1.
Boyz II Men
–
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formerly a quartet including bass Michael McCary, they are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris alongside tenors Wanya Morris, during the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet. McCary left the group in 2003 due to issues and contractual agreements. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international success and this began with the release of the number one single End of the Road in 1992, which reached the top of charts worldwide. End of the Road would set a new record for longevity, staying at one on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks. Ill Make Love to You also topped the charts in Australia, as of 2016, One Sweet Day still holds the all-time record with sixteen weeks at the top of the Hot 100. Consequently, Boyz II Men are top ranking members with regard to time spent at one in Billboard history. Furthermore, when On Bended Knee took the one spot away from Ill Make Love to You. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard magazines fourth most successful group of the 1990s. Boyz II Men continue to perform worldwide, as a trio and their most recent studio album, Collide, was released in 2014. In 1987, Wanya Morris, who sang in the choir along with the members of Unique Attraction, joined the group. In 1988 Baldi, Shoats, and Walker all left the group due to graduation and they then recruited Shawn Stockman after seeing him perform a solo in the schools choir. Now with a permanent lineup of members the group would rehearse in the schools bathrooms, due to the excellent acoustics. They found inspiration in New Editions harmonies and routines, and eventually renamed the group Boyz II Men, after one of New Editions songs, Boys to Men, from their 1988 album Heart Break. After they sang New Editions Can You Stand The Rain for him, Bivins and he gave the group his number and told them to give him a call. Nate eventually called Bivins, and he agreed to manage and helped produce the group and this song, released as a single on June 30,1992, would become Boyz II Mens biggest hit. It reached the one position on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 22, remaining there for a record-setting 13 weeks. The success of End of the Road instantly transformed Boyz II Men from up-and-coming R&B stars into mainstream music celebrities
2.
End of the Road
–
End of the Road is a single recorded by American R&B group Boyz II Men for the Boomerang soundtrack. It was released in 1992 and written and produced by Kenneth Babyface Edmonds, L. A. Reid, the song achieved overwhelming domestic and international success. In the United States, End of the Road spent a record breaking 13 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Whitney Houston would later break this record in the year, with I Will Always Love You. Boyz II Men would later match, and break Houstons record, internationally, End of the Road reached #1 in Australia, United Kingdom and the Hot 100 Eurochart, among others. Due to the success of the single, Boyz II Mens debut album Cooleyhighharmony was re issued in 1992 and 1993 to include the song. At the 1993 Grammy Awards, End of the Road was nominated for two Grammys, winning both, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and Best R&B Song, End of the Road is considered one of the most successful songs of all time. It was the #1 single of 1992 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 1992 and it is ranked by Billboard as the sixth most successful song of the decade 1990–1999. End of the Road was released on June 30,1992 and it was released as a single from the Boomerang soundtrack and did not originally appear on Boyz II Mens debut album, CooleyHighHarmony. It was released after all singles from their debut had been released, End of the Road debuted at #53 on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 18,1992. Within 4 weeks, it reached #1, holding the position for 13 consecutive weeks from August 15,1992 - November 7,1992 and it also spent four weeks atop of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It was also performed by guitarist Paul Jackson Jr. on his 1993 album A River In The Desert, bassist Michael Manson covered the song from his 2008 album Up Front. Marcela Morelo recorded a Spanish version of the song in her 2009 album Otro plan, south Korean boy group U-KISS did an a cappella version of the hit song. Westlife covered this on a cappella, in addition, Boyz II Men included a Spanish-language version on their Spanish-language compilation Evolución. During the series finale of the sitcom A Different World, Whitley led everyone in singing End of the Road at hers, American Idol season ten contestant Stefano Langone performed the song during Idol Goes to the Movies week. An a cappella version was re-recorded for Boyz II Mens 2007 album, Motown, another re-recorded version appears on Boyz II Mens 2011 album, Twenty. A reggae cover was recorded by Frankie Paul in 1996 for his Jet Star album, keyshia Cole sampled the song on her single Trust and Believe, from her 2012 album, Woman to Woman. JLS sang this on their last tour, Goodbye – The Greatest Hits, in Muppets Most Wanted, the song is covered by the Gulag prisoners
3.
