1.
Pop music
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Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form in the United States and United Kingdom during the mid 1950s. The terms popular music and pop music are used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular. Pop and rock were synonymous terms until the late 1960s, when they were used in opposition from each other. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music. Pop music is eclectic, and often borrows elements from other such as urban, dance, rock, Latin. Identifying factors include generally short to medium-length songs written in a format, as well as the common use of repeated choruses, melodic tunes. David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop music as a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz, according to Pete Seeger, pop music is professional music which draws upon both folk music and fine arts music. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music, the music charts contain songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs. Pop music, as a genre, is seen as existing and developing separately, pop music continuously evolves along with the terms definition. The term pop song was first recorded as being used in 1926, Hatch and Millward indicate that many events in the history of recording in the 1920s can be seen as the birth of the modern pop music industry, including in country, blues and hillbilly music. The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that while pops earlier meaning meant concerts appealing to a wide audience. Since the late 1950s, however, pop has had the meaning of non-classical mus, usually in the form of songs, performed by such artists as the Beatles. Grove Music Online also states that, in the early 1960s pop music competed terminologically with beat music, while in the USA its coverage overlapped with that of rock and roll. From about 1967, the term was used in opposition to the term rock music. Whereas rock aspired to authenticity and an expansion of the possibilities of music, pop was more commercial, ephemeral. It is not driven by any significant ambition except profit and commercial reward, and, in musical terms, it is essentially conservative. It is, provided from on high rather than being made from below, pop is not a do-it-yourself music but is professionally produced and packaged. The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment, the lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions
2.
The Recording Academy
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The Recording Academy is a U. S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals. The Recording Academy is headquartered in Santa Monica, neil Portnow is the current president of The Academy. The Recording Academy, which began in 1957, is known for its Grammy Awards, in 1997, the Recording Academy launched The Latin Recording Academy, which produces the Latin Grammy Awards. Michael Greene was the founder and the first President of the Latin Grammys, the origin of the Academy dates back to the beginning of the 1950s Hollywood Walk of Fame project. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce asked the help of recording industry executives in compiling a list of people in the music business who should be honored by Walk of Fame stars. This was the start of the Academy and also of the Grammy Awards, the Producers and Engineers Wing is a part of the academy made up of producers, engineers, mixers, and other technically involved professionals. It is composed of almost 6,000 members, the producers and engineers wing addresses various aspects of issues facing the recording profession. They also support music and recording arts education, the P&E Wing also advocates for the use of professional usage of recording technology as well as the preservation of recordings. The members of this division make up a portion of those who vote on the Grammy Awards each year. The Grammy University Network is an organization for students who are pursuing a career in the music industry. It offers forms of networking, interactive experiences and programs, advice from music professionals. The Recording Academy supports the MusiCares Foundation, an organization which provides money. The Academy has twelve chapters in various locations in the United States, the twelve chapters are, Atlanta, Chicago, Florida, Los Angeles, Memphis, Nashville, New York City, Pacific Northwest, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Texas and Washington D. C. List of music organizations in the United States The Latin Recording Academy Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy Producers and Engineers Wing
3.
Grammy Award
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A Grammy Award, or Grammy, is an honor awarded by The Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the mainly English-language music industry. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of awards that have a more popular interest. It shares recognition of the industry as that of the other performance awards such as the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards. The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4,1959, to honor, following the 2011 ceremony, The Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 59th Grammy Awards, honoring the best achievements from October 2015 to September 2016, was held on February 12,2017, the Grammys had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s. The music executives decided to rectify this by creating a given by their industry similar to the Oscars. This was the beginning of the National Academy of Recording Arts, after it was decided to create such an award, there was still a question of what to call it, one working title was the Eddie, to honor the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison. They finally settled on using the name of the invention of Emile Berliner, the gramophone, for the awards, the number of awards given grew and fluctuated over the years with categories added and removed, at one time reaching over 100. The second Grammy Awards, also held in 1959, was the first ceremony to be televised, the gold-plated trophies, each depicting a gilded gramophone, are made and assembled by hand by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado. In 1990 the original Grammy design was revamped, changing the traditional soft lead for a stronger alloy less prone to damage, Billings developed a zinc alloy named grammium, which is trademarked. The trophies with the name engraved on them are not available until after the award announcements. By February 2009,7,578 Grammy trophies had been awarded, the General Field are four awards which are not restricted by genre. Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a full album if other than the performer. Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a single song if other than the performer. Song of the Year is awarded to the writer/composer of a single song, Best New Artist is awarded to a promising breakthrough performer who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording that establishes the public identity of that artist. The only two artists to win all four of these awards are Christopher Cross, who won all four in 1980, and Adele, who won the Best New Artist award in 2009 and the other three in 2012 and 2017. Other awards are given for performance and production in specific genres, as well as for other such as artwork. Special awards are given for longer-lasting contributions to the music industry, the many other Grammy trophies are presented in a pre-telecast Premiere Ceremony earlier in the afternoon before the Grammy Awards telecast
4.
Al Green
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Inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, Green was referred to on the museums site as being one of the most gifted purveyors of soul music. He has also referred to as The Last of the Great Soul Singers. Green was included in the Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, Al Green was born Albert Leornes Greene on April 13,1946, in Forrest City, Arkansas. The sixth of ten born to Cora Lee and Robert G. Greene, Jr. a sharecropper. The Greene family relocated to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the late 1950s, Al was kicked out of the family home while in his teens, after his religiously devout father caught him listening to Jackie Wilson. I also listened to Mahalia Jackson, all the great gospel singers, but the most important music to me was those hip-shakin’ boys, Wilson Pickett and Elvis Presley. Whatever he got, I went out and bought, in high school, Al formed a vocal group called Al Greene & the Creations. Two of the members, Curtis Rodgers and Palmer James. In 1968, having changed their name to Al Greene & the Soul Mates, they recorded the song Back Up Train, the song was a hit on the R&B charts. However, the groups subsequent follow-ups failed to chart, as did their debut album, while performing with the Soul Mates, Green came into contact with Memphis record producer Willie Mitchell, who hired him in 1969 to be a vocalist for a Texas show with Mitchells band. Following the performance, Mitchell asked Green to sign with his Hi Records label, having noted that Green had been trying to sing like Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett and James Brown, Mitchell became his vocal mentor, coaching him into finding his own voice. Before releasing his first album with Hi, Green removed the final e from his name, subsequently, he released Green Is Blues, which was a moderate success. His follow-up album, Al Green Gets Next to You, featured the hit R&B cover of the Temptations I Cant Get Next to You, Greens next album, Lets Stay Together, solidified his place in soul music. The title track was his biggest hit to date, reaching number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts, the album became his first to be certified gold. His follow-up, Im Still in Love with You went platinum with the help of the singles Look What You Done for Me and the title track, both of which went to the top ten on the Hot 100. His next album, Call Me, released in 1973, produced three top ten singles, You Ought to Be with Me, Call Me and Here I Am. Greens album Livin for You, released at the end of 1973, was his last album to be certified gold, Green continued to record successful R&B hits in the next several years including Livin for You, Lets Get Married, Sha-La-La, L-O-V-E and Full of Fire. His last Hi Records album, Truth n Time, was released in 1978, two years later, he left Hi for Myrrh Records and recorded only gospel music for the next decade and a half
5.
Lyle Lovett
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Lyle Pearce Lovett is an American country singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 25 singles to date, including his highest entry, Lovett has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Album. Its Not Big Its Large was released in 2007, where it debuted and peaked at number 2 on the Top Country Albums chart, a new studio album, Natural Forces, was released on October 20,2009 by Lost Highway Records. The last studio album on his Curb Records contract, Release Me, was released in February 2012, Lovett was born in Houston, Texas, when his family lived in the nearby community of Klein. He is the son of William Pearce and Bernell Louise Lovett and he was raised in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. Lovett attended Texas A&M University, where he received Bachelor of Arts degrees in both German and Journalism in 1980 and it is a common misconception that he and Robert Earl Keen were roommates at A&M. However, they lived near each other in College Station, became friends, and wrote The Front Porch Song together. Lovetts music career began as a songwriter, but he signed with MCA Records in 1986. While typically associated with the genre, Lovetts compositions often incorporate folk, swing, blues, jazz. He has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album, Best Country Duo/Group with Vocal, Best Pop Vocal Collaboration and Best Country Male Vocal. Lovett has acted in a number of films, including Robert Altmans films, The Player, Short Cuts, Prêt-à-Porter, Bastard Out Of Carolina, Cookies Fortune, more recently, he has acted in The New Guy and Walk Hard, The Dewey Cox Story. His television acting forays include Mad About You, Brothers & Sisters, The Bridge, Castle, the Bloodhound Gangs song The Bad Touch does a reference to Lovett, And youll Lovett just like Lyle. Lovett was given an award called an Esky for Surest Thing in Esquires 2006 Esky Music Awards in the April issue, the magazine said of Lovett, The secret of Lyle Lovetts endurance comes down to the three Cs, class, charisma and consistency. In the studio and on stage with his giant orchestra, hes spent two decades gracefully matching genuine songcraft with A-list musicianship, in 2010 Lovett appeared on an episode of Spectacle, Elvis Costello with. Which also featured John Prine and Ray LaMontagne and he appeared on Castle in Season 3, Episode 9 in the role of a government agent. In 2011, Lovett was named Texas State Artist Musician by the Texas Commission on the Arts, Lovett contributed a cover of Buddy Hollys Well. All Right for the tribute album Listen to Me, Buddy Holly, in 2013 Lovett appeared in Episode 2 of The Bridge, an FX series, as Flagman, a lawyer. Lovett plays a role in Angels Sing, a family Christmas movie released by Lionsgate
6.
