1.
Stevie Wonder
–
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
2.
Alicia Keys
–
Alicia Augello Cook, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, pianist and actress. Keys released her album with J Records, having had previous record deals first with Columbia. Keys debut album, Songs in A Minor was released in 2001, producing her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single Fallin, the album earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002. Her sophomore album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003, spawning successful singles You Dont Know My Name, If I Aint Got You and Diary, the duet song My Boo with Usher scored her a second number-one single in 2004. The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards in 2005, later that year, she released her first live album, Unplugged, becoming the first woman to have an MTV Unplugged album debut at number one. As I Am was released in 2007, producing the Hot 100 number-one single No One, selling 5 million copies worldwide, the Element of Freedom was released in 2009, becoming her first chart-topping album in the UK, and selling 4 million copies worldwide. Keys additionally collaborated with Jay Z on Empire State of Mind as her fourth number-one single, Girl on Fire was released in 2012 as her fifth Billboard 200 topping album, spawning the successful title track. Her second live album, VH1 Storytellers was released in 2013, Here was released in 2016, becoming her seventh R&B/Hip-Hop chart topping album. Keys made her first television appearance on The Cosby Show in 1985 as a four year old child and she made her film debut in Smokin Aces and later in The Nanny Diaries in 2007. Keys then had a NAACP Image Award nominated appearance in The Secret Life of Bees in 2008, Keys also made an appearance on season 2 of Empire in 2015. She is currently a coach on The Voice as of 2016, Keys has won numerous awards such as 15 Grammy Awards and 17 NAACP Image Awards. She has sold over 35 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide, considered a pop icon, Billboard magazine named her the top R&B artist of the 2000s decade and placed her number 10 on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years. Time named her in their 100 list of most influential people in 2005, Keys was born Alicia Augello Cook on January 25,1981, in the Hells Kitchen area of Manhattan, New York City. She is the child of Teresa, a paralegal and part-time actress, and Craig Cook. Keys father is African American and her mother is of Italian, Scottish, Keys has expressed that she was comfortable with her multiracial heritage because she felt she was able to relate to different cultures. Her parents separated when she was two and she was raised by her mother during her formative years in Hells Kitchen. Keys has 2 younger half brothers, Clay Cook and Cole Cook, in 1985, Keys made an appearance on The Cosby Show at the age of four, where she and a group of girls played the parts of Rudy Huxtables sleepover guests in the episode Slumber Party. Throughout her childhood, Keys was sent to music and dance classes by her mother and she graduated in four years as valedictorian at the age of 16
3.
Steve Cropper
–
Steven Lee Cropper is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M. G. s and he also acted as the producer of many of these records. He was later a member of the Blues Brothers band, rolling Stone magazine ranked him 39th on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Born on a farm near Dora, Missouri, Cropper moved with his family to Memphis at the age of nine, bitten by the music bug, Cropper acquired his first mail order guitar at the age of 14. Personal guitar heroes included Tal Farlow, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, Chet Atkins, Lowman Pauling of the Five Royales, Cropper and guitarist Charlie Freeman formed the Royal Spades, who eventually became the Mar-Keys. The name referred to the marquee outside Stax studios, known as Satellite Records at the time, eventually the Mar-Keys began playing on sessions and had a hit single of their own with Last Night in 1961. Besides being impressed with the guitarists playing, Stax Records president Jim Stewart saw professionalism. When American Records founder Chips Moman left Stax, Cropper became the companys A&R man. He became a member of the Stax house band Booker T. & the M. G. s, along with Hammond organ player Booker T. Jones, bassist Donald Duck Dunn. As a house guitarist he played on recordings such as the Dock of the Bay, co-written with and performed by Otis Redding. When Cropper played on the remake by the Blues Brothers. At this time, Croppers fame was not limited to the United States, the Beatles favoured Croppers playing, and his production on Otis Redding records. John Lennon and Paul McCartney made tentative plans to record in Memphis, however Brian Epstein cancelled the sessions, citing security problems. Regarding this period, Rob Bowman, in his book Soulsville U. S. A, the Story of Stax Records, quoted Booker T. In 1969, Cropper released his first solo album, With a Little Help From My Friends, when Cropper left Stax in the fall of 1970, the label lost one of its most successful producers and songwriters. Cropper then set up TMI Studios with Jerry Williams and former Mar-Key Ronnie Stoots, there he played guitar and produced various musicians including Tower of Power, Rod Stewart, John Prine, José Feliciano, The Jeff Beck Group, Ringo Starr and John Lennon. Its little-known that Cropper also played guitar on the cover of The Velvet Undergrounds Femme Fatale that appears on fellow Memphians Big Stars Third/Sister Lovers, by 1975, Cropper had moved to Los Angeles and along with Jackson and Dunn, reformed Booker T. & the M. Gs. Jackson, whom Cropper called the greatest drummer to ever walk the earth, was murdered in his Memphis home before the group could make their comeback
4.