Billboard (magazine)
–
Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events and it is also known for its music charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular singles and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows, Billboard was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegens interest in 1900 for $500, in the 1900s, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows. It also created a service for travelling entertainers. Billboard began focusing more on the industry as the jukebox, phonograph. Many topics it covered were spun-off into different magazines, including Amusement Business in 1961 to cover outdoor entertainment so that it could focus on music. After Donaldson died in 1925, Billboard was passed down to his children and Hennegans children, until it was sold to investors in 1985. The first issue of Billboard was published in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 1,1894 by William Donaldson, initially, it covered the advertising and bill posting industry and was called Billboard Advertising. At the time, billboards, posters and paper advertisements placed in public spaces were the means of advertising. Donaldson handled editorial and advertising, while Hennegan, who owned Hennegan Printing Co. managed magazine production, the first issues were just eight pages long. The paper had columns like The Bill Room Gossip and The Indefatigable, a department for agricultural fairs was established in 1896. The title was changed to The Billboard in 1897, after a brief departure over editorial differences, Donaldson purchased Hennegans interest in the business in 1900 for $500, to save it from bankruptcy. That May, Donaldson changed it from a monthly to a paper with a greater emphasis on breaking news. He improved editorial quality and opened new offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London and he also re-focused the magazine on outdoor entertainment like fairs, carnivals, circuses, vaudeville and burlesque shows. A section devoted to circuses was introduced in 1900, followed by more prominent coverage of events in 1901. Billboard also covered topics including regulation, a lack of professionalism, economics and it had a stage gossip column covering the private lives of entertainers, a tent show section covering traveling shows and a sub-section called Freaks to order. According to The Seattle Times, Donaldson also published articles attacking censorship, praising productions exhibiting good taste
4.
Billboard Hot 100
–
The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales, radio play and online streaming, the weekly sales period was originally Monday to Sunday, when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but was changed to Friday to Thursday in July 2015. Radio airplay, which, unlike sales figures and streaming data, is available on a real-time basis. A new chart is compiled and officially released to the public by Billboard on Tuesdays, as of the issue for the week ending on April 15,2017, the Hot 100 has had 1,061 different number one hits. The current number one song is Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, prior to 1955, Billboard did not have a unified, all-encompassing popularity chart, instead measuring songs by individual metrics. At the start of the era in 1955, three such charts existed, Best Sellers in Stores was the first Billboard chart, established in 1936. This chart ranked the biggest selling singles in retail stores, as reported by merchants surveyed throughout the country, Most Played by Jockeys was Billboards original airplay chart. It ranked the most played songs on United States radio stations, as reported by radio disc jockeys, Most Played in Jukeboxes ranked the most played songs in jukeboxes across the United States. On the week ending November 12,1955, Billboard published The Top 100 for the first time, the Top 100 combined all aspects of a singles performance, based on a point system that typically gave sales more weight than radio airplay. The Best Sellers In Stores, Most Played by Jockeys and Most Played in Jukeboxes charts continued to be published concurrently with the new Top 100 chart. The week ending July 28,1958 was the publication of the Most Played By Jockeys and Top 100 charts. On August 4,1958, Billboard premiered one main all-genre singles chart, the Hot 100 quickly became the industry standard and Billboard discontinued the Best Sellers In Stores chart on October 13,1958. The Billboard Hot 100 is still the standard by which a songs popularity is measured in the United States, the Hot 100 is ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen BDS, sales data compiled by Nielsen Soundscan and streaming activity provided by online music sources. There are several component charts that contribute to the calculation of the Hot 100. Charts are ranked by number of gross audience impressions, computed by cross-referencing exact times of radio airplay with Arbitron listener data. Hot Singles Sales, the top selling singles compiled from a sample of retail store, mass merchant and internet sales reports collected, compiled. The chart is released weekly and measures sales of commercial singles. With the decline in sales of singles in the US
5.
