1.
Universal Music Group
–
Universal Music Group is an American-French global music corporation that is a subsidiary of the Paris-based French media conglomerate Vivendi. UMGs global corporate headquarters are in Santa Monica, California and it is considered one of the Big Three record labels, along with Sony Music and Warner Music Group. Universal Music was once the music attached to film studio Universal Pictures and its origins go back to the formation of the American branch of Decca Records in September 1934. The Decca Record Co. Ltd. of England spun American Decca off in 1939, MCA Inc. merged with American Decca in 1962. The present organization was formed when its parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram in May 1998, however, the name had first appeared in 1996 when MCA Music Entertainment Group was renamed Universal Music Group. The PolyGram acquisition included Deutsche Grammophon which traces its ancestry to Berliner Gramophone making Deutsche Grammophon UMGs oldest unit, UMGs Canadian unit traces its ancestry to a Berliner Gramophone breakaway firm the Compo Company. With the 2004 acquisition of Universal Studios by General Electric and merging with GEs NBC and this is the second time a music company has done so, the first being the separation of Time Warner and Warner Music Group. On June 25,2007, Vivendi completed its €1.63 billion purchase of BMG Music Publishing, after receiving European Union regulatory approval, doug Morris stepped down from his position as CEO on January 1,2011. Former chairman/CEO of Universal Music International Lucian Grainge was promoted to CEO of the company, Grainge later replaced him as chairman on March 9,2011. Morris became the chairman of Sony Music Entertainment on July 1,2011. With Grainges appointment as CEO at UMG, Max Hole was promoted to COO of UMGI, starting in 2011 UMGs Interscope Geffen A&M Records will be signing contestants from American Idol/Idol series. On January 2011, UMG announced it was donating 200,000 master recordings from the 1920s to 1940s to the Library of Congress for preservation, in March 2011, Barry Weiss became chairman & CEO of The Island Def Jam Music Group & Universal Republic Records. Both companies are restructuring under Weiss, in December 2011, David Foster was named Chairman of Verve Music Group. Among the other companies that had competed for the music business was Warner Music Group which was reported to have made a $2 billion bid. However, IMPALA has said it would fight the merger, coincidentally, UMG sister company StudioCanal has owned the EMI Films library for several years. On September 21,2012, the sale of EMI to UMG was approved in Europe, UMG divested Mute Records, Parlophone, Roxy Recordings, MPS Records, Cooperative Music, Now Thats What I Call Music. Jazzland, Universal Greece, Sanctuary Records, Chrysalis Records, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics, the Beatles recorded music library was allowed to remain with UMG despite being considered part of Parlophone and is now managed by UMGs reorganized Capitol Music Group worldwide. Robbie Williams, who had recorded for Chrysalis, had his transferred to Universals Island Records
Universal Music Group
–
UMG headquarters in
Santa Monica,
California
Universal Music Group
–
Universal Music Publishing Headquarters in Santa Monica, California.
Universal Music Group
–
Capitol Music Group headquarters at the Capitol records Building in Hollywood.
2.
Virgin EMI Records
–
Virgin EMI Records is a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was formed in 2013. Virgin EMI Records was founded in March 2013 through the merger of Mercury Records UK and it operates two distinct A&R and marketing streams—Virgin and EMI Records. Virgin EMI became one of Universal Music UKs front-line labels, alongside Polydor Records, Island Records, Decca Records, furthermore, Mike Oldfield, whose Tubular Bells album launched the original Virgin Records, is also a Virgin EMI artist. Official website Virgin 40 official website Discography Virgin EMI at LabelsBase
Virgin EMI Records
–
Virgin EMI logo (Oldest Types).
Virgin EMI Records
–
Virgin EMI
3.
Jamaica
–
Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea, consisting of the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles. The island,10,990 square kilometres in area, lies about 145 kilometres south of Cuba, Jamaica is the fourth-largest island country in the Caribbean, by area. Inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494, Many of the indigenous people died of disease, and the Spanish imported African slaves as labourers. Named Santiago, the island remained a possession of Spain until 1655, under British colonial rule Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with its plantation economy highly dependent on slaves imported from Africa. The British fully emancipated all slaves in 1838, and many chose to have subsistence farms rather than to work on plantations. Beginning in the 1840s, the British imported Chinese and Indian indentured labour to work on plantations, the island achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 6 August 1962. With 2.8 million people, Jamaica is the third-most populous Anglophone country in the Americas, Kingston is the countrys capital and largest city, with a population of 937,700. Jamaicans predominately have African ancestry, with significant European, Chinese, Hakka, Indian, due to a high rate of emigration for work since the 1960s, Jamaica has a large diaspora around the world, particularly in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Jamaica is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch and her appointed representative in the country is the Governor-General of Jamaica, an office held by Sir Patrick Allen since 2009. Andrew Holness has served as the head of government and Prime Minister of Jamaica from March 2016, the indigenous people, the Taíno, called it Xaymaca in Arawakan, meaning the Land of Wood and Water or the Land of Springs. Colloquially Jamaicans refer to their island as the Rock. Slang names such as Jamrock, Jamdown, or briefly Ja, have derived from this, the Arawak and Taíno indigenous people, originating in South America, settled on the island between 4000 and 1000 BC. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1494, there were more than 200 villages ruled by caciques, the south coast of Jamaica was the most populated, especially around the area now known as Old Harbour. The Taino still inhabited Jamaica when the English took control of the island in 1655, the Jamaican National Heritage Trust is attempting to locate and document any evidence of the Taino/Arawak. Christopher Columbus claimed Jamaica for Spain after landing there in 1494 and his probable landing point was Dry Harbour, now called Discovery Bay, although there is some debate that it might have been St. Anns Bay. St. Anns Bay was named Saint Gloria by Columbus, as the first sighting of the land, the capital was moved to Spanish Town, then called St. Jago de la Vega, around 1534. Spanish Town has the oldest cathedral of the British colonies in the Caribbean, the Spanish were forcibly evicted by the English at Ocho Rios in St. Ann. In 1655, the English, led by Sir William Penn and General Robert Venables, the English continued to import African slaves as labourers
Jamaica
–
Henry Morgan was a famous
Caribbean pirate and privateer; he had first come to the West Indies as an indentured servant, like most of the early English colonists.
Jamaica
Jamaica
–
Prince Charles and the
Duchess of Cornwall during a visit to Jamaica in 2008.
Jamaica
–
Inside the
Jamaican Parliament.
4.
London
–
London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
London
–
Palace of Westminster,
Buckingham Palace and
Central London skyline
London
London
London
–
The name London may derive from the
River Thames
5.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
United Kingdom
–
Stonehenge, in
Wiltshire, was erected around 2500 BC.
United Kingdom
–
Flag
United Kingdom
–
The
Bayeux Tapestry depicts the
Battle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.
United Kingdom
–
The
Treaty of Union led to a single united kingdom encompassing all Great Britain.
6.
New York City
–
The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
New York City
–
Clockwise, from top:
Midtown Manhattan,
Times Square, the
Unisphere in
Queens, the
Brooklyn Bridge,
Lower Manhattan with
One World Trade Center,
Central Park, the
headquarters of the United Nations, and the
Statue of Liberty
New York City
–
New Amsterdam, centered in the eventual
Lower Manhattan, in 1664, the year
England took control and renamed it "New York".
