1.
Radio Veronica
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Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and broadcast from offshore for over fourteen years. Broadcasts began on 21 April 1960, the station announced itself as VRON but changed to Radio Veronica, after the poem Het Zwarte Schaap Veronica — The Black Sheep Veronica — by the childrens poet Annie M. G. Schmidt. After the stations closure, some of its staff applied for a broadcasting licence, the original Radio Veronica became the most popular station in the Netherlands. It broadcast from a former lightship Borkum Riff anchored off the Dutch coastline, the ship was fitted with a horizontal antenna between the fore and aft masts, fed by a one-kilowatt transmitter. Most of its programmes were recorded in a studio on the Zeedijk in Hilversum, at the end of the 1960s the studios and offices moved to bigger premises on the Utrechtseweg in Hilversum. Initially advertisers were reluctant to buy airtime, but those that did reported increases in sales, for a short time the station also ran an English language service under the call letters CNBC. Although short-lived, CNBC was presented by broadcasters who were able to give invaluable technical advice to Veronicas Dutch staff. The station faced its first serious competition in 1964 when Radio Noordzee and TV Noordzee began broadcasting from the REM Island, the Dutch government passed a law banning broadcasts from such structures and raided the REM Island, but left Veronica alone because of its popularity. The Norderney took over Veronicas broadcasts in November that year and the Borkum Riff was sold for scrap, during 1965 the station was influenced by English-language pirates like Radio London and adopted a faster format with jingles. The arrival of a powerful rival was to cause repercussions for Veronica. The jamming stopped when the returned to the Netherlands, taking up position just one mile from the Norderney. The German programmes were replaced by all English programmes. The Mebo II was equipped with a 100 kW AM transmitter as well as FM, although power did not guarantee RNI an audience, Radio Veronicas management were sufficiently worried about loss of advertising revenue that they planned to put RNI off the air. On 24 September 1970 RNI closed, claiming it was trying to stop the Dutch government from passing legislation that might force Veronica, so loved by the peoples of the Netherlands. In fact Veronica had paid RNI1 million guilders to go off the air for two months, and to enforce this agreement Veronica replaced the Mebo IIs crew with their own staff. RNIs management became unhappy with this arrangement, and once the two months were up one of RNIs Swiss directors, Erwin Bollier, attempted to refund the money, Veronica refused, claiming the right to renew the contract. On 5 January 1971 Bollier boarded the Mebo II, dismissed the Veronica-appointed captain and it was claimed that Veronicas staff had sabotaged RNIs equipment, but by February 1971 RNI was back on the air, with a Dutch as well as an English service. In March Veronica sued RNI for breach of contract, the court found in favour of RNI and the case tarnished Veronicas reputation
2.
The Beatles
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The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them. They acquired the nickname the Fab Four as Beatlemania grew in Britain the next year, from 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road, after their break-up in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers of varying lengths. McCartney and Starr, the members, remain musically active. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in November 2001. The Beatles are the band in history, with estimated sales of over 600 million records worldwide. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act, according to the RIAA, the Beatles are also the best-selling music artists in the United States, with 178 million certified units. In 2008, the group topped Billboard magazines list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists, as of 2016 and they have received ten Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and they were also collectively included in Time magazines compilation of the twentieth centurys 100 most influential people. In March 1957, John Lennon, then aged sixteen, formed a group with several friends from Quarry Bank school. They briefly called themselves the Blackjacks, before changing their name to the Quarrymen after discovering that a local group was already using the other name. Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined as a rhythm guitarist shortly after he, in February 1958, McCartney invited his friend George Harrison to watch the band. The fourteen-year-old auditioned for Lennon, impressing him with his playing, after a month of Harrisons persistence, they enlisted him as their lead guitarist. By January 1959, Lennons Quarry Bank friends had left the group, the three guitarists, billing themselves at least three times as Johnny and the Moondogs, were playing rock and roll whenever they could find a drummer. They used the name until May, when they became the Silver Beetles, before undertaking a tour of Scotland as the backing group for pop singer. By early July, they had changed their name to the Silver Beatles, allan Williams, the Beatles unofficial manager, arranged a residency for them in Hamburg, but lacking a full-time drummer they auditioned and hired Pete Best in mid-August 1960
3.