I Will Always Love You
–
The song, I Will Always Love You was originally written and recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter, Dolly Parton. Partons version of I Will Always Love You was a commercial success and it reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart twice. It first reached number one in June 1974, and then in October 1982, Whitney Houston recorded her version of the song for the 1992 film The Bodyguard. Her single spent 14 weeks at one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. It also holds the record for being the single by a woman in music history. Houstons version of I Will Always Love You re-entered the charts in 2012 after her death, the song has been recorded by many other significant artists including Linda Ronstadt and John Doe. Country music singer-songwriter Dolly Parton wrote the song in 1973 for her partner and mentor Porter Wagoner. She recorded it in RCAs Studio B in Nashville on June 13,1973, I Will Always Love You was issued on June 6,1974, as the second single from Partons thirteenth solo studio album, Jolene. In 1982, Parton re-recorded the song, when it was included on the soundtrack to the film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the song also won Parton Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1975 CMA Awards. According to sheet music published at musicnotes. com by Hal Leonard Corporation, after recording a duet with Vince Gill in 1995, I Will Always Love You re-entered the Billboard chart and peaked at number 15. When the 1974 recording of the song was reaching number one on the country charts, Parton was interested until Presleys manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded. She recalls, I said, I’m really sorry, and I cried all night, I mean, it was like the worst thing. You know, it’s like, Oh, my God … Elvis Presley, and other people were saying, You’re nuts. It’s Elvis Presley. I said, I cant do that, something in my heart says, Don’t do that. Then when Whitney came out, I made enough money to buy Graceland. In Curtis W. Ken Knight, author of The Midnight Show, Late Night Cable-TV Guy-Flicks of the 80s, commented that Parton is the singer who can sing I Will Always Love You. Writer Paul Simpson criticized the singer, stating that the track was written to soften the blow of Parton. However, both Parton and Houston dispelled any rumors speaking glowingly of one another in interviews, Houston praised Parton for writing a beautiful song
6.
Whitney Houston
–
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time, Houston is one of pop musics best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200 million records sold worldwide. She released seven albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No.1 Billboard Hot 100 hits and she is the second artist behind Elton John and the only woman to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houstons debut album, Whitney Houston, became the debut album by a woman in history. Rolling Stone named it the best album of 1986, and ranked it at number 254 on the magazines list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album, Whitney, became the first album by a woman to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Houstons first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard. The films original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and its lead single, I Will Always Love You, won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the best-selling single by a woman in music history. With the album, Houston became the first act to sell more than a million copies of an album within a week period under Nielsen SoundScan system. The album makes her the top female act in the top 10 list of the albums of all time. Houston continued to star in movies and contribute to their soundtracks, including the films Waiting to Exhale, the Preachers Wife soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history. On February 11,2012, Houston was found dead in her guest room at the Beverly Hilton, in Beverly Hills, the official coroners report showed that she had accidentally drowned in the bathtub, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors. News of her death coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards and featured prominently in American, Whitney Houston was born on August 9,1963 in what was then a middle-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. She was the daughter of Army serviceman and entertainment executive John Russell Houston, Jr. and her elder brother Michael is a singer, and her elder half-brother is former basketball player Gary Garland. Her parents were both African American, through her mother, Houston was a first cousin of singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Her godmother was Darlene Love and her aunt was Aretha Franklin. Houston was raised a Baptist, but was exposed to the Pentecostal church. After the 1967 Newark riots, the moved to a middle-class area in East Orange, New Jersey
7.