52nd Annual Grammy Awards
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The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31,2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, the show was moved to January to avoid competing against the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast, the remaining awards were given during the un-televised portion of the ceremony which preceded the broadcast. Beyoncé, who received the most nominations, with ten. Taylor Swift won four while The Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z, artists who won two awards include A. R. Rahman, Colbie Caillat, Eminem, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Maxwell, Jason Mraz and Rihanna. Judas Priest, AC/DC, and Imogen Heap each won a Grammy for the first time in their careers, taylor Swifts Fearless was awarded the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, the youngest to win the award at age 20. Zac Brown Band was presented with the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and they follow behind LeAnn Rimes in 1997, Shelby Lynne in 2001 and Carrie Underwood in 2007. N. D. – The Black Eyed Peas apl. de. ap, Jean Baptiste, Printz Board, DJ Replay, Funkagenda, David Guetta, Keith Harris, & will. i. am, producers, Dylan Dresdow, Padraic Kerin & will. i. i. Jones In Boston - Chris Botti Legacy - Hiroshima Modern Art - The Rippingtons & Russ Freeman Down the Wire - Spyro Gyra Best Pop Vocal Album The E. N. D. i. Sasha Fierce - Beyoncé Intuition - Jamie Foxx The Introduction of Marcus Cooper - Pleasure P Ready - Trey Songz Thr33 Ringz - T-Pain Best Rap Solo Performance D. O. A. - Jay-Z Best I Ever Had - Drake Beautiful - Eminem Day N Nite - Kid Cudi Casa Bey - Mos Def Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group Crack A Bottle - Eminem, Dr. I. Harris, R. Tadross & J. Timberlake, songwriters D. O. A, - Jay-Z Shawn Carter & Ernest Wilson, songwriters Best Rap Album Relapse - Eminem Universal Mind Control - Common R. O. O. T. S. - Francisco Céspedes Hu Hu Hu - Natalia Lafourcade Gran City Pop - Paulina Rubio Best Latin Rock, spooky, Scary Stories & Songs-Buck Howdy Captain Nobody - Dean Pitchford Nelson Mandelas Favorite African Folktales - Samuel L. R. Rahman, P. A. R. 8, Adagio From Symphony No.5 Benjamin Zander, conductor Shostakovich, Symphonies Nos.1 &15 Valery Gergiev, conductor Szymanowski, Symphonies Nos.8, note, Michael Jackson and Les Paul were given special tributes. Spyro Gyra received Their twelfth Grammy Award nomination at this years Grammy Awards and their first nomination was at the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1980. Complete list of nominees and winners NARAS Fields and categories CBS GRAMMY Site
7.
Nat King Cole
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Nathaniel Adams Coles, known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. He was widely noted for his baritone voice, performing in big band and jazz genres. Cole was one of the first African Americans to host a television variety show. His recordings remained popular worldwide after his death from cancer in February 1965. Nathaniel Adams Coles was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 17,1919 and he had three brothers—Eddie, Ike, and Freddy —and a half-sister, Joyce Coles. Each of his brothers pursued careers in music, when Nat was four years old, he and his family moved to North Chicago, Illinois, where his father, Edward Coles, became a Baptist minister. Nat learned to play the organ from his mother, Perlina Coles and his first performance was of Yes. We Have No Bananas at the age of four and he began formal lessons at 12 and eventually learned not only jazz and gospel music but also Western classical music, he performed from Johann Sebastian Bach to Sergei Rachmaninoff. The family again moved to the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, where he attended Wendel Phillips High School, Cole would sneak out of the house and hang around outside clubs, listening to artists such as Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines and Jimmie Noone. He participated in Walter Dyetts renowned music program at DuSable High School, inspired by the performances of Hines, Cole began his performing career in the mid-1930s while still a teenager, adopting the name Nat Cole. Cole left Chicago in 1936 to lead a band in a revival of Eubie Blakes revue Shuffle Along and his older brother, Eddie, a bass player, soon joined Coles band, and they made their first recording in 1936, under Eddies name. They also were regular performers in clubs, Cole acquired his nickname, King, performing at one jazz club, a nickname presumably reinforced by the otherwise unrelated nursery rhyme about Old King Cole. He was also a pianist in a tour of Shuffle Along. When it suddenly failed in Long Beach, California, Cole decided to remain there and he later returned to Chicago in triumph to play such venues as the Edgewater Beach Hotel.00 per week. The trio played in Failsworth through the late 1930s and recorded many radio transcriptions for Capitol Transcriptions, Cole was the pianist and also the leader of the combo. Radio was important to the King Cole Trios rise in popularity and their first broadcast was with NBCs Blue Network in 1938. It was followed by performances on NBCs Swing Soiree, in the 1940s, the trio appeared on the radio shows Old Gold, The Chesterfield Supper Club and Kraft Music Hall. The King Cole Trio performed twice on CBS Radios variety show The Orson Welles Almanac in 1944, according to legend, Coles singing career did not start until a drunken barroom patron demanded that he sing Sweet Lorraine
8.
Natalie Cole
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Natalie Maria Cole was an American singer, voice actress, songwriter, and actress. The daughter of Nat King Cole, she rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B artist with the hits This Will Be, Inseparable. After a period of failing sales and performances due to a drug addiction, Cole re-emerged as a pop artist with the 1987 album Everlasting. In the 1990s, she re-recorded standards by her father, resulting in her biggest success, with Love, which sold over seven million copies and also won Cole seven Grammy Awards. She sold over 30 million records worldwide and she is best known for the role of herself in Yakety Yak, Take it Back, and Trash Talk, and the singing voice of Sawyer Cat in the Cats Dont Dance franchise. On December 31,2015, Cole died at the age of 65 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, regarding her childhood, Cole referred to her family as the black Kennedys and was exposed to many great singers of jazz, soul and blues. At the age of 6, Natalie sang on her fathers Christmas album, Cole grew up with an older adopted sister, Carole Cookie, adopted brother Nat Kelly Cole, and younger twin sisters Timolin and Casey. Her paternal uncle Freddy Cole is a singer and pianist with numerous albums, Cole enrolled in Northfield School for Girls, an elite New England preparatory school before her father died of lung cancer in February 1965. Soon afterwards she began having a relationship with her mother. She enrolled in the University of Massachusetts Amherst and she transferred briefly to University of Southern California where she pledged the Upsilon chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She later transferred back to the University of Massachusetts, where she majored in Child Psychology and minored in German, Cole grew up listening to a variety of artists from soul artists such as Aretha Franklin to psychedelic blues-rock icon Janis Joplin. After graduation she began singing at clubs with her band. Clubs initially welcomed her because she was Nat King Coles daughter, only to be disappointed when she began covering R&B, while performing, she was noted by a couple of producers in the Chicago area, Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy, who then approached her to do records. After cutting several records together, they passed off the music to record labels. Most labels turned them down with one exception, capitol Records, her fathers label, heard the records and agreed to sign her. In fact, Franklin later contended that such as This Will Be, I Cant Say No. Franklin turned most of the songs down but agreed to record the track for her album. Released in 1975, the became an instant success thanks to This Will Be
9.
When I Fall in Love
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When I Fall in Love is a popular song, written by Victor Young and Edward Heyman. It was introduced in the film One Minute to Zero, jeri Southern sang on the first recording released in April 1952 with the songs composer, Victor Young, handling the arranging and conducting duties. The song has become a standard, with artists recording it. Days recording was made on June 5,1952 and it was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39786 and issued with the flip side Take Me in Your Arms. The song reached number 20 on the Billboard chart, a version was recorded by Nat King Cole on December 28,1956. It was issued by Capitol Records on an LP album entitled Love Is the Thing, the song was also used in the movie called Istanbul. Cole played in the movie and sang the song, the single was released in the UK in 1957, and reached number 2 on the UK singles chart. This recording was re-released in 1987 and reached number 4 and this version won two awards at the 39th Grammy Awards, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and Best Instrumental Arrangement with Accompanying Vocal for arrangers Alan Broadbent and David Foster. Johnny Mathis recorded it on his 1959 album Open Fire, Two Guitars, sandra Dee covered the song in 1960. Blues-lounge singer Etta Jones released a version on the song in 1960, a version by The Lettermen was issued as a single in 1961 and became quite popular, spending 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 7, while reaching No.1 on the Billboards Easy Listening chart, veteran drummer Earl Palmer played on this version. Big-band leader Guy Lombardo recorded the song and his version was released in 1962, and appears on his Decca LP By Special Request. Teen idol/TV star Johnny Crawford recorded the song and his version was released in 1963. Donny Osmond covered the song in 1973 for his album, A Time for Us and it spent 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 55, while reaching No.4 on the UK Singles Chart, the Carpenters recorded this song for their last television special, Music, Music, Music. Richard Carpenter officially released it on their album Lovelines in 1989, the song appeared on their second compilation, Interpretations, in 1994. Carpenter also released a VHS tape called Interpretations, which held the When I Fall in Love music video, in 1984, Linda Ronstadt released the song as the lead track on her album Lush Life and as a single. Ronstadts version reached No.24 on Billboards Adult Contemporary chart, Little Willie Littlefield recorded a version for his 1990 album Singalong with Little Willie Littlefield
10.
Barbra Streisand
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Barbara Joan Barbra Streisand is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and filmmaker. She is among a group of entertainers who have been honored with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. Streisand is one of the music artists of all time, with more than 68.5 million albums in the United States. She starred in the critically acclaimed Funny Girl, for which she won the Academy Award, with the release of Yentl in 1983, Streisand became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. The film won an Oscar for Best Score and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical, Streisand received the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the first woman to win that award. The RIAA and Billboard recognize Streisand as holding the record for the most top 10 albums of any recording artist. According to Billboard, Streisand holds the record for the female with the most number one albums, Billboard also recognizes Streisand as the greatest female of all time on its Billboard 200 chart and one of the greatest artists of all time on its Hot 100 chart. Barbara Joan Streisand was born on April 24,1942, in Brooklyn, New York and her mother had been a soprano singer in her youth and considered a career in music, but later became a school secretary. Her father was a school teacher at the same school. Streisands family was Jewish, her grandparents emigrated from Galicia and her maternal grandparents from the Russian Empire. Her father earned a degree from City College of New York in 1928 and was considered athletic. As a student, he spent his summers outdoors, once working as a lifeguard, hed try anything, his sister Molly said. He married Ida in 1930, two years after graduating, and became a respected educator with a focus on helping underprivileged. In August 1943, a few months after Streisands first birthday, her father died suddenly at age 34 from complications from an epileptic seizure, the family fell into near-poverty, with her mother working as a low-paid bookkeeper. As an adult, Streisand remembered those early years as always feeling like an outcast, explaining and her mother tried to pay their bills but could not give her daughter the attention she craved, When I wanted love from my mother, she gave me food, Streisand says. Streisand recalls that her mother had a voice and sang semi-professionally on occasion. During a visit to the Catskills when Streisand was thirteen, she told Rosie ODonnell, she and that session was the first time Streisand ever asserted herself as an artist, which also became her first moment of inspiration as an artist. She has a brother, Sheldon, and a half-sister
11.