Radio 538
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Radio 538 is a Dutch commercial radio station that has evolved since 1992. 538, refers to the wavelength that Radio Veronica was broadcast on in the seventies and this station was intended for the younger generation and is owned by Talpa Holding and Telegraaf Media Groep. It has a variety of genres including the Top 40, dance, R&B, pop, rock. Traditionally, the station was obtained through cable, however in 1998 the station upgraded to a different frequency package. Radio 538 started the hip-hop and contemporary R&B program Juize, which developed into the radio station Juize. FM on 18 July 2004, later, in 2011, Radio 538 created a sister station called TV538. Transmissions began on 11 December 1992 from a villa in Bussum, the name Radio 538 is a reference to the wavelength on which Radio Veronica was broadcast in the seventies. Presenters of the first hour were Rick van Velthuysen, Wessel van Diepen, Erik de Zwart, Michael Pilarczyk, Will Luikinga, late nineties Radio 538 moved from Bussum to Hilversum, where it moved into a studio complex close to the town hall. Since December 1,2012 houses the entire 538 Group in the 4400 m2 large former NCRV building at Bergweg 70 in Hilversum, initially, from its start in 1992 until 1995, Radio 538 was available only via cable. A request to be allowed to broadcast over the air was rejected at that time, following a media campaign during which 320,000 signatures were collected, Radio 538 got its over-the-air frequency in 1995 – or more precisely, a collection of several regional frequencies. In 2003, Radio 538 was granted a new frequency,102 MHz.538 had to pay €57 million for the new frequencies. In 1995 Lex Harding started TMF, a TV station, at the end of 2002 Erik de Zwart left to go to competitor Noordzee FM. Jan-Willem Brüggenwirth became the new chairman, in December 2003 Radio 538 was sold to Advent International, Lex Harding retaining 10% of the shares. In May 2005 Radio 538 was sold in its entirety to Talpa Holding, in June 2007 De Mol sold the TV and radio assets of Talpa to RTL Nederland and became shareholder of RTL Nederland. Radio 538 managed in 10 years to win a substantial market share, in April/May 2004 the station nudged years of market leader Sky Radio to the throne. Nowadays 538 still alternating with NPO Radio 2 and NPO 3FM the most listened radio station in the Netherlands, the marketing share is between 10 and 12 percent. In 2002,2004 and 2009 Radio 538 won the Marconi Award for best radio station, when in 2000 was no clear procedure for a given frequency, Radio 538 withdrew from Flanders. In 2011 Talpa worked together with Finnish media conglomerate Sanoma to buy the Dutch activities of SBS Broadcasting from German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media. As part of that deal De Mol sold his shares in RTL Nederland to the RTL Group, retaining the ownership of Radio 538, in 2014 Radio 538 started with some new programs
4.
Michael Jackson
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Michael Joseph Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, actor, and philanthropist. Called the King of Pop, his contributions to music, dance, the eighth child of the Jackson family, Michael made his professional debut in 1964 with his elder brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5. He began his career in 1971. In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music, the popularity of these videos helped bring the television channel MTV to fame. Jacksons 1987 album Bad spawned the U. S and he continued to innovate with videos such as Black or White and Scream throughout the 1990s, and forged a reputation as a touring solo artist. Through stage and video performances, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and his distinctive sound and style has influenced numerous artists of various music genres. Thriller is the album of all time, with estimated sales of 65 million copies worldwide. Jacksons other albums, including Off the Wall, Bad, Dangerous and he is recognized as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time by Guinness World Records. Jackson won hundreds of awards, making him the most awarded recording artist in the history of popular music. He became the first artist in history to have a top ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades when Love Never Felt So Good reached number nine on May 21,2014. Jackson traveled the world attending events honoring his humanitarianism, and, in 2000, aspects of Jacksons personal life, including his changing appearance, personal relationships, and behavior, generated controversy. In 1993, he was accused of sexual abuse, but the civil case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of child sexual abuse allegations. While preparing for his concert series, This Is It, Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication on June 25,2009. The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled his death a homicide, and his personal physician, Jacksons death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and a live broadcast of his public memorial service was viewed around the world. Forbes ranks Jackson as the dead celebrity with earnings of $825 million in 2016. Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29,1958 and his mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovahs Witness. She played clarinet and piano and once aspired to be a country-and-western performer, michaels father, Joseph Walter Joe Jackson, a former boxer, was a steelworker at U. S. Steel
5.
