1.
Hollywood
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Hollywood is an ethnically diverse, densely populated neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is notable as the home of the U. S. film industry, including several of its studios, and its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the industry. Hollywood was a community in 1870 and was incorporated as a municipality in 1903. It was consolidated with the city of Los Angeles in 1910, in 1853, one adobe hut stood in Nopalera, named for the Mexican Nopal cactus indigenous to the area. By 1870, an agricultural community flourished, the area was known as the Cahuenga Valley, after the pass in the Santa Monica Mountains immediately to the north. According to the diary of H. J. Whitley, known as the Father of Hollywood, along came a Chinese man in a wagon carrying wood. The man got out of the wagon and bowed, the Chinese man was asked what he was doing and replied, I holly-wood, meaning hauling wood. H. J. Whitley had an epiphany and decided to name his new town Hollywood, Holly would represent England and wood would represent his Scottish heritage. Whitley had already started over 100 towns across the western United States, Whitley arranged to buy the 500-acre E. C. Hurd ranch and disclosed to him his plans for the land. They agreed on a price and Hurd agreed to sell at a later date, before Whitley got off the ground with Hollywood, plans for the new town had spread to General Harrison Gray Otis, Hurds wife, eastern adjacent ranch co-owner Daeida Wilcox, and others. Daeida Wilcox may have learned of the name Hollywood from Ivar Weid, her neighbor in Holly Canyon and she recommended the same name to her husband, Harvey. In August 1887, Wilcox filed with the Los Angeles County Recorders office a deed and parcel map of property he had sold named Hollywood, Wilcox wanted to be the first to record it on a deed. The early real-estate boom busted that year, yet Hollywood began its slow growth. By 1900, the region had a post office, newspaper, hotel, Los Angeles, with a population of 102,479 lay 10 miles east through the vineyards, barley fields, and citrus groves. A single-track streetcar line ran down the middle of Prospect Avenue from it, but service was infrequent, the old citrus fruit-packing house was converted into a livery stable, improving transportation for the inhabitants of Hollywood. The Hollywood Hotel was opened in 1902 by H. J. Whitley who was a president of the Los Pacific Boulevard, having finally acquired the Hurd ranch and subdivided it, Whitley built the hotel to attract land buyers. Flanking the west side of Highland Avenue, the structure fronted on Prospect Avenue, the hotel was to become internationally known and was the center of the civic and social life and home of the stars for many years. Whitleys company developed and sold one of the residential areas
Hollywood
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The Four Ladies installation at the
Hollywood Boulevard –
La Brea Avenue Gateway
Hollywood
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Glen-Holly Hotel, first hotel in Hollywood, at the corner of what is now Yucca Street. It was built in the 1890s.
Hollywood
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Hollywood Hotel, 1905
Hollywood
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The intersection of
Hollywood and Highland, 1907
2.
Hollywood and Highland Center
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The Hollywood & Highland Center is a shopping mall and entertainment complex at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the Hollywood district in Los Angeles. The 387, 000-square-foot center also includes TCL Chinese Theatre and the Dolby Theatre, the historic site was once the home of the famed Hollywood Hotel. Located in the heart of Hollywood, along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the centerpiece of the complex is a massive three-story courtyard inspired by the Babylon scene from the D. W. Griffith film Intolerance. The developer of the center built part of the archway. It gives visitors an idea of how large the original set must have been, the center has over 70 shops and 25 restaurants. Major retail tenants that face Hollywood Boulevard include American Eagle Outfitters, Forever 21, GAP, the complex also houses a Lucky Strike Lanes bowling alley, a six-plex movie theater, and a nightclub. Hollywood & Highland also houses 65,000 square feet of gathering spaces including the Grand Ballroom, celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck operates his regional headquarters out of the complex. The center also includes television broadcast facilities that in 2004 included the studios for the talk show On Air With Ryan Seacrest. Currently, the studio is home to Revolt TV, the 637-room Loews Hollywood Hotel is also part of the site. The LACMTA Red Lines subway station of the name is beneath the structure. Also, Metro Local lines 212,217,222,237,656, trizecHahn leased 1.35 acres of Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority land for 55 years at a rate of $492,000 per year and four 11-year optional extensions. This was in addition to the costs of constructing the Red Line subway station below the mall, Trizec Properties Inc. sold its interest in the development for over $200 million in 2004 to CIM Group. This was a loss and represented an investment failure as it was estimated that Trizec spent at least $625 million to develop the center. The current owner, CIM Group, describes itself as a real estate fund manager that makes private equity and/or debt investments in urban communities throughout North America. CIM is headquartered in Hollywood in the TV Guide Building located across the street from Hollywood and Highland. CIM has active projects in Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Orange County, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Oakland, Washington D. C. Austin TX, Boulder CO, one of their better known projects in the Los Angeles region is the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. CIM rebranded Hollywood and Highland and repositioned the center with higher end tenants, the Hollywood and Highland complex opened in 2001 with a conditional use permit that enabled, among other things, for the complex to have special exemptions of Los Angeles billboard ordinances. Despite objections of residents and neighbors, in 2002 this agreement was amended and extended for an additional 20 years
Hollywood and Highland Center
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The center's entrance
Hollywood and Highland Center
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The three-story centerpiece courtyard of the Center
Hollywood and Highland Center
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Costumed characters with tourists
3.
Hollywood Boulevard
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West of Laurel Canyon, it continues as a residential street and ending at Sunset Plaza Drive. The eastern end of Hollywood Boulevard passes through Little Armenia and Thai Town, parts of the boulevard are popular tourist destinations. Prior to Hollywood Boulevard, the street was named Prospect Avenue until 1910, after annexation, the street numbers changed from 100 Prospect Avenue, at Vermont Avenue, to 6400 Hollywood Boulevard. In the early 1920s, real estate developer Charles E. Toberman envisioned a thriving Hollywood theatre district, Toberman was involved in 36 projects while building the Max Factor Building, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and the Hollywood Masonic Temple. With Sid Grauman, he opened the three themed theatres, Egyptian, El Capitan, and Chinese, and was inspired to write Here Comes Santa Claus with Oakley Haldeman. In 1958, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which runs from Gower Street to La Brea Avenue, was created as a tribute to artists working in the entertainment industry, the El Capitan Theatre was refurbished in 1991 then damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The full El Capitan building was restored and upgraded in December 1997. The Hollywood Entertainment District, a business improvement district, was formed for the properties from La Brea to McCadden on the boulevard. The Hollywood extension of the Metro Red Line subway was opened in June 1999, stops on Hollywood Boulevard are located at Western Avenue, Vine Street, and Highland Avenue. Metro Local lines 180,181, and 217, and Metro Rapid line 780 also serve Hollywood Boulevard, an anti-cruising ordinance prohibits driving on parts of the boulevard more than twice in four hours. Beginning in 1995, then Los Angeles City Council member Jackie Goldberg initiated efforts to clean up Hollywood Boulevard, central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland Center and adjacent Dolby Theatre in 2001. In early 2006, the city made revamping plans on Hollywood Boulevard for future tourists, the three-part plan was to exchange the original streetlights with red stars into two-headed old-fashioned streetlights, put in new palm trees, and put in new stoplights. The renovations were completed in late 2006, in the few years leading up to 2007, more than $2 billion was spent on projects in the neighborhood, including mixed-use retail and apartment complexes and new schools and museums. A popular event that takes place on the Boulevard is the transformation of the street to a Christmas theme. Shops and department stores attract customers by lighting their stores and the street with decorated Christmas trees. The street essentially becomes Santa Claus Lane, list of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Hollywood Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
Hollywood Boulevard
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Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District
Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
4.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
5.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
California
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A forest of redwood trees in
Redwood National Park
California
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Flag
California
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Mount Shasta
California
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Aerial view of the
California Central Valley
6.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
7.