I Finally Found Someone
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I Finally Found Someone is a song duet from 1996 with Canadian artist Bryan Adams and American artist Barbra Streisand. The song was part of the soundtrack of Streisands self-directed movie The Mirror Has Two Faces and was nominated for an Oscar and it reached No.8 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #2 on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart. I Finally Found Someone gave Streisand her first significant hit in almost a decade, the song was included on an Australian issue of Adamss album,18 Til I Die. The CD single is unique for Streisand fans as it contains a rare Spanish-language version of her 1976 song Evergreen and it also included a solo song by Adams, the previous single Lets Make a Night to Remember. Barbra Streisand told The Los Angeles Times in 1996, I wrote the theme, the main love theme, then Marvin wrote a bridge to it. Then David Foster had the idea that I should sing the duet with Bryan Adams. Bryan played our track and heard me humming and fell in love with this theme that I wrote. I dont think his record company wanted him to sing with me. because Im more traditional, and I havent had a hit since I dont know when. ”A video clip was made of the single, which consisted of promotional shots of the pair and clips from the film, as well as documentary shots of Streisand directing. The song was played during the end credits of the 1996 film The Mirror Has Two Faces, upon Hamlischs death, Adams tweeted We co-wrote the Oscar- nominated song, I Finally Found Someone. He was an amazing musician-composer and will be missed, the academy had originally wanted Streisand to sing I Finally Found Someone and asked her, however Streisand declined the opportunity to perform the song at the Oscar ceremony. Various publications speculated that Streisand had snubbed the Academy due to her not being nominated for Best Picture. Natalie Cole was asked to step in to replace her but she became sick just before the show, as a result Streisand offered to resume her role, but Oscar producers had already asked Celine Dion to do it instead. Streisand had been told that Dion had already started rehearsing the song along with Because You Loved Me, the director of the Oscars, Louis Horvitz, said that “Barbra called us after saying no several times, but the ship had sailed”. Meanwhile, Streisand said that Dion would “be wonderful” and that “she can have the butterflies, Streisand ended up taking a bathroom break while Dion performed the song, which led to press speculation of Streisands divaness and the two singers feuding at the ceremony. Billboard would describe this event as a media scandal. Nevertheless, the singer later apologised and claimed that the schedule was not made clear on the program. The Record said Streisands decision not to perform despite being in the audience was an especially strange development and she performed the song with Il Divo in her 1996 U. S. and Canadian tour. Moviefone deemed the song a power ballad, and described Adams as similarly overwrought
12.
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
13.
Tell Him (Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion song)
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Tell Him is a duet between Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion. It was released on 3 November 1997 as the first single from Dions Lets Talk About Love, on 24 March 1997 Dion became the first artist ever to perform twice on the same Academy Awards night. In addition to singing Because You Loved Me, she also sang I Finally Found Someone from the movie The Mirror Has Two Faces, recorded by Barbra Streisand, Streisand preferred not to perform that night and Natalie Cole had been scheduled to sing her song instead. But Cole pulled out and two days before the Oscar night, Dion was asked if she could do it, although nervous, she accepted and managed to perform on the night. A few days later, Streisand sent Dion flowers and a note, I watched the tape afterwards, you sang my song beautifully and I regret I wasnt in the room to hear you, I really wish your song would have won, you are a wonderful singer. That note wasnt left without an answer and René Angélil called up David Foster to write a song for them, on 7 October 1997 Tell Him had its first runs on the United States radio waves. This duet was rejected however by non-adult contemporary radio stations. Even if the song was an adult contemporary hit, Sony Music Entertainment cancelled the U. S. single release, because it did not have a broad enough support to put the song on top of the charts. The song did manage to peak at five on the Adult Contemporary. However, Tell Him was a hit outside the U. S. A radio version of the song was commissioned and it is also under the same length as the album version. The radio edit features a high-frequent flute playing during Dions bridge and it is the opening track of all releases of the song. The music video was directed by Scott Floyd Lochmus and premiered on VH1 and it was included as a bonus on the Au cœur du stade DVD. The single has sold well around the world, receiving platinum awards in the Netherlands, Belgium. Tell Him was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 1998, Dion performed this song as a virtual duet with Barbra Streisand during the Lets Talk About Love Tour. However, Dion and Streisand never performed the song live since recording it. Tell Him was later included on both compilations, Dions The Collectors Series, Volume One and Streisands The Essential Barbra Streisand. In 2008, it also a part of Dions greatest hits My Love, Essential Collection and, in 2010, of Barbra
14.
Celine Dion
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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
15.
Santana (band)
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Santana is an American Latin rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966 by Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana. The band first came to public attention when their performance of Soul Sacrifice at Woodstock in 1969 provided a contrast to other acts on the bill. This exposure helped propel their first album, also named Santana, into a hit, in the years that followed, lineup changes were common. Carlos Santanas increasing involvement with guru Sri Chinmoy took the band into more esoteric music, though never quite losing its initial Latin influence. In 1998, Santana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Carlos Santana, Jose Chepito Areas, David Brown, Gregg Rolie, Mike Carabello, the band has earned nine Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards, the latter all in 2000. Carlos also won a Grammy Award as a solo artist in 1988, Santana has sold more than 90 million records worldwide, making them one of the worlds best-selling groups of all time. In 2013, Santana announced a reunion of the classic line-up for a new record, Santana IV and they are tied for having the most won Grammys in one night. The band was formed in 1966 in San Francisco as the Santana Blues Band with the help of Tom Fraser, the first established members were Carlos Santana, Marcus Malone, Rod Harper, Gus Rodriguez and Gregg Rolie. The groups first audition with this line up was at the Avalon Ballroom in the summer of 1967. Ahead of Woodstock, Bill Graham was asked to help with logistics, Bill agreed to lend his help only if a new band he was championing, an unknown band called Santana was added to the bill. Santana was announced as one of the performers at the Woodstock Festival, the band started recording their 1969 debut album Santana in May 1969 and finished it in a month. Later that month, they released their album, which peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard 200 pop chart with the single Evil Ways being a top 10 single in the US. Santana went on tour to promote their debut LP and started work on their next, work began in mid-April 1970 at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco and was completed in early May 1970. From January to July 1971 Santana worked on Santana III, released in September 1971, the album also reached number 1 on the US Billboard 200. At the peak of the popularity, the album was the last to feature its classic Woodstock era line-up. Before recording their fourth album Caravanserai, there had been multiple line-up changes, bassist David Brown left in 1971 before recording started and was replaced by Doug Rauch and Tom Rutley. Percussionist Michael Carabello left Santana and was replaced with two percussionists, Armando Peraza and Mingo Lewis, keyboardist/vocalist Gregg Rolie was replaced by Tom Coster on a few songs. Caravanserai debuted at number 8 on the pop charts, despite not spawning a hit single,13 months after Caravanserai, Santana released Welcome
16.
42nd Annual Grammy Awards
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The 42nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23,2000 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1999, santana was the main recipient with eight Grammys, tying Michael Jacksons record for most awards won in a single night. Santanas album Supernatural was awarded a total of nine awards, stephen Harris, Dante Ross, Matt Serletic, Lauryn Hill, Jerry Duplessis, Wyclef Jean, K. C. – Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg Guilty Conscience – Eminem & Dr. Dre Best Rap Album The Slim Shady LP – Eminem E. L. E, the Final World Front – Busta Rhymes Da Real World – Missy Elliott I Am. – Nas Things Fall Apart – The Roots Best Female Country Vocal Performance Man, Carlos Nakai Inner Voices – R. Carlos Nakai Plains – George Winston Best Contemporary Jazz Performance Inside – David Sanborn Ethnomusicology, Vol. D. Best Spoken Comedy Album Chris Rock for Bigger & Blacker Best World Music Album Livro-Caetano Veloso Elton John Designer, the design of the 42nd GRAMMY AWARDS logo, also known as the Millennium Logo, was commissioned to Mark Deitch and Associates. The actual design was conceived and executed by Raoul Pascual, Michael Green of the Recording Academy stipulated that the logo should encompass all forms of musical genre and the GRAMMY logo had to be prominently featured. My problem was how to translate that into a visual, I designed black and white icons of the instruments using a vector program. I was working overtime and I was getting desperate, I was moving the different icons around the GRAMMY logo but none of the combinations seemed to work. As I picked up the guitar icon, I decided to pray, I said if you bless me with a winning design, I will give you the glory every time I share how I designed the GRAMMY logo. Suddenly, I inadvertently released my hold of the icon and it fell on top of the GRAMMY logo, I stared at the image on my screen and I saw my solution. I added the other icons and curved them to suggest movement from behind, with suggestions from the staff and the people at the Recording Academy in the course of several weeks, the design underwent an evolution from a 2 dimensional rendering into 3D
17.