Aretha Franklin
–
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter and musician. Franklin began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklins church as a child, in 1960, at the age of 18, Franklin embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records but only achieving modest success. Following her signing to Atlantic Records in 1967, Franklin achieved commercial acclaim and success with such as Respect, A Natural Woman. These hits and more helped her to gain the title The Queen of Soul by the end of the 1960s decade, in 1998, Franklin won international acclaim for singing the opera aria Nessun dorma, at the Grammys of that year replacing Luciano Pavarotti. Later that same year, she scored her final Top 40 recording with A Rose Is Still a Rose, Franklin has won a total of 18 Grammy Awards and is one of the best-selling artists of all time, having sold over 75 million records worldwide. Franklin has been honored throughout her career including a 1987 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and she was inducted to the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In August 2012, Franklin was inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Barbara and Clarence LaVaughn Franklin. Her father, who went by the nickname, C. L. was an itinerant preacher originally from Shelby, Mississippi, while her mother was a piano player. Alongside Franklin, her parents had three children while both C. L. and Barbara had children from outside their marriage. The family relocated to Buffalo, New York when Franklin was two, before her fifth birthday, C. L. Franklin permanently relocated the family to Detroit, Michigan where he took over the pastorship of New Bethel Baptist Church. Franklins mother died on March 7,1952, before Franklins tenth birthday, several women, including Franklins grandmother Rachel, and Mahalia Jackson took turns helping with the children at the Franklin home. During this time, Franklin learned how to play piano by ear, Franklins fathers emotionally driven sermons resulted in him being known as the man with the million-dollar voice and earning thousands of dollars for sermons in various churches across the country. Just after her mothers death, Franklin began singing solos at New Bethel, debuting with the hymn, Jesus, Be a Fence Around Me. Four years later, when Franklin was 14, her father began managing her and he helped his daughter get signed to her first recording deal with J. V. B. Records, where her first album, Songs of Faith, was issued in 1956, two singles were released to gospel radio stations including Never Grow Old and Precious Lord, Take My Hand. Franklin sometimes traveled with The Caravans and The Soul Stirrers during this time and developed a crush on Sam Cooke, after turning 18, Franklin confided to her father that she aspired to follow Sam Cooke to record pop music. Serving as her manager, C. L. agreed to the move and helped to produce a demo that soon was brought to the attention of Columbia Records. Franklin was signed as a five-percent artist, during this period, Franklin would be coached by choreographer Cholly Atkins to prepare for her pop performances
5.
