Eilleen Regina Edwards, known by her stage name Shania Twain, was born on August 28, 1965 in Windsor, Ontario. She is the daughter of Clarence Edwards and his wife Sharon Morrison. Her parents divorced when she was two, and her mother then moved with Eileen and her sister Jill to Timmins, Ontario, where she married Jerry Twain. He adopted the girls, legally changing their last name to Twain. Shania Twain wrote her first songs at the age of ten. Early in 1990 she assembled a demo tape of her songs, and her manager set up a showcase for Shania Twain to present her material to record executives. She caught the attention of a few labels, including Mercury Nashville Records, who signed her within a few months. In 1993 she released her self titled debut album. Though not originally a hit it would later find success with her fans. In 1995 she released The Woman in Me. It spawned singles including the hit "The Woman in Me (Needs the Man in You)" and has gone platinum twelve times over. Since then she has released three more albums, Come On Over in 1997, The Complete Limelight Sessions in 2001 and Up! in 2002. Shania Twain has sold over 65 million albums worldwide to date including 48 million in the USA alone.
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T.I. is the stage name of rapper Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. He was born on September 25, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was raised by his grandparents and delt drugs as a teenager. T.I. released his debut album "I’m Serious" through Arista Records on October 9, 2001. The album features guests Pharrell of The Neptunes, Too Short, YoungBloodZ, Pastor Troy, Bone Crusher and Lil Jon. It has since sold around 268,000 copies. T.I.’s second album was entitled Trap Muzik and it debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 selling 103,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold well over 1 million copies since it’s release. He then released his third album, Urban Legend. In the first week it sold 193,000 copies and spawned the cross-over single "Bring Em Out." It has been certified as Platinum by RIAA. T.I. has since released three more albums, King in 2006, T.I. vs. T.I.P. in 2007 and Paper Trail in 2008. In 2006 T.I. starred in his first film, ATL. T.I. played the character Rashad Swann, an orphaned 17-year-old senior in high school. T.I. also appeared in American Gangster with fellow rappers Common and RZA and was featured on the sound track. He has also appeared in the 2009 movie Fast & Furious 4.
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Colbie Caillat was born Colbie Marie Ashley Caillat on May 28, 1985 in Newbury Park, California. Her father, Ken Caillat, co-produced Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Tusk albums. In 2007, Colbie Caillat released her debut album, Coco. The album debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number five, selling about 51,000 copies in its first week. As of April 29, 2009 the album has sold 1,916,000 copies in the U.S and has since been certified platinum. Despite not having been released as a single yet, the track "Midnight Bottle" is featured on the Brazilian soap opera Tręs Irmăs soundtrack and is receiving national airplay. It has also spawned the single "Bubbly". Bubbly" spent a staggering 14 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Top 40 chart and four weeks atop the Adult Contemporary chart. "Bubbly" has also been certified platinum; signaling sales of more than 2.6 million downloads. After touring with The Goo Goo Dolls and Lifehouse in 2007, she was the supporting act for John Mayer on his 2008 Summer Tour. In August 2008, Caillat released a song and video for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics called "Somethin’ Special" and released another music video for her song "The Little Things" for the U.S. market. According to the website earthtimes.org, Colbie Caillat has a new album entitled "Breakthrough" set for release on August 25, 2009.
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Keith Urban was born on October 26, 1967 in Whangarei, New Zealand. By age seven, Urban was already thinking about getting into the music business. He began learning the techniques at age six and began winning young singing contests by age eight. In 1990, Urban signed with EMI in Australia and recorded his first self titled solo album in 1991. It was released only in Australia in 1991. It was later released worldwide in 2005. After an eight year hiatus, he released his second studio album also entitled Keith Urban in 1999. Certified platinum in the United States, the album was Urban’s breakthrough album in that country. Keith Urban produced four singles for Urban on the Billboard country charts, "It’s a Love Thing", "Your Everything", "But for the Grace of God" and "Where the Blacktop Ends". In 2002, he released Golden Road. It peaked at #2 in the Billboard Hot Country Albums chart, and spent 108 weeks on the chart. It also reached #11 on the Billboard 200. The album produced four singles on the Hot Country Songs charts. These were "Somebody Like You", "Raining on Sunday", "Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me", and "You’ll Think of Me". Keith Urban has since released three more albums. He has charted more than fifteen singles on the U.S. country charts, including ten Number Ones.
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Ja Rule is the stage and professional name of American rapper Jeffrey Atkins. He was born on February 29, 1976 in Queens, New York. He was raised as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses by his mother, health care worker Debra Atkins. Ja Rule began his rap career in 1994 with the Cash Money Click. His debut album Venni Vetti Vecci was released in 1999. Singles included "Holla Holla" and "It’s Murda" with Jay-Z and DMX. The final single was "Daddy’s Little Baby", a duet with Ronald Isley. Venni Vetti Vecci was certified platinum by the RIAA on July 12, 1999. In 2000, Ja Rule released his sophomore album, Rule 3:36. The album peaked at number one on both the Billboard 200 and the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album Charts. Ja Rule has since gone on to release five more albums and fifteen singles. In July 2007, Ja Rule was arrested for gun and drug possession charges along with Lil Wayne. In 2009, Ja Rule recorded a brand new song with Brazilian singer Wanessa Camargo in two different versions, with Camargo singing in Portuguese in the version named "Meu Momento" and singing in English in the version named "Fly".