Robbie Williams
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Robert Peter Robbie Williams is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He was a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995 and he has also had commercial success as a solo artist. Williams rose to fame in Take Thats first run in the early-to-mid-1990s, Williams also released seven number-one singles. On 15 July 2010, he rejoined Take That, the groups subsequent album Progress became the second fastest-selling album in UK chart history and the fastest-selling record of the century at the time. Gary Barlow has since confirmed that Williams had left for a time, although the departure was amicable. He is the best-selling British solo artist in the United Kingdom, in 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame after being voted the Greatest Artist of the 1990s. According to the British Phonographic Industry, Williams has been certified for 19.5 million albums and 6.8 million singles in the UK as a solo artist. Williams also topped the 2000–2010 UK airplay chart, racking up almost 50% more plays than the Sugababes at number 2, in 2014 he was awarded the freedom of his home town of Stoke-on-Trent, as well as having a tourist trail created and streets named in his honour. Williams was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire and his maternal grandfather was Irish and hailed from Kilkenny. Williams attended St Margaret Ward Catholic School in Tunstall, before attending dance school UKDDF in Tunstall and he participated in several school plays, and his biggest role was that of the Artful Dodger in a production of Oliver. In 1990, the sixteen-year-old Williams was the youngest member to join Take That, according to the documentary Take That, For the Record, his mother read an advertisement seeking members for a new boy band and suggested that he try out for the group. He met fellow member Mark Owen on the day of his audition/interview with Nigel Martin-Smith, during the heights of the bands popularity, Williams was known as the extrovert and cheeky practical joker of the band. However, he had conflicts with Martin-Smith over the rules for Take That members. In November 1994, Williamss drug abuse had escalated to the point of his having a drug overdose the night before the group was scheduled to perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Barlow explained in interviews that Williams had given up trying to offer creative input, during one of the last rehearsals before the tour commenced, the group confronted Williams about his attitude and stated they wanted to do the tour without him. He agreed to quit and left the group in July 1995, despite the departure of Williams, Take That completed their Nobody Else Tour as a four-piece band. They later disbanded on 13 February 1996, Williamss 22nd birthday, shortly afterwards, Williams was photographed by the press partying with the members of Oasis at Glastonbury Festival. Following his departure, he became the subject of shows and newspapers as he acknowledged his plans to become a solo singer
6.