The Temptations
–
The Temptations are an American vocal group known for their success with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. Known for their choreography, distinct harmonies, and flashy wardrobe, having sold tens of millions of albums, the Temptations are one of the most successful groups in music history. As of 2015, the Temptations continue to perform with one member, Otis Williams. Featuring five male vocalists and dancers, the formed in 1960 in Detroit. In 1964, Bryant was replaced by David Ruffin, who was the lead vocalist on a number of the groups biggest hits, including My Girl, Aint Too Proud to Beg, and I Wish It Would Rain. Ruffin was replaced in 1968 by Dennis Edwards, with whom the group continued to record hit records such as Cloud Nine, the groups lineup has changed frequently since the departures of Kendricks and Paul Williams from the act in 1971. Over the course of their career, the Temptations have released four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and fourteen R&B number-one singles, and their material has earned them three Grammy Awards. The Temptations were the first Motown recording act to win a Grammy Award - for Cloud Nine in 1969 -, six of the Temptations were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Three classic Temptations songs, My Girl, Just My Imagination, the Temptations were also ranked at number 68 on Rolling Stone magazines list of the 100 Greatest Artists of all time. Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams started singing together in church as children, by their teenage years, they formed a doo-wop quartet in 1955 with Kell Osborne and Wiley Waller, naming themselves the Cavaliers. After Waller left the group in 1957, the trio left Birmingham to break into the music business. The group settled in Detroit where they changed their name to the Primes under the direction of Milton Jenkins, the Primes soon became well known around the Detroit area for their meticulous performances. Jenkins later created a group, The Primettes, later known as the Supremes. Kendricks was already seen as an idol in the Detroit area while Williams was well received for his baritone vocals. Texas teenager Otis Williams moved to Detroit as a youngster to be with his mother, by 1958, Williams was the leader of a vocal group named Otis Williams and the Siberians. The group included Elbridge Al Bryant, James Pee-Wee Crawford, Vernard Plain, the group recorded a song, Pecos Kid for a label run by radio deejay Senator Bristol Bryant. Shortly after its release, the changed its name to The El Domingoes. Following this, Montgomery native Melvin Franklin replaced Arthur Walton as bass vocalist and Franklins cousin, Detroit-born Richard Street, signing with Johnnie Mae Matthews Northern Records, the group had their name changed again to The Distants
6.
Grammy Award
–
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
7.
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay
–
The Dock of the Bay is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just days before his death in a plane crash, the song was released on Stax Records Volt label in 1968, becoming the first posthumous single to top the charts in the US. It reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart, Redding started writing the lyrics to the song in August 1967, while sitting on a rented houseboat in Sausalito, California. He completed the song with the help of Cropper, who was a Stax producer, the song features whistling and sounds of waves crashing on a shore. While on tour with the Bar-Kays in August 1967, Redding wrote the first verse of the song, under the abbreviated title Dock of the Bay, on a houseboat at Waldo Point in Sausalito and he had completed his famed performance at the Monterey Pop Festival just weeks earlier. While touring in support of the albums King & Queen and Live in Europe, he continued to scribble lines of the song on napkins and hotel paper. In November of that year, he joined producer and guitarist Steve Cropper at the Stax recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, to record the song. In a September 1990 interview on NPRs Fresh Air, Cropper explained the origins of the song and he had been in San Francisco doing The Fillmore. And the story that I got he was renting boathouse or stayed at a boathouse or something, and thats about all he had, I watch the ships come in and I watch them roll away again. If you listen to the songs I collaborated with Otis, most of the lyrics are about him, Otis didnt really write about himself but I did. Songs like Mr. Pitiful, Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa, they were about Otis and Otis life, Dock of the Bay was exactly that, I left my home in Georgia, headed for the Frisco Bay was all about him going out to San Francisco to perform. Together, they completed the music and melancholy lyrics of The Dock of the Bay, from those sessions emerged Reddings final recorded work, including Dock of the Bay, which was recorded on November 22, with additional overdubs on December 8. Reddings restrained yet emotive delivery is backed by Croppers memorably succinct guitar playing, the song is somewhat different in style from most of Reddings other recordings. While discussing the song with his wife, Redding stated that he had wanted to be a little different with The Dock of the Bay, Redding had considered the song to be unfinished and planned to record what he considered a final version, but never got the chance. The song features a tune heard before the songs fade. It was originally performed by Redding, who had this little fadeout rap he was gonna do and he forgot what it was so he started whistling. Redding continued to tour after the recording sessions, on December 10, his charter plane crashed into Lake Monona, outside Madison, Wisconsin. Redding and six others were killed, after Reddings death, Cropper mixed Dock of the Bay at Stax Studios
