Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey, known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles. He sang lead vocals with the group for one song on each album, including "With a Little Help from My Friends", "Yellow Submarine", "Good Night", their cover of "Act Naturally", he wrote and sang the Beatles' songs "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden", is credited as a co-writer of others, including "What Goes On" and "Flying". Starr was afflicted by life-threatening illnesses during childhood, he fell behind in school as a result of prolonged hospitalisations, he held a position with British Rail before securing an apprenticeship at a Liverpool equipment manufacturer. Soon afterwards, he became interested in the UK skiffle craze and developed a fervent admiration for the genre. In 1957, he co-founded his first band, the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group, which earned several prestigious local bookings before the fad succumbed to American rock and roll by early 1958.
When the Beatles formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool group, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. After achieving moderate success in the UK and Hamburg, he quit the Hurricanes and joined the Beatles in August 1962, replacing Pete Best. Starr appeared in numerous others. After the band's break-up in 1970, he released several successful singles including the US number-four hit "It Don't Come Easy", number ones "Photograph" and "You're Sixteen". In 1972, he released his most successful UK single, "Back Off Boogaloo", he achieved commercial and critical success with his 1973 album Ringo, a top-ten release in both the UK and the US. He hosted television shows, he narrated the first two series of the children's television programme Thomas & Friends and portrayed "Mr Conductor" during the first season of the PBS children's television series Shining Time Station. Since 1989, he has toured with thirteen variations of His All-Starr Band. Starr's musicianship has received praise from other drummers, including Phil Collins and Journey's Steve Smith.
He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2011, Rolling Stone readers named Starr the fifth-greatest drummer of all time. Starr, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a Beatle in 1988, was inducted for his solo career in 2015, making him one of 21 performers inducted more than once, he is the richest drummer in the world with a net worth of US$350 million. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to music. Richard Starkey was born on 7 July 1940, at 9 Madryn Street, in Liverpool, he was the only child of confectioners Richard Elsie Gleave. Elsie enjoyed singing and dancing, a hobby that she shared with her husband, an avid fan of swing. Prior to the birth of their son – whom they nicknamed "Ritchie" – the couple had spent much of their free time on the local ballroom circuit, but their regular outings ended soon after his birth. Elsie adopted an overprotective approach to raising her son. Subsequently, "Big Ritchie", as Starkey's father became known, lost interest in his family, choosing instead to spend long hours drinking and dancing in pubs, sometimes for several consecutive days.
In an effort to reduce their housing costs, his family moved in 1944 to another neighbourhood in the Dingle, Admiral Grove. Starkey stated that he has "no real memories" of his father, who made little effort to bond with him, visiting as few as three times thereafter. Elsie found it difficult to survive on her ex-husband's support payments of thirty shillings a week, so she took on several menial jobs cleaning houses before securing a position as a barmaid, an occupation that she held for twelve years. At age six Starkey developed appendicitis. Following a routine appendectomy he contracted peritonitis, causing him to fall into a coma that lasted days, his recovery spanned twelve months, which he spent away from his family at Liverpool's Myrtle Street children's hospital. Upon his discharge in May 1948, his mother allowed causing him to miss school. At age eight, he remained illiterate, with a poor grasp of mathematics, his lack of education contributed to a feeling of alienation at school, which resulted in his playing truant at Sefton Park.
