursday in July 2015. Radio airplay, which, unlike sales figures and streaming data, is available on a real-time basis. A new chart is compiled and officially released to the public by Billboard on Tuesdays, as of the issue for the week ending on April 15,2017, the Hot 100 has had 1,061 different number one hits. The current number one song is Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, prior to 1955, Billboard did not have a unified, all-encompassing popularity chart, instead measuring songs by individual metrics. At the start of the era in 1955, three such charts existed, Best Sellers in Stores was the first Billboard chart, established in 1936. This chart ranked the biggest selling singles in retail stores, as reported by merchants surveyed throughout the country, Most Played by Jockeys was Billboards original airplay chart. It ranked the most played songs on United States radio stations, as reported by radio disc jockeys, Most Played in Jukeboxes ranked the most played songs in jukeboxes across the United States. On the week ending November 12,1955, Billboard published The Top 100 for the first time, the Top 100 combined all aspects of a singles performance, based on a point system that typically gave sales more weight than radio airplay. The Best Sellers In Stores, Most Played by Jockeys and Most Played in Jukeboxes charts continued to be published concurrently with the new Top 100 chart. The week ending July 28,1958 was the publication of the Most Played By Jockeys and Top 100 charts. On August 4,1958, Billboard premiered one main all-genre singles chart, the Hot 100 quickly became the industry standard and Billboard discontinued the Best Sellers In Stores chart on October 13,1958. The Billboard Hot 100 is still the standard by which a songs popularity is measured in the United States, the Hot 100 is ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen BDS, sales data compiled by Nielsen Soundscan and streaming activity provided by online music sources. There are several component charts that contribute to the calculation of the Hot 100. Charts are ranked by number of gross audience impressions, computed by cross-referencing exact times of radio airplay with Arbitron listener data. Hot Singles Sales, the top selling singles compiled from a sample of retail store, mass merchant and internet sales reports collected, compiled. The chart is released weekly and measures sales of commercial singles. With the decline in sales of singles in the US
Billboard Hot 100
–
The Billboard logo
24.
Elvis Presley
–
Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is referred to as the King of Rock and Roll. Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis and his music career began there in 1954, when he recorded a song with producer Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was a popularizer of rockabilly. RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, Presleys first RCA single, Heartbreak Hotel, was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. He was regarded as the figure of rock and roll after a series of successful network television appearances. In November 1956, Presley made his debut in Love Me Tender. In 1958, he was drafted into military service, in 1973, Presley featured in the first globally broadcast concert via satellite, Aloha from Hawaii. Several years of drug abuse severely damaged his health. Presley is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century and he won three Grammys, also receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. Presley was born on January 8,1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gladys Love and Vernon Elvis Presley, Jesse Garon Presley, his identical twin brother, was delivered stillborn 35 minutes before his own birth. Thus, as a child, Presley became close to both parents and formed an especially close bond with his mother. The family attended an Assembly of God, where he found his musical inspiration. Although he was in conflict with the Pentecostal church in his later years, rev. Rex Humbard officiated at his funeral, as Presley had been an admirer of Humbards ministry. Presleys ancestry was primarily a Western European mix, including Scots-Irish, Scottish, German, gladyss great-great-grandmother, Morning Dove White, was possibly a Cherokee Native American. Gladys was regarded by relatives and friends as the dominant member of the small family, Vernon moved from one odd job to the next, evincing little ambition. The family often relied on help from neighbors and government food assistance, the Presleys survived the F5 tornado in the 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was found guilty of kiting a check written by the landowner, Orville S. Bean and he was jailed for eight months, and Gladys and Elvis moved in with relatives
Elvis Presley
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Presley in a publicity photograph for the 1957 film
Jailhouse Rock
Elvis Presley
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Presley's birthplace in
Tupelo, Mississippi
Elvis Presley
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Presley in a
Sun Records promotional photograph, 1954
Elvis Presley
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The "iconic cover" of
Presley's 1956 debut album featuring a photo taken July 31, 1955, in Tampa, Florida
25.
One Sweet Day
–
One Sweet Day is a song by American singer Mariah Carey and R&B group Boyz II Men. The song was written by Carey, Walter Afanasieff and Boyz II Men, Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman, Nathan Morris, and Michael McCary. One Sweet Day was produced by Carey and Afanasieff for her studio album, Daydream. The song speaks about the death of a one, how the protagonist took their presence for granted and misses them. Both Carey and Boyz II Men wrote the song about people in their lives, being inspired by sufferers of the AIDS epidemic. One Sweet Day received widespread acclaim from critics, many of whom praised its content and vocals. It was ranked first in Rolling Stones readers poll for the Best Collaboration of All Time, the song spent 16 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, becoming the longest running number one song on the chart. Subsequently, One Sweet Day became the Billboards most successful song of the 1990s, internationally, the song topped the charts in Canada and New Zealand, and reached the top-ten in Australia, Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Carey performed One Sweet Day live alongside Boyz II Men at the 38th Grammy Awards ceremony, additionally, the song was performed at Princess Dianas memorial service in September 1997. One Sweet Day was part of the set list on several of Careys succeeding tours, making its debut during the albums accompanying set of concerts and it is featured on her compilation albums, #1s, Greatest Hits, The Ballads, and #1 to Infinity. The music video for One Sweet Day was filmed in February 1995, and features snippets of Carey and Boyz II Men in and around the studio, the busy schedule of both Carey and Boyz II Men did not allow time to record a proper video. The singer later said that she was content a real music video was never filmed, critics felt the video choice was wise, and agreed that the simple concept paid homage to the songs selfless message. One Sweet Day was a song that Carey wrote with the R&B group Boyz II Men, Carey had the idea and chorus composed, and after meeting with Boyz II Men, they realized they too had a similar idea in development. Together, using Careys chorus and idea, as well as the melody they had produced, they wrote, the song was produced by Afanasieff, who built on the songs melody and added various grooves and beats. Whole idea of when you lose people that are close to you, it changes your life and it had basically the same lyrics and fitted over the same chord changes. It was really, really weird, we finished the right then. We were all kinda flipped about it ourselves, fate had a lot to do with that. I know some people wont believe it, but we wouldnt make up such a crazy story
One Sweet Day
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Carey and Boyz II Men performing "One Sweet Day" at Madison Square Garden
One Sweet Day
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"One Sweet Day"
26.
