1.
Aretha Franklin
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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
2.
Contemporary R&B
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Contemporary R&B, also known as simply R&B, is a music genre that combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop and dance. The genre features a record production style, drum machine-backed rhythms, an occasional saxophone-laced beat to give a jazz feel. Electronic influences are becoming a trend and the use of hip hop or dance-inspired beats are typical, although the roughness. Contemporary R&B vocalists are often known for their use of melisma, popularized by such as Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Craig David, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston. That same year, Teddy Riley began producing R&B recordings that included hip hop influences and this combination of R&B style and hip hop rhythms was termed new jack swing and was applied to artists such as Bobby Brown, Keith Sweat, Al B. Guy, Jodeci and Bell Biv DeVoe, the style became less popular by the end of the 1990s, but later experienced a resurgence. In 1990 Mariah Carey released Vision of Love as her debut single and it was immensely popular peaking at number 1 in many worldwide charts including the Billboard Hot 100, and it propelled Mariahs carrier. The song is said to have popularized the use of melisma. During the mid-1990s, Whitney Houstons The Bodyguard, Original Soundtrack Album sold over 40 million copies becoming the best-selling soundtrack of all time. Janet Jacksons self-titled fifth studio album janet. which came after her historic multimillion-dollar contract with Virgin Records, sold over twenty million copies worldwide. Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey recorded several Billboard Hot 100 No.1 hits, including One Sweet Day, Carey also released a remix of her 1995 single Fantasy, with Ol Dirty Bastard as a feature, a collaboration format that was unheard of at this point. Carey, Boyz II Men and TLC released albums in 1994 and 1995—Daydream, II and CrazySexyCool. In the late 1990s, neo soul, which added 1970s soul influences to the hip hop soul blend, arose, led by such as DAngelo, Erykah Badu. Hill and Missy Elliott further blurred the line between R&B and hip hop by recording both styles, beginning in 1995, the Grammy Awards enacted the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, with II by Boyz II Men becoming the first recipient. The award was received by TLC for CrazySexyCool in 1996, Tony Rich for Words in 1997, Erykah Badu for Baduizm in 1998. At the end of 1999, Billboard magazine ranked Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson as the first, simultaneously, in the second half of the 1990s, The Neptunes and Timbaland set influential precedence on contemporary R&B and hip hop music. R&B acts such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Usher, in 2001, Alicia Keys released Fallin as her debut single. It peaking at one on the Billboard Hot 100, Mainstream Top 40
3.
Keith Richards
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Keith Richards is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, best-selling memoirist and founding member of the rock band the Rolling Stones. The magazine of the same name credited Richards for rocks greatest single body of riffs on guitar, fourteen songs that Richards wrote with the Rolling Stones lead vocalist Mick Jagger are listed among Rolling Stone magazines 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The Stones are generally known for their guitar interplay of rhythm, in spite of this, Richards plays the only guitar tracks on some of their most famous songs including Paint It Black, Ruby Tuesday, Sympathy for the Devil, Gimme Shelter, and Angie. Richards was born 18 December 1943 at Livingston Hospital, in Dartford, Kent and he is the only child of Doris M. L. and Herbert W. Richards. His father was a worker who was injured in World War II during the Normandy invasion. His great-grandfathers family originated from Wales and his maternal grandfather, Augustus Theodore Gus Dupree, who toured Britain with a jazz big band, Gus Dupree and his Boys, fostered Richards interest in guitar. Richards has said that it was Dupree who gave him his first guitar and his grandfather teased the young Richards with a guitar that was on a shelf that Richards couldnt reach at the time. Finally Dupree told Richards, that if Richards could reach the guitar then he could have it, Richards then devised all manner of ways of reaching the guitar, putting books and cushions on a chair and finally got the guitar and his grandfather let him have it. His grandfather taught him the rudiments of Richards first tune, Malagueña and he worked on the number like mad and then his grandfather let him keep the guitar. He called it the prize of the century, Richards played at home, listening to recordings by Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and others. His father, on the hand, disparaged his sons musical enthusiasm. One of Richards first guitar heroes was Scotty Moore, Richards attended Wentworth Primary School with Mick Jagger and was his neighbour until 1954, when the family moved. From 1955 to 1959 he attended Dartford Technical High School for Boys, recruited by Dartford Techs choirmaster, R. W. Jake Clare, Richards sang in a trio of boy sopranos at, among other occasions, Westminster Abbey for Queen Elizabeth II. In 1959 Richards was expelled from Dartford Tech for truancy and transferred to Sidcup Art College, at Sidcup he was diverted from his studies proper and devoted more time to playing guitar with other students in the boys room. At this point Richards had learned most of Chuck Berrys solos, Richards met Jagger on a train as Jagger was heading for classes at the London School of Economics. The mail-order rhythm & blues albums from Chess Records by Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters that Jagger was carrying revealed a mutual interest, along with mutual friend Dick Taylor, Jagger was singing in an amateur band, Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, which Richards soon joined. The Blues Boys folded when Brian Jones, after sharing thoughts on their joint interest in the music, invited Mick and Keith to the Bricklayers Arms pub. By mid-1962 Richards had left Sidcup Art College to devote himself to music and moved into a London flat with Jagger and his parents divorced about the same time, resulting in his staying close to his mother and remaining estranged from his father until 1982
4.