After several years of twice-weekly tutoring from his surrogate sister and neighbour, Marie Maguire Crawford, Starkey had nearly caught up to his peers academically, but in 1953, he contracted tuberculosis and was admitted to a sanatorium, where he remained for two years. During his stay the medical staff made an effort to stimulate motor activity and relieve boredom by encouraging their patients to join the hospital band, leading to his first exposure to a percussion instrument: a makeshift mallet made from a cotton bobbin that he used to strike the cabinets next to his bed. Soon afterwards, he grew interested in drumming, receiving a copy of the Alyn Ainsworth song "Bedtime for Drums" as a convalescence gift from Crawford. Starkey commented: "I was in the hospital band... That's where I started playing. I never wanted anything else from there on... My grandparents gave me a mandolin and a banjo. My grandfather gave me a harmonica... we had a piano – nothing. Only the drums."Starkey attended St Silas, a Church of England primary school near his house where his classmates nicknamed him "Lazarus", Dingle Vale Secondary modern school, where he showed an aptitude for ar
Sonic Temple
Sonic Temple is the fourth studio album by The Cult, released in 1989. Continuing in the hard rock direction introduced on their previous album, Sonic Temple features some of the band's most popular songs, including "Fire Woman", "Sun King", "Edie" and "Sweet Soul Sister". Sonic Temple was the last album recorded with longtime bassist Jamie Stewart, who left in 1990, the first to feature former Hall & Oates and then-current Bryan Adams drummer, Mickey Curry. ´´Previously during 1988 The Cult recorded the first demo version of this album with Eric Singer on drums 14 tracks, The Cult recorded again, a new demo version of Sonic Temple with Chris Taylor on drums with 15 tracks´´ Sonic Temple marked the first time the band worked with Bob Rock, who would produce The Cult, Beyond Good and Evil, Choice of Weapon and Hidden City. The album reached the Cult's highest chart position in the US, peaking at #10 on the Billboard 200 charts, was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 1993. In Argentina, the record was released as Templo Sonico with the titles translated into Spanish on the jacket sleeve and record labels.
In Taiwan it was released with a pink cover. The album cover features guitarist Billy Duffy with his Gibson Les Paul obscuring a picture of vocalist Ian Astbury; the back cover features bassist Jamie Stewart, an additional illustration on the insert, from left to right, features Astbury and Stewart. All tracks written by Billy Duffy. "Sun King" – 6:09 "Fire Woman" – 5:11 "American Horse" – 5:19 "Edie" – 4:46 "Sweet Soul Sister" – 5:08 "Soul Asylum" – 7:26 "New York City" – 4:41 "Automatic Blues" – 3:51 "Soldier Blue" – 4:36 "Wake Up Time for Freedom" – 5:17 "Medicine Train" – 4:42 "The River" "Lay Down your Gun" There was a Saudi Arabian version released, with the track listing expanded and rearranged:"Sun King" "Fire Woman" "American Horse" "Edie" "Sweet Soul Sister" "NYC" "Automatic Blues" "Soldier Blue" "Wake Up Time for Freedom" "Medicine Train" "Electric Ocean" "King Contrary Man" "Born to Be Wild" "Outlaw" Ian Astbury – vocals, percussion Billy Duffy – guitar Jamie Stewart – bass guitar, keyboards Mickey Curry – drums Eric Singer ] during first demo version of Sonic temple 1988 Chris Taylor during second demo version of Sonic temple 1988 Iggy Pop – backing vocals on "New York City" John Webster – keyboards Bob Buckley – string arrangement on "Edie" Engineered and mixed by Mike Fraser Album - BPI UK Album Chart Billboard Singles - Billboard
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American-born Swiss singer-songwriter. Turner rose to prominence with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm before recording hit singles both with Ike and as a solo performer. One of the world's best-selling recording artists of all time, she has been referred to as The Queen of Rock'n' Roll and has sold more than 200 million records worldwide to date. Turner is noted for her energetic stage presence, powerful vocals, career longevity, trademark legs. Anna Mae Bullock was born in Tennessee, she began her career in 1958 as a featured singer with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm, first recording under the name "Little Ann". Her introduction to the public as Tina Turner began in 1960 as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Success followed with a string of notable hits credited to the duo, including "River Deep – Mountain High", "Proud Mary" and "Nutbush City Limits", a song that she wrote. Tina Turner married Ike Turner in 1962. In her autobiography, I, Tina Turner revealed several instances of severe domestic abuse against her by Ike Turner prior to their 1976 split and subsequent 1978 divorce.