The Beatles
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The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them. They acquired the nickname the Fab Four as Beatlemania grew in Britain the next year, from 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road, after their break-up in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers of varying lengths. McCartney and Starr, the members, remain musically active. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in November 2001. The Beatles are the band in history, with estimated sales of over 600 million records worldwide. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act, according to the RIAA, the Beatles are also the best-selling music artists in the United States, with 178 million certified units. In 2008, the group topped Billboard magazines list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists, as of 2016 and they have received ten Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and they were also collectively included in Time magazines compilation of the twentieth centurys 100 most influential people. In March 1957, John Lennon, then aged sixteen, formed a group with several friends from Quarry Bank school. They briefly called themselves the Blackjacks, before changing their name to the Quarrymen after discovering that a local group was already using the other name. Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined as a rhythm guitarist shortly after he, in February 1958, McCartney invited his friend George Harrison to watch the band. The fourteen-year-old auditioned for Lennon, impressing him with his playing, after a month of Harrisons persistence, they enlisted him as their lead guitarist. By January 1959, Lennons Quarry Bank friends had left the group, the three guitarists, billing themselves at least three times as Johnny and the Moondogs, were playing rock and roll whenever they could find a drummer. They used the name until May, when they became the Silver Beetles, before undertaking a tour of Scotland as the backing group for pop singer. By early July, they had changed their name to the Silver Beatles, allan Williams, the Beatles unofficial manager, arranged a residency for them in Hamburg, but lacking a full-time drummer they auditioned and hired Pete Best in mid-August 1960
The Beatles
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The "Fab Four" Beatles lineup in 1964 Top: Lennon, McCartney Bottom: Harrison, Starr
The Beatles
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Abbey Road Studios main entrance
The Beatles
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McCartney, Harrison, Swedish pop singer
Lill-Babs and Lennon on the set of the Swedish television show Drop-In, 30 October 1963
The Beatles
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The Beatles arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport, 7 February 1964
27.
On Bended Knee
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On Bended Knee is a 1994 number-one hit single by Boyz II Men for the Motown label. It is the single from their second album, II. Written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the song reached #1 on the Hot 100 Airplay, on Bended Knee stayed at number one for a total of six weeks. The single is notable for having replaced the previous Boyz II Men single, Ill Make Love to You, in the lyrics, the speaker begs on bended knee for his ex-lover to come back to him, and apologizes for his wrongdoing. The music video featured the members and their breakup and eventual reconciliation with four famous actresses, Kim Fields, Renée Jones, Lark Voorhies. The video begins with Wanyas girlfriend in the car with him, accusing him of looking at another woman at the grocery store and he eventually finds her sitting on bleachers where they make up. Shawn meets a girl with a dog at the park and falls in love with her after just meeting her, michael gets into a fight with his girlfriend on his birthday and hes shown alone, drawing a picture of her, but then she comes back to him. The band appears singing on the subway and in the rain, the music video was filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana. It includes footage from Audubon Park, the streetcar, and the French Quarter
On Bended Knee
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"On Bended Knee"
28.
Billboard (magazine)
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Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events and it is also known for its music charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular singles and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows, Billboard was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegens interest in 1900 for $500, in the 1900s, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows. It also created a service for travelling entertainers. Billboard began focusing more on the industry as the jukebox, phonograph. Many topics it covered were spun-off into different magazines, including Amusement Business in 1961 to cover outdoor entertainment so that it could focus on music. After Donaldson died in 1925, Billboard was passed down to his children and Hennegans children, until it was sold to investors in 1985. The first issue of Billboard was published in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 1,1894 by William Donaldson, initially, it covered the advertising and bill posting industry and was called Billboard Advertising. At the time, billboards, posters and paper advertisements placed in public spaces were the means of advertising. Donaldson handled editorial and advertising, while Hennegan, who owned Hennegan Printing Co. managed magazine production, the first issues were just eight pages long. The paper had columns like The Bill Room Gossip and The Indefatigable, a department for agricultural fairs was established in 1896. The title was changed to The Billboard in 1897, after a brief departure over editorial differences, Donaldson purchased Hennegans interest in the business in 1900 for $500, to save it from bankruptcy. That May, Donaldson changed it from a monthly to a paper with a greater emphasis on breaking news. He improved editorial quality and opened new offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London and he also re-focused the magazine on outdoor entertainment like fairs, carnivals, circuses, vaudeville and burlesque shows. A section devoted to circuses was introduced in 1900, followed by more prominent coverage of events in 1901. Billboard also covered topics including regulation, a lack of professionalism, economics and it had a stage gossip column covering the private lives of entertainers, a tent show section covering traveling shows and a sub-section called Freaks to order. According to The Seattle Times, Donaldson also published articles attacking censorship, praising productions exhibiting good taste
Billboard (magazine)
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An 1896 issue of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
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Cover of Billboard (January 26, 2013).