Elvis Presley
–
Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is referred to as the King of Rock and Roll. Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis and his music career began there in 1954, when he recorded a song with producer Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was a popularizer of rockabilly. RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, Presleys first RCA single, Heartbreak Hotel, was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. He was regarded as the figure of rock and roll after a series of successful network television appearances. In November 1956, Presley made his debut in Love Me Tender. In 1958, he was drafted into military service, in 1973, Presley featured in the first globally broadcast concert via satellite, Aloha from Hawaii. Several years of drug abuse severely damaged his health. Presley is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century and he won three Grammys, also receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. Presley was born on January 8,1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gladys Love and Vernon Elvis Presley, Jesse Garon Presley, his identical twin brother, was delivered stillborn 35 minutes before his own birth. Thus, as a child, Presley became close to both parents and formed an especially close bond with his mother. The family attended an Assembly of God, where he found his musical inspiration. Although he was in conflict with the Pentecostal church in his later years, rev. Rex Humbard officiated at his funeral, as Presley had been an admirer of Humbards ministry. Presleys ancestry was primarily a Western European mix, including Scots-Irish, Scottish, German, gladyss great-great-grandmother, Morning Dove White, was possibly a Cherokee Native American. Gladys was regarded by relatives and friends as the dominant member of the small family, Vernon moved from one odd job to the next, evincing little ambition. The family often relied on help from neighbors and government food assistance, the Presleys survived the F5 tornado in the 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was found guilty of kiting a check written by the landowner, Orville S. Bean and he was jailed for eight months, and Gladys and Elvis moved in with relatives
8.
Hound Dog (song)
–
Hound Dog is a twelve-bar blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Thorntons recording of Hound Dog is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fames 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll, Hound Dog has been recorded more than 250 times. Presleys version, which sold about 10 million copies globally, was his best-selling song and an emblem of the rock n roll revolution. It was simultaneously No.1 on the US pop, country, and R&B charts in 1956, and it topped the pop chart for 11 weeks — a record that stood for 36 years. Presleys 1956 RCA recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1988, on August 12,1952, R&B bandleader Johnny Otis asked 19-year-old songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to his home to meet blues singer Willie Mae Big Mama Thornton. Thornton had been signed by Diamond Don Robeys Houston-based Peacock Records the year before, after hearing Thornton rehearse several songs, Leiber and Stoller forged a tune to suit her personality—brusque and badass. In an interview in Rolling Stone in April 1990, Stoller said, She was a blues singer. But it was as much her appearance as her blues style influenced the writing of Hound Dog. Leiber recalled, We saw Big Mama and she knocked me cold and she looked like the biggest, baddest, saltiest chick you would ever see. And she was mean, a bear, as they used to call em. She must have been 350 pounds, and she had all these all over her face conveying words which could not be sung. But how to do it without saying it. And how to do it telling a story, I couldnt just have a song full of expletives. In 1999, Leiber said, I was trying to get something like the Furry Lewis phrase Dirty Mother Furya. I was looking for something closer to that but I couldnt find it, because everything I went for was too coarse, R&B expert George A. Moonoogian concurs, calling it a biting and scathing satire in the double-entendre genre of 1950s rhythm and blues. Said Leiber, Hound Dog took like twelve minutes, thats not a complicated piece of work. But the rhyme scheme was difficult, also the metric structure of the music was not easy. According to Leiber, as soon as they reached the parking lot and Stollers 1937 Plymouth and we got to Johnny Otiss house and Mike went right to the piano…didnt even bother to sit down
9.