Mick Jagger
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Sir Michael Philip Mick Jagger is an English singer and songwriter, the lead singer and one of the founding members of the Rolling Stones. Jaggers career has spanned over 55 years, and he has described as one of the most popular. Jaggers distinctive voice and performance, along with Keith Richards guitar style, have been the trademark of the Rolling Stones throughout the career of the band, Jagger gained press notoriety for his admitted drug use and romantic involvements, and was often portrayed as a countercultural figure. In the late 1960s, Jagger began acting in films, to mixed reception, in 1985, he released his first solo album, Shes the Boss. In early 2009, Jagger joined the electric supergroup SuperHeavy, in 1989 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004 into the UK Music Hall of Fame with the Rolling Stones. In 2003, he was knighted for his services to popular music, Michael Philip Jagger was born into a middle-class family in Dartford, Kent. His father, Basil Fanshawe Joe Jagger, and grandfather, David Ernest Jagger, were both teachers and his mother, Eva Ensley Mary, born in Sydney, Australia, of English descent, was a hairdresser and an active member of the Conservative Party. Jaggers younger brother, Chris, is also a musician, although brought up to follow his fathers career path, Jagger was always a singer as he stated in According to the Rolling Stones. I always sang as a child, I was one of those kids who just liked to sing. Some kids sing in choirs, others like to show off in front of the mirror, I was in the church choir and I also loved listening to singers on the radio–the BBC or Radio Luxembourg–or watching them on TV and in the movies. In September 1950, Keith Richards and Jagger were classmates at Wentworth Primary School, in 1954, Jagger passed the eleven-plus and went to Dartford Grammar School, which now has the Mick Jagger Centre installed within the schools site, named after its most famous alumnus. Jagger left school in 1961 after obtaining seven O-levels and three A-levels, Jagger and Richards moved into a flat in Edith Grove in Chelsea, London with a guitarist they had encountered named Brian Jones. In their earliest days the members played for no money in the interval of Alexis Korners gigs at a basement club opposite Ealing Broadway tube station, at the time, the group had very little equipment and needed to borrow Alexis gear to play. This was before Andrew Loog Oldham became their manager, the groups first appearance under the name the Rollin Stones was at the Marquee Club in London, a jazz club, on 12 July 1962. They would later change their name to the Rolling Stones as it seemed more formal, victor Bockris states that the band members included Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart on piano, Dick Taylor on bass and Tony Chapman on drums. However, Richards states in Life that The drummer that night was Mick Avory--not Tony Chapman, avory himself has categorically denied on many occasions that he played with the Rollin Stones that night. In fact he only rehearsed twice with them in the Bricklayers Arms pub, Some time later the band went on their first tour in the United Kingdom, this was known as the training ground tour, because it was a new experience for all of them. The line-up did not at that time include drummer Charlie Watts or bassist Bill Wyman, by 1963 they were finding their musical stride as well as popularity
5.