29.
Collide (Boyz II Men album)
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Collide is the eleventh studio album by American R&B group Boyz II Men. The album was released on October 21,2014, by MSM Music Group, many of them blur the line between fresh changes of pace and ill-suited switch-ups. Already Gone, one that falls toward the latter, is schizophrenic itself and its also one of many songs in which Auto-Tune is used -- easily the albums most baffling characteristic
Collide (Boyz II Men album)
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Collide
30.
Heart Break
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Heart Break is the fifth studio album by American R&B quintet New Edition, released June 20,1988 by MCA Records. It is the first album to return the Boston-reared band as a quintet after the exit of original member Bobby Brown. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. By 1987, New Edition was a group in transition, the band members were aging out of their teens into their twenties, and sought for their image and sound to reflect their coming of age. The New Edition members had actually known Gill since they released their hit Candy Girl in 1983 and they had joked that they would let him in the group if he could improve his dancing skills. Prompting Gill’s entrance into the group was when lead singer Ralph Tresvant considered recording a solo album, to circumvent New Edition being left without a lead singer, Michael Bivins suggested bringing in 20-year-old Gill to replace him. Gill accepted the invitation, joining the group in the spring of 1987, Tresvant, however, wasn’t ready to leave— resulting in New Edition, inadvertently, becoming a quintet again as they began production on their fifth album, Heart Break. While most of Heart Break features principal vocals by Tresvant, with solos by Ricky Bell. Gill took the lead on the track “Boys to Men”- a song in which the singer initially resisted and resented recording, feeling it was too juvenile, Boys To Men became one of the albums most eminent numbers, despite it never being officially released as a single. Another standout album track was “Competition, ” a song written by Tresvant that addresses the disappointment felt over the departure of Bobby Brown two years earlier, one song in particular, Where It All Started, was a thinly veiled jab at New Kids on the Block. The group was discovered by their former producer Maurice Starr as a response to New Edition severing ties with him on less than amicable terms. The two groups would later team up for a duet on the latters 2008 reunion album The Block, Heart Break peaked at numbers twelve and three on the US Billboard 200 and R&B Albums Chart respectively, selling 500,000 copies by August 19,1988. On September 28,1988, it was certified platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America, after sales of 2 million, it earned double platinum certification from the RIAA in July 1994. The album has earned international sales of four million copies. Heart Break spun off five hit singles, If It Isnt Love, Youre Not My Kind of Girl, Can You Stand the Rain, Crucial, and N. E. Boys to Men was later on released as a 6th single in 1991 Many have called this album the most seminal New Edition album. Four fans from Philadelphia in particular were inspired by one of the songs on the album, ironically, Boys to Men, the song that Johnny Gill hated recording, ended up becoming the name of the group who changed their name to Boyz II Men. The group would end up being managed and mentored by Michael Bivins, Boyz II Men names New Edition as one of their most influential bands
Heart Break
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Heart Break
31.
Michael Bivins
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Michael Lamont Bivins is an American singer and rapper, and a founding member of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe. Bivins was born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA and he is a member of the group New Edition. Michael Bivins is one of the members of New Edition. When the group broke up he formed Bell Biv DeVoe with Ricky Bell, the group is credited with being one of the pioneers of the new jack swing sound. Their debut album, Poison, peaked at five on the Billboard 200 chart in 1990. He also discovers, manages, and produces for other acts, most notably Another Bad Creation, MC Brains, Boyz II Men and he serves as the music entrepreneur and A&R man of both of his own acts. He also has the New Edition Movie that he produced, most recently, he appeared in the basketball film Crossover as the character, Heart Attack. Bivins also manages Artist Development at Making the Band 4 and is CEO, a judge on the Centric TV version of Showtime at the Apollo said of Apollo Live. Which premiered Fall 2012 on Centric, that Michael Bivins has really grown as an artist and entrepreneur since his debut as one of the heartthrobs of the R&B teen idols called New Edition
Michael Bivins
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Bivins in January 2012
32.
Can You Stand The Rain
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Can You Stand the Rain is a ballad by R&B/pop group New Edition. Released in 1988, it is the single from their fifth studio album. Despite Can You Stand The Rain failing to reach the Hot 100 top forty, peaking instead at #44, can You Stand the Rain -4,57 Can You Stand the Rain was covered by Boyz II Men for their 1997 album, Evolution. In 2001, freestyle singers Safire & Cynthia turned the song into a jam. In 2003, the song was covered by Guy Sebastian. The song gained attention again in Making the Band, when covered by male contestants in the show. In 2008, gospel group The Murrills covered the song with lyrics for their album. In addition to this, Can You Stand the Rain was sampled by Big Sean for his single My Last featuring Chris Brown
Can You Stand The Rain
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"Can You Stand the Rain"
33.