Red Line (Los Angeles Metro)
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The Red Line is a heavy rail subway line running between Downtown Los Angeles and North Hollywood via the districts of Hollywood and Mid-Wilshire. In North Hollywood it connects with the Orange Line service for stations to the Warner Center in Woodland Hills and it is operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Red Line, which is one of six forming the Metro Rail rapid transit system. Together with the Purple Line, these two rail lines combine to form L. A. Metro Rails busiest line. As of October 2013, the combined Red and Purple lines averaged 169,478 boardings per weekday, the Red Line begins at Union Station and travels southwest through Downtown Los Angeles, passing the Civic Center, Pershing Square and the Financial District. At 7th St/Metro Center, travelers can connect to the Metro Blue Line, from here, the train travels between 7th Street and Wilshire Boulevard west through Pico-Union and Westlake, arriving at Wilshire/Vermont in the citys Mid-Wilshire/Koreatown district. Up to this point, the track is shared with the Metro Purple Line, at Wilshire/Vermont, from here, the Red Line travels north along Vermont, and then west along Hollywood Boulevard, traveling through Koreatown and Hollywood. Finally, the line turns northwest and crosses into the San Fernando Valley and this route matches a branch of the old Red Car system, dismantled during The Great American Streetcar Scandal. Trains run between approximately 4,30 a. m. and 1,00 a. m. the following morning, on Friday and Saturday evenings, trains are extended until 2,00 a. m. of the following morning. First and last train times are as follows, To/From North Hollywood Eastbound First Train to Union Station,4,31 a. m, last Train to Union Station,12,54 a. m. Westbound First Train to North Hollywood,4,30 a. m, last Train to North Hollywood,12,17 a. m. Trains on the Red Line operate every ten minutes during peak hours Monday through Friday and they operate every twelve minutes during the daytime weekdays and all day on the weekends after approximately 10 a. m. Night service can range between 10–20 minutes, the Red Line project consisted of the current Red Line and Purple Line corridors, plus other corridors that were never built. To Fairfax Avenue, then north along Fairfax to the San Fernando Valley. This zone stretched on either side of Wilshire Boulevard from Hancock Park to west of Fairfax, congress passed the ban in 1986. Subsequently, any plans for a subway west of Western Avenue diverted the line south around the zone, using Crenshaw, Pico, and San Vicente Boulevards. The passage of the legislation forced the then SCRTD to terminate the route at Western Avenue, and no longer qualify for the current round of Federal funding for the remaining miles of the rail line. Bound tunnel and turn north on Vermont, west on Sunset, then north to the San Fernando Valley, the line would then turn north along Highland Avenue to Universal City and North Hollywood
Red Line (Los Angeles Metro)
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Red Line train awaiting departure at
Union Station.
Red Line (Los Angeles Metro)
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Hollywood/Highland Station is located in the heart of Hollywood's tourist attractions
Red Line (Los Angeles Metro)
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North Hollywood is the northern terminus of the Red Line in the San Fernando Valley
Red Line (Los Angeles Metro)
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Train at North Hollywood Metro Red Line Station.
8.
Hollywood/Highland (Los Angeles Metro station)
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Hollywood/Highland is a heavy rail subway station in the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system. It is located at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles and this station is served by the Red Line. The station is the northernmost station on the Red Line in Hollywood, the next stop to the north is the Universal City/Studio City station in the San Fernando Valley. As in New York Citys Times Square, costumed characters on the sidewalk outside offer themselves for photos with tourists, Hollywood/Highland is a two-story station, the top level is a mezzanine with ticket machines while the bottom is the platform level. The station uses an island platform setup with two tracks. The construction designing of the station were teamed up by three different firms, the designer of the station is Sheila Klein, and the constructor of the station is CannonDesign. The lightings, materials, and the mechanical designs responsibility were given to HLB Lighting Design, the construction of the station were to be made of equipments given by the Metro, which according to HLB, made it challenging. The lighting pillars of the station was to resemble like a flower, Sheila Klein named the architecture of the station, Underground Girl. Red Line service hours are approximately from 5,00 AM until 12,45 AM daily and it will also allow connections to the Expo Line, Purple Line, Green Line and the proposed LAX people mover. The station is located in Hollywood at the intersection between two roads, Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue. Hollywood/Highland is beneath the center of the same name and the Dolby Theatre. Due to terrorism concerns, the station has closed on the day of the Academy Awards since 2002. Media related to Hollywood/Highland at Wikimedia Commons Station connections overview
Hollywood/Highland (Los Angeles Metro station)
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Platform View
Hollywood/Highland (Los Angeles Metro station)
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The ticket machine and the faregate.
Hollywood/Highland (Los Angeles Metro station)
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The upper floor view.
Hollywood/Highland (Los Angeles Metro station)
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The station entrance using the sign pillar design of 2004-2014.
9.
Theatre
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The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance the physicality, presence, the specific place of the performance is also named by the word theatre as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον, itself from θεάομαι. Modern theatre, broadly defined, includes performances of plays and musical theatre, there are connections between theatre and the art forms of ballet, opera and various other forms. The city-state of Athens is where western theatre originated, participation in the city-states many festivals—and mandatory attendance at the City Dionysia as an audience member in particular—was an important part of citizenship. The Greeks also developed the concepts of dramatic criticism and theatre architecture, Actors were either amateur or at best semi-professional. The theatre of ancient Greece consisted of three types of drama, tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play, the origins of theatre in ancient Greece, according to Aristotle, the first theoretician of theatre, are to be found in the festivals that honoured Dionysus. The performances were given in semi-circular auditoria cut into hillsides, capable of seating 10, the stage consisted of a dancing floor, dressing room and scene-building area. Since the words were the most important part, good acoustics, the actors wore masks appropriate to the characters they represented, and each might play several parts. Athenian tragedy—the oldest surviving form of tragedy—is a type of dance-drama that formed an important part of the culture of the city-state. Having emerged sometime during the 6th century BCE, it flowered during the 5th century BCE, no tragedies from the 6th century BCE and only 32 of the more than a thousand that were performed in during the 5th century BCE have survived. We have complete texts extant by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the origins of tragedy remain obscure, though by the 5th century BCE it was institution alised in competitions held as part of festivities celebrating Dionysus. As contestants in the City Dionysias competition playwrights were required to present a tetralogy of plays, the performance of tragedies at the City Dionysia may have begun as early as 534 BCE, official records begin from 501 BCE, when the satyr play was introduced. More than 130 years later, the philosopher Aristotle analysed 5th-century Athenian tragedy in the oldest surviving work of dramatic theory—his Poetics, Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods, Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy. Old Comedy survives today largely in the form of the surviving plays of Aristophanes. New Comedy is known primarily from the papyrus fragments of Menander. Aristotle defined comedy as a representation of people that involves some kind of blunder or ugliness that does not cause pain or disaster. In addition to the categories of comedy and tragedy at the City Dionysia, finding its origins in rural, agricultural rituals dedicated to Dionysus, the satyr play eventually found its way to Athens in its most well-known form. Satyrs themselves were tied to the god Dionysus as his loyal companions, often engaging in drunken revelry
Theatre
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Sarah Bernhardt as
Hamlet, in 1899
Theatre
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A master (right) and his slave (left) in a
Greek phlyax play, circa 350/340 BCE
Theatre
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Mosaic depicting masked actors in a play: two women consult a "witch"
Theatre
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Performer playing
Sugriva in the
Koodiyattam form of
Sanskrit theatre.
10.
Seating capacity
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Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The International Fire Code, portions of which have adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction. It specifies, For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms and it also requires that every public venue submit a detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including details of the means of egress, seating capacity, arrangement of the seating. Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the size of the venue. For sports venues, the decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors, chief among these are the primary sports program and the size of the market area. Seating capacity of venues also plays a role in what media they are able to provide, in contracting to permit performers to use a theatre or other performing space, the seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed. Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be used, the seating capacity must also be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums generally advertise their seating capacity, seating capacity is also an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas. The seating capacity for restaurants is reported as covers, a restaurant that can seat 99 is said to have 99 covers, seating capacity differs from total capacity, which describes the total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Use of the term public capacity indicates that a venue is allowed to more people than it can actually seat. Again, the total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law
Seating capacity
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The
Indianapolis Motor Speedway has the largest seating capacity of any venue in the world.
Seating capacity
–
An aerial view of the
Melbourne Cricket Ground during the 1992
Cricket World Cup final packed with 90,000 people.
11.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
Academy Awards
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Academy Awards
Academy Awards
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31st Academy Awards Presentations,
Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, 1959
Academy Awards
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81st Academy Awards Presentations,
Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, 2009
Academy Awards
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Pantages Theatre, 2008
12.
El Capitan Theatre
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El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. In the early 1920s, real estate developer Charles E. Toberman envisioned a thriving Hollywood theatre district, Toberman was involved in 36 projects while building the Max Factor Building, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and the Hollywood Masonic Temple. With Sid Grauman, he opened the three themed theatres, Egyptian, El Capitan, and Chinese, El Capitan, dubbed Hollywoods First Home of Spoken Drama, opened as a legitimate theatre on May 3,1926 with Charlots Revue starring Gertrude Lawrence and Jack Buchanan. Furniture Emporium took up the rest of the building in the 1920s, for a decade it presented live plays, with over 120 productions including such legends as Clark Gable and Joan Fontaine. By the late 1930s, El Capitan felt the effects of the Depression. This period saw a cycle of experimentation with entertainment, in an effort to boost attendance at the theatre, its management attempted to lure revues, road shows and benefits. Despite these efforts, business was faltering, the theatre then began showing movies. When Orson Welles was unable to locate a theatre willing to risk screening Citizen Kane, he turned to El Capitan. The theater then closed for one year as Paramount Pictures purchased the theater, the building was remodeled in the modern style, with the decor covered with curtains and removing the box-seat balconies. The theatre reopened in 1942 as the Hollywood Paramount Theater and its inaugural film presentation was Cecil B. DeMilles feature Reap the Wild Wind, the theater remained the West Coast flagship for Paramount Pictures until the studio was forced by the U. S. Supreme Courts decision in the antitrust case U. S. vs. Paramount Pictures, et al. to divest itself of its theater holdings, after a 50-year stay, Barker Bros. Furniture closed its location in the building in the 1970s, in 1985, Pacific Theatres purchased the theater from SRO Theaters. The buildings owners, Nick Olaerts and Thomas L. Harnsberger, had assigned authority for the facade to the Los Angeles Conservancy in exchange for historical building tax credits. Late in the 1980s, Disney purchased a stake in one of Pacific Theatres chains, leading to Disneys Buena Vista Theaters and Pacific renovating the El Capitan Theatre. These theaters became Disneys flagship houses and they spent $14 million on a complete renovation of the Paramount, restoring much of the buildings original decor as well as the theaters original name. El Capitan reopened in 1991 with the premiere of The Rocketeer, Los Angeles in 1990 designated El Capitan as a Cultural Heritage Monument. The 1992 National Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation was bestowed on the restorers of the theater, a Michael Jackson mural was approved by the National Park Service to be placed on the side of the building in December 1992
El Capitan Theatre
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El Capitan Theatre, 2009
El Capitan Theatre
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Confetti rains at the climax of a show.