New York City
–
The
Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the
American Revolution, took place in
Brooklyn in 1776.
New York City
–
Broadway follows the Native American Wickquasgeck Trail through Manhattan.
7.
Santa Monica, California
–
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. The Census Bureau population for Santa Monica in 2010 was 89,736, due in part to an agreeable climate, Santa Monica became a famed resort town by the early 20th century. The city has experienced a boom since the late 1980s through the revitalization of its core, significant job growth. The Santa Monica Pier remains a popular and iconic destination, Santa Monica was long inhabited by the Tongva people. Santa Monica was called Kecheek in the Tongva language, the first non-indigenous group to set foot in the area was the party of explorer Gaspar de Portolà, who camped near the present-day intersection of Barrington and Ohio Avenues on August 3,1769. Named after the Christian saint Monica, there are two different accounts of how the name came to be. One says it was named in honor of the feast day of Saint Monica, another version says it was named by Juan Crespí on account of a pair of springs, the Kuruvungna Springs, that were reminiscent of the tears Saint Monica shed over her sons early impiety. In Los Angeles, several battles were fought by the Californios, following the Mexican–American War, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which gave Mexicans and Californios living in state certain unalienable rights. US government sovereignty in California began on February 2,1848, in the 1870s the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad, connected Santa Monica with Los Angeles, and a wharf out into the bay. The first town hall was a modest 1873 brick building, later a beer hall and it is Santa Monicas oldest extant structure. By 1885, the towns first hotel was the Santa Monica Hotel, around the start of the 20th century, a growing population of Asian Americans lived in and around Santa Monica and Venice. A Japanese fishing village was near the Long Wharf while small numbers of Chinese lived or worked in Santa Monica, the two ethnic minorities were often viewed differently by White Americans who were often well-disposed towards the Japanese but condescending towards the Chinese. The Japanese village fishermen were an economic part of the Santa Monica Bay community. Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. built a plant in 1922 at Clover Field for the Douglas Aircraft Company, in 1924, four Douglas-built planes took off from Clover Field to attempt the first aerial circumnavigation of the world. Two planes returned after covering 27,553 miles in 175 days, the Douglas Company kept facilities in the city until the 1960s. The Great Depression hit Santa Monica deeply, one report gives citywide employment in 1933 of just 1,000. Hotels and office building owners went bankrupt, in the 1930s, corruption infected Santa Monica. The federal Works Project Administration helped build several buildings, most notably City Hall, the main Post Office and Barnum Hall were also among other WPA projects
Santa Monica, California
–
Santa Monica's Ocean Avenue at Sunset
Santa Monica, California
–
An 1840 Santa Monica adobe home (photographed in 1890).
Santa Monica, California
–
A busy day on the beach, 1880
Santa Monica, California
–
Exterior view of the Bank Building at the corner of Third Street and Broadway, Santa Monica, ca.1900
8.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
–
Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
–
Flag
United States
–
The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
–
The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
9.
PolyGram
–
PolyGram was a Dutch entertainment company, a division of Seagram. It started as a record label recording company founded by Philips. The name was chosen to reflect the Siemens interest Polydor Records, the company traced its origins through Deutsche Grammophon back to the inventor of the flat disk gramophone, Emil Berliner. Later on, PolyGram expanded into the largest global entertainment company, creating film, in May 1998, it was sold to Seagram which owned MCA Inc. PolyGram Music Group was merged into Universal Music Group, and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment was merged into Universal Pictures. When the new company faced difficulties, its parent Seagram was sold in large part to Vivendi. Vivendi is the current owner of UMG, in February 2017, Polygram Entertainment was re-launched as the film & television division of Universal Music Group. In 1929, Decca Records licensed record shop owner H. W. Van Zoelen as a distributor in the Netherlands, by 1931, his company Hollandsche Decca Distributie had become exclusive Decca distributor for all of the Netherlands and its colonies. Over the course of the 1930s, HDD put together its own facilities for A&R, recording, HDD was commercially successful during World War II because of the absence of American and British competition. Van Zoelen wanted to sell to Philips so that HDD would have sufficient financial backing when their major competitors returned after the war and this led Philips to purchase HDD in 1942. Philips labs were developing magnetic tape and LPs, and they could support eventual new formats, after the war, Philips built a large factory in Doetinchem to produce 78 rpm records. During the late 1940s, Philips combined its various businesses into Philips Phonografische Industrie. PPIs early growth was based on alliances, a merger was first proposed with Decca of London in late 1945, but was rejected by Edward Lewis, Deccas owner. In the early 1950s, Philips set itself the goal of making PPI the largest record company in Europe, PPIs second attempt at a merger was with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. DGG, owned by Siemens AG, and well known for its repertoire, had been the German licensee for Decca from 1935. PPI and DGG finally merged in 1962, the alliance with DGG still left PPI without repertoire in Britain or the United States. But in 1951, after Columbia had failed to renew its international distribution agreement with EMI, Columbia became PPIs distributor within the US. This agreement ran until 1961 when Columbia set up its own European network, PPI signed a worldwide distribution deal with Mercury Records in 1961
PolyGram
–
Divisions and subsidiaries
10.
Ariana Grande
–
Ariana Grande-Butera, known as Ariana Grande, is an American singer and actress. She began her career in the Broadway musical 13, before landing the role of Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon television series Victorious in 2009, the show ended after four seasons, and Grande starred on the spinoff, Sam & Cat, which ended in 2014. She has also appeared in theatre, television and film roles. Grandes music career began with the soundtrack Music from Victorious and she signed a recording contract with Republic Records and released her debut studio album, Yours Truly in 2013, which debuted at No.1 on the US Billboard 200. The albums lead single, The Way, debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, Grandes second studio album, My Everything, debuted at No.1 in the US and charted in the top 10 in various other countries. In 2015, Grande promoted My Everything with her first world tour, The Honeymoon Tour, and guest-starred in the Fox comedy horror television series, Scream Queens. She also released the single Focus, which debuted at No.7 in the US, and a holiday EP album, Christmas & Chill, in 2016, she released her third studio album, Dangerous Woman, as well as several songs from the album. The title track debuted at No.10 on the Billboard Hot 100, the album debuted at No.2 on the Billboard 200. As of January 2017, Grandes music videos had been viewed a total of more than 7 billion times online, All three of her albums have been certified platinum or better by the RIAA. In 2016, Time named Grande one of the 100 most influential people in the world on the annual Time 100 list, Grande has a large following on social media, including the 2nd most followed Instagram account. In 2017, Grande is touring in North America and then Europe and her name was originally inspired by Princess Oriana from Felix the Cat. She has an older half-brother, Frankie Grande, who is an actor, dancer and producer, Grandes family moved from New York to Florida when her mother was pregnant with Grande, and her parents separated when she was around 8 or 9 years old. As a child, Grande performed with the Fort Lauderdale Childrens Theater, playing her first role as Annie, as well as performing in the musicals The Wizard of Oz and Beauty and she attended Pine Crest School and North Broward Preparatory School. By age 13, she became serious about pursuing a music career, who is going to buy a 14-year-olds R&B album. In 2008, Grande was cast in the role of cheerleader Charlotte in the musical 13 on Broadway. When she joined the musical, Grande left her school, North Broward Preparatory School. The school sent materials to her so she could study with tutors and she also sang various times at the New York City jazz club, Birdland. Grande auditioned for the Nickelodeon television show Victorious in New York along with 13 co-star Elizabeth Gillies in 2009, in this sitcom set in a performing arts high school, Grande was cast as Cat Valentine
Ariana Grande
–
Grande performing at the
Amalie Arena in December 2013
Ariana Grande
–
Grande performing with the
Victorious cast, May 2011
Ariana Grande
–
Grande in July 2011
Ariana Grande
–
Grande at the
Worldwide Day of Play in 2013
11.