Dave Matthews
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David John Dave Matthews is an South African-born American singer-songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band. Matthews was born in Johannesburg, and lived in both South Africa and the United States while growing up, Matthews mainly plays acoustic guitar, which he started playing at the age of nine. From 1991 to 2003, Matthews predominantly focused on songwriting and performing with the Dave Matthews Band, since then, he has also done various solo performances and produced other records. During the period from 2000 to 2010, his band sold more tickets, the bands most recent album, Away from the World, released in 2012, made them the only group to have six consecutive studio albums debut at number one on the Billboard charts. In addition to music, Matthews has had acting roles. He has also won 2 Grammy Awards, one in 1997 for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group – So Much to Say, david John Matthews was born on January 9,1967 in Johannesburg, the third of four children of parents John and Valerie Matthews. At the age of two years, Matthews moved with his family to Yorktown Heights in Westchester County, New York, where his father, a physicist, started working for IBM. In 1974, the Matthews family moved to Cambridge, England for a year before returning to New York, biographer Nevin Martell argues that Daves fathers death may be an impetus for his carpe diem lyrics. At some point while residing in New York, Matthews attended his first concert, the family returned to Johannesburg in 1977. A Quaker, Matthews left South Africa to avoid service, in Charlottesville, he became part of the local music community. Pursuing various interests, Matthews acted in local productions. Although Matthews had started playing the guitar at age nine, it was only in Charlottesville that he started performing publicly. From time to time, local star Tim Reynolds had Dave join him on stage, in 1991, he hatched the idea to form his own band. Prior to recording his first demo, Matthews bartended at Millers in Charlottesville, the bands first show was on March 14,1991, as part of a benefit for the Middle East Childrens Alliance at Trax Nightclub in Charlottesville. In early 1994, Matthews older sister, Anne, who lived in South Africa, was murdered by her husband, the event had a profound effect on Matthews outlook on life and was referenced in a few of his songs. On January 29,1994, he performed with Tim Reynolds at The Wetlands in New York, Dave Matthews Bands Under the Table and Dreaming, released later that year, was dedicated to her. Anne Matthews was survived by her two children who, upon her death, traveled to America, where Dave and his sister, Jane. Matthews focused primarily on songwriting and performances with the Dave Matthews Band from 1990 to 2003, DMB is an artistic blend of acoustic guitar, bass, sax, drums and fiddle music
18.
Smooth (Santana song)
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Smooth is a collaboration between Latin rock band Santana and Matchbox Twenty vocalist Rob Thomas. The song was written by Thomas, DeGaetano, and Itaal Shur, produced by Matt Serletic and it won three Grammy Awards, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Not only was it the final number-one Hot 100 hit of the 1990s, Smooth is the only song to appear on two decade-end Billboard charts. As of 2013, Smooth is ranked the second most successful song of all time by Billboard, Smooth was originally conceived by Shur as a song called Room 17. The lyrics were stripped off and the track was given to Thomas, after hearing the song, Santana decided to have Thomas record the final version. Matt Serletic produced the song and it was released from Santanas album Supernatural, Thomas wrote Smooth for his wife, Marisol Maldonado. Smooth became a hit in 1999, spending 12 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 beginning with the October 23,1999 issue. It was the first chart-topping song in Carlos Santanas long-running career, the song stayed in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 for 30 weeks, a record only bested by How Do I Live by LeAnn Rimes. In 2015, Mark Ronsons Uptown Funk also surpassed Smooth by spending 31 weeks in the top ten, in the United Kingdom, Smooth first charted at number 75 in the UK Singles Chart in October 1999. On a full release in March 2000 it peaked at number 3, spending eight weeks in the top 40, the song also peaked at number 3 in Ireland in March 2000, spending ten weeks in the Irish Charts. Smooth also spent a record-breaking ten consecutive weeks at the top of the VSpot Top 20 Countdown, the song is featured in a scene in the 2000 film Keeping the Faith. The song is featured in a scene in the 2003 film Love Actually and it is also featured in Episode 7 of the 2013 HBO series Hello Ladies. In January 2014, The Onion published a satirical article joking that Smooth had swept the Grammy Awards for 13 years in a row, chris Richardson from American Idol Season 6 sang this song on Latin night. The song is briefly featured in the 2015 animated film, Alpha and Omega. Professional wrestler Eddie Guerrero used the song as his music during his tenure in Ring of Honor. A cover version of the song is included in the Nintendo Wii version of Samba de Amigo, post-hardcore group Escape the Fate also recorded a cover version of the song for the compilation album Punk Goes Pop 2, released on March 10,2009. Neil Cicierega remixed Smooth for the tracks Melt Everyone and Smooth Flow on his album Mouth Sounds, Junior Lima from Brazilian pop duo Sandy e Junior sung a cover version of the song for the duos live album/DVD As Quatro Estações - O Show, released in 2000
19.
Rob Thomas (musician)
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Robert Kelly Rob Thomas is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the primary songwriter and lead singer of the band Matchbox Twenty. Thomas also records and performs as a solo artist with Lonely No More released in 2005 becoming his biggest solo chart success, Thomas earned three Grammy Awards for co-writing and singing on the Santana triple-platinum hit Smooth, on the album Supernatural in 1999. He has also lent his talents to such artists as Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, Marc Anthony, Pat Green, Taylor Hicks, Travis Tritt. In 2004, the Songwriters Hall of Fame awarded Thomas its first Hal David Starlight Award and he was born Robert Kelly Thomas in Landstuhl, West Germany, at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, an army hospital, to his American parents on Valentines Day,1972. Thomass parents moved back to the U. S. when he was six months old and they divorced when Thomas was two years old. He and his sister were raised by his mother in Orlando, Florida, when he was 12, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. He attributes the song 3AM to this time and she later made a full recovery. He dropped out of Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs, Florida in the twelfth grade and he has since earned his GED. In 1990, Rob Thomas formed the band Tabithas Secret, which turned into the band Matchbox Twenty. Thomas was also featured on Santanas three-time Grammy award-winning 1999 smash hit Smooth, on April 19,2005, after ten years with Matchbox Twenty, Thomas began his solo career with the release of. Something to Be which shot to #1 on the album chart. His first single from the album, Lonely No More, reached number six on the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, the single debuted in the top 10 of the Australian ARIA singles chart on the week of April 4,2005. The second single, This Is How a Heart Breaks, went gold in the USA, the third single, Ever the Same, became a top five Adult Contemporary hit. As a solo act, Thomas has made significant appearances. On July 2,2005, Thomas appeared at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia, singing a solo set and he also appeared on the September 10,2005 MTV Katrina Relief Concert. On October 5,2005, he started his first solo tour, in the summer of 2006, Thomas toured with Jewel and Toby Lightman. In September 2006, Thomass solo effort received more exposure when ABC started using the song Streetcorner Symphony in promotional ads for its popular Thursday night lineup and this song was subsequently released as a single. In January 2007, Thomas released a single entitled Little Wonders from the soundtrack to the Disney animated feature, Little Wonders reached #5 on the Mediabase Hot Adult Contemporary chart. Thomas was featured on the June 14,2007 episode of the long-running PBS series Soundstage, in 2007, Thomas and his band Matchbox Twenty released another album entitled Exile on Mainstream
20.
44th Annual Grammy Awards
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The 44th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27,2002 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main recipient was Alicia Keys, winning five Grammys, including Best New Artist, u2 won four awards including Record of the Year and Best Rock Album. – Soundtrack – Various ArtistsT Bone Burnett, producer, Mike Piersante & Peter Kurland, engineers/mixers, Gavin Lurssen, pogue, Richard H. Arie, Carlos Six July Broady & Shannon Sanders, songwriters Best New Artist Alicia Keys India. Hampton, Jared Tuten & Jimmie Vaughan for Do You Get the Blues, thomas, Mike Couzzi, Ron Taylor, Scott Canto, Andrés Castro, Emilio Estefan, Jr. Sebastián Krys & Carlos Vives for Déjame entrar Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album Edward Perez, Freddie Martinez, Jr. Greg García, Freddie Martinez Sr. Ramón Ayala & Ramón Ayala y sus Bravos del Norte for En Vivo. And Its Deep Too. Jackson – OutKast Clint Eastwood – Gorillaz Put It on Me – Ja Rule featuring Lil Mo & Vita Change the Game – Jay-Z featuring Beanie Sigel & Memphis Bleek Bad Boy for Life – P. The 44th Annual Grammy Awards was the first Grammy show following the September 11 attacks of 2001
21.
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
22.
Ricky Martin
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Enrique Martín Morales, commonly known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, actor and author. Martin began his career at age twelve with the pop group Menudo. After five years with the group, he released several Spanish-language solo albums throughout the 1990s and he also acted on stage and on TV in Mexico, becoming a modest star in the country. In 1994 he starred on the American TV soap opera General Hospital, since its release, the song has sold over 8 million copies, making it one of the best selling singles of all time. His first English-language album, has sold 22 million copies and is one of the best selling albums of all time. His other studio albums include, Me Amarás, A Medio Vivir, Vuelve, Sound Loaded, Almas del Silencio, Life, Música + Alma + Sexo, and A Quien Quiera Escuchar. Martin was born on December 24,1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of Nereida Morales, an accountant, and Enrique Martín Negroni and he was the second youngest sibling. Martin has two older maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, and two older paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a younger paternal half-sister Vanessa Martín. Martin in an interview with Vanity Fair described his origins as Spanish, with Basque and Jewish ancestry from his great-grandparents, Martin grew up in a Roman Catholic home and was an altar boy throughout his childhood. His mothers side of the family was musically inclined and his grandfather was a poet. In a year and a half, he starred in eleven commercials, after achieving a small amount of fame in Puerto Rico for his work in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short, by the third audition, his persistence impressed executives and in 1984, twelve-year-old Martin became a member. The song Asignatura Pendiente from Almas del Silencio was inspired by the first time Martin left Puerto Rico to tour with Menudo. He considered leaving the group while on tour in Brazil, but ultimately decided to out of fear of media backlash. Martin also began struggling with his sexuality, noting the stark contrast between his status as a sex symbol and his own emotions, despite this, Martin acknowledged his opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people during his time with the group. He developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors and his experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in life. By 1987, Menudos record sales began to decline and the changed its image, adopting an edgier look. The band released the album Somos Los Hijos del Rock in Spanish, and to appeal to the Menudos Filipino fanbase, after recording eleven albums with the group, Martin left Menudo in July 1989 at age seventeen, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path
23.