13.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
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Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
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Flag
United States
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The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
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The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
14.
Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music
–
The Elliott Hall of Music is a theater located on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. With a seating capacity of 6,005, it is one of the largest proscenium theaters in the world, the facility is named after Edward C. Elliott, who served as President of Purdue University from 1922 to 1945, the stage of the hall is one of the largest in the country. It is roughly the size as the stage of the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The hall was designed by Walter Scholer, assisted by consulting architect J. Andre Fouilhoux, construction began in October 1938 and was completed on May 2,1940, at a cost of US$1,205,000. The facility was dedicated as the Purdue Hall of Music on May 3-4,1940, the Elliott Hall of Music is connected to Hovde Hall, Purdue Universitys administration building, by a walkway on the second floor. During spring commencement exercises, students process up the staircase in front of Hovde Hall, locally, the building is informally known as Elliott Hall or the Hall of Music. Evening exams for large, multi-section classes are scheduled in Elliott Hall of Music. In a typical seating arrangement, Elliot can handle about 3000 students during one exam. Official website Hall of Music Productions
Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music
–
Elliott Hall of Music
15.
Purdue University
–
Purdue University is a public research university located in West Lafayette, Indiana and is the main campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money to establish a college of science, technology, the first classes were held on September 16,1874, with six instructors and 39 students. The main campus in West Lafayette offers more than 200 majors for undergraduates, over 70 master’s and doctoral programs, in addition, Purdue has 18 intercollegiate sports teams and more than 900 student organizations. In 1865, the Indiana General Assembly voted to take advantage of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862, communities throughout the state offered their facilities and money to bid for the location of the new college. Popular proposals included the addition of a department at Indiana State University or at what is now Butler University. By 1869, Tippecanoe County’s offer included $150,000 from Lafayette business leader and philanthropist John Purdue, $50,000 from the county, and 100 acres of land from local residents. On May 6,1869, the General Assembly established the institution in Tippecanoe County as Purdue University, classes began at Purdue on September 16,1874, with six instructors and 39 students. Professor John S. Hougham was Purdue’s first faculty member and served as acting president between the administrations of presidents Shortridge and White, a campus of five buildings was completed by the end of 1874. Purdue issued its first degree, a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, in 1875, emerson E. White, the university’s president from 1876 to 1883, followed a strict interpretation of the Morrill Act. He intended not only to students for industrial work, but also to prepare them to be good citizens. Part of White’s plan to distinguish Purdue from classical universities included an attempt to ban fraternities. This ban was overturned by the Indiana Supreme Court and led to White’s resignation. The next president, James H. Smart, is remembered for his call in 1894 to rebuild the original Heavilon Hall one brick higher after it had destroyed by a fire. Purdue’s engineering laboratories included testing facilities for a locomotive and a Corliss steam engine, one of the most efficient engines of the time. The School of Agriculture was sharing its research with farmers throughout the state with its cooperative extension services, programs in education and home economics were soon established, as well as a short-lived school of medicine. By 1925 Purdue had the largest undergraduate engineering enrollment in the country, President Edward C. Elliott oversaw a campus building program between the world wars. Inventor, alumnus, and trustee David E. Ross coordinated several fundraisers, donated lands to the university, ross’s gifts and fundraisers supported such projects as Ross–Ade Stadium, the Memorial Union, a civil engineering surveying camp, and Purdue University Airport. Purdue Airport was the country’s first university-owned airport and the site of the country’s first college-credit flight training courses, amelia Earhart joined the Purdue faculty in 1935 as a consultant for these flight courses and as a counselor on women’s careers
Purdue University
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John Purdue, the University's eponymous benefactor
Purdue University
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Purdue University
Purdue University
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Purdue University, 1904
Purdue University
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University Hall
16.
Art Deco
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Art Deco, sometimes simply referred to as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. It took its name, short for Arts Decorators, from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925 and it combined modernist styles with fine craftsmanship and rich materials. During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, Art Deco was a pastiche of many different styles, sometimes contradictory, united by a desire to be modern. It featured rare and expensive materials such as ebony and ivory, the Chrysler Building and other skyscrapers of New York were the most visible monuments of the new style. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, the became more subdued. New materials arrived, including chrome plating, stainless steel and plastic, a more sleek form of the style, called Streamline Moderne, appeared in the 1930s, it featured curving forms and smooth, polished surfaces. Art Deco became one of the first truly international architectural styles, with examples found in European cities, the style came to an end with the beginning of World War II. Deco was replaced as the dominant global style by the functional and unadorned styles of modernism. The term arts décoratifs was first used in France in 1858, in 1868, Le Figaro newspaper used the term art décoratifs with respect to objects for stage scenery created for the Théâtre de lOpéra. In 1875, furniture designers, textile, jewelry and glass designers and it took its present name of ENSAD in 1927. The term Art déco was then used in a 1966 newspaper article by Hillary Gelson in the Times, describing the different styles at the exhibit. Art Deco gained currency as a broadly applied stylistic label in 1968 when historian Bevis Hillier published the first major book on the style. Hillier noted that the term was already being used by art dealers and cites The Times, in 1971, Hillier organized an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which he details in his book about it, The World of Art Deco. The emergence of Art Deco was closely connected with the rise in status of decorative artists, the term arts décoratifs had been invented in 1875, giving the designers of furniture, textiles, and other decoration official status. The Société des artistes décorateurs, or SAD, was founded in 1901, a similar movement developed in Italy. The first international exhibition devoted entirely to the arts, the Esposizione international dArte decorative moderna, was held in Turin in 1902. Several new magazines devoted to decorative arts were founded in Paris, including Arts et décoration, Decorative arts sections were introduced into the annual salons of the Sociéte des artistes français, and later in the Salon dautomne. French nationalism also played a part in the resurgence of decorative arts, in 1911 the SAD proposed the holding of a major new international exposition of decorative arts in 1912
Art Deco
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Terracotta sunburst design above front doors of the
Eastern Columbia Building in
Los Angeles; built 1930
Art Deco
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Tamara de Lempicka, "The Musician", 1929 (
oil on canvas)
Art Deco
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Joseph Csaky, Deux figures, 1920, relief, limestone, polychrome, 80 cm. Exhibited
Léonce Rosenberg, Galerie de L'Effort Moderne (1920), now at
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands
Art Deco
–
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, by
Auguste Perret, 15 Avenue Montaigne, Paris (1910-1913)
17.
Red carpet
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The earliest known reference to walking a red carpet in literature is in the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus, written in 458 BC. Servants, let there be spread before the house he never expected to see, where Justice leads him in, a crimson path. Agamemnon, knowing that only gods walk on such luxury, responds with trepidation, I am a mortal, a red carpet was rolled out to a river to welcome the arrival of United States president James Monroe in 1821. In 1902, The New York Central Railroad used plush crimson carpets to direct people as they boarded their 20th Century Limited passenger train and this is believed to be the origin of the phrase red-carpet treatment. Film premieres are often laid down with red carpets, unrolled carpets can be potentially hazardous. In 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI arrived at Edinburgh airport in strong winds for a visit to Britain. A red carpet is used in gala celebrity events such as the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Met Gala. This is now an international product placement arena of great importance to the fashion industry. Red carpets are often coupled with publicity backdrops which contain brand logos or emblems for photography purposes, common items at red carpet events are step and repeat banners which allow sponsors to display logos at the event. More generally, red carpet treatment and rolling out the red carpet refer to any special efforts made in the interests of hospitality, United Airlines operates a series of VIP lounges at major airports that were formerly known as Red Carpet Clubs. Red carpet is now offered to all Heads of States on their official visits to other countries
Red carpet
–
President Barack Obama exiting
Air Force One on red carpet
Red carpet
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Halle Berry attending the premiere of the movie
Robots. A number of photographers are visible behind her, and there is a red carpet present
Red carpet
–
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera arriving in
Paris in October 2010.