Calvin Harris
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Adam Richard Wiles, known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish record producer, DJ, singer and songwriter. His debut studio album I Created Disco was released in June 2007 and its lead single Im Not Alone became his first number-one single on the UK Singles Chart. Harris rose to prominence with the release of his third studio album 18 Months in October 2012. Topping the UK charts, the album became his first to chart on the US Billboard 200 chart, Harris released his fourth studio album Motion in November 2014. It debuted at two in the UK and at number five in the US, and became Harriss second consecutive number one album on the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart. The albums first three singles Under Control, Summer and Blame all topped the UK chart, Harris has collaborated with numerous other recording artists. His collaboration with Rihanna We Found Love became an international success, Harris later collaborated with Rihanna on the singles Where Have You Been and This Is What You Came For. Harris currently holds the record for the most top 10 songs from one album on the UK Singles Chart with nine top 10 entries. In October 2014, he became the first artist to place three songs simultaneously on the top 10 of Billboards Dance/Electronic Songs chart and he also became the first British solo artist to reach more than one billion streams on Spotify. Harris has received ten Brit Award nominations—three for Best British Male and he received the British Academys Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year in 2013 and at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards was named Top Dance/Electronic Artist. Additionally, Harris topped Forbes list of the worlds highest-paid DJs for three years from 2013 to 2015. One of the most successful musicians in contemporary British popular culture, Harris runs his own record label, Fly Eye Records. Adam Richard Wiles was born on 17 January 1984 in Dumfries and his parents, David Wiles, a biochemist, and Pamela, a homemaker, married in Oxford before moving to the Dumfries suburb of Georgetown. He has a sister, Sophie, and an older brother. He attended Dumfries High School, and after leaving school he stacked shelves in supermarkets and he was first attracted to electronic music in his teens and began recording bedroom demos in 1999. When Harris was 18 he released two songs Da Bongos and Brighter Days, both were released as 12-inch club singles and CD-EPs by the label Prima Facie in early 2002 under the name Stouffer. With these singles to his credit, Harris moved from Scotland to London, Only one of his songs was released during his time in London, Let Me Know with vocalist Ayah Marar on the Unabombers 2004 live-mix CD Electric Soul, Vol.2. With the lack of job opportunities and money, Harris returned home to Dumfries, Harris signed contracts with Three Six Zero Group, EMI and Sony BMG in 2006 after he had been discovered on the social networking website Myspace
7.
Ed Sheeran
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Edward Christopher Ed Sheeran is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham and he attended the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, Surrey, as an undergraduate from the age of 18 in autumn 2009. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the play, No.5 Collaborations Project. After signing with Asylum Records, his album, +, was released on 9 September 2011 and has since been certified seven-times platinum in the UK. The album contains the single The A Team, which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, in 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act. Sheerans popularity abroad began in 2012, in the US, he made a guest appearance on Taylor Swifts fourth studio album, Red. The A Team was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards and he spent much of 2013 opening for Swifts The Red Tour in North America dates. In late 2013, he performed three shows at New Yorks Madison Square Garden as a headline act. His second studio album, x, was released on 23 June 2014 and it peaked at number one in the UK and the US. In 2015, x won the Brit Award for Album of the Year and his single from x, Thinking Out Loud, earned him two Grammy Awards at the 2016 ceremony, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. As part of his tour, Sheeran played three sold-out concerts at Londons Wembley Stadium in July 2015, his biggest solo shows to date. Sheerans third album, ÷, was released in March 2017, the album debuted at number one in the UK, the US and other major markets. He also became the first artist to have two songs debut in the US top 10 in the same week, Sheeran appeared on Debretts 2017 list of the most influential people in the UK. Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and moved with his family to Framlingham in Suffolk when he was a child and he has an older brother named Matthew, who works as a composer. Their parents, John and Imogen, are London-born and his paternal grandparents were Irish, and Sheeran has stated his father hailed from a very large Catholic family. John is an art curator and lecturer, and Imogen is a culture publicist turned jewellery designer and his parents ran Sheeran Lock, an independent art consultancy, from 1990 to 2010. Their work usually took them to London, and they spent their weekends travelling with their children, Sheerans early childhood memories include listening to the records of Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. According to Sheeran, the album that first introduced him to music was Van Morrisons Irish Heartbeat, during his childhood, John took him to a number of live concerts that would later inspire his musical creations
8.