Raised a Baptist, she became an adherent of Nichiren Buddhism in 1973, crediting the spiritual chant of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo with helping her to endure during difficult times. After her divorce and professional separation from Ike, Turner built her own career through live performances. In the 1980s, Turner launched a major comeback as a solo artist; the 1983 single "Let's Stay Together" was followed by the 1984 release of her fifth solo album, Private Dancer, which became a worldwide success. The album contained the song "What's Love Got to Do with It". Turner's solo success continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s with multi-platinum albums and hit singles. In 1993, What's Love Got to Do with It, a biographical film adapted from Turner's autobiography, was released along with an accompanying soundtrack album. In 2008, Turner returned from semi-retirement to embark on her Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour. Turner has garnered success acting in films such as the 1975 rock musical Tommy, the 1985 action film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, the 1993 film Last Action Hero.
Turner has won 12 Grammy Awards. Rolling Stone ranked Turner 63rd on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time and 17th on its list of the 100 greatest singers of all time. Turner has her own stars on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In 1991, Turner was inducted into the Roll Hall of Fame with Ike Turner, she was a 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Nutbush, the daughter of Zelma Priscilla and Floyd Richard Bullock, she was born at Poindexter Farm on Highway 180, where her father worked as an overseer of the sharecroppers. She is of African-American descent, with 33% European and 1% Native American ancestry; the latter was revealed when she appeared on the PBS documentary African American Lives 2, the host Henry Louis Gates shared the results of her ancestral tests. Bullock had Evelyn Juanita and Ruby Alline; as young children, the three sisters were separated when their parents relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee, to work at a defense facility during World War II.
Bullock went to stay with her strict, religious paternal grandparents and Roxanna Bullock, who were deacon and deaconess at the Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church. After the war, the sisters moved with them to Knoxville. Two years the family returned to Nutbush to live in the Flagg Grove community, where Bullock attended Flagg Grove Elementary School from first through eighth grade; as a young girl, Bullock sang in the church choir at Nutbush's Spring Hill Baptist Church. When she was 11, her mother Zelma ran off without warning, seeking freedom from her abusive relationship with Floyd Bullock; as a teen, Bullock worked as a domestic worker for the Henderson family. Two years after her mother left the family, her father moved to Detroit. Bullock and her sister were sent to live with their grandmother Georgeanna in Brownsville, Tennessee. A self-professed tomboy, Bullock joined both the cheerleading squad and the female basketball team at Carver High School in Brownsville, "socialized every chance she got".
Her first boyfriend was Harry Taylor, who attended a different school but relocated to Bullock's school to be near her. The relationship ended; when Bullock was 16, her grandmother died, so she went to live with her mother in St. Louis and was reunited with her sister. There, she graduated from Sumner High School in 1958. After her graduation, Bullock worked as a nurse's aide at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Bullock and her sister began to frequent nightclubs in East St. Louis. At Club Manhattan, a nightclub in the East St. Louis area, she first saw Ike Turner and his band, the Kings of Rhythm, perform. Bullock was impressed by the band's music and Ike's talent, claiming t
Sam Phillips (musician)
Sam Phillips is an American singer-songwriter. She began her career in the contemporary Christian music industry but, uncomfortable with that image and industry, she re-branded herself as "Sam"—transitioning into the mainstream market after meeting producer T Bone Burnett, her albums include the critically acclaimed Martinis & Bikinis in 1994 and Fan Dance in 2001. She has composed scores for the television shows Gilmore Girls and Bunheads. Phillips was born in Glendale, the second of three children, has a brother and a sister, she began her musical career in the early 1980s, singing background vocals for Christian artists Mark Heard and Randy Stonehill. Phillips was signed to a solo contract with Myrrh Records – under her given name – and recorded four Christian pop albums, Beyond Saturday Night, Dancing with Danger and White in a Grey World and The Turning, which teamed her with producer and future husband, T Bone Burnett. Several became Top 10 singles on Christian radio and Myrrh records promoted her as "the Christian Cyndi Lauper".