Eurythmics
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Eurythmics were a British music duo consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart. Stewart and Lennox were both previously in the band The Tourists, who split up in 1980, Eurythmics were formed that year in London. The duo released their first album, In the Garden, in 1981 to little fanfare, the title track was a worldwide hit, topping the charts in various countries including the US. The duo went on to release a string of hit singles, by this time Stewart was a sought-after record producer, while Lennox began a solo recording career in 1992 with her debut album Diva. After almost a decade apart, Eurythmics reunited to record their album, Peace. They reunited again in 2005 to release the single Ive Got a Life, as part of a new Eurythmics compilation album, Eurythmics have sold an estimated 75 million records worldwide. Lennox and Stewart met in 1975 in a restaurant in London and they first played together in 1976 in the punk rock band The Catch. After releasing one single as The Catch in 1977, the band evolved into The Tourists, Stewart and Lennox were also romantically involved. The Tourists achieved some success, but the experience was reportedly an unhappy one. Personal and musical tensions existed within the group, whose main songwriter was Peet Coombes and they were interested in creating pop music, but wanted freedom to experiment with electronics and the avant-garde. It was in a hotel in Wagga Wagga, Australia, while playing around with a portable mini-synthesizer that Lennox, the duo signed to RCA Records. At this time, Lennox and Stewart also split as a couple, during the period that Lennox and Stewart were in The Tourists, and later as Eurythmics, they were managed by Kenny Smith and Sandra Turnbull of Hyper Kinetics Ltd. They recorded their first album in Cologne with Conny Plank and this resulted in the album In the Garden, released in October 1981. The album mixed psychedelic, krautrock and electropop influences, and featured contributions from Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit, drummer Clem Burke, Robert Görl, a couple of the songs were co-written by guitarist Roger Pomphrey. The album was not a commercial success, however, the three new singles they released that year all performed badly on initial release in the UK. Lennox apparently suffered at least one nervous breakdown during this period, Eurythmics commercial breakthrough came with their second album, Sweet Dreams, released in January 1983. The successful title track featured a dark and powerful sequenced synth bass line, the song reached no.2 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the years biggest sellers, and later topped the US charts. The bands fortunes changed immensely from this moment on, and Lennox quickly became a pop icon and their previous single, Love Is a Stranger, was also re-released and became another chart success
6.
George Michael
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Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, known professionally as George Michael, was an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and philanthropist who rose to fame as a member of the music duo Wham. He was best known for his work in the 1980s and 1990s, including hit singles such as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Last Christmas, and albums such as Faith and Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1. Up to the time of his death, Michael sold more than 115 million records worldwide and his breakthrough duo Wham. sold 28 million records between 1982 and 1986, and his debut solo album Faith sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Michael achieved seven number one singles in the UK and eight number one songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, including Careless Whisper and Praying for Time. He ranks among the best-selling British acts of all time, Michael, who came out as gay in 1998, was an active LGBT rights campaigner and HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser. In 2004, the Radio Academy named Michael the most played artist on British radio during the period 1984–2004, the documentary A Different Story covered his career and personal life. Michaels first tour in 15 years, the worldwide 25 Live tour, in the early hours of 25 December 2016, Michael, aged 53, was found dead in bed at his Oxfordshire home. A coroners report attributed his death to natural causes, Michael was born in East Finchley on 25 June 1963. His father, Kyriacos Jack Panayiotou, a Greek Cypriot restaurateur, had emigrated to Britain in the 1950s, Michaels mother, Lesley Angold, was an English dancer, and his maternal grandmother was Jewish. Michael spent most of his childhood in Kingsbury, London, in the home his parents soon after his birth. His older sisters are Yioda and Melanie, while he was in his early teens, the family moved to Radlett. There, Michael attended Bushey Meads School in Bushey, where he befriended his future Wham. partner Andrew Ridgeley, the two had the same career ambition of being musicians. Michael busked on the London Underground, performing such as 39 by Queen. His involvement in the business began with his working as a DJ, playing at clubs and local schools around Bushey, Stanmore. This was followed by the formation of a ska band called The Executive, with Ridgeley, Ridgeleys brother Paul, Andrew Leaver. Michael formed the duo Wham. with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981, the bands first album Fantastic reached No.1 in the UK in 1983 and produced a series of top 10 singles including Young Guns, Wham Rap. and Club Tropicana. Their second album, Make It Big, reached No.1 on the charts in the US, Michael sang on the original Band Aid recording of Do They Know Its Christmas. And donated the profits from Last Christmas/Everything She Wants to charity and he also contributed background vocals to David Cassidys 1985 hit The Last Kiss, as well as Elton Johns 1985 successes Nikita and Wrap Her Up
7.