18.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
–
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion pictures. The Academys corporate management and general policies are overseen by a Board of Governors, the roster of the Academys approximately 6,000 motion picture professionals is a closely guarded secret. While the great majority of its members are based in the United States, the Academy is known around the world for its annual Academy Awards, now officially known as The Oscars. The Academy plans to open the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles in 2017, the notion of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences began with Louis B. He said he wanted to create an organization that would mediate labor disputes without unions and he met with actor Conrad Nagel, director Fred Niblo, and the head of the Association of Motion Picture Producers, Fred Beetsonto to discuss these matters. The idea of this elite club having a banquet was discussed. They also established that membership into the organization would only be open to people involved in one of the five branches of the industry, actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers. That evening Mayer presented to those guests what he called the International Academy of Motion Picture Arts, everyone in the room that evening became a founder of the Academy. Several organizational meetings were held prior to the first official meeting held on May 6,1927 and their first organizational meeting was held on May 11. At that meeting Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was elected as the first president of the Academy, while Fred Niblo was the first vice-president and that night, the Academy also bestowed its first honorary membership, to Thomas Edison. Initially, the Academy was broken down into five groups, or branches. The original five were, Producers, Actors, Directors, Writers, the initial concerns of the group had to do with labor. However, as went on, the organization moved further away from involvement in labor-management arbitrations and negotiations. By July 1928 the board of directors had approved a list of 12 awards to be presented, during July the voting system for the Awards was established, and the nomination and selection process began. This award of merit for distinctive achievement is what we know now as the Academy Award, the initial location of the organization was 6912 Hollywood Boulevard. In May 1928, the Academy authorized the construction of a state of the art screening room, the screening room was not completed until April 1929. With the publication of Report on Incandescent Illumination in 1928, the Academy began a history of publishing books to assist its members. Another early initiative concerned training Army Signal Corps officers, in 1929 Academy members in a joint venture with the University of Southern California created Americas first film school to further the art and science of moving pictures
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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Headquarters building
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study building on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study in the Hollywood district
19.
Neil Young
–
Neil Percival Young, OC OM, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, producer, director and screenwriter. Young began performing in a group covering Shadows instrumentals in Canada in 1960, in 1966, after a brief stint with the Rick James-fronted Mynah Birds, he moved to Los Angeles, where he formed Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Young had released two albums by the time he joined Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969, in addition to two as a member of Buffalo Springfield. From his early albums and those with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has recorded a steady stream of studio and live albums. Youngs often-distorted electric guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature tenor singing voice transcend his long career, Young also plays piano and harmonica on many albums which frequently combine folk, rock, blues and other musical styles. Famed for emotional outbursts and ripping up live set lists, Young often plays acoustic versions of songs in one show and his gritty guitar work, especially with Crazy Horse, earned him the nickname Godfather of Grunge and led to his 1995 album Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam. More recently Young has been backed by Promise of the Real, Young directed films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past, Rust Never Sleeps, Human Highway, Greendale, and CSNY/Déjà Vu. He also contributed to the soundtracks of the films Philadelphia and Dead Man, Young has received several Grammy and Juno awards. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice, as a solo artist in 1995, in 2000, Rolling Stone named Young the 34th greatest rock n roll artist. He has lived in California since the 1960s but retains Canadian citizenship and he was awarded the Order of Manitoba on July 14,2006, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 30,2009. Young was born on November 12,1945, in Toronto and his father, Scott Alexander Young, was a journalist and sportswriter who also wrote fiction. His mother, Edna Blow Ragland Rassy Young was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, although Canadian, his mother had American and French ancestry. Youngs parents married in 1940 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and their first son, shortly after Youngs birth in 1945, his family moved to rural Omemee, Ontario, which Young later described fondly as a sleepy little place. Young suffered from polio in 1951 during the last major outbreak of the disease in Ontario, after his recovery, the Young family vacationed in Florida. During that period, Young briefly attended Chisolm Elementary School in New Smyrna Beach, in 1952, upon returning to Canada, Young moved from Omemee to Winnipeg for a year, before relocating to Toronto and Pickering. Young became interested in music he heard on the radio. When Young was twelve, his father, who had several extramarital affairs and his mother asked for a divorce which was granted in 1960. Young went to live with his mother, who moved back to Winnipeg, during the mid-fifties, Young listened to rock n roll, rockabilly, doo-wop, R&B, country, and western pop
Neil Young
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Young in 1983
Neil Young
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The Last Waltz, Young (center on left microphone) performing with Bob Dylan and
The Band, among others in 1976.
Neil Young
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Young playing in
Barcelona, Spain, 1984
20.
Christina Aguilera
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Christina María Aguilera is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. Born in Staten Island, New York and raised in Rochester and Wexford, Pennsylvania, she appeared on the television series Star Search, after recording Reflection, the theme for Disneys 1998 film Mulan, Aguilera signed with RCA Records. She rose to prominence with her 1999 self-titled debut album spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number one singles, Genie in a Bottle, What a Girl Wants. The following year, Aguilera released two albums, the Spanish-language album Mi Reflejo and the holiday album My Kind of Christmas. She assumed creative control for her studio album, Stripped, which produced Dirrty, Beautiful. Aguileras fifth studio album, Back to Basics, debuted at one on the album charts of ten countries and spawned the tracks Aint No Other Man. In 2010, Aguilera released her studio album Bionic and starred in the film Burlesque. The following year, she debuted as a coach on the reality television series The Voice. Her seventh studio album, Lotus, was released in 2012, Aguilera has also been featured on several successful collaborations during her career, including Lady Marmalade, Moves like Jagger, and Say Something. Aguilera has been recognized as a pop icon and earned the title Pop Princess in her early years and her work has earned her five Grammy Awards, one Latin Grammy Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has sold over 17.9 million albums in the United States as of 2014 and 50 million albums worldwide as of 2015. In 2009, she ranked at number 58 on Rolling Stones list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, thereby becoming the youngest and the only artist under 30 to be named. Billboard recognized her as the 20th most successful artist of the 2000s, aside from her work in the entertainment industry, Aguilera is involved in charitable activities through human rights, world issues, and her work as a UN ambassador for the World Food Programme. Christina María Aguilera was born in Staten Island, New York, on December 18,1980, to Shelly Loraine, a musician, and Fausto Xavier Aguilera and her father is Ecuadorian, while her mother has German, Irish, Welsh, and Dutch ancestry. Her family moved frequently because of her fathers service, and lived in places including New Jersey, Texas, New York. Aguilera and her mother alleged that her father was physically and emotionally abusive, claims which he denied, Aguilera used music as a form of escape from her turbulent household. Following her parents divorce when she was six years old, Aguilera, her younger sister Rachel, after several years of being estranged, Aguilera expressed interest in reconciling with her father in 2012. Growing up, Aguilera, known locally as the girl with the big voice, aspired to be a singer, singing in local talent shows
Christina Aguilera
–
Aguilera at the Sanremo Music Festival
Christina Aguilera
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Aguilera performing "The Voice Within", the fifth single from Stripped, during The Stripped Tour (2003)
Christina Aguilera
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Aguilera singing "What A Girl Wants" during the "Back to Basics World Tour"
Christina Aguilera
–
Aguilera (at premiere of "To John With Love", September 2010).
21.
Celine Dion
–
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, CC OQ ChLD is a Canadian singer and businesswoman. Dion first gained recognition in the 1980s by winning both the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest where she represented Switzerland. Following a series of French albums during the 1980s, she signed on to Epic Records in the United States, in 1990, Dion released her debut English-language album, Unison, establishing herself as a viable pop artist in North America and other English-speaking areas of the world. During the 1990s, with the help of Angélil, she achieved fame after releasing several English albums along with additional French albums. Her albums, Falling into You and Lets Talk About Love, were certified diamond in the US while Deux became the best-selling French-language album of all time. However, in 1999 at the height of her success, Dion announced a hiatus from entertainment to start a family and spend time with her husband and she returned to the top of pop music in 2002 and signed to perform nightly in A New Day. A five-star theatrical show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Paradise and it became the most successful residency show of all time, grossing US $385 million. Dions music has influenced by genres ranging from rock and R&B to gospel. Her recordings are mainly in French and English, although she sings in Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, Japanese. While her releases have received mixed critical reception, she is regarded as one of pop musics most influential voices. Dion has won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and she is the second best-selling female artist in the US during the Nielsen SoundScan era. In 2003, Dion was honoured by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for selling over 50 million albums in Europe, Dion remains the best-selling Canadian artist and one of the best-selling artists of all time with record sales of over 200 million copies worldwide. Dion was born in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada, the youngest of 14 children of Thérèse, a homemaker, and Adhémar Dion, Dion was raised a Roman Catholic in a poverty-stricken, but, by her own account, happy home in Charlemagne. Music had always been a part of the Dion family, indeed, Dion herself was named after the song Céline. Thereafter, she continued to perform with her siblings in her parentss small piano bar called Le Vieux Baril, from an early age, Dion had dreamed of being a performer. In a 1994 interview with People magazine, she recalled, I missed my family and my home, I had one dream, I wanted to be a singer. At age 12, Dion collaborated with her mother and her brother Jacques to write and compose her first song, Ce nétait quun rêve, whose title translates as It Was Only a Dream or Nothing But A Dream. Her brother, Michel Dion, sent the recording to music manager René Angélil, Angélil was moved to tears by Dions voice and decided to make her a star
Celine Dion
–
Celine Dion, 2012
Celine Dion
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Céline Dion on stage with her dancers performing "
River Deep – Mountain High " on the Taking Chances World Tour in September 2008.