Eddie Murphy
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Edward Regan Eddie Murphy is an American comedian, actor, writer, singer, and producer. Murphy was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984 and he has worked as a stand-up comedian and was ranked #10 on Comedy Centrals list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. In films, Murphy has received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in 48 Hrs. the Beverly Hills Cop series, Trading Places, and The Nutty Professor. Murphys work as an actor in films includes Thurgood Stubbs in The PJs, Donkey in DreamWorks Shrek series. In some films, he plays multiple roles in addition to his character, intended as a tribute to one of his idols Peter Sellers. He has played roles in Coming to America, Wes Cravens Vampire in Brooklyn, the Nutty Professor films, Bowfinger, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Norbit. As of 2014, Murphys films have grossed over $3.8 billion in the United States and Canada box office, in 2015, his films made him the 6th-highest grossing actor in the United States. Murphy was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Murphy was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and raised in the boroughs Bushwick neighborhood. His mother, Lillian, was an operator, and his father, Charles Edward Murphy, was a transit police officer. His father died when he was young and my mother and father broke up when I was three, and he died when I was eight, so I have very dim memories… He was a victim of the Murphy charm. I never got all the logistics and it was supposed to be one of those crimes of passion, If I cant have you, no one else will-kind of deal. Someone said to me one day, Thats why you dont trust women, what are you, a fucking psychiatrist. – Eddie Murphy When Murphys single mother became ill, the eight-year-old, in interviews, Murphy has said that his time in foster care was influential in developing his sense of humor. Later, he and his older brother Charlie were raised in Roosevelt, New York by his mother and stepfather Vernon Lynch, around the age of 15, Murphy was writing and performing his own routines, which were heavily influenced by Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor. His early comedy was characterized by frequent swearing and sketches lampooning a diverse group of people, Eddie Murphy was his first album, released in 1982. In Rolling Stones February 2015 appraisal of all 141 SNL cast members to date and it is customary to say that Eddie Murphy is the only reason SNL survived the five-year wilderness without Lorne Michaels, they noted. In 1982, Murphy made his big debut in the film 48 Hrs. with Nick Nolte. 48 Hrs. proved to be a hit when it was released in the Christmas season of 1982, Nolte was scheduled to host the December 11,1982, Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live, but became too ill to host, so Murphy took over
Eddie Murphy
–
Murphy at the
Tribeca Film Festival for
Shrek Forever After in 2010.
Eddie Murphy
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Murphy in 1988
34.
Boomerang (1992 film)
–
Boomerang is a 1992 American romantic comedy film directed by Reginald Hudlin. The film stars Eddie Murphy as Marcus Graham, an advertising executive who also happens to be an insatiable womanizer. When he meets his new boss, Jacqueline Broyer, before Marcus discovers that she is essentially a version of himself. The film also features Halle Berry, David Alan Grier, Martin Lawrence, Murphy assisted in developing the story with writers Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield, having worked with the writing duo since his days on Saturday Night Live. Murphy hired Hudlin to direct Boomerang, following the success with his debut film House Party. Hudlin and the writers aimed to create a comedy that differed strongly from Murphys previous comic efforts. Filming took place mainly in New York City, while scenes were filmed in Washington. Boomerang was released in the United States on July 1,1992, the film was the 18th highest grossing film in North America that year. Boomerang earned over $131 million worldwide during its theatrical run, the film garnered nominations at the BMI Film & TV Awards and the MTV Movie Awards, while its soundtrack became a top-selling album. Advertisement executive Marcus tells his assistant to send flowers to nine different women, when he enters his office, Nelson, one of the creative minds also in Marcus department, shows Marcus a re-cut of an ad. Marcus tells Nelson he must re-edit the risqué ad, as some of the material may be offensive to women, the next day, Marcus meets Lady Eloise, who will soon be acquiring the company in a business merger. She suggests that Marcus may be promoted and invites him to her home, Marcus realizes she intends to have her way with him, and, thinking of the promotion, spends the night with her. The next day at work, he meets Jacqueline Broyer, a woman who tells Marcus that Lady Eloise is a figurehead who uses her image to her advantage. Marcus realizes that Jacqueline is going to be given the job he wanted, at the merger party, Marcus tells his friends Tyler and Gerard he is considering resigning over not getting the promotion. While there, Jacqueline introduces him to Angela Lewis, who works in the art department, everyone is introduced to Strangé, the wild fashion diva who has been chosen as the new face of Lady Eloise Cosmetics. While looking for Jacqueline, Marcus bumps into Angela, and when he spots Jacqueline, introduces Angela to Gerard so that he can go, though Jacqueline tells him she does not date co-workers, Marcus believes he will be the exception because of her flirtatiousness. Jacqueline tells Marcus they should go over some of their work together, Marcus finds out Angela and Gerard will be going out that night. Later, the two are sent on a trip in New Orleans, and they eventually have sex while there
Boomerang (1992 film)
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Theatrical release poster
Boomerang (1992 film)
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Halle Berry was cast as Angela.
Boomerang (1992 film)
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Martin Lawrence
Boomerang (1992 film)
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David Alan Grier
35.