Frank Sinatra
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Francis Albert Sinatra was an American singer, actor, and producer who was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. He is one of the music artists of all time. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants, Sinatra began his career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James. Sinatra found success as a solo artist after he signed with Columbia Records in 1943 and he released his debut album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, in 1946. Sinatras professional career had stalled by the early 1950s, and he turned to Las Vegas and his career was reborn in 1953 with the success of From Here to Eternity, with his performance subsequently winning an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sinatra released several critically lauded albums, including In the Wee Small Hours, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice n Easy. Sinatra left Capitol in 1960 to start his own label, Reprise Records. It was followed by 1968s collaboration with Duke Ellington, using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured both within the United States and internationally until a short time before his death in 1998. Sinatra forged a successful career as a film actor. After winning an Academy Award for From Here to Eternity, he starred in The Man with the Golden Arm and he appeared in various musicals such as On the Town, Guys and Dolls, High Society, and Pal Joey, winning another Golden Globe for the latter. Toward the end of his career, he associated with playing detectives. Sinatra would later receive the Golden Globe Cecil B, on television, The Frank Sinatra Show began on ABC in 1950, and he continued to make appearances on television throughout the 1950s and 1960s. While Sinatra never formally learned how to read music, he had a natural, intuitive understanding of it, a perfectionist, renowned for his impeccable dress sense and cleanliness, he always insisted on recording live with his band. His bright blue eyes earned him the popular nickname Ol Blue Eyes, Sinatra led a colorful personal life, and was often involved in turbulent affairs with women, such as with his second wife Ava Gardner. He went on to marry Mia Farrow in 1966 and Barbara Marx in 1976, Sinatra had several violent confrontations, usually with journalists he felt had crossed him, or work bosses with whom he had disagreements. He was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985, Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. After his death, American music critic Robert Christgau called him the greatest singer of the 20th century, Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12,1915, in an upstairs tenement at 415 Monroe Street in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was the child of Italian immigrants Antonino Martino Marty Sinatra
8.
Isaac Hayes
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Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. was an American singer-songwriter, actor, voice actor and producer. Hayes was also a 2002 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The song Soul Man, written by Hayes and Porter and first performed by Sam & Dave, has recognized as one of the most influential songs of the past 50 years by the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was also honored by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, by Rolling Stone magazine, during the late 1960s, Hayes also began a career as a recording artist. He had several successful albums such as Hot Buttered Soul. In addition to his work in music, he worked as a composer of musical scores for motion pictures. He was well known for his score for the film Shaft. For the Theme from Shaft, he was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1972 and he became the third African-American, after Sidney Poitier and Hattie McDaniel, to win an Academy Award in any competitive field covered by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He also won two Grammy Awards for that same year, later, he was given his third Grammy for his music album Black Moses. In recognition of his work there Hayes was crowned honorary king of the Ada. He acted in motion pictures and television, such as in the movies Truck Turner and Im Gonna Git You Sucka and he voiced the character Chef from the animated Comedy Central series South Park from its debut in 1997 until 2005. On August 5,2003, Hayes was honored as a BMI Icon at the 2003 BMI Urban Awards for his influence on generations of music makers. Throughout his songwriting career, Hayes received five BMI R&B Awards, as of 2008, his songs generated more than 12 million performances. Isaac Hayes, Jr. was born in Covington, Tennessee and he was the second child of Eula and Isaac Hayes, Sr. After his mother died young and his father abandoned his family, Isaac, Jr. was raised by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade. The child of a family, he grew up working on farms in Shelby County, Tennessee. At age five Hayes began singing at his church, he taught himself to play the piano, the Hammond organ, the flute. Hayes dropped out of school, but his former teachers at Manassas High School in Memphis encouraged him to complete his diploma
9.