Celine Dion
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Dion performing "
God Bless America " with members of the Band of the
U.S. Air Force Reserve, 2002.
Celine Dion
–
Dion during her
Taking Chances Tour concert in
Bell Centre, Montréal, on 19 August 2008.
22.
Andrea Bocelli
–
Andrea Bocelli, OMRI, OMDSM is an Italian classical crossover tenor, recording artist, and singer-songwriter. Born with poor eyesight, Bocelli became permanently blind at the age of 12, Bocelli has recorded fifteen solo studio albums, of both pop and classical music, three greatest hits albums, and nine complete operas, selling over 80 million records worldwide. He has had success as a crossover performer bringing classical music to the top of international pop charts, in 1998, Bocelli was named one of Peoples 50 Most Beautiful People. In 1999, Bocelli was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards, the Prayer, his duet with Celine Dion for the animated film Quest for Camelot, won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song and was nominated for an Academy Award in the same category. Seven of his albums have reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200. The single went on to sell twelve million copies worldwide. Bocelli was born to Alessandro and Edi Bocelli, doctors had advised Bocellis parents to abort Bocelli before birth as they predicted, based on studies, that Bocelli would be born with a disability. The Bocellis declined and gave birth to Andrea and it was evident at birth that Bocelli had numerous problems with his sight, and after visits to many doctors, he was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma. Bocelli has stated that his mothers decision to give birth to him and overrule the doctors advice was the inspiration for him to hold a pro-life view towards abortion. Bocelli grew up on his familys farm, where they sold farm machinery and made wine in the village of La Sterza. Bocellis mother and younger brother Alberto still live in the family home, as a young boy, Bocelli showed a great passion for music. His mother has said music was the only thing that would comfort him. At the age of 6, Bocelli started piano lessons, and later, also learned to play the flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar and drums. Then, when his nanny, Oriana, gave him the first record of Franco Corelli, Bocelli began to show interest in pursuing the career of a tenor, by seven, he was able to recognize the famous voices of the time and tried to emulate the great interpreters. At the age of 12, Bocelli lost his sight completely following an accident during a football game and he was hit in the eye playing goalkeeper during a match and suffered a brain hemorrhage. Doctors resorted to leeches in an effort to save his sight, but they were unsuccessful. Bocelli also spent time singing during his childhood and he gave his first concert in a small village not far from where he was born. At the age of 14, Bocelli won his first song competition, after finishing secondary school in 1980, he studied law at the University of Pisa
Andrea Bocelli
–
Bocelli rehearsing for his
Under the Desert Sky concert in
Lake Las Vegas, 2006
Andrea Bocelli
–
Bocelli with then fiancée Veronica Berti in Tokyo, Japan, during his 2008 Asian Tour.
Andrea Bocelli
–
David Foster speaks at the ceremony honoring Bocelli with his star
Andrea Bocelli
–
Bocelli receiving a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
23.
Dixie Chicks
–
The Dixie Chicks are an American country music band which has also crossed over into other genres, including pop and alternative country. The band is composed of founding members Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, Dixie Chicks were founded by Laura Lynch on upright bass, guitarist Robin Lynn Macy, and the multi-instrumentalist sisters Martie and Emily Erwin in 1989. The Erwin sisters have married and changed their names to Martie Maguire. The four took their name from the song Dixie Chicken by Lowell George of Little Feat, originally playing predominantly bluegrass. All four women played and sang, though Maguire and Robison provided most of the accompaniment for the band while Lynch. Maguire primarily played fiddle, mandolin, and viola, while Robisons specialties included five-stringed banjo and they paid $5,000 for the 14-track album. The album included two instrumental tunes, in 1987, Maguire had won second place, and in 1989, third place in the National fiddle championships held at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. A Christmas single was released at the end of the year – a 45 RPM vinyl record titled Home on the Radar Range, with Christmas Swing on one side and the song on the flip side named The Flip Side. The record titles were significant, during period of time, the bandmates dressed up as cowgirls. However, even with an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, with few exceptions, such as Garrison Keillors radio show A Prairie Home Companion, Robin Lynn Macy was not pleased with their change in sound, however. She left in late 1992 to devote herself to a bluegrass sound, remaining active in the Dallas. It was during this period that professional steel guitarist Lloyd Maines introduced them to his daughter, Natalie and her distinctive voice was a match for Maguires soprano and Robisons alto harmonies. If their show at the Birchmere last week was any indication, new manager Simon Renshaw approached music executive Scott Siman and he signed them to a developmental deal with Sony Music Entertainments Nashville division. The deal was finalized with Sony over the summer of 1995, the Chicks then replaced Lynch with singer Maines. Accounts of the departure have varied, at the time, the sisters stated that Lynch had been considering leaving the band for over a year, weary of touring, and hoping to spend more time with her daughter at home. She offered to stay for the first cuts on the new album for Sony, in a later interview, Lynch said, It cant really be characterized as a resignation. There are three Dixie Chicks, and Im only one, by her own account Lynch has noted that she had no regrets about leaving. With the addition of Natalie Maines, the new lineup had a contemporary sound, as well as a new look, leaving their cowgirl dresses with their past
Dixie Chicks
–
Dixie Chicks at
Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, during the
Accidents & Accusations Tour, 2006
Dixie Chicks
–
Dixie Chicks at the Country for Kids concert in 1998 in Stafford, Virginia
Dixie Chicks
–
Maines, left, and Robison, right, at the
Royal Albert Hall, 2003
Dixie Chicks
–
Dixie Chicks performing at
Madison Square Garden on June 20, 2003, during the
Top of the World Tour
24.
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.
25.
Alicia Keys
–
Alicia Augello Cook, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, pianist and actress. Keys released her album with J Records, having had previous record deals first with Columbia. Keys debut album, Songs in A Minor was released in 2001, producing her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single Fallin, the album earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002. Her sophomore album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003, spawning successful singles You Dont Know My Name, If I Aint Got You and Diary, the duet song My Boo with Usher scored her a second number-one single in 2004. The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards in 2005, later that year, she released her first live album, Unplugged, becoming the first woman to have an MTV Unplugged album debut at number one. As I Am was released in 2007, producing the Hot 100 number-one single No One, selling 5 million copies worldwide, the Element of Freedom was released in 2009, becoming her first chart-topping album in the UK, and selling 4 million copies worldwide. Keys additionally collaborated with Jay Z on Empire State of Mind as her fourth number-one single, Girl on Fire was released in 2012 as her fifth Billboard 200 topping album, spawning the successful title track. Her second live album, VH1 Storytellers was released in 2013, Here was released in 2016, becoming her seventh R&B/Hip-Hop chart topping album. Keys made her first television appearance on The Cosby Show in 1985 as a four year old child and she made her film debut in Smokin Aces and later in The Nanny Diaries in 2007. Keys then had a NAACP Image Award nominated appearance in The Secret Life of Bees in 2008, Keys also made an appearance on season 2 of Empire in 2015. She is currently a coach on The Voice as of 2016, Keys has won numerous awards such as 15 Grammy Awards and 17 NAACP Image Awards. She has sold over 35 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide, considered a pop icon, Billboard magazine named her the top R&B artist of the 2000s decade and placed her number 10 on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years. Time named her in their 100 list of most influential people in 2005, Keys was born Alicia Augello Cook on January 25,1981, in the Hells Kitchen area of Manhattan, New York City. She is the child of Teresa, a paralegal and part-time actress, and Craig Cook. Keys father is African American and her mother is of Italian, Scottish, Keys has expressed that she was comfortable with her multiracial heritage because she felt she was able to relate to different cultures. Her parents separated when she was two and she was raised by her mother during her formative years in Hells Kitchen. Keys has 2 younger half brothers, Clay Cook and Cole Cook, in 1985, Keys made an appearance on The Cosby Show at the age of four, where she and a group of girls played the parts of Rudy Huxtables sleepover guests in the episode Slumber Party. Throughout her childhood, Keys was sent to music and dance classes by her mother and she graduated in four years as valedictorian at the age of 16
Alicia Keys
–
Keys at the 2013 ARIA Music Awards in Sydney Australia.
Alicia Keys
–
Keys performing at CES, 2004
Alicia Keys
–
Keys performing live, March 19, 2008
26.