Justin Bieber
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Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After a talent manager discovered him through his YouTube videos covering songs in 2008 and signed to RBMG, Bieber released his debut EP, My World and it was certified Platinum in the U. S. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a record chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Bieber released his first full-length studio album, My World 2.0 and it debuted at or near number one in several countries, was certified triple Platinum in the U. S. and contained his most successful single at the time, Baby. He released his studio album, Under the Mistletoe, in November 2011. Bieber released his studio album, Believe, in 2012. His fourth studio album Purpose was released in November 2015 to commercial success and his U. S. album and singles sales total 44.7 million. He has sold an estimated 100 million records, making him one of the world’s best-selling music artists, Bieber has won numerous awards, including the American Music Award for Artist of the Year in 2010 and 2012. In his career, he has won one Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for the song Where Are Ü Now at the 2016 ceremony. He has been listed four times by Forbes magazine among the top ten most powerful celebrities in the world in 2011,2012, Bieber also became the first artist to surpass 10 billion total video views on Vevo. Bieber was born on March 1,1994, in London, Ontario, at St Josephs Hospital and he is the only child of Jeremy Jack Bieber and Patricia Pattie Mallette. Pattie raised her son with the help of her mother, Diane and his mother is of French-Canadian descent, his paternal great-grandfather was of German ancestry, and his other roots are English, Scottish and Irish. He has also claimed that he has some undetermined Aboriginal Canadian ancestry, through Jeremy, Bieber has two younger half-siblings, Jazmyn and Jaxon. Pattie worked a series of low-paying office jobs, raising Bieber as a mother in low-income housing. Bieber has maintained contact with his father, Bieber attended a French-language immersion elementary school in Stratford, the Jeanne Sauvé Catholic School. Growing up, he learned to play the piano, drums, guitar and he graduated from high school in Stratford, Ontario, the St. Michael Catholic Secondary School in 2012 with a 4.0 GPA. In early 2007, aged 12, Bieber sang Ne-Yos So Sick for a singing competition in Stratford and was placed second. Mallette posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and she continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B songs, and Biebers popularity on the site grew
9.
Bryan Adams
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Bryan Guy Adams, OC OBC is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, guitarist, photographer, philanthropist and activist. Adams also had the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Heaven, Adams has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In 2008, Adams was ranked 38th on the list of All-Time top artists in the Billboard Hot 100 50th Anniversary Charts. Bryan Guy Adams was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, to British parents, Elizabeth Jane and Captain Conrad J. Adams, Adams travelled with his parents to diplomatic postings in Portugal and Vienna, Austria, during the 1960s, and to Israel during the early 1970s. Adams has a brother, Bruce. Before that at age 15–16 he fronted various pub bands like Sweeney Todd that released If Wishes Were Horses and was seen sitting in with other cover bands. He and his guitarist Keith Scott met during those club years, in 1978, at 18, Adams met Jim Vallance through a mutual friend in a Vancouver music store. Vallance was the drummer and principal songwriter for Vancouver-based rock band Prism and had recently quit that band to focus on a career as a studio musician. They agreed to meet at Vallances home studio a few days later, later in 1978, Adams signed to A&M records for one dollar. Some of the first demos written in 1978 have surfaced over the years, most notably Im Ready and Remember, both songs were covered by other artists even before his first album was released. Also recorded during time was the disco song Let Me Take You Dancing featuring Adamss vocal sped up to meet the 122BPM dance tempo. The song made the Canadian RPM chart in March 1979 along with its B-Side Dont Turn Me Away, straight From The Heart was also written during this period. The song was recorded for Adamss third album Cuts Like A Knife in 1983 and released as a single. Adamss self-titled debut album was released in February 1980, and marked the beginning of what was to become a long songwriting partnership between Adams and co-writer Jim Vallance. With the exception of Remember and Wastin Time, most of the album was recorded from 29 October up until 29 November 1979 at Manta Studios and co-produced by Adams, the album was certified gold in Canada in 1986. Adamss second album, You Want It You Got It, was recorded in two weeks and it marked Adamss first album co-produced by Bob Clearmountain. It was released in 1981 and contained the FM radio hit Lonely Nights, Adams also co-wrote songs for other artists during this time including Billboard charted songs like No Way to Treat a Lady for Bonnie Raitt and Dont Let Him Know for Prism. Cuts Like a Knife, which was released in January 1983, was Adamss breakout album due mainly to the lead singles, straight from the Heart was the most successful song, reaching number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100
10.