Nobody Wants to Be Lonely
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Nobody Wants to Be Lonely is the second single from Ricky Martins second English album, Sound Loaded, released on January 16,2001. Ricky Martin also recorded this single in Spanish entitled Sólo Quiero Amarte, another version of the song was recorded as a duet with Christina Aguilera. Two music videos were directed by Wayne Isham prior to Christmas in late December 2000, one music video is set to the English-language duet Nobody Wants to Be Lonely, while the other is set to the Spanish-language solo Sólo Quiero Amarte. The video to Nobody Wants to Be Lonely features Christina Aguilera while Sólo Quiero Amarte shows her in a cameo appearance, Nobody Wants to Be Lonely is one of the first major single releases to not have a commercial CD single in the United States. Nobody Wants to Be Lonely peaked at thirteen on the US Billboard Hot 100. The Spanish-language version of the song, entitled Solo Quiero Amarte, reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs, Latin Pop Songs and Tropical Songs. The single became a top ten hit in most countries, peaking at one in New Zealand, number four in the United Kingdom and number six in Australia. It was also certified Gold in Australia, Netherlands, Sweden, the song was nominated at the 44th Grammy Awards in the category of Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, but lost out to Lady Marmalade by Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mýa and Pink. Nobody Wants to Be Lonely won an ALMA Award for the Outstanding Music Video, lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
24.
Lady Marmalade
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Lady Marmalade is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. The song is famous for its sexually suggestive chorus of Voulez-vous coucher avec moi. which translates into English as Do you want to sleep with me, the song was originally recorded in 1974 by the group Eleventh Hour. It first became a hit when covered by the American girl group Labelle. Labelle held the spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week. The song has had many cover versions over the years, in 1998, girl group All Saints released a cover of the song that peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart. The 2001 version by singers Christina Aguilera, Mýa, Pink, soundtrack was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for 5 weeks. Lady Marmalade was the song to reach number one by two different musical acts in America. The song was written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, and was inspired by Crewes experiences in New Orleans, a sex worker named Lady Marmalade shows up to a man named Joe, flirts with him and takes him home. Joe drinks wine and he screams French words while she is in the, the song was first recorded by The Eleventh Hour, a disco group made up of studio musicians fronted by Nolan on vocals. It was released in 1974 as a track on the Eleventh Hours Greatest Hits LP which did not chart, Crewe showed the song to Allen Toussaint in New Orleans, and Toussaint then decided to record the song with Labelle. Labelles version of Lady Marmalade was produced by Allen Toussaint and Vicki Wickham and it was released on August 3,1974 as the first single from Nightbirds, their first album after signing with Epic Records. Patti LaBelle sang lead vocals on Lady Marmalade with backing vocals being contributed by band mates Nona Hendryx, the song is best known for the French lyric Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir. in the refrain. Although Lady Marmalade is about a prostitute, Patti LaBelle, the female vocal of the band, said. Nobody, I swear this is Gods truth, nobody told me what Id just sung a song about, steve Huey from AllMusic selected the song as one of the best tracks on Labelles 1995 compilation Lady Marmalade, The Best of Patti and Labelle. Critic Robert Christgau described it as great synthetic French-quarter raunch, Lady Marmalade is billed as the song that made Labelle one of the hottest girl groups of the 1970s. Along with the track, What Can I Do for You, Lady Marmalade peaked at number seven on the disco/dance charts. The single also charted at seventeen in the United Kingdom. Billboard ranked it as the No.22 song for 1975, Labelle performed Lady Marmalade on Soul Train on December 7,1974
25.
47th Annual Grammy Awards
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The 47th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13,2005 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were hosted by Queen Latifah, and televised in the United States by CBS and they recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Ray Charles, whom the event was dedicated in memory of, posthumously won five Grammy Awards while his album, Genius Loves Company, usher received eight nominations and won three including Best Contemporary R&B Album for his diamond selling album Confessions. Britney Spears received her first Grammy of Best Dance Recording for her 2004 smash hit Toxic, the Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani, Eve, Maroon 5, Los Lonely Boys and Franz Ferdinand performed a medley together. Usher performed with James Brown Kanye West performed Jesus Walks, bold type indicates the winner out of the list of nominees. Ray Charles five Grammy wins is the record for most posthumous Grammy Awards won in one night and he is the first artist to win a posthumous Album of the Year Grammy since John Lennon in 1982. In 2000 he won the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year for engineering Luis Miguels Amarte Es Un Placer
26.
Ray Charles
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Ray Charles Robinson, known professionally as Ray Charles, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called Brother Ray and he was often referred to as The Genius. Charles was blind from the age of seven and he pioneered the genre of soul music during the 1950s by combining blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records. He also contributed to the integration of music, rhythm and blues and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records. While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a record company. Charles cited Nat King Cole as an influence, but his music was also influenced by country, jazz, blues. In the late forties, he became friends with Quincy Jones and their friendship would last till the end of Charless life. Frank Sinatra called him the true genius in show business. In 2002, Rolling Stone ranked Charles number ten on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, Billy Joel observed, This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley. Robinson was the son of Bailey Robinson, a laborer, at the time, she was a teenage orphan making a living as a sharecropper. They lived in Greenville, Florida, with Robinsons mother and his wife, the Robinson family had informally adopted Aretha, and she became known as Aretha Robinson. When she, scandalously, became pregnant by Bailey, she briefly left Greenville late in the summer of 1930 to be family members in Albany, Georgia. After that, mother and child returned to Greenville, and Aretha and he was deeply devoted to his mother and later recalled her perseverance, self-sufficiency, and pride as guiding lights in his life. His father abandoned the family, left Greenville, and took another wife elsewhere, in his early years, Charles showed a fondness about mechanical objects and would often watch his neighbors working on their cars and farm machinery. Charles and his mother were always welcome at the Red Wing Cafe, pitman would also care for Rays brother George, to take the burden off Aretha. George drowned in Arethas laundry tub when he was four years old, Charles started to lose his sight at the age of four or five, and was completely blind by the age of seven, apparently as a result of glaucoma. Destitute, uneducated and still mourning the loss of George, Aretha used her connections in the community to find a school that would accept a blind African-American student. Despite his initial protest, Charles attended school at the Florida School for the Deaf, Charles further developed his musical talent at school, and was taught to play the classical piano music of J. S
27.
Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word
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Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word is a song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the Blue Moves album and it was Johns second single released by The Rocket Record Company. The song is a ballad about a romantic relationship which is falling apart. The song is in the key of G melodic minor and G harmonic minor, the song also appeared the following year on Greatest Hits Volume II, though for copyright reasons it no longer appears on the current version of that album. It now appears on Greatest Hits 1976–1986, The Very Best of Elton John and in Greatest Hits 1970–2002, the song is also featured prominently in the 1977 movie Slap Shot. In December 2015, the song was used in a US holiday-themed commercial for Temptation cat treats, in addition, the song went to No.1 on the Easy Listening chart. In the US, it was certified Gold on 25 January 1977 by the RIAA, the song was covered in 2002 by English boy band Blue for their second studio album, One Love. The song was recorded as a collaboration with Elton John, and was the single from the album. It peaked at one on the UK Singles Chart on 15 December 2002. It has been recorded as a duet, in Spanish, and has even featured Elton John himself on a couple of versions, in 1991, Joe Cocker covered this song. In 1992, Argentine singer Pedro Aznar used the music to Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word, in 1994, country singers Suzy Bogguss and Chet Atkins covered the song on their 1994 Simpatico. It was released as a single but failed to chart, in 2002, the boy band Blue recorded the song with Elton John. This version was produced by multi-platinum producer Ray Ruffin and was a hit throughout Europe and went to No.1 in the UK, in 2004, Elton John and Ray Charles performed the song on Genius Loves Company. In 2012, the Australian electron pop duo Pnau, signed by Elton John to his own management company, Rocket Music, the lead single of this album was Sad, which sampled Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word. The single was the single for the eight-track remix compilation Good Morning to the Night in collaboration with Australian remixer Pnau. The so sad lyric, alongside elements of previous hits was merged into Elton Johns new single Sad. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
28.
Norah Jones
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Norah Jones is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Throughout her career, Jones has won awards and has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000–2009 decade and she has won nine Grammy Awards and was 60th on Billboard magazines artists of the 2000–2009 decade chart. In 2002, Jones launched her music career with the release of Come Away with Me. It was certified diamond, selling over 26 million copies, the record earned Jones five Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. They were also well received by critics. Jones fifth studio album, Little Broken Hearts, was released on April 27,2012, Jones is the daughter of Indian sitar player and composer Ravi Shankar, and half-sister of fellow musician Anoushka Shankar. Jones was born Geetali Norah Shankar on March 30,1979 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, to American concert producer Sue Jones, after her parents separated in 1986, Shankar lived with her mother, growing up in Grapevine, Texas. She attended Colleyville Middle School and Grapevine High School before transferring to Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing, while in high school, she sang in the school choir, participated in band, and played the alto saxophone. At the age of sixteen, with parents consent, she officially changed her name to Norah Jones. Jones always had an affinity for the music of Bill Evans and Billie Holiday and she once said, My mom had this eight-album Billie Holiday set, I picked out one disc that I liked and played that over and over again. As a child, Jones began singing in church and also took piano and she considers herself spiritual and appreciates the rituals of her church but does not consider herself deeply religious. She attended Interlochen Center for the Arts during the summers, while at high school, she won the Down Beat Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist and Best Original Composition. Jones attended the University of North Texas, where she majored in jazz piano, during this time, she had a chance meeting with future collaborator Jesse Harris. She gave a ride to a band playing at the university whose members happened to be friends of Harris and he was on a cross-country road-trip with friend and future Little Willies member Richard Julian, and stopped to see the band play. After meeting Jones, Harris started sending her lead sheets of his songs, in 1999, Jones left Texas for New York City. Less than a later, she started a band with Harris. As artist Peter Malick states in the notes, I started looking for a singer who could record for me
29.