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Jennifer Hudson was born in Chicago, Illinois on Setpember 12, 1981. She is daughter of Darnell Donerson and Samuel Simpson, both of whom are now deceased. She was raised as a Baptist[4] and attended Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, which she graduated from in 1999. Jennifer Hudson auditioned for the third season of American Idol, in Atlanta, Georgia. She struggled to gain popularity in the early stages of Idol’s live shows, receiving the second-lowest number of votes in two of the first three shows. However, after a change in song choices, she soon became a favorite to win, receiving the highest number of votes in the "Top 9" after her performance of Elton John’s "Circle of Life," on April 6, 2004. On April 21, 2004 she was voted off of the show finishing the competition in seventh place. In November 2005, Jennifer Hudson was cast in the role of Effie White for the film adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls. He co-stars included Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles and Eddie Murphy. She won various awards for her role, including a Golden Globe Award as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Jennifer Hudson has also appeared in the movie Sex and the City, as Louise, Carrie Bradshaw’s assistant and The Secret Life of Bees as "Rosaleen. In September of 2008 she released her self titled debut album. The album debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with first week sales of almost a quarter million and was eventually certified gold by the RIAA for nearly 600,000 sold copies.
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Nas is the mononym of Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones. He was born on September 14, 1973 in Queensbridge, New York. He is the son of jazz musician Olu Dara and postal worker Fannie Ann Jones. In 1994, Nas released his debut album Illmatic through Columbia Records. Upon its release the album debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number 12, while selling 59,000 copies in its first week of release. In spite of initial low sales, Illmatic received positive reviews from several music critics and publications. As the album’s reputation grew, copies continued to sell, and on January 17, 1996, the album was certified gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and in 2001, the album was certified platinum. Nas’ sophomore album was entitled "It Was Written" and was released in 1996. It’s Nas’ best selling album and nn September 9, 1996, the album was certified multi-platinum. Since then he has released seven albums. He has also acted in several movies such as 1998’s Belly and 2001’s Ticker. He has also worked on several collaboration albums such as From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes, The Lost Tapes and Greatest Hits.
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Relient K is an American rock band formed in Canton, Ohio in 1998. It members include Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, John Warne, Jon Schneck and Ethan Luck. After Relient K was founded by Matt Theissen, Matt Hoopes and Brian Pittman in 1998[6] Todd Frascone joined for a short time in 1998 as a drummer. However Frascone left the band after recording first demo, All Work and No Play. The demo was recorded by Mark Lee Townsend, the former live guitar player for dc Talk. All Work and No Play caught the attention of dc Talk’s Toby McKeehan (tobyMac), who later signed the band to his label, Gotee Records. With the label Relient K released their debut EP entitled 2000 A.D.D. in 2000, with Stephen Cushman on drums. Soon after, they released Relient K, their first full-length CD. The band released their second album, The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek, in 2001. It peaked at #158 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales in excess of 500,000 units in the United States. Relient K has since released four more albums. In early 2009, the band began to write music for an album to be released later in 2009.
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Amy Winehouse was born on September 14,1983 in Enfield, London. At the age of nine, her grandmother, Cynthia, suggested she attend the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School for further training. She stayed at the Earnshaw school for four years before seeking full time training at Sylvia Young Theatre School, but was allegedly expelled at fourteen for piercing her nose. It was also at this age she started writing music and playing around with her brothers guitar. Her boyfriend at the time, soul singer Tyler James, sent her demo tape to an A&R person at Island/Universal, which led to her signing with the label. In October 2003, Amy Winehouse released her debut album, Frank. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 60 before climbing to number thirteen in January 2004. It has since been certified double platinum for shipment of more than 600,000 copies. In 2005, Amy Winehouse went through a period of drinking, heavy drug use and violent mood swings. She appeared to get better in the fall of that year as she was working on her second album Back To Black.Back to Black received universal critical acclaim and has been praised for its classic soul style. At the 50th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, Back to Black won five awards including Best Pop Vocal Album and Record of the Year. The hit single "Rehab" off of the album won for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Song of the Year. Amy Winehouse also won the Best New Artist Award. To date, Back To Black has sold over 11 million copies.
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Dido is the stage name of Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O’Malley Armstrong. She was born on December 25, 1971 in London, England. Because she was born on Christmas Day, she celebrates an "official birthday" on 25 June, following the example of Paddington Bear. Dido was educated at Thornhill Primary, Dallington, City of London Girls’ and Westminster School. After she stole a recorder from school at age five, her parents enrolled her at the Guildhall School of Music in London, England. She later studied law at Birkbeck, University of London, while working as a literary agent. She never completed the degree, deciding instead to take up music full-time. After learning the guitar, she showcased her skills to audiences during her 2004 Life for Rent tour. In 1999, Dido released her debut album, No Angel. The album would find success a year later and it went on to achieve sales in excess of over fifteen million copies worldwide. In 2003, Dido would release her sophomore album, Life For Rent. It would peak at number four on the Billboard 200 and has since shipped two million copies to date. Her final album, Safe Trip Home was released in 2008. It peaked at number six on the Australian Albums Chart.
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