Elvis Costello
–
Declan Patrick MacManus, better known by his stage name Elvis Costello, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. His critically acclaimed album, My Aim Is True, was released in 1977. Shortly after recording it, he formed the Attractions as his backing band and his second album, This Years Model, was released in 1978, and was ranked number 11 by Rolling Stone on its list of the best albums from 1967–1987. His third album, Armed Forces, was released in 1979 and his first three albums all appeared on Rolling Stones list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Costello and the Attractions toured and recorded together for the part of a decade. Much of Costellos work since has been as a solo artist, steeped in wordplay, the vocabulary of Costellos lyrics is broad. His music has drawn on many genres, one critic described him as a pop encyclopaedia. He has won awards in his career, including a Grammy Award. In 2003, Costello and the Attractions were inducted into the Rock, in 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Costello number 80 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Costello has co-written several original songs for motion pictures, including God Give Me Strength from Grace of My Heart, for the latter, Costello was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. Costello was born in 25 August 1954 at St Marys Hospital, London, the son of Lilian Alda and Ross MacManus, Costello lived in Twickenham, attending Archbishop Myers R. C. School, which is now St Marks Catholic Secondary School, in neighbouring Hounslow, with a musically inclined father, Costellos first broadcast recording was with his father in a television commercial for R. Whites Lemonade. His father wrote and sang the song, Costello provided backing vocals, the advertisement won a silver award at the 1974 International Advertising Festival. Costello moved with his Liverpool-born mother to Birkenhead, Cheshire, in 1971, there, he formed his first band, a folk duo called Rusty, with Allan Mayes. After completing secondary school at St. Francis Xaviers College he moved back to London where he formed a band called Flip City. They were active from 1974 through to early 1976, around this time, Costello adopted the stage name D. P. His father had performed under the name Day Costello, and Elvis has said in interviews that he took this name as a tribute to his father and he worked for a short period as a computer operator at the Midland Bank computer centre in Bootle. He continued to write songs and began looking for a recording contract
Elvis Costello
–
Costello at the 2012
Riot Fest,
Chicago
Elvis Costello
–
Costello performing at Glastonbury, 2005
Elvis Costello
–
Costello's hand prints on the European Walk of Fame,
Rotterdam
27.
Vanilla Ice
–
Robert Matthew Van Winkle, known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Ices 1990 single Ice Ice Baby was the first hip hop single to top the Billboard charts, after surviving a suicide attempt, Ice was inspired to change his musical style and lifestyle. While his later, less mainstream albums failed to chart or receive radio airplay. In 2009, Ice began hosting The Vanilla Ice Project on DIY Network and his latest album WTF – Wisdom, Tenacity & Focus was released in August 2011. Ice is currently signed to Psychopathic Records, robert Matthew Van Winkle was born in Dallas, Texas, on October 31,1967. Van Winkle has never known his father, he was given the family name of the Dutch man his mother was married to at the time of his birth. When Van Winkle was four, his mother divorced, afterward, he grew up moving between Dallas and Miami, where his new stepfather worked at a car dealership. Hip hop affected Van Winkle at an age, saying Its a very big passion of mine because I love poetry. I was just heavily influenced by that movement and its molded me into who I am today. Between the ages of 13 and 14, Van Winkle practiced breakdancing, although he disliked the nickname, it stuck. Shortly afterward, Van Winkle started battle rapping at parties and because of his rhymes, however, when he became a member of a breakdance troupe, Van Winkles stage name was Vanilla Ice combining his nickname Vanilla with one of his breakdance moves, The Ice. When Ices stepfather was offered a job in Carrollton, Texas. He attended R. L. Turner High School for a time before dropping out. When Ice was not learning to ride motorbikes, he was dancing as a performer with his breakdancing group. Ice wrote Ice Ice Baby at the age of 16, basing its lyrics on a weekend he had with friend, the lyrics describe Ice and Shay on a drug run that ends in a drive-by shooting while praising Ices rhyming skills. In 1985, he was focusing all of his energy on motocross, Ice used his beatboxing and breakdancing skills as a street performer with his friends at local malls during this time. One evening he visited City Lights, a South Dallas nightclub and he won the crowd over and was asked by City Lights manager John Bush if he wanted to perform regularly, which he accepted. Ice would be joined on stage with his disc jockey D-Shay and Zero as well as Earthquake, the Vanilla Ice Posse or The V. I. P. would also perform with Ice on stage
Vanilla Ice
–
Van Winkle in February 2007
Vanilla Ice
–
Vanilla Ice at
Baltimore 's Tex-Mex Grill in March 2007.
Vanilla Ice
–
MC Hammer performing with Vanilla Ice in July 2009.
28.
Joe Bonamassa
–
Joe Bonamassa is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. When he was only 12 years old, Bonamassa opened for B. B. King, in the last 13 years Bonamassa has put out 15 solo albums through his independent record label J&R Adventures, of which 11 have reached #1 on the Billboard Blues charts. Bonamassa has played alongside artists as Stephen Stills, Eric Clapton, Blondie Chaplin, Foreigner, Buddy Guy, Steve Winwood, Warren Haynes. His career highlights include performances at the Royal Albert Hall and a Grammy Award nomination in 2013, Bonamassa was born in New Hartford, New York. He started playing guitar at age four, encouraged by his father, at 11 years old Joe was mentored and trained by American guitar legend, Danny Gatton. Bonamassa played a crimson 1972 Fender Telecaster he called Rosie, which his father had bought in Utica, Bonamassa opened for B. B. King at approximately 20 shows in 1989. Before he reached 18 years old, Bonamassa was playing in a band called Bloodline with the sons of Miles Davis, Robby Krieger, although Bloodline did not become a famous act, it attracted some attention to Bonamassas guitar chops. Bonamassas debut studio album A New Day Yesterday was released in 2000, the album features a guest appearance by Gregg Allman on the tune If Heartaches Were Nickels and was produced by Tom Dowd. The album reached #9 on the Billboard Blues chart, between 2002 and 2006, Bonamassa saw three studio albums hit #1 on the Billboard Blues Charts, and all five of his solo studio albums made the top-10. In 2009 Bonamassa fulfilled one of his dreams by playing at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Bonamassas live album Beacon Theatre–Live from New York was released in 2012, the show featured one of Bonamassas musical heroes, Paul Rodgers, formerly of the bands Free and Bad Company, as a guest. The acoustic ensemble that performed the show was assembled with the help of Bonamassas longtime producer, the concluding, three-night stand of Bonamassas spring 2013 tour occurred at the famous Beacon Theatre in New York City. Over the summer of 2013, Bonamassa performed four shows in London featuring three different bands and, at one show, a section, covering four different sides of his music. Each show had a unique setlist, the shows were recorded for a DVD release and the set of DVDs was released in October,2013 under the name Tour de Force. On December 6,2013, Bonamassa and Beth Hart were nominated for a Grammy Award for their 2013 collaborative album SeeSaw in the Best Blues Album category. Bonamassas album Different Shades of Blue is his first solo album to showcase only original songs. The Hendrix cover is a 79-second partial performance of Hey Baby, Bonamassa explained to the writers that he wasnt interested in creating three-minute radio hits, but just wanted to write some serious blues rock. The recording of the album was accomplished in Las Vegas at a studio in the Palms Hotel
Joe Bonamassa
–
Bonamassa (2012)
Joe Bonamassa
–
Joe Bonamassa - Radio City Music Hall
Joe Bonamassa
–
Bonamassa performing in Stafford, Texas, 2007
29.
Charice
–
Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco, known by the stage name Charice, is a Filipina singer who rose to popularity through YouTube. Dubbed by Oprah Winfrey as the most talented girl in the world, the album entered the Billboard 200 at number eight, making Charice the first Asian solo singer in history to land in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart. Her single Pyramid, featuring singer Iyaz, is her most successful single to date and it charted within the Top 40 in a number of countries after its debut on The Oprah Winfrey Show where Charice sang live vocals. Crossing over to acting on television, she joined the cast of TV series Glee as Sunshine Corazon and she released Before It Explodes, written by Bruno Mars, as the lead single from her second international studio album, Infinity. In March 2012, she signed on to be one of the four judges of the Philippine version of The X Factor, in May 2015, she reunited with her former mentor David Foster by performing her version of Sam Smiths Lay Me Down in Asias Got Talent. Charice was born in Cabuyao City, Laguna province, Philippines and was raised by her single mother, to help support her family, she began to enter singing contests at age seven, from town fiestas in various provinces to singing competitions on TV. She is said to have competed in almost a hundred such contests, in 2005 Charice joined Little Big Star, a talent show in the Philippines loosely patterned after American Idol. Eliminated after her first performance, she was called back as a wildcard contender, although she was a consistent top scorer in the final rounds, she did not win the title in the finale and only placed third. Charice made minor appearances on television shows and commercials. It was not until 2007 that she gained recognition after an avid supporter, FalseVoice. These videos received over 15 million hits, making her an internet sensation, in June 2007, Ten Songs/Productions, a music publishing company in Sweden, invited Charice to a demo-recording after producers saw her videos. She recorded seven songs—six covers and a song called Amazing. She was then invited to the South Korean talent show Star King on October 13,2007, where she sang And I Am Telling You Im Not Going, having seen her online, Ellen DeGeneres invited Charice on her show. Pempengco flew to the United States for the first time and performed two songs on the December 19,2007 episode of the show, I Will Always Love You and And I Am Telling You. Following her American debut on Ellen, she made a appearance on Star King as the Most Requested Foreign Act of the show. On its edition of December 28, she performed Gloria Gaynors I Will Survive, in January 2008, she was invited to Malacañan Palace where she performed for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She returned to the scene when she guested on the April 8 episode of The Paul OGrady Show in London. Her Philippine debut album Charice was released in May 2008, the mini album, consisting of six songs and six backing tracks, was awarded gold certification in the Philippines in October 2008
Charice
–
Charice in June 2010
Charice
–
Charice performing at the
Toronto Eaton Centre in 2010
Charice
–
Charice in her dressing room in one of her shows during her first solo tour in February 2011.