Colbie Caillat
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Colbie Marie Caillat is an American singer, songwriter, actress, guitarist and pianist from Malibu, California. Caillat rose to fame through social networking website Myspace, at that time, she was the number-one unsigned artist of her genre. In 2008, she recorded a duet with Jason Mraz, Lucky, in August 2009, she released Breakthrough, her second album, which became her first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. It has been certified Gold by the RIAA, Breakthrough was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2010 Grammy Awards. She was also part of the group that won Album of the Year at the 2010 Grammy Awards for her background vocals, in July 2011, she released her third studio album, All of You. In October 2012, she released her first Christmas album, Christmas in the Sand, Caillat has sold over six million albums worldwide and over 10 million singles. In 2009, she was named Billboard magazines 94th-best-selling music artist of the 2000s, Caillat was born in Malibu, California, and grew up in Newbury Park, California. Her father, Ken Caillat, co-produced Fleetwood Macs Rumours and Tusk albums, when she was an infant, her parents gave her the nickname Coco, which she would later name her debut album. Caillat took piano lessons as a child, but lacked significant inspiration until she turned 11 years old and she realized that she wanted to be a singer, and began taking vocal lessons, performing onstage for the first time in sixth grade. Since then she has covered the Roberta Flack song Killing Me Softly, which had previously covered by Lauryn Hill. Caillat soon met producer Mikal Blue, who hired her to sing on techno songs used at fashion shows, Caillat began playing the acoustic guitar at age 19, and Blue helped her record her first song. She auditioned for American Idol but was rejected at the stage and was unable to sing for the judges. The second time she auditioned for the show, she sang her own song, Bubbly. However, Caillat expressed gratitude at the decision, saying I was shy. I wasnt ready for it yet, I was glad, when I auditioned, that they said no. The popularity of Caillats MySpace profile led her to become the number-one unsigned singer in her genre for four consecutive months, Caillats debut album, Coco, was released on July 10,2007 in Australia and Asia and a week later in North America. Its deluxe edition was released on September 3,2008 in Japan, the album was certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA with shipments to U. S. retailers of 2,000,000 units. The albums first single, Bubbly, peaked at five on the US Billboard Hot 100
30.
Breathe (Taylor Swift song)
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Breathe is a country pop song written and performed by American singer-songwriters Taylor Swift and Colbie Caillat. Produced by Nathan Chapman and Swift, it is the track from Swifts second studio album. The song was written about the end of a friendship, musically, the song is driven by acoustic guitar. The song received favorable responses from music critics. Breathe was one of two songs featuring Caillat that was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 2010, the other being Jason Mrazs Lucky, Breathe peaked at number eighty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100. Its appearance tied Swift with Hannah Montana for two records on the Billboard Hot 100, Swift was very fond of Caillats 2007 debut album, Coco. Swift explained, When it came out, I fell in love with the way that she makes music, Swift later contacted her management and asked if she could write a song with Caillat. They confirmed Caillat would be due to a then upcoming concert in Nashville, Tennessee and, coincidentally, on the same day. According to Swift, Breathe is about having to depart from a someone, however, Swift believed the scenario was one of the most difficult goodbyes, when its nobodys fault. Swift explained, It was total therapy because I came in and I was like look, One of my best friends, Im gonna have to not see anymore and its the hardest thing to go through. Its crazy listening to the song because you would think its about a relationship and its really about losing a friend and having a fallout. Caillat and Swift said one of the beauties of the song was that people would be able to relate to it because it is never specific as why the departure is occurring or whose fault it was. Swift desired for Caillat to sing background vocals but in a loud manner, originally Swift and Caillat were only to harmonize in the chorus, but as Caillat recorded, Swift decided to include her voice more throughout the track because of how impressed she was. Swift first recorded the song, and Caillat then recorded background vocals separately. Swift was very pleased with the product, I think she sounds beautiful on it. Im so excited to have her voice on my album, Breathe is a country pop song with a length of four minutes and twenty-one seconds. The song has rock and adult contemporary elements in it. It was written in time and has a ballad tempo of 72 beats per minute
31.
Lucky (Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat song)
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Lucky is a song by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat. It is the single from Mrazs third studio album We Sing. The song has been on the Billboard charts as well as on the music charts worldwide. A Spanish version of the song, called Suerte, was recorded alongside Mexican singer Ximena Sariñana for the Latin American, Mraz and Caillat won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Mraz and Lil Wayne also did a remix of the song Lucky, brooke Elliott performed a karaoke version of the song on a 2009 episode of Drop Dead Diva. Dianna Agron and Chord Overstreet performed the song on a 2010 episode of Glee, Mraz became a fan of Caillat after hearing her music on MySpace. He then called her to see if shed want to write, in an interview with VH1, Mraz stated that he played a songwriting game with friends to see how the lyrics would go. Mraz and Caillat performed the song on Saturday Night Live on January 31,2009 and they performed the song again on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in February. Lucky debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 96 for the issue dated January 31,2009, on the same week it had a debut on the Pop 100 chart at 84 and moved to a peak of 48. The next week the song rose to number 84 on the Hot 100, on the Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks, the song is already a Top 10 hit, reaching #9. The song has charted on the Dutch Top 40 at number 27. On the Canadian Hot 100 charted on 70 and moved to 56, the song re-entry on the Canadian Charts on the issue of April 30,2009 at #99. It also charted on the Swiss Singles Chart charts at 34, the video was shot in Prague, Czech Republic and the island of Kauai in Hawaii and was released January 16,2009. Mraz and Caillats parts in the video were filmed separately, the video follows the context of the song, featuring Mraz and Caillat singing their verses. The video starts with a shot of Old Town city square in Prague, Mraz is shown getting ready to meet somebody. Caillat is in a seaside area in Hawaii and sits on the beach as the song starts. Mraz gets ready and goes out to the square, Caillat continues to sing the song walking beside the sea and playing with her scarf. Mraz and Caillat sing the song both in separate places
32.
Taylor Swift
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Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. One of the most popular contemporary female recording artists, she is known for songs about her personal life. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee at age 14 to pursue a career in country music and she signed with the independent label Big Machine Records and became the youngest artist ever signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house. Her eponymous debut album in 2006 peaked at five on Billboard 200. The albums third single, Our Song, made her the youngest person to single-handedly write, Swifts second album, Fearless, was released in 2008. Buoyed by the pop success of the singles Love Story and You Belong with Me. The album won four Grammy Awards, with Swift becoming the youngest Album of the Year winner, Swift was the sole writer of her 2010 album, Speak Now. It debuted at one in the United States and the single Mean won two Grammy Awards. Her fourth album, Red, yielded the successful singles We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, with her fifth album, the pop-focused 1989, she became the first act to have three albums sell a million copies within one week in the United States. Its singles Shake It Off, Blank Space and Bad Blood reached number one in the US, Australia, the album received three Grammy Awards, and Swift became the first woman and fifth act overall to win Album of the Year twice. The 2015 eponymous concert tour for 1989 became one of highest-grossing of the decade, as a songwriter, Swift has received awards from the Nashville Songwriters Association and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Swift is one of the artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums—including 27.1 million in the US—and 130 million single downloads. She has appeared in Times 100 most influential people in the world, Forbes top-earning women in music, Forbes 100 most powerful women and she was the youngest woman to be included in the third of these and ranked first in Celebrity 100. Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13,1989, in Reading and her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, was a financial advisor, and her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift, was a homemaker who worked previously as a mutual fund marketing executive. She has a brother named Austin. Swift spent the years of her life on a Christmas tree farm in Cumru Township. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by Franciscan nuns, the family then moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School. At the age of nine, Swift became interested in musical theater and she also traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons
33.
Jason Mraz
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Jason Thomas Mraz is an American singer-songwriter who first came to prominence in the San Diego coffee shop scene in 2000. In 2002, he released his studio album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come. With the release of his album, Mr. A-Z, in 2005. The album peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 100,000 copies in the US, in 2008, Mraz released his third studio album, We Sing. It debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and was an commercial success primarily due to the hit Im Yours. The song peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving him his first top ten single and his fourth album, Love Is a Four Letter Word, peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200, his highest-charting album to date. Mraz has won two Grammy Awards and received two nominations, and has also won two Teen Choice Awards, a Peoples Choice Award and the Hal David Songwriters Hall of Fame Award. He has earned Platinum and multi-Platinum certifications in over 20 countries, and has toured in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, as of July 2014, Mraz has sold over seven million albums, and over 11.5 million downloaded singles. His musical style, from feeling to his use of nylon string guitars, has been heavily influenced by Brazilian music. Mraz was born and raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia and he is of Czech and Slovak descent through his grandfather, who moved to the United States from Austria-Hungary in 1915. His surname is Czech for frost and his parents, Tom Mraz and June, divorced when he was five years old, but he maintains that he had an idyllic childhood, saying, My hometown of Mechanicsville was very American. There were white picket fences, a church on every corner, low crime. It was a place to grow up. He then enrolled at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, but instead of attending classes, headed west on a trip that ultimately brought him to San Diego. Soon after moving to San Diego in 1999, Mraz became a roadie for the band Elgin Park, in 2001, Mraz released the live acoustic album Live at Java Joes, performing with percussionist Rivera and bassist Ian Sheridan. The album featured Mrazs freelancing vocal style and several songs he would later re-release, including 1000 Things, You and I Both, the album was made available to download on iTunes on March 11,2008, under the title Jason Mraz, Live & Acoustic 2001. In 2002, Mraz signed a contract with Elektra Records. That year saw the release of his first major debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come
34.
