John Legend is the stage name of John Stephens. He was born on December 28, 1978 in Springfield, Ohio. He is the son of a seamstress and a factory worker who spent two years in the National Guard. Legend has three siblings: an older brother, Ronald Stephens II; a younger brother, Vaughn Anthony; and a younger sister, Missy Stephens. He is the son of a seamstress and a factory worker who spent two years in the National Guard. Legend has three siblings: an older brother, Ronald Stephens II; a younger brother, Vaughn Anthony; and a younger sister, Missy Stephens. In late 2004, John Legend released his debut album, Get Lifted. It was released through the GOOD Music label on December 28, 2004. The album sold over three million units worldwide, with a total of 1.8 million copies in the U.S., where it was certified platinum. The album won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, and earned Legend another two awards for Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the hit single "Ordinary People". In 2006 John Legend released his second album, Once Again. Singles from the album include "Save Room", "Heaven", "P.D.A. (We Just Don’t Care)", "Stereo", "Another Again", "Slow Dance", "Show Me" and "Each Day Gets Better". Once Again has since sold over one million copies. His latest album, Evolver, was released in 2008. The album debuted at number 4 on the U.S. Billboard 200.
|
Jim Jones was born Joseph Guillermo Jones II on July 15, 1976. Jim Jones was born in The Bronx to a Puerto Rican father and a Aruban mother and grew up in Harlem. As a young boy he used to skate which inspired him to create Dip Skate, his skate team. Later Jones would join the 9 Trey Bloods gang. On August 24, 2004 Jim Jones released his debut album, On My Way to Church. It met with moderate success, peaking at number eighteen on the Billboard 200 and number four on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums charts. Jim Jones then capitalized on his debut album’s success with the release of his second studio album, Harlem: Diary of a Summer, on August 23, 2005. The album was released in three configurations including a DualDisc version which features the entire new album in LPCM Stereo, a brand-new Jim Jones documentary plus uncensored versions of some of his biggest videos. The album debuted and peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 with 75,652 copies sold in the first week of release. The first single from Harlem: Diary of a Summer is "Baby Girl". The single didn’t chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but it did manage to peak at #58 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. Jim Jones has since released two more studio albums as well as starring in several films which include "State Property 2" and "Righteous Kill".
|
Janet Jackson was born on May 16, 1966 in Gary, Indiana but raised in Los Angeles, California. She was the youngest of nine children born to Katherine Scruse and Joseph Jackson. By the time she was a toddler, her five older brothers, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael were performing music at nightclubs and theaters as The Jackson 5. ? late 1980 she joined the cast of Diff’rent Strokes, portraying Charlene Duprey from 1981 to 1982. At age sixteen in 1982, Jackson signed a recording contract with A&M, releasing her self-titled debut album the same year. The album peaked at number sixty-three on the Billboard 200. She followed that with the 1984 release of Dream Street. In 1986, she released her breakthrough album Control. Control peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 album charts and earned a nomination for the 1987 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It also produced five hit singles. Since Control Janet Jackson has released seven studio albums. She is ranked by Billboard magazine as one of the top ten best-selling music artists in the history of contemporary music, having sold over 100 million albums worldwide and RIAA lists her as the eleventh best-selling female artist in the United States, with 26 million certified albums.
|
Within Temptation is a Dutch rock band formed in 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. The band also features members Ruud Adrianus Jolie, Jeroen van Veen, Stephen van Haestregt and Martijn Spierenburg. They were offered a recording contract and signed to DSFA Records the year that they formed and started work on their first release. In 1997, Within Temptation released their debut album, Enter. The band rounded out 1997 by embarking on their first international tour, of Germany and Austria. On December 4, 2000 the band released their second studio album, Mother Earth. It spawned the the single "Ice Queen" which reached the number two spot on the charts and made Within Temptation a household name. Since then, the band won the Conamus Exportprijs five years in a row. Their next album The Silent Force debuted at #1 on the Dutch charts, as did their latest, The Heart of Everything. In 2008 they released a live DVD/CD, Black Symphony, recorded with the Metropole Orchestra. Within Temptation has received several awards which include the Edison Award For Best Band in 2005, the Buma Culture Export Prize 2006 and the 3FM Award for Best Rock Artist in 2007.
|
Alan Jackson was born in Newnan, Georgia on October 17, 1958. Alan Jackson was born to Eugene Jackson and Ruth Musick and has four sisters, whom are all older than him. As a youth, Jackson primarily listened to gospel music, and otherwise was not a major music fan. However, a friend of his introduced him to the music of Gene Watson, John Anderson and Hank Williams Jr. Jackson started a band after high school. After a time, he and his beautiful wife of six years, Denise, moved from Newnan to Nashville hoping to pursue music full-time. In 1989 he released his debut album, Here in the Real World. It produced five singles: "Blue Blooded Woman", "Here in the Real World", "Wanted", "Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow", and "I’d Love You All Over Again", Jackson’s first number one hit. Alan Jackson has since gone on to release fourteen more albums, with his latest being Good Time. Good Time has produced four singles on the country singles charts. The first two of these "Small Town Southern Man", the title track, and "Country Boy" have all become Number One hits. Out of Alan Jackson’s fifty-six singles, fifty-five have reached Top 40 or higher on the Billboard country singles charts, including twenty-six number one hits.