Leona Lewis
–
Leona Louise Lewis is a British singer, songwriter and animal welfare campaigner. She was born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, London, Lewis achieved national recognition when she won the third series of The X Factor in 2006, winning a £1 million recording contract with Simon Cowells record label, Syco Music. In February 2007, Lewis signed a contract in the United States with Clive Daviss record label. Lewiss success continued with the release of her album, Spirit, in 2007, it went 10x platinum in the United Kingdom. The lead single, Bleeding Love, spent seven weeks at number one and she achieved international recognition with the album in 2008 when it topped charts around the world. Spirit has sold more than eight million copies worldwide, and Bleeding Love peaked at one in over 30 countries. As a result, she was proclaimed Top New Artist by Billboard in 2008, in 2011, Lewis released the non-album single Collide, a collaboration with Swedish DJ Avicii, and her first extended play, Hurt, The EP. Her third album, Glassheart, was released in 2012 and it marked a new creative direction for Lewis, drawing inspiration from dubstep and electronic music. However, it failed to match the performance of her two previous albums, peaking at number three on the UK Albums Chart and becoming her first to not be certified platinum. Lewis began to record material for her first Christmas album during her Glassheart Tour, Christmas, with Love was released later that year. Its lead single, One More Sleep, peaked at three in the UK. With this chart entry, Lewis became the first British female solo artist to achieve eight top 5 singles, with a career starting in 2006, Lewis is the second best-selling act to have emerged from The X Factor franchise, having sold 20 million records worldwide. Lewis has won two MOBO Awards, an MTV Europe Music Award, an MTV Video Music Award and two World Music Awards and she is also a six time Brit Awards and three time Grammy Award nominee. Lewis is known for her four octave vocal range, power, technical control and, in particular. In 2014, Lewis made her debut in the supporting role of Elena in the romantic comedy musical. In 2016, Lewis made her Broadway debut as Grizabella in the revival of Andrew Lloyd Webbers musical Cats, Leona Louise Lewis was born on 3 April 1985 in Islington, London, England, to a Welsh mother and a father of Guyanese descent. She has an older half-brother named Bradley and a brother named Kyle. Lewis wrote her first song at the age of 12, she trained in opera, before moving into jazz and blues
Leona Lewis
–
Lewis at the 2014
Mercy For Animals charity event, in
Los Angeles
Leona Lewis
–
Lewis studied at the
BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology.
Leona Lewis
–
Simon Cowell (pictured) served as Lewis's mentor while on the
third series of
The X Factor.
Leona Lewis
–
Lewis performing on
The Labyrinth tour in 2010
12.
U2
–
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin formed in 1976. The group consists of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, initially rooted in post-punk, U2s sound grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music, yet has maintained an anthemic sound. Their lyrics, often embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal themes, popular for their live performances, the group has staged several ambitious and elaborate tours over their career. The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency, within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album Boy. Subsequent work such as their first UK number-one album War, by the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985. The groups fifth album, The Joshua Tree, made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success. Topping music charts around the world, it produced their only number-one singles in the US, With or Without You, facing a backlash and creative stagnation, U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s through a new musical direction and public image. This experimentation continued through their album, Pop, and the PopMart Tour. U2 regained critical and commercial favour with the records All That You Cant Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and their U2 360° Tour of 2009–2011 is the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour in history. The groups thirteenth album, Songs of Innocence, was released at no cost through the iTunes Store, U2 have released 13 studio albums and are one of the worlds best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 170 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The band formed in Dublin on 25 September 1976, Larry Mullen Jr. then a 14-year-old student at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, posted a note on the schools notice board in search of musicians for a new band—six people responded. Mullen later described it as The Larry Mullen Band for about ten minutes, then Bono walked in and blew any chance I had of being in charge. Martin, who had brought his guitar and amplifier to the first practice but could not play, did not remain with the group, the group settled on the name Feedback because it was one of the few technical terms they knew. Most of their material consisted of cover songs, which the band admitted was not their forte. Some of the earliest influences on the band were emerging punk rock acts, such as the Jam, the Clash, Buzzcocks, the popularity of punk rock convinced the group that musical proficiency was not a prerequisite to being successful. In April 1977, Feedback played their first gig for an audience at St. Fintans High School. Shortly after, the changed their name to The Hype
U2
–
U2 performing at
Madison Square Garden in November 2005, from left to right: The Edge; Larry Mullen, Jr. (drumming); Bono; Adam Clayton
U2
–
Bono performs in Norway during the
War Tour in 1983.
U2
–
The tree pictured on
The Joshua Tree album sleeve.
Adam Clayton said, "The desert was immensely inspirational to us as a mental image for this record."
U2
–
The Zoo TV Tour was a multimedia-intensive event, featuring a stage that used dozens of video screens.
13.
Amy Winehouse
–
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of genres, including soul, rhythm and blues. Winehouses debut album, Frank, was a success in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. She also won the 2007 Brit Award for Best British Female Artist, having nominated for Best British Album. Winehouse died of poisoning on 23 July 2011, aged 27. Her album Back to Black posthumously became, for a time, Amy Winehouse was born in Chase Farm Hospital in north London, to Jewish parents. Her father, Mitchell Mitch Winehouse, was a window panel installer then a driver, her mother, Janis Winehouse. Winehouses ancestors were Russian and Polish Jewish immigrants to London, Amy had an older brother, Alex, and the family lived in Londons Southgate area, where she attended Osidge Primary School. Many of Winehouses maternal uncles were professional jazz musicians, Amys paternal grandmother, Cynthia, was a singer and dated the English jazz saxophonist Ronnie Scott. She and Amys parents influenced Amys interest in jazz and her father Mitch often sang Frank Sinatra songs to her, and whenever she got chastised at school she would sing Fly Me to the Moon before going up to the headmistress to be told off. Winehouses parents separated when she was nine, and she lived with her mother and stayed with her father and his girlfriend in Hatfield Heath, Essex on weekends. In 1992 her grandmother Cynthia suggested she attend the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School, Winehouse was allegedly expelled at 14 for not applying herself and also for piercing her nose. Sylvia Young has denied this—She changed schools at 15—Ive heard it said she was expelled, id never have expelled Amy—as has Mitch Winehouse. After toying around with her brother Alexs guitar, Winehouse bought her own when she was 14 and began writing music a year later. Soon after, she working for a living, including, at one time, as an entertainment journalist for the World Entertainment News Network. Amys best friend, soul singer Tyler James, sent her demo tape to an A&R person, Winehouse signed to Simon Fullers 19 Management in 2002 and was paid £250 a week against future earnings. While being developed by the management company, she was kept as an industry secret although she was a regular jazz standards singer at the Cobden Club. When he asked who the singer was, the manager told him he was not allowed to say, having decided that he wanted to sign her, it took several months of asking around for Beese to eventually discover who the singer was
Amy Winehouse
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Winehouse performing at the Eurockéennes Music Festival in June 2007
Amy Winehouse
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Winehouse performing live in July 2004
Amy Winehouse
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Winehouse at the Avalon in Boston, Massachusetts, 2007
Amy Winehouse
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Winehouse with
The Rolling Stones at the 2007 Isle of Wight Festival
14.