Phillips was never comfortable with this image, it was a bone of contention between her and her label. She began using the name "Sam" professionally in 1988 when she left Myrrh Records and signed with Virgin Records in order to distance herself from her prior persona. With The Indescribable Wow Philips moved into mainstream music; the album featured the orchestrations of Van Dyke Parks. Cruel Inventions was released in 1991, included a guest performance by Elvis Costello. 1994's Martinis and Bikinis was praised by music critics and was nominated for a Grammy Award. In 1995, Phillips made her film acting debut as the mute terrorist Katya in the Bruce Willis blockbuster Die Hard with a Vengeance. In 1996, Phillips released Omnipop, which featured a song co-written by R. E. M.. Phillips made a cameo appearance in the 1997 Wim Wenders film The End of Violence, singing part of the song "Animals on Wheels" from Omnipop. After releasing a contractually obligated "best of" album in 1999, Virgin Records dropped Phillips from its roster.
In 2001, Phillips signed with Nonesuch Records, evolving her musical style to a stripped-down, acoustically-based sound on her album called Fan Dance, which featured some of her most critically acclaimed songwriting, as well as guest appearances from musical partners Gillian Welch on vocals & David Rawlings on piano, for whom T Bone Burnett had produced several years earlier. Phillips began writing music for and scoring the television series Gilmore Girls, appeared in the final episode of season six, performing "Taking Pictures" from her Fan Dance album. In 2004, she released A Boot and a Shoe, another collection of acoustically-based songs, similar in style to Fan Dance. After the release of A Boot and a Shoe, Phillips and T Bone Burnett, her longtime producer, although they continued to work together to finish her album, her album Don't Do Anything was self-produced and released in 2008. In October 2009, Phillips launched The Long Play, a music subscription service offering digital releases without a record label.
The first subscription only EP, Hypnotists in Paris, was recorded with the Section Quartet and a Christmas collection Cold Dark Night, Magic for Everyone, Old Tin Pan, Days of the One Night Stands followed, with the full-length album Cameras in the Sky being released in early 2010. In Spring of 2011 she issued Solid State, a public CD release comprising 13 of the best songs from her subscription service. In 2012, it was announced that she would be reunited with Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino by scoring music for the short-lived American TV show Bunheads. Phillips described her next album, Pretty Time Bomb, as being "a nostalgic sort of dream of being a pop star in the 60s and early 70s. It's a sweet kind of album and I don't know where it came from. I don't know. It's a bad idea, but every time I listen to what I've done, it makes me happy. So I figure, that must mean something and I should go ahead and put it out there."Push Any Button was released on August 13, 2013. Phillips has described Push Any Button in as ‘an impressionistic version of the AM pop radio playing inside her head’—a way of ‘looking at the future through the past.
For the vinyl release through her website, Phillips created a limited run of unique handmade collages on repurposed vintage LP sleeves sourced from flea markets. In 2015, a suite of these collage artworks were exhibited at Gertrude Contemporary in Melbourne, Australia in an exhibition called Lost and Profound curated by Daniel Mudie Cunningham. Phillips reunited with Amy Sherman-Palladino as composer for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life - a revival of the much-loved television series, which launched on Netflix on November 25, 2016. A few days earlier on November 21, Phillips released online an eight-track downloadable EP Human Contact is Never Easy, including four new tracks ahead of the album World on Sticks, to be released September 2018. Ahead of the release of World on Sticks, her first live concert film and album, Sam Phillips: Live @ Largo at The Coronet, was made available digitally through her website. Phillips married producer and musician T Bone Burnett in 1989, together they have one daughter, born in 1997.