T.I.
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Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. better known by his stage names T. I. and Tip, is an American hip hop recording artist and actor from Atlanta, Georgia. He signed his first major-label record deal in 1999, with Arista Records subsidiary, in 2001, T. I. formed the Southern hip hop group Pimp Squad Click, alongside his longtime friends and fellow Atlanta-based rappers. Upon being released from Arista, T. I. signed to Atlantic Records and subsequently became the executive officer of his own label imprint, Grand Hustle Records. T. I. is also perhaps best known as one of the artists who popularized the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane. T. I. has released nine albums, with seven of them reaching the top five of the US Billboard 200 chart. Throughout his career, T. I. has also released several successful singles, including Bring Em Out, Whatever You Like, Live Your Life, Dead and Gone, Ball. He began to gain recognition in 2003, following his first high-profile feature, on fellow Atlanta-based rapper Bone Crushers hit single. He earned more prominence with the release of Trap Muzik, which includes the Top 40 hits, Rubber Band Man, the next year, T. I. appeared on Destinys Childs international hit, Soldier, alongside Lil Wayne. His subsequent albums, King and T. I. vs. T. I. P. generated high record sales and were supported by singles, such as What You Know and Big Shit Poppin. In 2013, T. I. was featured on Robin Thickes hit single Blurred Lines, alongside Pharrell Williams, in November 2013, T. I. announced that he had signed with Columbia Records, after his 10-year contract with Atlantic came to an end. He released his Columbia Records debut, Paperwork, in October 2014, in February 2016, T. I. announced he signed a distribution deal with Roc Nation, to release his tenth album. T. I. has won three Grammy Awards, namely Best Rap Solo Performance, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. T. I. has served two terms in county jail, twice for probation violations and a federal prison bid for a U. S. federal weapons charge, while serving 11 months in prison, he released his seventh studio album, No Mercy. T. I. has also had an acting career, starring in the films ATL, Takers, Get Hard, Identity Thief. He is also an author, having written two novels Power & Beauty and Trouble & Triumph, both of which were released to moderate success. T. I. has also starred in the American reality television series T. I. s Road to Redemption, in 2009, Billboard ranked him as the 27th Artist of the 2000s decade. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. was born on September 25,1980, in Atlanta, Georgia and he was raised by his grandparents in Atlantas Center Hill neighborhood just off Bankhead Highway. His father resided in New York City, and he would go there to visit
11.
Pharrell Williams
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Pharrell Lanscilo Williams is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and film producer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the production duo The Neptunes, producing soul, hip hop. He is the lead vocalist and drummer of the rock-funk-hip hop band N*E*R*D and he released his first single, Frontin, in 2003 and followed up with his debut solo album, In My Mind in 2006. His second album, Girl, was released on March 3,2014 and this album was preceded by the commercially successful single, Happy. As part of the Neptunes, Williams has produced hit singles for various recording artists. Williams has earned ten Grammy Awards including two with the Neptunes and he is also a two-time Academy Award nominee, receiving a 2014 Best Original Song nomination from Happy and a 2017 Best Picture nomination as one of the producers of Hidden Figures. Williams was born on April 5,1973, in Virginia Beach, Virginia and his roots extend for generations in Virginia and North Carolina, and one of his ancestors journeyed to West Africa in 1831, prompting other relatives to emigrate from America to Liberia in 1832. He met Chad Hugo in a summer band camp where Williams played the keyboards and drums. They were also members of a marching band, Williams played the snare drum while Hugo was drum major. Williams and Hugo attended Princess Anne High School where he played in the school band, in the MTV show When I Was 17, Pharrell stated that he was a nerd and often did things that made him stand out from most of his peers. In the early 1990s, Hugo and Williams formed a four-piece R&B-type group and they later entered a high school talent show where they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio was next to Princess Anne High School. After graduating from school, the group signed with Riley. Through working with Riley, Williams went on to write a verse and that same year, he also performed a small rap solo on SWVs second hit, Right Here. Williams and Hugo met rap duo Clipse in Virginia Beach in 1993, in 1994, Hugo and Williams had established themselves as a production duo under their old name The Neptunes, and assistant-produced Tonights The Night from Blackstreets self-titled album. Over the next three years continued to produce occasionally, and some of the results had little resemblance to the Neptunes sound later. In 1999, a friend introduced Williams to Kelis. At this point the Neptunes were gaining a fanbase and audience. In 2000, they produced the song I Just Wanna Love U for Jay Zs album The Dynasty, Roc La Familia, the songs sound and success sparked the interest of maturing pop artist Britney Spears
12.