Ben Howard
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Benjamin John Ben Howard is an English singer-songwriter. He self-released his debut EP Games in the Dark followed by two more EPs, These Waters and Old Pine and he is currently signed to Island and Communion. His major debut album came in 2011 titled Every Kingdom followed by two more EP releases, Ben Howard Live and The Burgh Island E. P. At the 2013 Brit Awards he received the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist and he performed at 2013 Glastonbury festival on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday 29 June. He released his studio album, I Forget Where We Were. He was born in Richmond, London, in 1987 and moved near Totnes, Howard began writing songs when he was eleven. In an interview with American Songwriter, he stated that when he was a kid he started playing guitar because he liked to put words together, I was quite an imaginative little kid I guess. So your standard little love songs turned into your standard adolescent love songs, I think you start getting your own take on things when youre a late teen. Besides playing the guitar, Howard also played instruments as a kid. He easily picked up the drums and contrabass, but after time he decided to focus on the guitar. After attending King Edward VI Community College and Torquay Boys Grammar School he began studying Journalism at University College Falmouth, six months prior to completion of his course, Howard decided to focus on making music full-time, making melodic rootsy folk music, with progressively darker lyrics. His reputation grew around Cornwall and Devon, and soon spread to areas of the UK. After a month of dates across Europe and the UK Howard was eventually asked to sign for Island Records. Due to his association with the town, Howard was chosen in 2014 to appear on the 10 Totnes pound note, before signing to a record label, Howard had already released some material. In 2008 he self-released his debut EP Games in the Dark and his first major release was These Waters, an EP featuring six tracks, including The Wolves. In 2010, Ben Howard released the Old Pine EP, followed by a number of singles, such as The Fear, Howard now had enough material to release an album, Every Kingdom, which would feature a number of his previous singles. Howard signed to Island Records in 2011, due to the history of UK folk singers, including Nick Drake. After singles Old Pine and The Wolves were released in 2011, Howard recorded his album entitled Every Kingdom
Ben Howard
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Ben Howard
15.
John Newman (singer)
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John William Peter Newman is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. In 2014, he featured in the Calvin Harris single Blame which topped the UK charts, at the 2014 Brit Awards, Newman was nominated for three Brit Awards, including for British Male Solo Artist. As of February 2014, Newman has sold over 1.3 million records in the UK alone, John William Peter Newman was born in Settle in the Yorkshire Dales and attended Settle College. When Newman was six, his left the family, leaving his mother Jackie, his older brother James. In his youth Newman was influenced by Motown and Stax that he heard via his mother and he was also influenced by the Northern soul sound, which also influenced his dance style. Many over 30s from Settle would leave on a weekend to go to Northern soul nights all over Yorkshire. He started playing guitar and writing his own songs at the age of 14 and soon learned how to record and produce himself, even making his own house tracks and DJing. At the age of sixteen, Newman moved to Leeds and it was here that he developed his voice and it was whilst he was in Leeds that two of his best friends died in a car crash. Newman said, In that first year of moving to Leeds, instead of being sat with books all over the desk and studying music. Because of what I was going through, and I was getting smashed every night and enjoying the student life but then sitting with a guitar, at the age of twenty, Newman moved to London, started a band, played live and was signed to Island Records. While working at The Silver Bullet bar, he made friends with Piers Agget and he released Cheating as a download song and plays an acoustic version of the track at gigs. In May 2012 John Newman featured on Rudimentals single Feel the Love, the single peaked to number one on the UK Singles Chart in early June 2012, the song was also a top 5 hit in Australia, Belgium, Netherlands and New Zealand. The song has since been certified 2x Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association, the song was also featured in the 2012 video game Need for Speed, Most Wanted and is used in 2013 promotional advertising for Foxtel Australia. The song used the promo of MTV Latin Americas The Pauly D Project. In November 2012 he featured on Rudimentals follow-up single, Not Giving In, which peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart and it came in at number 16 in the 2012 Triple J Hottest 100, announced on Australia Day 2013. It was featured in the first episode of season three of Teen Wolf, in June 2013 John Newman released his debut single Love Me Again as the lead single from his debut studio album. In an interview with Digital Spy, Newman was asked if he sensed that the song had something special about it in the studio, the guy I wrote it with, we turned around and had massive grins on our faces thinking, Theres something good here. But you just never know how good it is, you know, Newman was also asked if it was hard to write the lyrics about love and break-up, he responded, No, its the only place where I really open up to somebody, through my music
John Newman (singer)
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Newman in January 2014
16.
Hozier (musician)
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Andrew Hozier-Byrne, known professionally by the mononym Hozier, is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter from County Wicklow. He released his debut EP, featuring the hit single Take Me to Church, in 2013 and his second EP, From Eden and his debut studio album, Hozier, was released in Ireland in September 2014 and globally in October 2014. Hozier, the son of a blues musician, was born in Bray. While at Trinity, he involved with the Trinity Orchestra. He was a member of the choral ensemble Anúna from 2009 to 2012 and he toured and sang with the group internationally including performances in Norway and the Netherlands. In 2013, Hozier released the EP Take Me to Church and it reached number one on iTunes on 25 October 2013. Hozier followed up Take Me to Church with the new EP From Eden, Hozier released his self-titled album, Hozier on 19 September 2014. It featured five singles, including Take Me to Church, Work Song, and From Eden, on 5 December 2014, it was announced that Take Me to Church was nominated at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards for Song of the Year in 2015. He performed for the Victorias Secret Fashion Show 2014, Saturday Night Live and he was nominated for a Grammy Award and he performed Take Me to Church with Annie Lennox at the 2015 Grammy Awards. He then performed the single Take Me to Church at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, the same month, he also played the Glastonbury Festival. On 12 November 2015, he won the VH1 Artist of the Year and he also performed Take Me to Church and The Beatles Blackbird with singer Tori Kelly. In 2016, he released the video for the song Cherry Wine to raise awareness of domestic violence, in June 2016, he announced a new song Better Love, the song as part of The Legend of Tarzan soundtrack, was released with the official video
Hozier (musician)
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Hozier at the
Troubadour in
West Hollywood (2014).
17.