Charice
–
Charice's star in the
Eastwood City Walk of Fame, the Philippine equivalent of the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
30.
Philipp Kirkorov
–
Philipp Bedrosovich Kirkorov PAR is a Russian pop singer of Bulgarian-Armenian origin. Five-time received the «World Music Awards» award as Worlds Best Selling Russian Artist, Philipp Kirkorov was born on 30 April 1967 in Varna, Bulgaria. His father is a Bulgarian singer of Armenian descent Bedros Kirkorov, in 1984, he entered the Gnesin State Music School, graduating with honors in 1988. His mother Victoria Kirkorovа was a Bulgarian singer, in 1988, Kirkorov met the Russian mega-star singer Alla Pugacheva for the first time. She invited him to part in her New Years concert show. The following year, Kirkorov toured and performed with Pugacheva in Australia and he was also a finalist in the Russian national Song of the Year competition. In 1990, Kirkorov won the Grand Prix in the competition Shlyager-90 in Leningrad with the song Nebo i zemlya, in 1992, his music video to the song Atlantida was selected as Music Video of the Year. His popularity began to spread outside of Russia and he toured in the United States, Canada, Germany, in 1993, he won the Russian Ovation award for Best Singer of the Year and also scored a win at the Bulgarian international singing competition Golden Orpheus. The following year, he unveiled his new concert program, titled Ya ne Rafael. He also recorded Ya podnimayu svoy bokal, which he said was a letter to Alla Pugacheva. In 1994, he proposed to Alla Pugacheva and she accepted, on 13 January the couple announced their engagement in Moscow. On 15 March the marriage was registered in St. Petersburg by then-mayor Anatoly Sobchak, on 15 May the wedding of Kirkorov and Pugacheva took place in Jerusalem. Kirkorov represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 held in Dublin with the song Kolybelnaya dlya vulkana and he co-wrote the Belarusian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, Work Your Magic for Dmitry Koldun, and wrote the 2008 Ukrainian entry Shady Lady, performed by Ani Lorak. He was also a judge in the season of Music Idol in Bulgaria. Kirkorov makes a cameo in Verka Serduchkas video Do Re Mi, other than his native Bulgarian, he is fluent in Russian, and is proficient in Spanish and English. He became a father in 2012 and his daughter, Alla-Victoria Filippovna Kirkorova was born in Miami. He decided to call her Alla-Victoria after Alla Pugacheva and his mother Victoria, in December 2012 he signed an open letter criticizing a St. Petersburg bill banning homosexual propaganda, along with pop stars like Dima Bilan and Valery Syutkin. Kirkorov maintains a bad boy public image for most of his career and he caused a number of media controversies
Philipp Kirkorov
–
Philipp Kirkorov
Philipp Kirkorov
–
Kirkorov performing at "Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk", 2014
31.
The Corrs
–
The Corrs are an Irish band that combine pop rock with traditional Irish themes within their music. The group consists of the Corr siblings, Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and they are from Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. The Corrs have released six albums and numerous singles, which have reached Platinum in many countries. Talk on Corners, their most successful album to date, reached multi-Platinum status in Australia and in the UK it was the highest selling album of 1998. The band is one of only a handful of acts who have held the top two positions simultaneously in the UK album charts, with Talk on Corners at number one and Forgiven, Not Forgotten at number two. The latter was the third highest selling album in Australia in 1996, behind Alanis Morissettes Jagged Little Pill and their third studio album, In Blue, went to number one in seventeen countries. The Corrs have been involved in philanthropic activities. They have performed in charity concerts such as The Princes Trust event in 2004. The same year, they were awarded honorary MBEs for their contributions to music, the band was for almost 10 years inactive because Jim and Caroline were raising families, while Andrea and Sharon were pursuing solo careers while raising families of their own. According to Sharon Corr, it was uncertain if and when The Corrs would reunite and their sixth studio album, White Light, was released on 27 November 2015, and was accompanied by a european tour. The Corrs are from Dundalk, County Louth in Ireland, while Caroline and Andrea were still attending school, Jim and Sharon began playing as a duo, often at their aunts pub, McManuss. In 1990, Jim and Sharon added their younger siblings, to form a quartet and their career took off in 1991 when they auditioned for the film The Commitments. Jim, Sharon and Caroline each had small parts as musicians, john Hughes noticed them when they auditioned for the movie and agreed to become their manager. In 1994, the American ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith, after an appearance at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States, The Corrs joined Celine Dions worldwide Falling Into You Around the World Tour as a supporting act. Jason Flom, Atlantic Recordss head of A&R, recommended that they meet David Foster, the Corrs played live for Foster and he agreed to sign them to Atlantic Records. They extended their stay in the US for over five months to record their album, Forgiven. It featured six instrumental selections among its Celtic-influenced tracks, the album sold well in Ireland, Australia, Japan, Norway and Spain. Major success in the US and the UK, however, was not immediately forthcoming, eventually, the album reached Platinum status in the UK and Australia, and 4× Platinum in Ireland, making it one of the most successful debuts by an Irish group
The Corrs
–
Clockwise from top left:
Andrea,
Caroline,
Jim, and
Sharon Corr
The Corrs
–
(L-R) Sharon, Andrea and Jim Corr in concert
32.
Barry Manilow
–
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, musician, and producer with a career that has spanned over 50 years. He is best known for a string of hit recordings such as Mandy, Cant Smile Without You. He has recorded and released 47 Top 40 singles, including 12 that hit number one and 27 of which appeared within the top ten, and has released many multi-platinum albums. He is ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time, according to R&R and Billboard magazines, Manilow has been praised by several well-known entertainers, including Sinatra, who was quoted in the 1970s saying, Hes next. In 1988, Bob Dylan stopped Manilow at a party, hugged him and said, Dont stop what youre doing, as well as producing and arranging albums for other artists, including Bette Midler and Dionne Warwick, Manilow has written songs for musicals, films, and commercials. From February 2005 to December 2009, he was the headliner at the Las Vegas Hilton, since March 2010, he has headlined at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas. He has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the worlds best-selling artists of all time, Manilow was born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17,1943, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Edna Manilow and Harold Pincus. His father was born to a Jewish father and an Irish-American Catholic mother, Barry adopted his mothers maiden name, Manilow, at the time of his bar mitzvah. Manilow grew up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn and attended Eastern District High School and that same year, he enrolled in the City College of New York where he briefly studied before entering the New York College of Music. He also worked at CBS while he was a student in order to pay his expenses, according to one source, he married Susan Deixler that year, with the marriage lasting only one year. Another source says Manilow got an annulment from Deixler in 1966 after two years of marriage and he later studied Musical Theater at the Juilliard performing arts school. In 1964, Manilow met Bro Herrod, a CBS director, instead, Manilow wrote an entire original score. Herrod used Manilows composition in the Off Broadway musical, which enjoyed a run at New Yorks 13th Street Theatre. Manilow then earned money by working as a pianist, producer and arranger, during this time, he began to work as a commercial jingle writer, continuing well into the 1970s. Many of the jingles he wrote and/or composed he would perform, including State Farm Insurance. A1965 Polaroid Swinger commercial featuring Manilows Meet The Swinger jingle starred a young Ali MacGraw and his singing-only credits include commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, and the famed McDonalds You Deserve a Break Today campaign. Manilow won two Clio Awards in 1976 for his work for Tab and Band-Aid, by 1967, Manilow was the musical director for the WCBS-TV series Callback, which premiered on January 27,1968. He next conducted and arranged for Ed Sullivans production company, arranging a new theme for The Late Show, while writing, producing, and singing his radio and television jingles
Barry Manilow
–
Manilow performing live in 2008 at the
Xcel Energy Center,
St. Paul, Minnesota.
Barry Manilow
–
Barry Manilow live in 2008 during a 1960s sketch
Barry Manilow
–
Barry Manilow at the piano, live in 2008
33.