Avicii
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Tim Bergling, better known by his stage name Avicii, is a Swedish musician, DJ, remixer and record producer. Bergling was ranked third on DJ Mag in 2012 and 2013 and has been nominated twice for a Grammy Award, once for his work on Sunshine with David Guetta in 2012 and once for his song Levels in 2013. Some of his most famous songs are I Could Be the One with Nicky Romero, Wake Me Up, You Make Me, X You, Hey Brother, Addicted to You, The Days, The Nights, Levels and Waiting for Love. He released his studio album, True, in 2013. It received generally positive reviews music critics, peaked within the top ten in more than fifteen countries and topped the Australian, Swedish, Danish. In 2015, Bergling released his studio album, Stories. Tim Bergling was born on 8 September 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, to Klas Bergling, in May 2007, Avicii signed on with the Dejfitts Plays label. Then, in 2010, Bergling released the hit song Seek Bromance, which reached the top 20 in several countries including Belgium, France, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and he also remixed Nadia Alis classic single Rapture for her album Queen of Clubs Trilogy, Onyx Edition. In October 2010, Bergling signed with the European A&R team with EMI Music Publishing, Bergling explained that the name Avicii means the lowest level of Buddhist hell” and he chose the moniker because his real name was already used upon creating his MySpace page. In 2011, Bergling released Levels, which launched him into the mainstream, the song was produced by Tim Bergling and contains a vocal sample from the 1962 gospel-inspired Somethings Got a Hold on Me by Etta James. The same vocal sample was used first by Pretty Lights in his 2006 song Finally Moving and this sample was also used by Drum and Bass producer Logistics on Call Me Back and by Flo Rida in his single Good Feeling, which was produced by DJ Prak and Cirkut. In 2012, his collaboration track Sunshine with David Guetta was nominated for a Grammy award under the category for Best Dance Recording and his track Fade into Darkness was sampled by Leona Lewis on her single Collide. The sampling was not accredited and led to controversy as Bergling attempted to block the singles release, however, the matter was resolved outside of court with representatives stating that Leona Lewis and Avicii will work together on the forthcoming single of Collide. On 23 March 2012, Berglings unsigned single Last Dance was previewed on Pete Tongs show on BBC Radio 1, the song was later released on 27 August 2012. At Ultra Music Festival 2012 in Miami, he premiered two tracks, Girl Gone Wild with Madonna and Superlove with Lenny Kravitz, aviciis UMF Remix of Girl Gone Wild was released on 20 April 2012, and Superlove with Kravitz was released on 29 May 2012. After reaching two million followers on Facebook, Bergling released a new song titled Two Million and it was put out as a free download on his official Soundcloud page. On 27 April 2012, Bergling released Silhouettes, the song featured vocals from Salem Al Fakir and peaked at number 5 on the UK Dance charts and number 4 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. Bergling was a performer on 4 August 2012 at Lollapalooza festival in Chicagos Grant Park
The Beatles
Marco Borsato
Justin Bieber
ABBA
Madonna
Shaggy
Olivia Newton-John
Shakira
Gusttavo Lima
U2