Phillips and Burnett divorced in 2004, both have since remarried. Phillips has received one as Leslie Phillips and one as Sam Phillips, she was the 2011 recipient of the Denise Levertov Award from Image, "given annually to an artist, musician, or writer whose work exemplifies a serious and sustained engagement with the Jude
Backing vocalist
Backing vocalists or backup singers are singers who provide vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. In some cases, a backing vocalist may sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used in a broad range of popular music, traditional music and world music styles. Solo artists may employ professional backing vocalists in studio recording sessions as well as during concerts. In many rock and metal bands, the musicians doing backing vocals play instruments, such as guitar, electric bass, drums, or keyboards. In Latin or Afro-Cuban groups, backing singers may play percussion instruments or shakers while singing. In some pop and hip-hop groups and in musical theater, the backing singers may be required to perform elaborately choreographed dance routines while they sing through headset microphones; the style of singing used by backing singers varies according to the type of song and the genre of music the band plays.
In pop and country songs, backing vocalists may perform vocal harmony parts to support the lead vocalist. In hardcore punk or rockabilly, other band members who play instruments may sing or shout backing vocals during the chorus section of the songs. Alternative terms for backing vocalists include backing singers, backing vocals, additional vocals or in the United States and Canada, backup singers or sometimes background singers or harmony vocalists. While some bands use performers whose sole on-stage role is performing backing vocals, it is common for backing singers to have other roles. Two notable examples of band members who sang back-up are The Beatles; the Beach Boys were well known for their close vocal harmonies with all five members singing at once such as "In My Room" and "Surfer Girl". All five members would sing lead, although most Brian Wilson or Mike Love would sing lead with guitarists Carl Wilson and Al Jardine and drummer Dennis Wilson singing background harmonies; the Beatles were known for their close style of vocal harmonies – all Beatles members sang both lead and backing vocals at some point John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who supported each other with harmonies with fellow Beatle George Harrison joining in.
Ringo Starr, while not as prominent in the role of backing singer as his three bandmates due to his distinctive voice, can be heard singing backing vocals in such tracks as "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and "Carry That Weight". Examples of three-part harmonies by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison include "Nowhere Man", "Because", "Day Tripper", "This Boy"; the members of Crosby, Nash & Young and Bee Gees all each wrote songs and sang back-up or lead vocals and played various instruments on their albums and various collaborations with each other. Former guitarist John Frusciante and current guitarist Josh Klinghoffer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers sing nearly all backing vocals singing some parts without accompaniment from lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis; the band's bassist Flea filled in for additional vocals. Frusciante sang one song by himself during concerts. Another example is "No Frontiers" by The Corrs, sung by Sharon and Caroline. Other backing vocalists include rhythm guitarist Sebastien Lefebvre & bass guitarist David Desrosiers of pop punk band Simple Plan, guitarist John Petrucci of Dream Theater, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett & bass guitarist Robert Trujillo of Metallica, guitarists Zacky Vengeance & Synyster Gates and of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold.
In the recording studio, some lead singers record their own backing vocals by overdubbing with a multitrack recording system. A multitrack recording system enables the record producer to add many layers of recordings over top of each other. Using a multitrack system, a lead vocalist can record his or her own backing vocals, record the lead vocal part over top; some lead vocalists prefer this approach because the sound of their own harmonies will blend well with their main vocal. One famous example is Freddie Mercury of Queen singing the first part of "Bohemian Rhapsody" himself by overdubbing. Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, Tom DeLonge of Angels and Airwaves, Wednesday 13 in his own band and Murderdolls, Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran and Brad Delp of Boston recorded lead and backing vocals for their albums. With the exception of a few songs on each album, Dan Fogelberg, Eddie Rabbitt, David Bowie and Richard Marx sing all of the background vocals for their songs. Robert Smith of the Cure not only sings his own backing vocals in the studio, but doesn't perform with backing vocalists when playing live.