Catfish and the Bottlemen
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Catfish and the Bottlemen are a British rock band, formed in Llandudno, Wales in 2007. Their debut album, The Balcony, reached number 10 in the UK Albums Chart and they won their first Brit Award for British Breakthrough act on 24 February 2016. On 27 May 2016, they released their album, The Ride. Vans parents also ran a bed and breakfast in town and Van was friends with Billys younger brother, Van and Billy were joined by Benjamin Blakeway on bass as the third founding member of the band. Schoolmate Jon Barr followed shortly thereafter on drums, Billy Bibby, who had been playing guitar since age 10, taught both Van McCann and Benji Blakeway how to play. They promoted themselves by playing in car parks after other artists gigs, steve Lamacq first played an early demo on BBC Radio 6 Music in March 2009. During 2009, Catfish came runners up in the North Wales Battle of the Bands having been beaten to the post by local band The Fides who later closed the Conwy River Festival. Original drummer Jon Barr was replaced by Robert Bob Hall in 2010, Bob Hall was introduced to the band by a North Wales-based producer who was working with the band at the time. The band derives its name from McCanns first childhood musical memory and he was called Catfish because of an unusually styled spiky beard he had when he first began playing in 2000. McCann was reunited with Catfish the Bottleman in January 2015 at the studios of Triple J radio in Sydney, the band signed to Communion Records in 2013, and released their first three singles Homesick, Rango and Pacifier the same year. In 2014 the band signed to Island Records and on 17 March released the single Kathleen, all the singles were premiered by Zane Lowe and added to the playlist on Radio 1. Kathleen ranked at one on MTVs hottest tracks in April 2014. They also played at New Yorks Governors Ball, on 19 June 2014, the band announced the release of their debut studio album The Balcony. Founding lead guitarist Billy Bibby suddenly and unexpectedly ceased performing with the band in the summer of 2014. and was replaced by Johnny Bondy Bond, on 25 July 2014 the band cancelled three festival appearances due to unforeseen personal circumstances. On 13 August 2014 the band posted on Facebook, Some of you will have noticed that we have been playing with a different guitarist over the past weekend, unfortunately, due to some personal circumstances, Billy wont be touring with the band for the foreseeable future. When asked about leaving the band, Billy Bibby comments, Well to be honest after Catfish I had no plans, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I just started writing songs and it took off from there, and I’m proud of what I did in Catfish and what I achieved and everything that came with it, but I’m just looking into the future now with my band and that’s all I’m focused on. In autumn of 2015, Billy Bibby founded a new band, the Balcony was released on 15 September 2014
Catfish and the Bottlemen
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Catfish and the Bottlemen at Lollapalooza 2015
18.
Disclosure (band)
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Disclosure are an English electronic music duo consisting of brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence. The siblings grew up in Reigate, Surrey and their debut studio album, Settle, released on 3 June 2013, by PMR Records, was nominated for Best Dance/Electronica Album at the 2014 Grammy Awards. They released a studio album, Caracal, on 25 September 2015 which was also nominated for Best Dance/Electronica Album at the 2016 Grammy Awards. In January 2017, they announced they would be going on hiatus, Guy started playing the drums at the age of three, and Howard started playing the bass at the age of eight. Both also learned to play the guitar and the piano and Howard to sing and they both attended the Reigate College. During this period, the boys studied music and music technology, whilst Guy was attending at the Reigate College, he enjoyed studying classical music, especially the likes of Bach and Claude Debussy. The duos first single Offline Dexterity was released on 29 August 2010 and they signed to the new PMR record label on its formation in January 2011, and released their second single Carnival/I Love. That You Know on 13 June 2011. This got them a management deal with Sam Evitt and Jack Streets Method Management who they are managed by. Disclosure picked up their first significant national radio support upon the release of the Tenderly / Flow single in January 2012, the single led to significant interest in the subsequent June 2012 EP The Face, released on Greco-Roman. The group maintained their momentum into 2013 – they were voted into the BBC Radio 1xtra Hot Ten For 2013 and these three singles were collected on an EP, The Singles.1 score on Pitchfork. They performed twice at Glastonbury Festival 2013 and appeared on Later, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Dance Album. The same year, they established the record label Method Records, its roster includes Friend Within, Karen Harding, Lxury, a sub label was introduced in February 2015, called Method White, releasing more underground tracks through it. The first release was Wolfsbane by Jonas Rathsman, since then M. J. Cole and Eats Everything have released tracks through the label. The week of its release, Caracal earned the group their second number one album in the UK Albums Chart. The music videos for singles from the album published on YouTube are interconnected and follow a story line. The videos follow a woman in a sci-fi, dystopian world who is, for some unknown reason. Three singles were released prior to the album, Omen, Holding On, two promotional singles were also released, Willing and Able and Hourglass. The album was released on 25 September 2015, by PMR Records, the album was also nominated for Best Dance/Electronica Album at the 2016 Grammy Awards
Disclosure (band)
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Disclosure performing in 2013
19.
AlunaGeorge
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AlunaGeorge are an English electronic music duo from London, consisting of vocalist and songwriter Aluna Francis and producer and instrumentalist George Reid. The duo first met in June 2009, when Reid remixed Francis band My Toys Like Mes track Sweetheart, AlunaGeorge released the single You Know You Like It as a digital download on 20 April 2012, followed by a vinyl release on 11 June 2012. The duos first commercial single, Your Drums, Your Love, was released on 10 September 2012, on 4 June 2013, the duo unveiled the cover art and track listing for Body Music, and confirmed the album would be released on 29 July 2013. It was announced in December 2012 that AlunaGeorge had been shortlisted for the 2013 BRIT Award of Critics Choice, then, later in December, the BBC announced that the duo had also been nominated for the Sound of 2013 poll, in which they finished in second place. In February 2013, AlunaGeorge scored their first top-40 entry, a collaboration with Disclosure on White Noise, the single reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. Huw Stephens also premiered a track from the group on his BBC Radio 1 show titled Attracting Flies, the duo performed at the Evolution Festival in Newcastle upon Tyne on 27 May 2013. A collection of released and brand new remixes, Body Music Remixed, was released on 16 June 2014. On 3 October 2014 AlunaGeorge released a single called Supernatural, on 14 July 2015, it was announced that AlunaGeorge had signed with the American record label Interscope Records. The duo released the single Im in Control, featuring Jamaican artist Popcaan, as of September 2016, they are an opening act with Miguel for the North American Arena tour of Australian star Sia. The Nostalgic for the Present Tour will run through November 2016, alunas vocals have been described as almost child-like as well as being called sugar sweet and emotionally soulful and heartwarming too. Georges production combines sounds from bass, garage and dubstep, the band use techniques of R&B and use futuristic pop. The musical style has been described as advanced minimalistic polyrhythmic beats as well as bashment, experimental hip-hop, 90s R&B, Francis first venture into the music industry came when she sang in a group called My Toys Like Me. Reid was previously a guitarist in rock band Colour. He has cited minimal American hip hop by The Neptunes, as well as Lil Wayne, so that’s my excuse for having nothing in there
AlunaGeorge
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AlunaGeorge
20.