Alison Krauss
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Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in 1987 and she was invited to join the band with which she still performs, Alison Krauss and Union Station, and later released her first album with them as a group in 1989. She has released fourteen albums, appeared on soundtracks. She is the most awarded singer and the most awarded female artist in Grammy history, at the time of her first, the 1991 Grammy Awards, she was the second-youngest winner. Alison Maria Krauss was born in Decatur, Illinois, to Fred and her father was a German immigrant who came to the United States in 1952 and taught his native language. Her mother, of German and Italian descent, is the daughter of artists, Krauss grew up in the college town of Champaign, home to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. She began studying violin at age five but soon switched to bluegrass. Krauss said she first became involved with music because mother tried to find interesting things for me to do and wanted to get me involved in music, in addition to art and sports. At the age of eight she started entering talent contests. At 13 she won the Walnut Valley Festival Fiddle Championship, and she was also called Virtuoso by Vanity Fair Magazine. Krauss first met Dan Tyminski around 1984 at a festival held by the Society, Every current member of her band, Union Station, first met her at these festivals. Krauss made her debut in 1985 on the independent album, Different Strokes, featuring her brother Viktor Krauss, Swamp Weiss. From the age of 12 she performed with bassist and songwriter John Pennell in a band called Silver Rail, Pennell later changed the bands name to Union Station after another band was discovered with the name Silver Rail. Pennell remains one of her favorite songwriters and wrote some of her work including the popular Every Time You Say Goodbye. Later that year, she signed to Rounder Records, and in 1987, at 16, Krauss debut solo album was quickly followed by her first group album with Union Station in 1989, Two Highways. The album includes the traditional tunes Wild Bill Jones and Beaumont Rag, Krauss contract with Rounder required her to alternate between releasing a solo album and an album with Union Station, and she released the solo album Ive Got That Old Feeling in 1990. It was her first album to rise onto the Billboard charts, Krauss second Union Station album Every Time You Say Goodbye was released in 1992, and she went on to win her second Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album of the year
35.
Van Morrison
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Sir George Ivan Morrison, OBE, known as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and producer. In 2016, Morrison was knighted for his achievements and his services to tourism. He rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as the singer of the Northern Irish R&B band Them. His solo career began under the pop-hit oriented guidance of Bert Berns with the release of the hit single Brown Eyed Girl in 1967, after Berns death, Warner Bros. Records bought out his contract and allowed him three sessions to record Astral Weeks. Much of Morrisons music is structured around the conventions of music and R&B, such as the popular singles Brown Eyed Girl, Jackie Wilson Said, Domino. The two strains together are referred to as Celtic soul. He has received six Grammy Awards, the 1994 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, Morrisons family roots descend from the Ulster Scots population that settled in Belfast. From 1950 to 1956, Morrison, who began to be known as Van during this time and those guys were the inspiration that got me going. If it wasnt for that kind of music, I couldnt do what Im doing now, Morrisons father bought him his first acoustic guitar when he was eleven, and he learned to play rudimentary chords from the song book The Carter Family Style, edited by Alan Lomax. A year later, when he was years old, Morrison formed his first band. In 1958, the played at some of the local cinemas. Other short-lived groups followed – at fourteen, he formed Midnight Special, another modified skiffle band and played at a school concert. Then, when he heard Jimmy Giuffre playing saxophone on The Train and The River, he talked his father buying him a saxophone. Now playing the saxophone, Morrison joined with local bands, including one called Deanie Sands. The line-up of the band was lead vocalist Deanie Sands, guitarist George Jones and drummer, later the four main musicians of the Javelins, with the addition of Wesley Black as pianist, became known as the Monarchs. Morrison attended Orangefield Boys Secondary School, leaving in July 1960 with no qualifications, however, he had been developing his musical interests from an early age and continued playing with the Monarchs part-time. Young Morrison also played with the Harry Mack Showband, the Great Eight, with his older friend, Geordie Sproule. At age 17, Morrison toured Europe for the first time with the Monarchs, while in Germany, the band recorded a single, Boozoo Hully Gully/Twingy Baby, under the name Georgie and the Monarchs
36.
Pink (singer)
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Alecia Beth Moore, known professionally as Pink, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. She was signed to her first record label with original R&B girl group Choice in 1995, the label, LaFace Records saw potential in only Pink, offering her a solo deal. Pink rose as an artist with her solo album, Cant Take Me Home. It was certified double-platinum in the United States and spawned two Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hits, There You Go and Most Girls and she gained further recognition with the Moulin Rouge. Soundtrack Lady Marmalade, which gave Pink her first Grammy Award as well as her first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, Pink took control in early 2001 insisting she wanted to work with her childhood hero, Linda Perry. Pink took more control and pursued a pop direction for her second album. It sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and yielded three United States top-ten singles, Get the Party Started, Dont Let Me Get Me, Pinks third album, Try This, generated considerably lower sales, but earned her the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Pink revived her popularity with her fourth and fifth albums, Im Not Dead and Funhouse, with the latter containing her second United States number-one hit. Pink concluded the first decade of her career with the compilation album Greatest Hits, so Far. which featured Fuckin Perfect and the chart-topping single Raise Your Glass. In 2014 Pink recorded an album, Rose Ave. with Canadian musician Dallas Green under a folk music duo named You+Me. Recognized for her signature vocals and acrobatic performances, Pink has sold over 60 million albums worldwide. Her career accolades include three Grammy Awards, a Brit Award, a Daytime Emmy Award and six MTV Video Music Awards, in 2009, Billboard named Pink the Pop Songs Artist of the Decade. Pink was also the second most-played female solo artist in the United Kingdom during the 2000s decade, vH1 ranked her number 10 on their list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music, while Billboard awarded her the Woman of the Year award in 2013. At the 63rd annual BMI Pop Awards, she received the BMI Presidents Award for her achievement in songwriting and global impact on pop culture. Alecia Beth Moore was born on September 8,1979, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, to nurse Judy and insurance salesman Jim Moore and she has described her background as Irish-German-Lithuanian-Jew. Although a healthy baby at birth, she developed asthma that plagued her through her early years. Pink attended Central Bucks High School West, when Moore was a toddler, her parents began having marital problems, and before she was 10 her parents had divorced. Pink developed her voice early in life, in high school, Pink joined her first band, Middleground, but it disbanded upon losing a battle of the bands competition
37.
Robert Plant
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Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin. A powerful and wide range has given him a successful solo career spanning over 30 years. Plant is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock and roll, he has influenced fellow rock singer-songwriters such as Freddie Mercury, Axl Rose, in 2006, Heavy Metal magazine Hit Parader named Plant the Greatest Metal Vocalist of All Time. In 2009, Plant was voted the greatest voice in rock in a poll conducted by Planet Rock, in 2008, Rolling Stone editors ranked him number 15 on their list of the 100 best singers of all time. In 2011, Rolling Stone readers ranked Plant the greatest of all lead singers, Robert Anthony Plant was born in the Black Country town of West Bromwich, Staffordshire to Robert C. Plant, a civil engineer who worked in the Royal Air Force during World War II, and Annie Celia Plant. He grew up in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, Plant gained an interest in singing and rock and roll music at an early age. When I was a kid I used to hide behind the curtains at home at Christmas and I used to try, there was a certain ambience between the curtains and the French windows, there was a certain sound there for a ten-year-old. That was all the ambience I got at ten years old, and I always wanted to be a curtain, a bit similar to that. I suppose I was quite interested in my collection and Romano-British history. I was a grammar school boy and I could hear this kind of calling through the airwaves. He abandoned training as an accountant after only two weeks to attend college in an effort to gain more GCE passes and to become part of the English Midlands blues scene. I left home at 16, he said, and I started my real education musically, moving from group to group, furthering my knowledge of the blues, Plants early blues influences included Johnson, Bukka White, Skip James, Jerry Miller, and Sleepy John Estes. Plant had various jobs while pursuing his career, one of which was working for the major British construction company Wimpey in Birmingham in 1967 laying tarmac on roads. He also worked at Woolworths in Halesowen town for a period of time. He cut three singles on CBS Records and sang with a variety of bands, including the Crawling King Snakes. They both went on to play in the Band of Joy, merging blues with newer psychedelic trends, a version of Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane was sung by Plant in front of Page, leading Page to the end of his search. As recalled by Plant and Page, Plant, I was appearing at this college when Peter and Jimmy turned up and asked me if Id like to join the Yardbirds
38.
Stevie Wonder
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Stevland Hardaway Morris, known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. A child prodigy, he is considered to be one of the most critically and commercially successful musical performers of the late 20th century, Wonder signed with Motowns Tamla label at the age of 11, and he continued performing and recording for Motown into the 2010s. He has been blind since shortly after birth, Wonder is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr. s birthday a holiday in the United States. In 2009, Wonder was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace, in 2013, Billboard magazine released a list of the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists to celebrate the US singles charts 55th anniversary, with Wonder at number six. Stevie Wonder was born in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1950, the third of six children of Calvin Judkins and Lula Mae Hardaway, when Wonder was four, his mother left his father and moved to Detroit with her children. She changed her back to Lula Hardaway and later changed her sons surname to Morris. Wonder has retained Morris as his legal surname and he began playing instruments at an early age, including piano, harmonica and drums. He formed a partnership with a friend, calling themselves Stevie and John, they played on street corners. Before signing, producer Clarence Paul gave him the name Little Stevie Wonder, because of Wonders age, the label drew up a rolling five-year contract in which royalties would be held in trust until Wonder was 21. He and his mother would be paid a stipend to cover their expenses, Wonder received $2.50 a week. Wonder was put in the care of producer and songwriter Clarence Paul, tribute to Uncle Ray was recorded first, when Wonder was still 11 years old. Mainly covers of Ray Charless songs, it included a Wonder and Paul composition, the Jazz Soul of Little Stevie was recorded next, an instrumental album consisting mainly of Pauls compositions, two of which, Wondering and Session Number 112, were co-written with Wonder. At the end of 1962, when Wonder was 12 years old, he joined the Motortown Revue, at the Regal Theater, Chicago, his 20-minute performance was recorded and released in May 1963 as the album Recorded Live, The 12 Year Old Genius. A single, Fingertips, from the album was released in May. The song, featuring a confident and enthusiastic Wonder returning for a spontaneous encore that catches out the replacement bass player, was a No.1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when Wonder was aged 13, making him the youngest artist ever to top the chart. The single was simultaneously No.1 on the R&B chart and his next few recordings, however, were not successful, his voice was changing as he got older, and some Motown executives were considering cancelling his recording contract. During 1964, Wonder appeared in two films as himself, Muscle Beach Party and Bikini Beach, but these were not successful either, sylvia Moy persuaded label owner Berry Gordy to give Wonder another chance. He also began to work in the Motown songwriting department, composing songs both for himself and his mates, including The Tears of a Clown, a No.1 hit for Smokey Robinson
39.