Many metalcore and some post-hardcore bands, such as As I Lay Dying, Haste the Day and Silverstein feature a main vocalist who performs using harsh vocals, whilst the backing vocalist sings harmonies during choruses to create a contrast. Some bands, such as Hawthorne Heights and Finch have the backing singers do harsh vocals to highlight specific lyrics. Pop and R&B vocalists such as Diana Ross, Ariana Grande, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Beyoncé Knowles, Faith Evans, D'Angelo, Mary J. Blige and Amerie have become known for not only recording their own backing vocals, but for arranging their own multi-tracked vocals and developing complex harmonies and arrangements; when they perform live, they may have backing vocalists. Some bands use backing vocals in order to contrast with the lead singer who may be performing an unusual vocal technique. For example, Brian "Head" Welch, the lead guitarist of the band Korn, performed backin
Cher
Cher is an American singer and actress. Referred to by the media as the Goddess of Pop, she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industry, she is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice and for having worked in numerous areas of entertainment, as well as adopting a variety of styles and appearances during her six-decade-long career. Cher gained popularity in 1965 as one-half of the folk rock husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher after their song "I Got You Babe" reached number one on the American and British charts. By the end of 1967, they had sold 40 million records worldwide and had become, according to Time magazine, rock's "it" couple, she began her solo career releasing in 1966 her first million-seller song, "Bang Bang". She became a television personality in the 1970s with her shows The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, watched by over 30 million viewers weekly during its three-year run, Cher, she emerged as a fashion trendsetter by wearing elaborate outfits on her television shows.
While working on television, Cher established herself as a solo artist with the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", "Half-Breed", "Dark Lady". After her divorce from Sonny Bono in 1975, she launched a comeback in 1979 with the disco album Take Me Home and earned $300,000 a week for her 1980–1982 concert residency in Las Vegas. In 1982, Cher made her Broadway debut in the play Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean and starred in its film adaptation, she subsequently received critical acclaim for her performances in films such as Silkwood, The Witches of Eastwick and Moonstruck, with the latter having earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress. She revived her musical career by recording the rock-inflected albums Cher, Heart of Stone and Love Hurts, all of which yielded successful singles such as "I Found Someone", "If I Could Turn Back Time" and "Love and Understanding". Cher reached a new commercial peak in 1998 with the dance-pop album Believe, whose title track became the biggest-selling single of all time by a female artist in the UK.
It features the pioneering use of Auto-Tune known as the "Cher effect". Her 2002–2005 Living Proof: The Farewell Tour became one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time, earning $250 million. In 2008, she signed a $180 million deal to headline the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for three years. In 2018, Cher returned to film for her first on-screen role since 2010's Burlesque, starring in the musical romantic comedy film Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Inspired by the film, the album Dancing Queen debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, tying with 2013's Closer to the Truth for Cher's highest-charting solo album in the U. S. Cher has won a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Cannes Film Festival Award, an award from the Kennedy Center Honors and the Council of Fashion Designers of America, among several other honors, she has sold 100 million records worldwide to date, becoming one of the best-selling music artists in history. She is the only artist to date to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart in six consecutive decades, from the 1960s to the 2010s.
Outside of her music and acting, she is noted for her political views, philanthropic endeavors, social activism, including LGBT rights and HIV/AIDS prevention. Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946, her father, John Sarkisian, was an Armenian-American truck driver with gambling problems. Cher's father was home when she was an infant, her parents divorced when Cher was ten months old, her mother married actor John Southall, with whom she had another daughter, Cher's half-sister. Now living in Los Angeles, Cher's mother began acting, she played minor roles in films and on television. Holt secured acting parts for her daughters as extras on television shows like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, her mother's relationship with Southall ended when Cher was nine years old, but she considers him her father and remembers him as a "good-natured man who turned belligerent when he drank too much". Holt remarried and divorced several more times, she moved her family around the country.