|
Josh Turner was born Nov. 20, 1977, and was raised in Hannah, S.C. Growing up in the church, he found himself singing the bass and baritone parts in numerous choirs. After high school, he moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music and enrolled in Belmont University. After college, his fledgling career got a boost on Dec. 21, 2001, during his debut on the Grand Ole Opry, when he debuted a song he wrote titled "Long Black Train." He received a standing ovation in the middle of the song, then sang it again for an encore.
|
The Killers was formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2002. It consist of Brandon Flowers on vocals and keyboard, Dave Keuning on guitar, Mark Stoermer on bass and Ronnie Vannucci Jr on drums and percussion. The Killers played at small clubs in Las Vegas, Nevada. With the band’s lineup stable and its repertoire of songs expanding, the band attracted the attention of Alex Gilbert, a British representative for Warner Bros. Though Warner Bros did not like the band, he took the demo back with him, showing it to friend Ben Durling, who worked at UK indie label Lizard King. The Killers were then signed to the label and in June 2004 released their debut album entitled Hot Fuss. The album reached #1 in both the UK and Australia and was certified triple platinum in Canada. Singles from the album include, in order released, "Somebody Told Me", "Mr. Brightside", "All These Things That I’ve Done" and "Smile Like You Mean It". It has been nominated for five Grammys and has achieved worldwide sales of more than six million units. In 2006 they released their second album "Sam’s Town". It spawned the singles, "When You Were Young", "Read My Mind" and "For Reasons Unknown". In the US, the album opened at #2, selling 315,000 in its first week and went straight to #1 in the UK selling over 260,000 in a week. Riding the success of their two previous albums, The Killers released Day & Age in 2008. The album debuted at number one in the UK and at number six in the United Kingdom. It has since gone platinum in Australia and New Zealand and has gone gold in the United States.
|
Green Day is an American rock trio consisting of Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass guitar, vocals), and Tre Cool (drums, percussion). The band was formed in 1987. The band adopted the name Green Day, allegedly due to their fondness for the drug marijuana. Green Day released it’s debut album, 39/Smooth in 1990 on Lookout! Records but it wasn’t a commercial success and most fans rate is as being only average. On January 17, 1992, the band released Kerplunk!. The album went on to become one of the bestselling independent albums ever and Green Day realised that they had outgrown the independent label and eventually signed with Reprise Records. Under Reprise Records they released Dookie on February 1, 1994. It would go on and become a worldwide commercial success, reaching number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 and charting in seven countries. Since then Green Day has gone on to release five more albums, Insomniac (1995), Nimrod (1997), Warning (2000), American Idiot (2004) and 21st Century Breakdown (2009) . Since it’s inception Green Day has sold over 22 million records in the United States. They have also won three Grammy Awards, Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot, and Record of the Year for Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
|
Sting is the stage name of Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner. He was born on October 2, 1951 in Wallsend, England. In January 1977, Sting moved from Newcastle to London, and soon thereafter he joined Stewart Copeland and Henry Padovani (who was soon replaced by Andy Summers) to form the New Wave band The Police. Between 1978 and 1983, they released five chart-topping albums and won six Grammy Awards. On June 1,1985 Sting released his debut The Dream of the Blue Turtles. It also includes Sting’s first hit after The Police, "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free"; a jazzed-up reworking of The Police song "Shadows in the Rain"; and a song inspired by Anne Rice’s book Interview with the Vampire, "Moon over Bourbon Street". Sting has since released seven albums which include Nothing Like the Sun, The Soul Cages, Ten Summoner’s Tales, Mercury Falling, Brand New Day and Songs from the Labyrinth. His albums have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Sting has received sixteen Grammy Awards for his work, receiving his first Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1981, and receiving an Oscar nomination for best song.
|
Weezer was formed in 1992 in Los Angeles, California. The band consisted of Rivers Cuomo on lead vocals and guitar, Patrick Wilson on drums, Matt Sharp on bass, and Jason Cropper on guitar. Cropper was later replaced by Brian Bell. Matt Sharp was subsequently replaced by Mikey Welsh who was later replaced with Scott Shriner. Weezer’s first gig was opening for Keanu Reeves’ band Dogstar. Weezer recorded their self titleddebut album with producer Ric Ocasek at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. As of December 2007, the album had sold 3,146,000 copies in the United States where it peaked at number 16. It is currently certified triple-platinum, making it Weezer’s best selling album. It has also sold over 200,000 copies in Canada where it has been certified double-platinum. Weezer has since released five more studio albums, with their latest being entitled "Weezer". The first single from the album, "Pork and Beans" spent 11 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. This made the song the fastest rising song ever for the group as the song hit number one after only three weeks on the chart. The second single from the album, "Troublemaker", debuted at number 39 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. Weezer has sold more than eight million records in the US to date.
|