II (Boyz II Men album)
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II is the second studio album by American R&B quartet Boyz II Men, released on August 30,1994 on Motown Records. Other singles released achieved major success, including Water Runs Dry,2, and Thank You, which reached No.21. Vibin, however, only reached No.52, the spoken track Khalil is a tribute to their road manager Khalil Roundtree who was shot in Chicago, Illinois while the band was opening for MC Hammers Too Legit to Quit tour. II became the winner of the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. According to producer Bob Robinson of the duo Tim & Bob, he, as a result, Busby brought in Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Babyface to deliver hit singles for the project. Busby insisted on Ill Make Love to You being the first single, ironically, the song went on to become one of Boyz II Mens biggest hits. Over 20 songs were produced by Tim & Bob for II, two of the songs Tim & Bob produced - Now That Were Done and Can I Touch You - ended up on 112s 1996 self-titled debut. The album debuted at No.1 in the Billboard 200 with 350,000 copies sold and it spent a total of five weeks at No.1 and was the third best-selling album in 1995 in the United States and sold 12 million copies in the United States. It did not make an impact in the United Kingdom. A Spanish language version, II, Yo Te Voy a Amar, was also issued, the album also won Best R&B Album at the 37th Grammy Awards. Notes Thank You contains a sample from La-Di-Da-Di, performed by Doug E. Fresh, all Around the World contains samples from Kid Capri by Daddy-O. U Know contains a sample from Dont Change Your Love, performed by The Five Stairsteps, jezzebel contains a sample of Hootie Mack by Bell Biv Devoe. List of best-selling albums in the United States List of number-one albums of 1994 List of number-one albums of 1995 List of number-one R&B albums of 1994
II (Boyz II Men album)
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II
36.
Water Runs Dry
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Water Runs Dry is a 1995 single by Boyz II Men for the Motown label, written and produced by Babyface. The single, number four from the album II, reached number 2 in the United States and it also contains a version of the groups previous number one hit from the same album, Ill Make Love To You. A Spanish version, No Dejemos Que Muera el Amor, was recorded and peaked at #10 on the Latin Pop Airplay chart. Boyce Avenue have also covered this song in acoustic format, contemporary Christian artist The Katinas covered the song in their 2013 album Love Chapter. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
Water Runs Dry
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"Water Runs Dry"
37.
Whitney Houston
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Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time, Houston is one of pop musics best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200 million records sold worldwide. She released seven albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No.1 Billboard Hot 100 hits and she is the second artist behind Elton John and the only woman to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houstons debut album, Whitney Houston, became the debut album by a woman in history. Rolling Stone named it the best album of 1986, and ranked it at number 254 on the magazines list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album, Whitney, became the first album by a woman to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Houstons first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard. The films original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and its lead single, I Will Always Love You, won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the best-selling single by a woman in music history. With the album, Houston became the first act to sell more than a million copies of an album within a week period under Nielsen SoundScan system. The album makes her the top female act in the top 10 list of the albums of all time. Houston continued to star in movies and contribute to their soundtracks, including the films Waiting to Exhale, the Preachers Wife soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history. On February 11,2012, Houston was found dead in her guest room at the Beverly Hilton, in Beverly Hills, the official coroners report showed that she had accidentally drowned in the bathtub, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors. News of her death coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards and featured prominently in American, Whitney Houston was born on August 9,1963 in what was then a middle-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. She was the daughter of Army serviceman and entertainment executive John Russell Houston, Jr. and her elder brother Michael is a singer, and her elder half-brother is former basketball player Gary Garland. Her parents were both African American, through her mother, Houston was a first cousin of singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Her godmother was Darlene Love and her aunt was Aretha Franklin. Houston was raised a Baptist, but was exposed to the Pentecostal church. After the 1967 Newark riots, the moved to a middle-class area in East Orange, New Jersey
Whitney Houston
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Houston performing at
Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney Houston in 1991
Whitney Houston
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New Hope Baptist Church
Whitney Houston
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Houston performing "
Saving All My Love for You " on the Welcome Home Heroes concert in 1991
Whitney Houston
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Houston performing "
My Love Is Your Love " with her daughter
Bobbi Kristina Brown on
Good Morning America, September 1, 2009
38.
I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston version)
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The song, I Will Always Love You was originally written and recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter, Dolly Parton. Partons version of I Will Always Love You was a commercial success and it reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart twice. It first reached number one in June 1974, and then in October 1982, Whitney Houston recorded her version of the song for the 1992 film The Bodyguard. Her single spent 14 weeks at one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. It also holds the record for being the single by a woman in music history. Houstons version of I Will Always Love You re-entered the charts in 2012 after her death, the song has been recorded by many other significant artists including Linda Ronstadt and John Doe. Country music singer-songwriter Dolly Parton wrote the song in 1973 for her partner and mentor Porter Wagoner. She recorded it in RCAs Studio B in Nashville on June 13,1973, I Will Always Love You was issued on June 6,1974, as the second single from Partons thirteenth solo studio album, Jolene. In 1982, Parton re-recorded the song, when it was included on the soundtrack to the film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the song also won Parton Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1975 CMA Awards. According to sheet music published at musicnotes. com by Hal Leonard Corporation, after recording a duet with Vince Gill in 1995, I Will Always Love You re-entered the Billboard chart and peaked at number 15. When the 1974 recording of the song was reaching number one on the country charts, Parton was interested until Presleys manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded. She recalls, I said, I’m really sorry, and I cried all night, I mean, it was like the worst thing. You know, it’s like, Oh, my God … Elvis Presley, and other people were saying, You’re nuts. It’s Elvis Presley. I said, I cant do that, something in my heart says, Don’t do that. Then when Whitney came out, I made enough money to buy Graceland. In Curtis W. Ken Knight, author of The Midnight Show, Late Night Cable-TV Guy-Flicks of the 80s, commented that Parton is the singer who can sing I Will Always Love You. Writer Paul Simpson criticized the singer, stating that the track was written to soften the blow of Parton. However, both Parton and Houston dispelled any rumors speaking glowingly of one another in interviews, Houston praised Parton for writing a beautiful song
I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston version)
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"I Will Always Love You"
I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston version)
I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston version)
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Beyoncé performing "I Will Always Love You" and "Halo" during a stop of The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2013
39.