Mary J. Blige
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Mary Jane Blige is an American singer, songwriter, model, record producer and actress. My Life, in particular, is considered among the greatest albums ever recorded according to Rolling Stone, Time, for her part in combining hip hop and soul in the early 1990s and its subsequent commercial success, Blige received the Legends Award at the World Music Awards. Blige made Time magazines Time 100 list of individuals around the world in 2007. As of 2013, Blige has sold more than 50 million albums and 25 million singles worldwide, Billboard ranked Blige as the most successful female R&B artist of the past 25 years. The magazine also lists her 2006 song Be Without You as the top R&B song of the 2000s, in 2011, VH1 ranked Blige as the 80th greatest artist of all time. Moreover, she is ranked number 100 on the list of 100 greatest singers of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, in 2012, VH1 ranked Blige at number 9 in The 100 Greatest Women in Music. Blige also earned high remarks for her work in film and she starred in the 2009 Tyler Perry box-office hit I Can Do Bad All By Myself and played a role in the film Rock of Ages. She received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her contribution to the film The Help. In partnership with the Home Shopping Network and Carols Daughter, Blige released her My Life perfume, the perfume broke HSN records by selling 65,000 bottles during its premiere. The scent went on to win two FiFi Awards, including the Fragrance Sales Breakthrough award, in 2017, she stars in the period drama film Mudbound directed by Dee Rees. Blige spent her years in Richmond Hill, Georgia, where she sang in a Pentecostal church. Blige later moved to Schlobohm Houses in Yonkers, New York, immediately north of New York City, Blige dropped out of high school in her junior year. Pursuing a musical career, Blige spent a period of time in a Yonkers band named Pride with band drummer Eddie DAprile. In early 1988, she recorded a cover of Anita Bakers Caught Up in the Rapture at a recording booth in the Galleria Mall in White Plains. Her mothers boyfriend at the later played the cassette for Jeff Redd. Redd sent it to the president and CEO of the label, Harrell met with Blige and in 1989 she was signed to the label, becoming the companys youngest and first female artist. After being signed to Uptown Records, Blige began working with record producer Puff Daddy and he became the executive producer and produced a majority of the album. Derived from Bliges past occupation as a 4-1-1 operator, it was also an indication by Blige of being the real deal, the music was described as revelatory on a frequent basis
10.
Bryan Adams
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Bryan Guy Adams, OC OBC is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, guitarist, photographer, philanthropist and activist. Adams also had the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Heaven, Adams has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In 2008, Adams was ranked 38th on the list of All-Time top artists in the Billboard Hot 100 50th Anniversary Charts. Bryan Guy Adams was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, to British parents, Elizabeth Jane and Captain Conrad J. Adams, Adams travelled with his parents to diplomatic postings in Portugal and Vienna, Austria, during the 1960s, and to Israel during the early 1970s. Adams has a brother, Bruce. Before that at age 15–16 he fronted various pub bands like Sweeney Todd that released If Wishes Were Horses and was seen sitting in with other cover bands. He and his guitarist Keith Scott met during those club years, in 1978, at 18, Adams met Jim Vallance through a mutual friend in a Vancouver music store. Vallance was the drummer and principal songwriter for Vancouver-based rock band Prism and had recently quit that band to focus on a career as a studio musician. They agreed to meet at Vallances home studio a few days later, later in 1978, Adams signed to A&M records for one dollar. Some of the first demos written in 1978 have surfaced over the years, most notably Im Ready and Remember, both songs were covered by other artists even before his first album was released. Also recorded during time was the disco song Let Me Take You Dancing featuring Adamss vocal sped up to meet the 122BPM dance tempo. The song made the Canadian RPM chart in March 1979 along with its B-Side Dont Turn Me Away, straight From The Heart was also written during this period. The song was recorded for Adamss third album Cuts Like A Knife in 1983 and released as a single. Adamss self-titled debut album was released in February 1980, and marked the beginning of what was to become a long songwriting partnership between Adams and co-writer Jim Vallance. With the exception of Remember and Wastin Time, most of the album was recorded from 29 October up until 29 November 1979 at Manta Studios and co-produced by Adams, the album was certified gold in Canada in 1986. Adamss second album, You Want It You Got It, was recorded in two weeks and it marked Adamss first album co-produced by Bob Clearmountain. It was released in 1981 and contained the FM radio hit Lonely Nights, Adams also co-wrote songs for other artists during this time including Billboard charted songs like No Way to Treat a Lady for Bonnie Raitt and Dont Let Him Know for Prism. Cuts Like a Knife, which was released in January 1983, was Adamss breakout album due mainly to the lead singles, straight from the Heart was the most successful song, reaching number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100
11.