Don't Be Cruel
–
Dont Be Cruel is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Otis Blackwell and Elvis Presley in 1956. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002, in 2004, it was listed #197 in Rolling Stones list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song is ranked as the 173rd greatest song of all time, as well as the sixth best song of 1956. Dont Be Cruel was the first song that Presleys song publishers, Hill and Range, Blackwell was more than happy to give up 50% of the royalties and a co-writing credit to Presley to ensure that the hottest new singer around covered it. Freddy Bienstock, Elvis Music Publisher, gave the explanation for why Elvis received co-writing credit for songs like Dont Be Cruel. In the early days Elvis would show dissatisfaction with some lines and he would make alterations and his name did not appear after the first year. But if Elvis liked the song, the writers would be offered a guarantee of a million records, Presley recorded the song on July 2,1956 during an exhaustive recording session at RCA studios in New York City. During this session he also recorded Hound Dog, and Any Way You Want Me, the song featured Presleys regular band of Scotty Moore on lead guitar, Bill Black on bass, D. J. Fontana on drums, and backing vocals from the Jordanaires. The producing credit was given to RCAs Stephen H and he also ran through 31 takes of Hound Dog. The single was released on July 13,1956 backed with Hound Dog, within a few weeks Hound Dog had risen to #2 on the Pop charts with sales of over one million. Soon after it was overtaken by Dont Be Cruel which took #1 on all three charts, Pop, Country, and R n B. By the end of 1956 it had sold in excess of four million copies, Billboard ranked it as the No.2 song for 1956. Presley performed Dont Be Cruel during all three of his appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in September 1956 and January 1957, Dont Be Cruel went on to become Presleys biggest selling single recorded in 1956, with sales over six million by 1961. It became a feature of his live sets until his death in 1977. According to author Mark Lewisohn in The Complete Beatles Chronicles The Beatles performed it live from at least 1959 till 1961 if not later, No recording from then is known to survive. They finally recorded a version during the massive 1969 Get Back sessions which has never been released. However ex-Beatles John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Pete Best, Presley was said to be so impressed with Wilsons version that he would later incorporate many of Wilsons mannerisms into future performances. Debbie Harry recorded the song for the Otis Blackwell tribute album Brace Yourself, a cover by American country music duo The Judds peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1987
10.
One Sweet Day
–
One Sweet Day is a song by American singer Mariah Carey and R&B group Boyz II Men. The song was written by Carey, Walter Afanasieff and Boyz II Men, Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman, Nathan Morris, and Michael McCary. One Sweet Day was produced by Carey and Afanasieff for her studio album, Daydream. The song speaks about the death of a one, how the protagonist took their presence for granted and misses them. Both Carey and Boyz II Men wrote the song about people in their lives, being inspired by sufferers of the AIDS epidemic. One Sweet Day received widespread acclaim from critics, many of whom praised its content and vocals. It was ranked first in Rolling Stones readers poll for the Best Collaboration of All Time, the song spent 16 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, becoming the longest running number one song on the chart. Subsequently, One Sweet Day became the Billboards most successful song of the 1990s, internationally, the song topped the charts in Canada and New Zealand, and reached the top-ten in Australia, Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Carey performed One Sweet Day live alongside Boyz II Men at the 38th Grammy Awards ceremony, additionally, the song was performed at Princess Dianas memorial service in September 1997. One Sweet Day was part of the set list on several of Careys succeeding tours, making its debut during the albums accompanying set of concerts and it is featured on her compilation albums, #1s, Greatest Hits, The Ballads, and #1 to Infinity. The music video for One Sweet Day was filmed in February 1995, and features snippets of Carey and Boyz II Men in and around the studio, the busy schedule of both Carey and Boyz II Men did not allow time to record a proper video. The singer later said that she was content a real music video was never filmed, critics felt the video choice was wise, and agreed that the simple concept paid homage to the songs selfless message. One Sweet Day was a song that Carey wrote with the R&B group Boyz II Men, Carey had the idea and chorus composed, and after meeting with Boyz II Men, they realized they too had a similar idea in development. Together, using Careys chorus and idea, as well as the melody they had produced, they wrote, the song was produced by Afanasieff, who built on the songs melody and added various grooves and beats. Whole idea of when you lose people that are close to you, it changes your life and it had basically the same lyrics and fitted over the same chord changes. It was really, really weird, we finished the right then. We were all kinda flipped about it ourselves, fate had a lot to do with that. I know some people wont believe it, but we wouldnt make up such a crazy story