Grammy Award
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A Grammy Award, or Grammy, is an honor awarded by The Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the mainly English-language music industry. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of awards that have a more popular interest. It shares recognition of the industry as that of the other performance awards such as the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards. The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4,1959, to honor, following the 2011 ceremony, The Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 59th Grammy Awards, honoring the best achievements from October 2015 to September 2016, was held on February 12,2017, the Grammys had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s. The music executives decided to rectify this by creating a given by their industry similar to the Oscars. This was the beginning of the National Academy of Recording Arts, after it was decided to create such an award, there was still a question of what to call it, one working title was the Eddie, to honor the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison. They finally settled on using the name of the invention of Emile Berliner, the gramophone, for the awards, the number of awards given grew and fluctuated over the years with categories added and removed, at one time reaching over 100. The second Grammy Awards, also held in 1959, was the first ceremony to be televised, the gold-plated trophies, each depicting a gilded gramophone, are made and assembled by hand by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado. In 1990 the original Grammy design was revamped, changing the traditional soft lead for a stronger alloy less prone to damage, Billings developed a zinc alloy named grammium, which is trademarked. The trophies with the name engraved on them are not available until after the award announcements. By February 2009,7,578 Grammy trophies had been awarded, the General Field are four awards which are not restricted by genre. Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a full album if other than the performer. Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a single song if other than the performer. Song of the Year is awarded to the writer/composer of a single song, Best New Artist is awarded to a promising breakthrough performer who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording that establishes the public identity of that artist. The only two artists to win all four of these awards are Christopher Cross, who won all four in 1980, and Adele, who won the Best New Artist award in 2009 and the other three in 2012 and 2017. Other awards are given for performance and production in specific genres, as well as for other such as artwork. Special awards are given for longer-lasting contributions to the music industry, the many other Grammy trophies are presented in a pre-telecast Premiere Ceremony earlier in the afternoon before the Grammy Awards telecast
Grammy Award
–
Grammy Awards
Grammy Award
40.
Michael Jackson
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Michael Joseph Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, actor, and philanthropist. Called the King of Pop, his contributions to music, dance, the eighth child of the Jackson family, Michael made his professional debut in 1964 with his elder brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5. He began his career in 1971. In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music, the popularity of these videos helped bring the television channel MTV to fame. Jacksons 1987 album Bad spawned the U. S and he continued to innovate with videos such as Black or White and Scream throughout the 1990s, and forged a reputation as a touring solo artist. Through stage and video performances, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and his distinctive sound and style has influenced numerous artists of various music genres. Thriller is the album of all time, with estimated sales of 65 million copies worldwide. Jacksons other albums, including Off the Wall, Bad, Dangerous and he is recognized as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time by Guinness World Records. Jackson won hundreds of awards, making him the most awarded recording artist in the history of popular music. He became the first artist in history to have a top ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades when Love Never Felt So Good reached number nine on May 21,2014. Jackson traveled the world attending events honoring his humanitarianism, and, in 2000, aspects of Jacksons personal life, including his changing appearance, personal relationships, and behavior, generated controversy. In 1993, he was accused of sexual abuse, but the civil case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of child sexual abuse allegations. While preparing for his concert series, This Is It, Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication on June 25,2009. The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled his death a homicide, and his personal physician, Jacksons death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and a live broadcast of his public memorial service was viewed around the world. Forbes ranks Jackson as the dead celebrity with earnings of $825 million in 2016. Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29,1958 and his mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovahs Witness. She played clarinet and piano and once aspired to be a country-and-western performer, michaels father, Joseph Walter Joe Jackson, a former boxer, was a steelworker at U. S. Steel
Michael Jackson
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Jackson performing in 1988, during the Bad World Tour
Michael Jackson
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Jackson's childhood home in
Gary, Indiana, showing floral tributes after his death.
Michael Jackson
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Jackson (center) as a member of the Jackson 5 in 1972.
Michael Jackson
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Jackson wearing his famous
jacket during the Thriller era.
41.
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
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HIStory, Past, Present and Future, Book I is the ninth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson, released on June 18,1995. It was Jacksons fifth album released through Epic Records, and the first released on his label MJJ Productions. HIStory consists of two discs, the first, HIStory Begins, is a greatest hits compilation, the second, HIStory Continues, comprises new material written and produced by Jackson and collaborators. The themes include environmental awareness, isolation, greed, suicide, and injustice, HIStory debuted at number one in countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, France and the United Kingdom, and charted in the top ten in Spain, India and Mexico. Six singles and two singles were released from HIStory, Scream/Childhood, You Are Not Alone, Earth Song, This Time Around, They Dont Care About Us. Earth Song, They Dont Care About Us and Stranger in Moscow peaked in the top ten in multiple countries, but were less successful within the United States. The greatest hits disc was reissued as a disc on November 13,2001, under the title Greatest Hits, HIStory. The second disc was released separately in some European countries in 2011, starting in the late 1980s, Jackson and the tabloid press had a difficult relationship. In 1986, tabloids claimed that Jackson slept in an oxygen chamber and had offered to buy the bones of Joseph Merrick. These stories inspired the pejorative nickname Wacko Jacko, which Jackson despised and he stopped leaking untruths to the press, and the media began creating their own stories. In 1989, Jackson released Leave Me Alone, a song about the victimization he felt by press, the songs music video shows Jackson poking fun at the press and his situation. In 1993, the relationship between Jackson and the press crumbled entirely when he was accused of sexual abuse. Although he was not charged, Jackson was subject to media scrutiny while the criminal investigation took place. In 1994, Jackson said of the coverage, I am particularly upset by the handling of the matter by the incredible, terrible mass media. At every opportunity, the media has dissected and manipulated these allegations to reach their own conclusions, Jackson began taking painkillers, Valium, Xanax and Ativan to deal with the stress of the allegations. A few months after the allegations became news, Jackson stopped eating, soon after, Jacksons health deteriorated to the extent that he cancelled the remainder of his tour and went into rehabilitation. Jackson booked the fourth floor of a clinic and was put on Valium IV to wean him from painkillers. The media showed Jackson little sympathy, in 1993, The Daily Mirror held a Spot the Jacko contest, offering readers a trip to Disney World if they could correctly predict where Jackson would appear next
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
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HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
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Michael Jackson
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
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One of many identical statues based on
Diana Walczak 's original
HIStory statue (pictured June 3, 2005, in the Netherlands), that Sony positioned throughout Europe to promote HIStory.