Luciano Pavarotti
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Luciano Pavarotti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian operatic tenor who also crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most commercially successful tenors of all time. As one of the Three Tenors, Pavarotti became well known for his televised concerts, Pavarotti was also noted for his charity work on behalf of refugees and the Red Cross, amongst others. He died from cancer on 6 September 2007. Luciano Pavarotti was born in 1935 on the outskirts of Modena in Northern Italy, the son of Fernando Pavarotti, a baker and amateur tenor, and Adele Venturi, a cigar factory worker. Although he spoke fondly of his childhood, the family had little money, according to Pavarotti, his father had a fine tenor voice but rejected the possibility of a singing career because of nervousness. World War II forced the family out of the city in 1943, for the following year they rented a single room from a farmer in the neighbouring countryside, where the young Pavarotti developed an interest in farming. After abandoning the dream of becoming a goalkeeper, Pavarotti spent seven years in vocal training. Pavarottis earliest musical influences were his fathers recordings, most of them featuring the popular tenors of the day – Beniamino Gigli, Giovanni Martinelli, Tito Schipa, at around the age of nine he began singing with his father in a small local church choir. He was interested in pursuing a career as a football goalkeeper. He subsequently taught in a school for two years but finally allowed his interest in music to win out. Recognising the risk involved, his father gave his consent only reluctantly, Pavarotti began the serious study of music in 1954 at the age of 19 with Arrigo Pola, a respected teacher and professional tenor in Modena who offered to teach him without remuneration. According to conductor Richard Bonynge, Pavarotti never learned to read music and he later said that this was the most important experience of his life, and that it inspired him to become a professional singer. At about this time Pavarotti first met Adua Veroni, like Pavarotti, Freni was destined to operatic greatness, they were to share the stage many times and make memorable recordings together. During his years of study, Pavarotti held part-time jobs in order to sustain himself – first as an elementary school teacher. The first six years of study resulted in only a few recitals, all in small towns, when a nodule developed on his vocal cords, causing a disastrous concert in Ferrara, he decided to give up singing. Pavarotti attributed his immediate improvement to the psychological release connected with this decision, Pavarotti began his career as a tenor in smaller regional Italian opera houses, making his debut as Rodolfo in La bohème at the Teatro Municipale in Reggio Emilia in April 1961. He made his first international appearance in La traviata in Belgrade, very early in his career, on 23 February 1963, he debuted at the Vienna State Opera in the same role. In March and April 1963 Vienna saw Pavarotti again as Rodolfo, while generally successful, Pavarottis early roles did not immediately propel him into the stardom that he would later enjoy
12.
Soul music
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Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States, where record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music, catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response between the lead vocalist and the chorus and a tense vocal sound. The style also occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds, Soul music reflected the African-American identity and it stressed the importance of an African-American culture. The new-found African-American consciousness led to new styles of music, which boasted pride in being black, Soul music dominated the U. S. R&B chart in the 1960s, and many recordings crossed over into the pop charts in the U. S. By 1968, the music genre had begun to splinter. Some soul artists developed funk music, while other singers and groups developed slicker, more sophisticated, by the early 1970s, soul music had been influenced by psychedelic rock and other genres, leading to psychedelic soul. The United States saw the development of neo soul around 1994, there are also several other subgenres and offshoots of soul music. The term soul had been used among African-American musicians to emphasize the feeling of being an African-American in the United States, according to another source, Soul music was the result of the urbanization and commercialization of rhythm and blues in the 60s. The phrase soul music itself, referring to music with secular lyrics, is first attested in 1961. The term soul in African-American parlance has connotations of African-American pride, gospel groups in the 1940s and 1950s occasionally used the term as part of their name. The jazz style that derived from gospel came to be called soul jazz, important innovators whose recordings in the 1950s contributed to the emergence of soul music included Clyde McPhatter, Hank Ballard, and Etta James. Ray Charles is often cited as popularizing the genre with his string of hits starting with 1954s I Got a Woman. Singer Bobby Womack said, Ray was the genius and he turned the world onto soul music. Charles was open in acknowledging the influence of Pilgrim Travelers vocalist Jesse Whitaker on his singing style, little Richard and James Brown were equally influential. Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson are also acknowledged as soul forefathers. Cooke became popular as the singer of gospel group The Soul Stirrers