Imagine (John Lennon song)
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Imagine is a song written and performed by English musician John Lennon. Lennon and Yoko Ono co-produced the song and album of the name with Phil Spector. Recording began at Lennons home studio at Tittenhurst Park, England, in May 1971, with final overdubs taking place at the Record Plant, in New York City, during July. Although not originally released as a single in the United Kingdom, it was released in 1975 to promote a compilation LP, the song has since sold more than 1.6 million copies in the UK, it reached number one following Lennons murder in December 1980. In 1985, the Central Park Conservancy memorialized a portion of the park in honor of Lennon, called Strawberry Fields, BMI named Imagine one of the 100 most-performed songs of the 20th century. The song ranked number 30 on the Recording Industry Association of Americas list of the 365 Songs of the Century bearing the most historical significance. It earned a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fames 500 Songs that Shaped Rock, since 2005, event organisers have played it just before the New Years Times Square Ball drops in New York City. Dozens of artists have performed or recorded versions of Imagine, including Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Joan Baez, Elton John, Emeli Sandé recorded a cover for the BBC to use during the end credits montage at the close of the 2012 Summer Olympics coverage in August 2012. Imagine subsequently re-entered the UK Top 40, reaching number 18, Lennon later said the composition should be credited as a Lennon/Ono song. A lot of lyric and the concept—came from Yoko, but in those days I was a bit more selfish, a bit more macho, and I sort of omitted her contribution. If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion—not without religion, the World Church called me once and asked, Can we use the lyrics to Imagine and just change it to Imagine one religion. That showed they didnt understand it at all and it would defeat the whole purpose of the song, the whole idea. With the combined influence of Cloud Piece and the book given to him by Gregory. Blaney wrote, Lennon contends that global harmony is within our reach, in the opinion of Blaney, with Imagine, Lennon attempted to raise peoples awareness of their interaction with the institutions that affect their lives. Rolling Stones David Fricke commented, calls for a unity and equality built upon the elimination of modern social order, geopolitical borders, organised religion. He told NME, There is no real Communist state in the world, Not the way some daft Russian might do it, or the Chinese might do it. Us, we should have a nice, Ono described the lyrical statement of Imagine as just what John believed, that we are all one country, one world, one people. Rolling Stone described its lyrics as 22 lines of graceful, plain-spoken faith in the power of a world, united in purpose, to repair and change itself
40.
Carlos Santana
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Carlos Santana audio is a Mexican and American musician who first became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered a fusion of rock and Latin American music. The bands sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin and African rhythms featuring percussion instruments such as timbales, Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades. He experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s, in 2003 Rolling Stone magazine listed Santana at number 20 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He has won 10 Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards, Santana was born in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico. He learned to play the violin at age five and the guitar at age eight under the tutelage of his father and his younger brother, Jorge Santana, would also become a professional guitarist. Young Carlos was heavily influenced by Ritchie Valens at a time there were very few Mexicans in American rock. The family moved from Autlán de Navarro to Tijuana, the city on Mexicos border with California, Carlos stayed in Tijuana but later joined his family in San Francisco, graduating from James Lick Middle School, and in 1965 from Mission High School. Carlos was accepted at California State University, Northridge, and Humboldt State University, Santana was influenced by popular artists of the 1950s such as B. B. King, T-Bone Walker, and John Lee Hooker. Soon after he began playing guitar, he joined local bands along the Tijuana Strip where he was able to begin adding his own touch to 50s Rock n Roll. He was also introduced to a variety of new influences, including jazz and folk music. After several years spent working as a dishwasher in a diner and busking for spare change, in 1966 he gained prominence due to a series of accidental events, all happening on the same day. Santana was a frequent spectator at Bill Grahams Fillmore West, during a Sunday matinee show, Paul Butterfield was slated to perform there but was unable to do so as a result of being intoxicated. Santanas manager, Stan Marcum, immediately suggested to Graham that Santana join the impromptu band, during the jam session, Santanas guitar playing and solo gained the notice of both the audience and Graham. During the same year, Santana formed the Santana Blues Band, with street musicians David Brown, Marcus Malone. With their highly original blend of Latin-infused rock, jazz, blues, salsa and African rhythms, the bands early success, capped off by a memorable performance at Woodstock in 1969, led to him signing a recording contract with Columbia Records, then run by Clive Davis. Santana was signed by CBS Records and went into the studio to record their first album and they were not satisfied with the release and decided changes needed to be made. This resulted in the dismissal of drummer Bob Livingston, Santana replaced him with Mike Shrieve, who had a strong background in both jazz and rock. Percussionist Marcus Malone was forced to quit the band due to manslaughter charges
41.
Rod Stewart
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Sir Roderick David Rod Stewart, CBE is a British rock singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry, Stewart is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. He has had six number one albums in the UK and his tally of 62 UK hit singles includes 31 that reached the top ten. Stewart has had 16 top ten singles in the US, with four reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and he was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity. In October 1963, he joined the Dimensions as a harmonica player, in 1964, Stewart joined Long John Baldry and the All Stars, and in August, Stewart signed a solo contract, releasing his first single, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, in October. He maintained a career alongside a group career, releasing his debut solo album. Stewarts early albums were a fusion of rock, folk music, soul music, in 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists. A Grammy and Brit Award recipient, he was voted at #33 in Q Magazines list of the Top 100 Greatest Singers of all time, and #59 on Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Singers of all time. Roderick David Stewart was born at 507 Archway Road, Highgate, North London on 10 January 1945 and his father was Scottish and had been a master builder in Leith, Edinburgh, while Elsie was English and had grown up in Upper Holloway in North London. Married in 1928, the couple had two sons and two daughters living in Scotland, and then they moved to Highgate. Stewart came after a gap following his youngest sibling, he was born at home during World War II. The family was neither affluent nor poor, Stewart was spoiled as the youngest and he had an undistinguished record at Highgate Primary School and failed the eleven plus exam. He then attended the William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School, Muswell Hill and his father retired from the building trade at age 65, buying a newsagents shop on the Archway Road when Stewart was in his early teens, the family lived over the shop. Stewarts main hobby was railway modelling, Stewart was the most talented footballer in the family and was a strong supporter of Arsenal F. C. at the time. Combining natural athleticism with near-reckless aggression, he became captain of the football team. The family were great fans of the singer Al Jolson and would sing. Stewart collected his records and saw his films, read books about him and his introduction to rock and roll was hearing Little Richards 1956 hit The Girl Cant Help It, and seeing Bill Haley & His Comets in concert. In 1960, he joined a group with schoolfriends called the Kool Kats, playing Lonnie Donegan
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Sting (musician)
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Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE, better known by his stage name Sting, is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He was the songwriter, lead singer, and bassist for the new wave rock band The Police from 1977 to 1984. He has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age and he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Police in 2003. In 2000, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for recording, in 2003, Sting received a CBE from Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for services to music, and was made a Kennedy Center Honoree at the White House in 2014. He was awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2017, with The Police, Sting became one of the worlds best-selling music artists. Solo and with The Police combined, he has sold over 100 million records, in 2006, Paste ranked him 62nd of the 100 best living songwriters. He was 63rd of VH1s 100 greatest artists of rock, and he grew up near Wallsends shipyards, which made an impression on him. At eight or ten years old, he was inspired by the Queen Mother waving at him from a Rolls-Royce to divert from the shipyard prospect towards a more glamorous life. He helped his father deliver milk and by ten was obsessed with an old Spanish guitar left by a friend of his father. He attended St Cuthberts Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne and he visited nightclubs such as Club AGogo to see Cream and Manfred Mann, who influenced his music. After being a bus conductor, building labourer and tax officer, he attended Northern Counties College of Education from 1971 to 1974 and he taught at St Pauls First School in Cramlington for two years. Sting performed jazz in the evening, weekends and during breaks from college and he played with the Phoenix Jazzmen, Newcastle Big Band, and Last Exit. He gained his nickname after his habit of wearing a black, bandleader Gordon Solomon thought he looked like a bee, which prompted the name Sting. In the 1985 documentary Bring on the Night a journalist called him Gordon, to which he replied, My children call me Sting, my mother calls me Sting, in Time in 2011 he said, I was never called Gordon. You could shout Gordon in the street and I would just move out of your way, in January 1977, Sting moved from Newcastle to London and joined Stewart Copeland and Henry Padovani to form The Police. From 1978 to 1983 they had five UK chart-topping albums, won six Grammy Awards and their initial sound was punk-inspired, but they switched to reggae rock and minimalist pop. Their final album, Synchronicity, was nominated for five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and it included their most successful song, Every Breath You Take, written by Sting, in 1983. While never formally breaking up, after Synchronicity the group agreed to concentrate on solo projects, as the years went by, the band members, particularly Sting, dismissed the possibility of reforming
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All for Love (song)
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All for Love is a song written by Bryan Adams, Robert John Mutt Lange and Michael Kamen for the soundtrack The Three Musketeers, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. It was performed by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting, the song was released as a CD single in the United States on November 16,1993. It was a hit, reaching number one across Europe. The title was inspired by the Musketeers motto, All for one, in the United States, the single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 22,1994. It remained atop the charts for three weeks and it sold 1.2 million copies domestically and earned a platinum certification from the RIAA. In 2007, the Swedish band E. M. D, released a cover of the song, peaking at number one in their native country. List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1994