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
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Jackson performing "Earth Song" on June 20, 1997, in
Lausanne during the HIStory World Tour. During the performance Jackson was dangled from the edge of a crane.
42.
Epic Records
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Epic Records is an American record company owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc. Epic was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953 and it later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of musical genres, including pop, R&B, rock and hip hop. Historically, the label has housed popular acts such as Boston, ABBA, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Dave Clark Five, Gloria Estefan, Pearl Jam, Shakira, Anastacia, and Sly & the Family Stone. Along with Columbia and RCA Records, Epic is one of Sony Music Entertainments three main record labels, L. A. Reid has served as chairman and CEO of Epic since July 2011. Sylvia Rhone was appointed president in March 2014, Epic Records was launched in 1953 by Columbia Records for the purpose of marketing jazz, pop and classical music that did not fit the theme of its more mainstream Columbia Records label. Initial classical music releases were from Philips Records which distributed Columbia product in Europe, pop talent on co-owned Okeh Records were transferred to Epic which made Okeh a rhythm and blues label. Epics bright-yellow, black, and blue became a familiar trademark for many jazz. By 1960, the musical base had been expanded to include all genres. This was done in part to prevent the roster of Columbia Records from being overstuffed with newer artists, subsequently, Epic became better known for its signing of newer, fledgling acts. By the end of the 1960s, Epic earned its first gold records and had evolved into a formidable hit-making force in rock and roll, R&B and country music. Among its many acts, it included Roy Hamilton, Bobby Vinton, The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies, Tammy Wynette, Donovan, The Yardbirds, Lulu, July, Helen Shapiro and Jeff Beck. Also during the 1960s, Epic oversaw the smaller subsidiary CBS labels including Okeh Records, in 1968, Epic recordings began being distributed in the UK by CBS after the distribution deal with EMI expired that year, Epic itself launched in England around 1971. Epic was involved in a trade of artists. Graham Nash was signed to Epic because of his membership in The Hollies, when the newly formed Crosby, Stills & Nash wanted to sign with Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegün worked out a deal with Clive Davis whereby Richie Furays new band Poco would sign with Epic. Also contributing to the success was its distribution of Philadelphia International Records. Sony bought CBS Records in 1987, and the company was renamed Sony Music in 1991. In 2004, Sony merged with another powerhouse music distributor, BMG, bringing labels such as RCA, Arista, Columbia, Epic, Jive, in February 2009, singer and songwriter Amanda Ghost was appointed president of Epic Records. Later in the year, Sony BMG Music merged Epic and Columbias operations, Sony BMGs Legacy Recordings reissues the companys classic and catalog titles
Epic Records
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Classic radial sound sunburst logo, used from the 1960s to 1973, revived in late 1998; used until 2005. Still used on Japanese operations. This logo was used on
Pearl Jam 's
Vitalogy in 1994,
No Code in 1996 and
Yield in February 1998.
Epic Records
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Epic Records
Epic Records
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Primary businesses
43.
Evolution (Boyz II Men album)
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Evolution is the third album by R&B group Boyz II Men, released in September 1997. It is their album released on Motown Records. A Spanish language version, Evolución, was also issued, the Spanish edition won the Billboard Latin Music Award for Pop Album of the Year by a New Artist. On August 20,1997, Boyz II Men held a conference to talk about their first album since 1994s II. They were under pressure with their last two albums cumulatively selling almost 30 million copies worldwide, with Evolution, they worked with their regular collaborators, including Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Babyface. They appeared on talk shows including The Rosie ODonnell Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Vibe Show, The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show. The album was released on September 23, and that night, Evolution debuted at #1 in the Billboard 200 with 215,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album also debuted at #1 on the R&B Album Charts, however, the album spent only one week at the #1 spot and quickly fell down the charts. Evolution sold two million copies in the United States and over four million worldwide, a disappointment compared with the successes of Cooleyhighharmony. Evolution was not received well by critics, in October 1998, Boyz II Men went to Japan and Europe to promote the album, and during that year they embarked on the Evolution Tour. The first single released from the album,4 Seasons of Loneliness, was released in August 1997, the song was Boyz II Mens highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles. It debuted at #2, behind Mariah Careys Honey, the following week, the single went to #1, became their fourth and last chart-topper to date. 4 Seasons of Loneliness became Boyz II Mens sixth platinum single
Evolution (Boyz II Men album)
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Evolution
Evolution (Boyz II Men album)
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Alternate Spanish cover
44.