Keane (band)
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Keane are an English pop rock band from Battle, East Sussex, formed in 1995. The band currently comprises Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley, Richard Hughes and their original line-up included founder and guitarist Dominic Scott, who left in 2001. Keane achieved mainstream, international success with the release of their album, Hopes and Fears. Topping the UK charts, the won the 2005 Brit Award for Best British Album and was the second best-selling British album of 2004. Their second album, Under the Iron Sea, released in 2006, topped the UK album charts and their third album, Perfect Symmetry, was released in October 2008. In 2009, Hopes and Fears was listed as the ninth best-selling album of the 2000s decade in the UK and their EP, Night Train, was released in May 2010. Their fourth studio album, Strangeland, was released in May 2012, Keane are known for using a piano as the lead instrument instead of guitars, differentiating them from most other rock bands. The inclusion of a piano effect in 2006 and various synthesisers were a common feature in their music which developed on the second. Keane have sold over 10 million records worldwide, Tom Chaplin and Tim Rice-Oxley became friends when very young. Chaplins father David was the headmaster of Vinehall School in Robertsbridge, East Sussex, for 25 years and they later attended Tonbridge School in Kent, where Rice-Oxley met Dominic Scott, both of them discovered rapidly their liking for music. Richard Hughes, Keanes future drummer, also attended Tonbridge, Chaplin had also learned to play the flute but none of them considered music as a proper career at the time. In 1993, while studying at University College London for a degree in classics, Rice-Oxley formed a band with Scott. The band, named Lotus Eaters, started as a band, playing songs by the members favourite bands, including U2, Oasis, and The Beatles. After listening to Rice-Oxleys piano playing during a weekend at Virginia Water, Surrey in 1997, however, Rice-Oxley declined because he did not want to leave The Lotus Eaters, stating, I was seriously interested, but Keane were already operational and Coldplays keyboard player idea was dropped. Chaplins recruitment also marked a change of name from The Lotus Eaters to Cherry Keane, after a friend of Chaplins mother and she took care of them and would tell them to go for their dreams. At her death from cancer, she had money for Chaplins family. Chaplin commented, I used some of the money to see me through the times with the music. The name was shortened to Keane soon afterward, Chaplin departed for South Africa in the summer of 1997 to work as a volunteer during his gap year
Keane (band)
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Keane performing live in
Washington, D.C. in 2009. From left to right:
Tim Rice-Oxley,
Jesse Quin,
Tom Chaplin,
Richard Hughes
21.
Annie Lennox
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Ann Annie Lennox, OBE is a Scottish singer, songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. With a total of eight Brit Awards, including Best British Female Artist six times and she has also been named the Brits Champion of Champions. Lennox embarked on a career in 1992 with her debut album, Diva. To date, she has released six studio albums and a compilation album. Aside from her eight Brit Awards, she has collected four Grammy Awards. In 2002, Lennox received a Billboard Century Award, the highest accolade from Billboard Magazine. In 2004, she won both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Into the West, written for the soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. In addition to her career as a musician, Lennox is also a political and social activist, notable for raising money and awareness for HIV/ AIDS as it affects women and children in Africa. In 2011, Lennox was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for her tireless charity campaigns, on 4 June 2012 she performed at the Queens Diamond Jubilee Concert in front of Buckingham Palace. Lennox performed the song Little Bird during the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London on 12 August 2012, Lennox has been named The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive by VH1 and one of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone. In 2012, she was rated No.22 on VH1s 100 Greatest Women in Music and she has earned the distinction of most successful female British artist in UK music history due to her commercial success since the early 1980s. As of June 2008, including her work within Eurythmics, Lennox had sold over 80 million records worldwide, Annie Lennox was born on Christmas Day 1954 in Summerfield Maternity hospital, Aberdeen, the daughter of Dorothy and Thomas Allison Lennox. In the 1970s, Lennox won a place at the Royal Academy of Music in London and she lived on a student grant and worked at part-time jobs for extra money. Lennox was unhappy during her time at the Royal Academy and spent her time wondering what direction she could take. Lennoxs flute teachers final report stated, Ann has not always sure of where to direct her efforts. She is very, very able, however, two years later, Lennox reported to the Academy, I have had to work as a waitress, barmaid, and shop assistant to keep me when not in musical work. She also played and sang with a few bands, such as Windsong, during the period of her course, in 2006, the academy made her an honorary Fellow. Lennox also was made a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, in 1976, Lennox was flautist with a band called Dragons Playground, leaving before they appeared on TVs New Faces
Annie Lennox
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Annie Lennox performing at the Rally for Human Rights during the
International AIDS Conference 2010 in
Vienna as part of her
SING Campaign.
Annie Lennox
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Lennox in the mid-1980s
Annie Lennox
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Lennox (far right) and
David A. Stewart (left) performing as
Eurythmics in 1987.
Annie Lennox
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Annie Lennox on stage in 2004
22.
PJ Harvey
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Polly Jean Harvey, MBE, known as PJ Harvey, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, writer, poet, and composer. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automatic Dlamini as a vocalist, guitarist, the bands frontman, John Parish, would become her long-term collaborator. In 1991, she formed a trio and subsequently began her professional career. The trio released two albums, Dry and Rid of Me before disbanding, after which Harvey continued as a solo artist. In 2011, she was awarded for Outstanding Contribution To Music at the NME Awards, in June 2013, she was awarded an MBE for services to music. Harvey was born on 9 October 1969 in Bridport, Dorset, as the child of Ray and Eva Harvey, who owned a stone quarrying business. As a teenager, Harvey began learning saxophone and joined an instrumental group Bologne. She was also a guitarist with folk duo the Polekats, with whom she wrote some of her earliest material, after finishing school, Harvey attended Yeovil College and attended a visual arts foundation course. In July 1988, Harvey became a member of Automatic Dlamini, formed by John Parish in 1983, the band consisted of a rotating line-up that at various times included Rob Ellis and Ian Oliver. Harvey had met Parish in 1987 through mutual friend Jeremy Hogg, a second European tour took place throughout June and July 1989. Following the tour, the band recorded Here Catch, Shouted His Father, their studio album. This is the only Automatic Dlamini material to feature Harvey, but remains unreleased, Parish would subsequently contribute to, and sometimes co-produce, Harveys solo studio albums and has toured with her a number of times. As a duo, Parish and Harvey have recorded two albums where Parish composed the music and Harvey penned the lyrics. Additionally, Parishs girlfriend in the late 1980s was photographer Maria Mochnacz and she and Harvey became close friends and Mochnacz went on to shoot and design most of Harveys album artwork and music videos, contributing significantly to her public image. Harvey has said of her time with Automatic Dlamini, I ended up not singing very much, I wrote a lot during the time I was with them but my first songs were crap. I was listening to a lot of Irish folk music at the time, so the songs were folky and full of penny whistles and it was ages before I felt ready to perform my own songs in front of other people. In January 1991, following her departure from Automatic Dlamini, Harvey formed her own band with former bandmates Rob Ellis and Ian Oliver
PJ Harvey
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PJ Harvey performing live in September 2007.
PJ Harvey
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Harvey performing live during the White Chalk tour in 2007.
PJ Harvey
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John Parish and Harvey performing live in 2009. Parish – who Harvey describes as her "musical soulmate" – has been working with Harvey for over 20 years.
23.