Prince (musician)
–
Prince Rogers Nelson was an American singer-songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, philanthropist, dancer and record producer. He was an innovator who was known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence, extravagant dress and makeup. His music integrates a variety of styles, including funk, rock, R&B, new wave, soul, psychedelia. He has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the artists of all time. He won seven Grammy Awards, an American Music Award, a Golden Globe Award, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, his first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked Prince at number 27 on its list of 100 Greatest Artists, Prince was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and developed an interest in music as a young child. He signed a contract with Warner Bros. at the age of 18. In 1984, he began referring to his band as the Revolution and released Purple Rain. It quickly became his most critically and commercially successful release, spending 24 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200, after releasing the albums Around the World in a Day and Parade, The Revolution disbanded, and Prince released the double album Sign o the Times as a solo artist. He released three solo albums before debuting the New Power Generation band in 1991. He released five records between 1994 and 1996 before signing with Arista Records in 1998, in 2000, he began referring to himself as Prince again. He released 16 albums after that, including the platinum-selling Musicology and his final album, Hit n Run Phase Two, was first released on the Tidal streaming service on December 12,2015. Prince died from an overdose at his Paisley Park recording studio and home in Chanhassen, Minnesota, on April 21,2016. Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, to Mattie Della and his parents were both African-American and his family ancestry is centered in Louisiana, all four of his grandparents came from that state. Princes father was a pianist and songwriter, and his mother was a jazz singer, Prince was given his fathers stage name, Prince Rogers, which his father used while performing with a jazz group called the Prince Rogers Trio. In 1991, Princes father told A Current Affair that I named my son Prince because I wanted him to do everything I wanted to do, Prince has said he was born epileptic and used to have seizures when he was young. He also said, My mother told me one day I walked in to her and said, Mom, Im not going to be sick anymore, Princes sister Tika Evene was born in 1960. Both siblings developed a keen interest in music, and this was encouraged by their father, Prince wrote his first tune, Funk Machine, on his fathers piano when he was seven
Prince (musician)
–
Prince performing in 2008
Prince (musician)
–
Ticket to Prince's first performance with his band in January 1979
Prince (musician)
–
Prince performing in Brussels during the
Hit N Run Tour in 1986
Prince (musician)
–
Prince performing during his
Nude Tour in 1990
34.
Ian Anderson (musician)
–
Anderson plays several other musical instruments, including keyboards, bass guitar, bouzouki, balalaika, saxophone, harmonica, and a variety of whistles. Ian Anderson was born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, the youngest of three siblings and his father, James Anderson, ran the RSA Boiler Fluid Company in East Port, Dunfermline. Anderson spent the first part of his childhood in Edinburgh and he was influenced by his fathers big band and jazz records and the emergence of rock music, but was disenchanted with the show biz style of early American rock and roll stars like Elvis Presley. His family moved to Blackpool, Lancashire, England, in 1959, in a 2011 interview, Anderson stated that he was asked to leave Grammar School for refusing to submit to corporal punishment for some serious infraction. He went on to study art at Blackpool College of Art from 1964 to 1966 while living in St. Annes. While a teenager, Anderson took a job as an assistant at Lewiss department store in Blackpool. In 1963, he formed The Blades from among friends, Michael Stephens, John Evan, Jeffrey Hammond. This was a soul and blues band, with Anderson on vocals and they played their first show at the Holy Trinity Church Hall in North Shore. In late 1967, Anderson was still holding down a day job, namely cleaning the Ritz Cinema in Luton, including the toilets, in the mornings and he took an old, chipped urinal from the cinema storeroom and had it for a time after leaving the job. It was not, however, the urinal which was bolted to the side of John Evans Hammond organ on stage, at this time Anderson abandoned his ambition to play electric guitar, allegedly because he felt he would never be as good as Eric Clapton. According to the notes for the first Tull album, This Was. His guitar practice did not go to either, as he continued to play acoustic guitar. As his career progressed, he added soprano saxophone, mandolin, keyboards and his tendency to stand on one leg while playing the flute came about by accident, as he had been inclined to stand on one leg while playing the harmonica, holding the microphone stand for balance. Anderson was known for his famous one-legged flute stance, and was referred to as a deranged flamingo. This stance is on album covers of Jethro Tull. During a long stint at the Marquee Club, a journalist described him, wrongly and he decided to live up to the reputation, albeit with some difficulty. His early attempts are visible in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus film appearance of Jethro Tull and this was referenced in the facetious liner notes for Thick as a Brick in a quote about the one-legged pop flautist, Ian Anderson. Anderson already wished to start a career in 1980, when Jethro Tull was going to take a hiatus
Ian Anderson (musician)
–
Anderson performing in
Milan, Italy
Ian Anderson (musician)
–
Anderson performing with
Jethro Tull, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada 24 March 1977.
Ian Anderson (musician)
–
Anderson with Jethro Tull at London's
Hammersmith Odeon, March 1978.
Ian Anderson (musician)
–
Anderson at the 2004
Cropredy Festival.
35.
David Gilmour
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David Jon Gilmour, CBE is an English singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He joined the rock band Pink Floyd as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1968, effectively as a replacement for founder Syd Barrett. Pink Floyd subsequently achieved success with the concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals. Following the departure of founder member, Roger Waters, Gilmour assumed leadership of Pink Floyd in 1985. As a member of Pink Floyd, he was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, in 2005, Gilmour was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to music. He was awarded with the Outstanding Contribution title at the 2008 Q Awards, in 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 14 in their list of the greatest guitarists of all time. Additionally, Gilmour was voted number 36 in the greatest voices in rock by Planet Rock listeners in 2009 and he has married twice and is the father of eight children. David Jon Gilmour was born on 6 March 1946, in Cambridge, England. His father, Douglas Gilmour, eventually became a lecturer in zoology at the University of Cambridge. At the time of Gilmours birth they lived in Trumpington, Cambridgeshire, but in 1956, after several relocations, Gilmours parents encouraged him to pursue his interest in music, and in 1954 he bought his first single, Bill Haleys Rock Around the Clock. His enthusiasm for music was stirred the following year by Elvis Presleys Heartbreak Hotel and he then borrowed one from his neighbour, but never gave it back. Soon afterward, he started teaching himself to using a book. At age 11, Gilmour began attending the Perse School on Hills Road, Cambridge, while there he met future Pink Floyd guitarist Syd Barrett and bass guitarist Roger Waters, who attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys, which was also situated on Hills Road. In 1962, Gilmour began studying A-Level modern languages at Cambridge Technical College, despite not finishing the course, he eventually learnt to speak fluent French. Barrett was also a student at the college, and he spent his lunchtimes practising guitar with Gilmour, in late 1962, Gilmour joined the blues rock band Jokers Wild. They recorded an album and a single at Regent Sound Studio, in west London. In August 1965, Gilmour busked around Spain and France with Barrett and some other friends and they were not very successful, getting arrested on one occasion and living a virtually hand-to-mouth existence, which resulted in Gilmour requiring treatment in a hospital for malnutrition. He and Barrett later trekked to Paris, where they camped outside the city for a week, during that time Gilmour worked in various places, most notably as the driver and assistant for fashion designer Ossie Clark
David Gilmour
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Gilmour performing live in Munich, Germany, on 29 July 2006
David Gilmour
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Gilmour performing with Pink Floyd in the mid-1970s
David Gilmour
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Gilmour performing in
Brussels in 1984, on his
About Face tour
David Gilmour
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Gilmour in performance, Frankfurt 2006
36.
Leila Forouhar
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Leila Forouhar is a popular Iranian pop singer. She relocated to Paris after the Iranian Revolution and then to Los Angeles in 1988, Leila is the daughter of the late Iranian actor Jahangir Forouhar, who had already established a solid background in the Iranian entertainment industry by the early 1970s. She speaks of the influence her father had upon her interviews. She followed her fathers career path into movies, beginning with roles in various movies that were based mainly on the social issues of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In time she became known as a star, and with the release of Soltaneh Ghalbhaa. As a teenager, she began modeling for top fashion magazines alongside acting, with roles in Ezteraab, Three Sisters, Leila has more than 47 films. With the outbreak of war with neighboring Iraq, the Iranian movie, initially Forouhar family decided to stay in Tehran in hopes that the conclusion of the war would signify a return to the pre-revolutionary era. With the war stretched on, however, Leila decided to leave the country. During this time, much of the press speculated about Forouhars possible comeback to singing, in 1988 Forouhar and her family moved to the United States quickly establishing contact with Los Angeles based Iranian artists who had fled at the outbreak of the revolution. That same year, she released Makhmal-e-Naz and in 1989 Hedieh, releasing an album a year, by the 1990s she re-established her reputation as a popular female vocalist amongst Persian audiences. Leila is very popular among Middle Eastern countries like Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kurdistan, Armenia and she has received appreciation from the Los Angeles mayor several times. Releasing an album a year, Leila has released more than 20 albums since she has started her singing career. One of her best sold album was Planet of Harmony, that consisted of songs in different languages like English, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Afghani, Armenian, Turkish. Her albums are available in Tower Records and iTunes, in 2005, Leila married a Los Angeles-based Iranian-American businessman in a ceremony that included many fellow singers and entertainers with whom she had made albums. Forouhars nephew is American Muslim reformer Reza Aslan, in 2006, Leila Forouhar had a performance in Tajikistan for a celebration commemorating Aryan civilization. During three concerts that she performed more than 40,000 people came at the concerts. Leila has covered Jolene, the most famous song composed and performed by Dolly Parton and she is one of the first popular singers that has sung Jolene. Leila Forouhar, Shohreh, or Helen, Whom Would You Pick as Best, Marriage of Entertainment Star Leila & Essi. p. 62-65
Leila Forouhar
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Leyla Foruhar
Hollywood/Highland