4 Seasons of Loneliness
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4 Seasons of Loneliness is a R&B and pop ballad recorded by Philadelphia-based vocal quartet Boyz II Men. Written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the song was issued as the first single from the Evolution album in 1997, already a success at U. S. radio, the release of the single prompted a Billboard Hot 100 debut at number two. The following week the song moved up to one, becoming Boyz II Mens fourth. The song spent one week at the top before being pushed aside by Elton Johns massive Princess Diana tribute single Candle in the Wind 1997. It was also the groups last top ten hit in the UK, debuting at number ten on the singles chart,4 Seasons of Loneliness, to date, is the last number-one pop hit under the Motown records banner
4 Seasons of Loneliness
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"4 Seasons of Loneliness"
45.
Soul Food (film)
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Soul Food is a 1997 American comedy-drama film produced by Kenneth Babyface Edmonds, Tracey Edmonds and Robert Teitel and released by Fox 2000 Pictures. Featuring an ensemble cast, the film stars Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, Jeffrey D. Sams, Irma P. Hall, Gina Ravera, in 2000, Showtime premiered a one-hour television series based upon the film. Youngest daughter Ryla —nicknamed Bird—has just opened a barbershop/beauty parlor and is married to Lem, without her guidance, the family begins to fall apart. Teri takes in her troubled cousin Faith, who bonds with Miles over a love of the arts. Meanwhile, Lem cannot find a job due to his record, so Bird makes an uneasy deal with her former boyfriend, Simuel St. James. Realizing her mistake, Teri calls in a few favors to have Lem released, however, Ahmad manages to get everyone together for another Sunday dinner by promising them the whereabouts of the money. The dinner is uneasy as everyone starts to confront their issues and soon enough, Maxine chastises her son for lying, but Ahmad says tearfully that it was the only way to get everyone back together again, citing it was Joes dying wish. As Maxine is comforting her son, the kitchen accidentally catches on fire due to Ahmad leaving a towel too close to the burner and they all together to try. Things start to go well for the family, Vanessa Williams as Teri Vivica A. Regina King, Kenya Moore and Jada Pinkett-Smith were all considered for the role of Bird, Fox auditioned for the role of Teri, but landed the role of Maxine instead. Malik Yoba makes a cameo as their studio engineer. Soul Food was shot primarily on location in the Chicago area, a later Tillman-produced film, Barbershop, would also take place in and be shot on location in Chicago. A soundtrack containing R&B and hip-hop was released on August 19,1997 by LaFace Records and it peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 and was eventually certified 2x Multi-Platinum for over 2 million copies sold. Soul Food received generally positive reviews from critics and it holds an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 41 reviews. The film earned $43,700,855 during its theatrical run. The film opened at #3 in its opening weekend at $11,197,897 behind The Peacemakers opening weekend, Phifer and Hall both appeared in HBOs 1999 adaptation of A Lesson Before Dying, the 1993 novel by Ernest J. Gaines. Hammond, Beach and Sams all appeared in the 1995 film Waiting to Exhale, soul Food spawned a follow-up cable television show on the Showtime network. Soul Food, The Series aired from 2000-2004 on Showtime and currently airs in reruns on TV One
Soul Food (film)
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Theatrical release poster
46.
Polygram
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PolyGram was a Dutch entertainment company, a division of Seagram. It started as a record label recording company founded by Philips. The name was chosen to reflect the Siemens interest Polydor Records, the company traced its origins through Deutsche Grammophon back to the inventor of the flat disk gramophone, Emil Berliner. Later on, PolyGram expanded into the largest global entertainment company, creating film, in May 1998, it was sold to Seagram which owned MCA Inc. PolyGram Music Group was merged into Universal Music Group, and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment was merged into Universal Pictures. When the new company faced difficulties, its parent Seagram was sold in large part to Vivendi. Vivendi is the current owner of UMG, in February 2017, Polygram Entertainment was re-launched as the film & television division of Universal Music Group. In 1929, Decca Records licensed record shop owner H. W. Van Zoelen as a distributor in the Netherlands, by 1931, his company Hollandsche Decca Distributie had become exclusive Decca distributor for all of the Netherlands and its colonies. Over the course of the 1930s, HDD put together its own facilities for A&R, recording, HDD was commercially successful during World War II because of the absence of American and British competition. Van Zoelen wanted to sell to Philips so that HDD would have sufficient financial backing when their major competitors returned after the war and this led Philips to purchase HDD in 1942. Philips labs were developing magnetic tape and LPs, and they could support eventual new formats, after the war, Philips built a large factory in Doetinchem to produce 78 rpm records. During the late 1940s, Philips combined its various businesses into Philips Phonografische Industrie. PPIs early growth was based on alliances, a merger was first proposed with Decca of London in late 1945, but was rejected by Edward Lewis, Deccas owner. In the early 1950s, Philips set itself the goal of making PPI the largest record company in Europe, PPIs second attempt at a merger was with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. DGG, owned by Siemens AG, and well known for its repertoire, had been the German licensee for Decca from 1935. PPI and DGG finally merged in 1962, the alliance with DGG still left PPI without repertoire in Britain or the United States. But in 1951, after Columbia had failed to renew its international distribution agreement with EMI, Columbia became PPIs distributor within the US. This agreement ran until 1961 when Columbia set up its own European network, PPI signed a worldwide distribution deal with Mercury Records in 1961
Polygram
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Divisions and subsidiaries