Melissa Etheridge
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Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist. Her self-titled debut album Melissa Etheridge was released in 1988 and became an underground success. The album peaked at No.22 on the Billboard 200, in 1993, Etheridge won her first Grammy award for her single Aint It Heavy from her third album, Never Enough. Later that year, she released what would become her breakthrough album. Its tracks Im the Only One and Come to My Window both reached the top 30 in the United States, and the latter earned Etheridge her second Grammy award. Yes I Am peaked at No.15 on the Billboard 200, in October 2004, Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer, and underwent surgery and chemotherapy. At the 2005 Grammy Awards, she made a return to the stage and, although bald from chemotherapy, Etheridges performance was widely lauded, with India. Arie writing I Am Not My Hair about Etheridge. Later that year, Etheridge released her first compilation album, Greatest Hits, the album was a success, peaking at No.14 on the Billboard 200, and going Gold almost immediately. Her latest studio album is This Is M. E. Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock and she has also been a gay and lesbian activist since her public coming out in January 1993. She has received fifteen Grammy Award nominations throughout her career, winning two, in 1993 and 1995, respectively, in 2007, she won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for I Need to Wake Up from the film An Inconvenient Truth. In September 2011, Etheridge received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Etheridge was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, the younger of two girls of Elizabeth, a computer consultant, and John Etheridge, an American Constitution teacher at Leavenworth High School. She attended David Brewer School, which is located at 17th. She graduated in 1979 from Leavenworth High School at 10th Avenue, Etheridge was a member of the first Power and Life musical/dance group at LHS. Her childhood home was at 1902 Miami Street, Etheridges interest in music began early, she picked up her first guitar at 8. She began to play in all-men country music throughout her teenage years. While at Berklee, Etheridge played the club circuit around Boston, after three semesters, Etheridge decided to drop out of Berklee and head to Los Angeles to attempt a career in music. Etheridge was discovered in a bar called Vermies in Pasadena, CA and she had made some friends on a womens soccer team and those new friends came to see her play. One of the women was Karla Leopold, whose husband, Bill Leopold, was a manager in the music business, Karla convinced Bill to see her perform live
Melissa Etheridge
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Etheridge at a ceremony to receive a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in September 2011
Melissa Etheridge
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Melissa Etheridge concert ticket, 1995
Melissa Etheridge
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Etheridge performs during the third night of the
2008 Democratic National Convention in
Denver, Colorado.
Melissa Etheridge
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Etheridge performing live. Spirit Mountain, August 2010
24.
RKO
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RKO Pictures Inc. also known as RKO Radio Pictures and in its later years RKO Teleradio Pictures, was an American film production and distribution company. It was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywoods Golden Age, RCA chief David Sarnoff engineered the merger to create a market for the companys sound-on-film technology, RCA Photophone. By the mid-1940s, the studio was under the control of investor Floyd Odlum, RKO has long been celebrated for its series of musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the mid-to-late 1930s. Actors Katharine Hepburn and, later, Robert Mitchum had their first major successes at the studio, cary Grant was a mainstay for years. The work of producer Val Lewtons low-budget horror unit and RKOs many ventures into the now known as film noir have been acclaimed, largely after the fact, by film critics. The studio produced two of the most famous films in motion picture history, King Kong and Citizen Kane, RKO Pictures is also a member of Motion Picture Association of America. Maverick industrialist Howard Hughes took over RKO in 1948, after years of turmoil and decline under his control, Hughes sold the troubled studio to General Tire and Rubber Company in 1955. The original RKO Pictures ceased production in 1957 and was dissolved two years later. In 1981, broadcaster RKO General, the heir, revived it as a production subsidiary. In October 1927, Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer and its success prompted Hollywood to convert from silent to sound film production en masse. The Radio Corporation of America controlled an advanced optical sound-on-film system, RCA Photophone, the industrys two largest major studios, Paramount and Loews/MGM, with two other studios Universal and First National, were poised to contract with ERPI for sound conversion as well. Next on the agenda was securing a string of exhibition venues like those the leading Hollywood production companies owned, Kennedy began investigating the possibility of such a purchase. Around that time, the large Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit of theaters, built around the medium of live vaudeville, was attempting a transition to the movie business. In mid-1927, the operations of Pathé Exchange and Cecil B. De Milles Producers Distributing Corporation had united under KAOs control, early in 1928, KAO general manager John J. Murdock, who had assumed the presidency of Pathé, turned to Kennedy as an adviser in consolidating the studio with De Milles company, PDC. This was the relationship Sarnoff and Kennedy sought, on October 23,1928, RCA announced the creation of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum holding company, with Sarnoff as chairman of the board. Kennedy, who withdrew from his positions in the merged companies, kept Pathé separate from RKO. RCA owned the governing stock interest in RKO,22 percent, in the early 1930s, the companys production and distribution arm, presided over by former FBO vice-president Joseph I
RKO
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RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
RKO
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Early Radio-Keith-Orpheum logo
RKO
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Rio Rita (1929), first smash hit for RKO (then releasing films under the "Radio Pictures" banner)
RKO
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King Kong (1933), one of Hollywood's great spectacles
25.
Harry Belafonte
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Harry Belafonte is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and social activist. One of the most successful CARIBBEAN AMERICAN pop stars in history and his breakthrough album Calypso is the first million-selling LP by a single artist. Belafonte is perhaps best known for singing The Banana Boat Song and he has recorded in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. He has also starred in films, most notably in Otto Premingers hit musical Carmen Jones, Island in the Sun. Belafonte was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for political and humanitarian causes, such as the anti-apartheid movement, since 1987, he has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In recent years, he has been a critic of the policies of both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidential administrations. Harry Belafonte now acts as the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues, Belafonte has won three Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. In 1989, he received the Kennedy Center Honors and he was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994. In 2014, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academys 6th Annual Governors Awards, in March 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in Boston. His mother was born in Jamaica, the child of a Scottish white mother and his father also was born in Jamaica, the child of a black mother and Dutch Jewish father of Sephardi origins. This is all Harry says about his Jewish grandfather, whom he never met, “a white Dutch Jew who drifted over to the islands after chasing gold and diamonds, from 1932 to 1940, he lived with one of his grandmothers in her native country of Jamaica. When he returned to New York City, he attended George Washington High School after which he joined the Navy and served during World War II. In the 1940s, he was working as a assistant in NYC when a tenant gave him, as a gratuity. He fell in love with the art form and also met Sidney Poitier, the financially struggling pair regularly purchased a single seat to local plays, trading places in between acts, after informing the other about the progression of the play. He subsequently received a Tony Award for his participation in the Broadway revue John Murray Andersons Almanac, Belafonte started his career in music as a club singer in New York to pay for his acting classes. The first time he appeared in front of an audience, he was backed by the Charlie Parker band, with guitarist and friend Millard Thomas, Belafonte soon made his debut at the legendary jazz club The Village Vanguard. In 1952, he received a contract with RCA Victor and his first widely released single, which went on to become his signature song with audience participation in virtually all his live performances, was Matilda, recorded April 27,1953
Harry Belafonte
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Belafonte at the
Tribeca Film Festival Vanity Fair party, 2011
Harry Belafonte
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Belafonte in John Murray Anderson's Almanac on
Broadway, photographed by
Carl Van Vechten, 1954
Harry Belafonte
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The "
Turn the World Around " number on
The Muppet Show
Harry Belafonte
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Belafonte at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival
26.