They had little money, Cher recounted having had to use rubber bands to hold her shoes together. At one point, her mother left Cher at an orphanage for several weeks. Although they met every day, both found the experience traumatic; when Cher was in fifth grade, she produced a performance of the musical Oklahoma! for her teacher and class. She organized a group of girls and choreographing their dance routines. Unable to convince boys to participate, she sang their songs. By age nine, she had developed an unusually low voice. Fascinated by film stars, Cher's role model was Audrey Hepburn due to her role in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. Cher began to take after behavior of Hepburn's character, she was disappointed by the absence of dark-haired Hollywood actresses. She had wanted to be famous since childhood but felt unattractive and untalented commenting, "I couldn't think of anything that I could do... I didn't think I'd be a dancer. I just thought, well; that was my goal."In 1961, Holt married bank manager Gilbert LaPiere, who adopte
Americans
Americans are nationals and citizens of the United States of America. Although nationals and citizens make up the majority of Americans, some dual citizens and permanent residents may claim American nationality; the United States is home to people of many different ethnic origins. As a result, American culture and law does not equate nationality with race or ethnicity, but with citizenship and permanent allegiance. English-speakers, speakers of many other languages use the term "American" to mean people of the United States; the word "American" can refer to people from the Americas in general. The majority of Americans or their ancestors immigrated to America or are descended from people who were brought as slaves within the past five centuries, with the exception of the Native American population and people from Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Philippine Islands, who became American through expansion of the country in the 19th century, additionally America expanded into American Samoa, the U. S. Virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands in the 20th century.
Despite its multi-ethnic composition, the culture of the United States held in common by most Americans can be referred to as mainstream American culture, a Western culture derived from the traditions of Northern and Western European colonists and immigrants. It includes influences of African-American culture. Westward expansion integrated the Creoles and Cajuns of Louisiana and the Hispanos of the Southwest and brought close contact with the culture of Mexico. Large-scale immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from Southern and Eastern Europe introduced a variety of elements. Immigration from Asia and Latin America has had impact. A cultural melting pot, or pluralistic salad bowl, describes the way in which generations of Americans have celebrated and exchanged distinctive cultural characteristics. In addition to the United States and people of American descent can be found internationally; as many as seven million Americans are estimated to be living abroad, make up the American diaspora.
The United States of America is a diverse country and ethnically. Six races are recognized by the U. S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes: White, American Indian and Alaska Native, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, people of two or more races. "Some other race" is an option in the census and other surveys. The United States Census Bureau classifies Americans as "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino", which identifies Hispanic and Latino Americans as a racially diverse ethnicity that comprises the largest minority group in the nation. People of European descent, or White Americans, constitute the majority of the 308 million people living in the United States, with 72.4% of the population in the 2010 United States Census. They are considered people who trace their ancestry to the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, North Africa. Of those reporting to be White American, 7,487,133 reported to be Multiracial. Additionally, there are Latinos.
Non-Hispanic Whites are the majority in 46 states. There are four minority-majority states: California, New Mexico, Hawaii. In addition, the District of Columbia has a non-white majority; the state with the highest percentage of non-Hispanic White Americans is Maine. The largest continental ancestral group of Americans are that of Europeans who have origins in any of the original peoples of Europe; this includes people via African, North American, Central American or South American and Oceanian nations that have a large European descended population. The Spanish were some of the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now the United States in 1565. Martín de Argüelles born 1566, San Agustín, La Florida a part of New Spain, was the first person of European descent born in what is now the United States. Twenty-one years Virginia Dare born 1587 Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina, was the first child born in the original Thirteen Colonies to English parents. In the 2017 American Community Survey, German Americans, Irish Americans, English Americans and Italian Americans were the four largest self-reported European ancestry groups in the United States forming 35.1% of the total population.
However, the English Americans and British Americans demography is considered a serious under-count as they tend to self-report and identify as "Americans" due to the length of time they have inhabited America. This is over-represented in the Upland South, a region, settled by the British. Overall, as the largest group, European Americans have the lowest poverty rate and the second highest educational attainment levels, median household income, median personal income of any racial demographic in the nation. According to the American Jewish Archives and the Arab American National Museum, some of the first Middle Easterners and North Africans arrived in the Americas between the late 15th and mid-16th centuries. Many were fleeing ethnic or ethnoreligious persecution during the Spanish Inquisition, a few were taken to the Americas as slaves. In 2014, The United States Census Bureau began finalizing the ethnic classification of MENA populations. According to the Arab American Institute, Arab