8.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours
–
Signed, Sealed, Delivered Im Yours is a soul single by Stevie Wonder, recorded for Motowns Tamla label. Released in June 1970, the spent six weeks at number one on the U. S. R&B chart. In the same year, the song was released on the album Signed, Sealed & Delivered. The song was arranged by Paul Riser and featured a distinctive sitar-guitar in the introduction and this song also marked Wonders first Grammy nomination. The award went to Ronald Dunbar and General Johnson for writing the Clarence Carter song Patches, in 2009 Stevie Wonder was welcomed by President Barack Obama to receive the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by the Library of Congress. In 1977, Peter Frampton recorded the song on his album Im in You and his version also contains instrumental elements from Wonders hit For Once in My Life. Mick Jagger is featured on backing vocals, framptons version was released as a single, reaching number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 13 on the Cashbox Top 100. His cover also reached number 13 in Canada, shortly before being signed by Uni Records, Elton John recorded a cover of it for a collection of top hits of the day that were released as discount LP sound-alike versions. It was later released on several CD compilations, perhaps the most notable of which was Reg Dwights Piano Goes Pop, eltons version was later included under the end titles of the 2004 romantic comedy film Laws of Attraction starring Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore. In the early 1970s, Bobby Byrd performed a cover of this song on a single with other songs performed by James Brown. In 1975, The Osmonds covered the song, and it appears on their album Around the World, in 1976, Marcia Hines covered the song on her album, Shining. In 1980, co-writer Syreeta Wright released her own version of the song on her second self-titled album, in 1988, Chaka Khan released her album CK of which the song was the first track. Wonder played harmonica on Khans version, released in 1988, the TV special Meet the California Raisins. Featured the song covered by fictional band The California Raisins, during the mid-1990s, Mazda released a series of TV commercials that used a re-recorded version of the song, with the lyrics Here it is/Signed, sealed, delivered/Its yours. Including a Mazda 626 commercial from 1995, in 1995, Kim Wilde performed the track during the last episode of Dont Forget Your Toothbrush on UK television. Jazz fusion and contemporary jazz group Pieces of a Dream presented their version from the bands album Pieces, in 2003, for his first in a two-volume collection of Motown cover songs, Michael McDonald recorded his own version of the song. Later that same year, Wonder recorded a remake with British boy band Blue. The song hit number 11 in the UK charts, human Nature successfully remade the song to feature in their Motown album released in 2006
9.
Gladys Knight & the Pips
–
Gladys Knight & the Pips were an R&B/soul family musical act from Atlanta, Georgia that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for three decades. After a couple years performing in talent shows, the signed with Brunswick Records in 1957. Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest were eventually replaced by cousin, Edward Patten. This lineup produced the groups first hit single, Every Beat of My Heart, after the single was released on three different labels, they changed their name to Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1961. Langston George left the year and Gladys Knight left in 1962 to start a family with musician Jimmy Newman. Knight rejoined in 1964 and this continued until the groups disbandment in 1989. The group reached commercial success after signing with Motown Records in 1966, contractual difficulties with their labels forced the group to record side projects until 1980 when they signed with Columbia Records. Later hits included Save the Overtime and the Grammy-winning single Love Overboard, in 1989, the group disbanded with the Pips retiring and Knight embarking on a successful solo career. Gladys Knight & the Pips are multiple Grammy and American Music Award winners and are inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Gladys Knight performed on Ted Macks Original Amateur Hour in 1952 at the age of seven, winning first prize. On September 4,1952, Gladys, Bubba, sister Brenda and their cousins William, shortly afterwards, the quintet agreed to form a group under the insistence of Gladys mother Elizabeth Knight. They settled on the name The Pips, inspired by the nickname of their cousin James Pip Woods, by 1955, the group began performing at the talent show circuit at their hometown of Atlanta, winning each talent show they performed on. This success allowed them a contract with Brunswick Records in 1957. The group released two recordings that failed to chart, despite this, the group was now opening for top recording acts such as Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke. By 1959, Brunswick dropped the group and both Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest left the group to begin families and they were replaced by another cousin, Edward Patten, and a friend, Langston George. Patten and George were involved in another group before joining the Pips, in 1961, they recorded their version of Johnny Otis Every Beat of My Heart. Because the group was without a label, a local Atlanta label, Huntom Records, pushed the single. During this time, the moved to New York where they auditioned for Bobby Robinsons Fury Records. Upon learning that Every Beat of My Heart was already becoming a hit and cutting the group off of profits, Robinson had the group re-record the song, both versions made the Billboard charts, with the Huntom/Vee-Jay version reaching number six on the Billboard Hot 100