Millie Small
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Millicent Dolly May Millie Small, CD, is a Jamaican singer-songwriter, best known for her 1964 cover version of My Boy Lollipop. Small was born at Gibralter in Clarendon, Jamaica, the daughter of a plantation overseer. Like many Jamaican singers of the era, her career began by winning the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour talent contest at the age of twelve, wishing to pursue a career as a singer she moved to live with relatives in Love Lane in Kingston. In her teens, she recorded a duet with Owen Gray in 1962 and later recorded with Roy Panton for Coxsone Dodds Studio One record label as Roy and they had a local hit with Well Meet. There she made her recording, an Ernest Ranglin rearrangement of My Boy Lollipop. Released in March 1964, Smalls version was a massive hit and it also topped the chart in Australia. Initially it sold over 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom, including singles sales, album usage and compilation inclusions, the song has since sold more than seven million copies worldwide. My Boy Lollipop re-charted in the UK in 1987 at no.46 and my Boy Lollipop was doubly significant in British pop history. It was the first major hit for Island Records, and Small was the first artist to have a hit that was recorded in the bluebeat style and this was a music genre that had recently emerged from Jamaica, and was a direct ancestor of reggae. She appeared on the 1964 Beatles TV special Around The Beatles, on 6 March 1965, Small appeared on the Australian television programme Bandstand. This was as part of a concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Kings Domain, Melbourne and she performed My Boy Lollipop, What Am I Living For and See You Later, Alligator. Small continued to tour and perform up to the early 1970s, on 6 August 2011, the 49th anniversary of Jamaicas independence, the Governor-General created Small a Commander in the Order of Distinction, for her contribution to the Jamaican music industry. The award was accepted on her behalf by former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, in July 2012 she stated that she had been recording again and planned to perform in Jamaica for the first time in over 40 years. Previous interviews in the 1960s were typically short and based on press releases, in the interview she discusses fully her early career and the full impact of My Boy Lollipop. She also insisted, against the denials of Rod Stewart, that it was Stewart who played harmonica on My Boy Lollipop and she claims to remember the sessions well and recalls Stewart being asked to play. She had a relationship with Peter Asher of the 1960s duo Peter & Gordon. However, in her August,2016 interview with U. S. journalist Tom Graves she denied there had been anything other than a platonic relationship and she lived in Singapore from 1971 to 1973 before returning to the United Kingdom, which is now her home
Millie Small
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Millie Small in 1964
27.
Toots and the Maytals
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Toots and the Maytals, originally called The Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group and one of the best known ska and rock steady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music, frontman Toots Hibberts soulful vocal style has been compared to Otis Redding, and led him to be named one of the 100 Greatest Singers by Rolling Stone. Their 1968 single Do the Reggay, was the first song to first use the word reggae, naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. As Island Records founder Chris Blackwell says, “The Maytals were unlike anything else. sensational, raw and dynamic. ”Frederick Toots Hibbert, the frontman of the group, was born in May Pen, Clarendon, Jamaica, in 1945, the youngest of seven children. He grew up singing gospel music in a choir and moved to Kingston in the late 1950s. The first instrumentalist members added to the group included Jackie Jackson, Hux Brown, Rad Bryan, in November 2016, Jackie Jackson described the formation of the group in a radio interview for Kool 97 FM Jamaica. Accompanied by Paul Douglas and Radcliffe Dougie Bryan in studio, Jackson explained, “We’re all original members of Toots, first it was Toots and the Maytals, three guys, Toots, Raleigh, and Jerry. …And then they were signed to Island Records, Chris Blackwell, and we were their recording band. One day we were summoned to Chris’ house, and he says, “Alright gentleman, I think it’s time. This Toots and the Maytals looks like going to be a big thing”. By this time he had already signed Bob, so in his camp, Island Records, there was Toots and the Maytals / Bob Marley, we were talking about reggae is going international now. We kept on meeting and he decided that the band that back all of the songs. So everything came under Toots and the Maytals, and then we hit the road in 1975. we were the opening act for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and Jackson Browne. We were the act for The Who for about two weeks. ”The Maytals first had chart success recording for producer Clement Coxsone Dodd at Studio One. With musical backing from Dodds house band, the Skatalites, the Maytals close-harmony gospel singing ensured success, overshadowing Dodds other up-and-coming vocal group, the Wailers. After staying at Studio One for about two years, the group moved on to do sessions for Prince Buster before recording with Byron Lee in 1966, with Lee, the Maytals won the first-ever Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition with their original song Bam Bam. The groups musical career was interrupted in late 1966 when Hibbert was jailed for 18 months for possession of marijuana and he stated that he was not arrested for ganja, but while bailing a friend. Hibbert reportedly wrote 54-46 Thats My Number about his time in jail, following Hibberts release in 1967, the Maytals began working with the Chinese Jamaican producer Leslie Kong, a collaboration which yielded a string of hits throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s
Toots and the Maytals
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Performing at the Summer Sundae festival, Leicester, August 2011
28.
Reggae
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Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A1968 single by Toots and the Maytals Do the Reggay was the first popular song to use the word reggae, effectively naming the genre, Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political comment. Reggae spread into a commercialized jazz field, being known first as ‘Rudie Blues’, then ‘Ska’, later ‘Blue Beat’ and it is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat, and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rock steady, from the latter, stylistically, reggae incorporates some of the musical elements of rhythm and blues, jazz, mento, calypso, African music, as well as other genres. One of the most easily recognizable elements is offbeat rhythms, staccato chords played by a guitar or piano on the offbeats of the measure, the tempo of reggae is usually slower than ska but faster than rocksteady. The concept of call and response can be found throughout reggae music, the genre of reggae music is led by the drum and bass. The bass guitar often plays the dominant role in reggae, the bass sound in reggae is thick and heavy, and equalized so the upper frequencies are removed and the lower frequencies emphasized. The guitar in reggae usually plays on the off beat of the rhythm and it is common for reggae to be sung in Jamaican Patois, Jamaican English, and Iyaric dialects. Reggae is noted for its tradition of criticism and religion in its lyrics, although many reggae songs discuss lighter, more personal subjects, such as love. Reggae has spread to countries across the world, often incorporating local instruments. Reggae en Español spread from the mainland South America countries of Venezuela, Caribbean music in the United Kingdom, including reggae, has been popular since the late 1960s, and has evolved into several subgenres and fusions. Many reggae artists began their careers in the UK, and there have been a number of European artists and bands drawing their inspiration directly from Jamaica, Reggae in Africa was boosted by the visit of Bob Marley to Zimbabwe in 1980. In Jamaica, authentic reggae is one of the biggest sources of income, the 1967 edition of the Dictionary of Jamaican English lists reggae as a recently estab. Sp. for rege, as in rege-rege, a word that can mean either rags, ragged clothing or a quarrel, a row. Reggae as a term first appeared in print with the 1968 rocksteady hit Do the Reggay by The Maytals which named the genre of Reggae for the world. Reggae historian Steve Barrow credits Clancy Eccles with altering the Jamaican patois word streggae into reggae, however, Toots Hibbert said, Theres a word we used to use in Jamaica called streggae. If a girl is walking and the look at her and say Man, shes streggae it means she dont dress well
Reggae
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Bob Marley in 1980.
Reggae
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Aston Barret
Reggae
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UB40 's former frontman
Ali Campbell performing in 2009.
Reggae
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UB40 perform in Birmingham, 2010
