Martina McBride was born on July 29, 1966 in Medicine Lodge, Kansas. She was raised in nearby Sharon, Kansas, a small town that consisted of about 200 people. Her father, who was a farmer and cabinetry shop owner. He exposed Martina McBride to country music at a very young age. Around age 8 or 9, Martina McBride began singing with a band her father fronted called, "The Schiffters." As she grew older her role in the band progressively increased, from simply singing, to also playing keyboard with them. Martina McBride released her debut studio album through the RCA label in 1992, titled, The Time Has Come. The album rose to the #49 position on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. It includes the singles "The Time Has Come", "Cheap Whiskey", and "That’s Me", all of which charted on the Billboard country charts. Then in 1993, she released her sophomore album, The Way That I Am. This was her breakthrough album, producing her first Top 5 hit in "My Baby Loves Me". She then went to release nine more albums. Seven of her studio albums and two of her compilations have received an RIAA certification of "Gold," or higher. Worldwide, she has sold over 16 million albums.
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Carrie Underwood was born to Stephen and Carole Underwood in Muskogee, Oklahoma on March 10, 1983. In 1996, she was in the process of getting a contract with Capitol Records, but the deal was canceled when the recording company’s management changed. Carrie Underwood auditioned for American Idol in St. Louis in the summer of 2004. On May 25, 2005 Carrie Underwood was declared the winner of American Idol Season 4. On November 15, 2005 she released her debut album entitled Some Hearts. Since it’s release it has been certified seven times platinum in the U.S. (RIAA) and three times platinum in Canada (CRIA). On December 4, 2006, Some Hearts was named the number-one selling album of the year of all genres at the Billboard Music Awards. On October 23, 2007, she released her second album, Carnival Ride. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 Chart selling 527,000 copies, giving Underwood her first number one album. She performed "I Know You Won’t" at the People’s Choice Awards on January 7, 2009, where she won in all her nominated categories – Favorite Female Artist, a special award celebrating People’s Choice Awards’ 35th anniversary which is Favorite Star 35 and Under, and Favorite Country Song for "Last Name".
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Natasha Bedingfield is a songwriter and pop singer that was born in London, England on November 26,1981. She has three siblings; brothers Daniel and Joshua, and younger sister Nikola. Her interest in music was encouraged by her parents and she took guitar and piano lessons when she was younger. When Natasha Bedingfield was a teenager, she and her siblings, Daniel and Nikola, formed the dance/electronic group, The DNA Algorithm. The DNA Algorithm performed at several Christian music festivals before disbanding. Natasha Bedingfield then attended a year at the University of Greenwich, where she studied psychology. After a year of studying psychology, she left the university to concentrate on singing and songwriting. She began to record demos in the garages of friends who had recording studios. She eventually took these demos to record companies. In 2003, she signed a recording contract with BMG UK & Ireland in 2003. Her debut album, Unwritten, was released in the UK on September 6, 2004, where it debuted at number one, and in the U.S. on August 2, 2005, where it debuted at number twenty-six. It spawned the singles, "Single", "These Words", "Unwritten", "I Bruise Easily" and "The One That Got Away". Natasha Bedingfield has since released two more albums, "N.B." in 2007 and "Pocketful of Sunshine " in 2008.
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The Goo Goo Dolls are a rock band that formed in 1985 in Buffalo, New York by John Rzeznik and Robby Takac. The band released their first album, Goo Goo Dolls in 1987 on Mercenary Records, but was picked up in 1988 by Celluloid Records, a larger record company. The band released its second album, Jed, in 1989 after moving to Los Angeles. The Goo Goo Dolls released its third album, Hold Me Up in 1990. It features their first single, "There You Are", which became their first music video as well. Then in 1993, they released Superstar Car Wash. In 1995 they released A Boy Named Goo, but they wouldn’t find mainstream success until they released the album Dizzy Up the Girl. It spawned several hit singles which include "Iris", "Slide", "Broadway" and "Black Balloon". Along with top forty single status, music videos for all five singles reached VH1′s Top 20 Music Videos chart upon release. The album has since gone triple platinum. The Goo Goo Dolls have since released two more albums which include "Gutterflower" in 2002 and "Let Love In" in 2006. On July 2, 2008, the Goo Goo Dolls released a new single called "Real" to select iTunes stores.
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Trace Adkins was born on January 13, 1962 in Springhill, Louisiana, the son of Peggy and Aaron Adkins. In high school, he joined a gospel music group called the New Commitments. Trace Adkins then moved on to playing in honky tonk bars around Nashville, Tennessee in the early 1990s. An executive of Capitol Records spotted Trace Adkins playing at a honky tonk, and soon signed him to the label. His first single, "There’s a Girl in Texas", was released in 1996, reaching the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. It was followed by the release of his debut album, Dreamin’ Out Loud, later that year. The album produced several hit singles, including his first Top 5 single, "Every Light in the House", his first Number One in "(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing", and another Top 5 hit in "I Left Something Turned on at Home". Trace Adkins has since released seven more studio albums, three compilation albums and twenty-seven Top 40 singles. Of his eight studio albums, six have been certified by the RIAA. His first Greatest Hits package, Greatest Hits Collection, Vol. 1, is certified platinum, and the second, American Man: Greatest Hits Volume II is certified gold.
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Estelle is the stage name of Estelle Fanta Swaray born on January 18, 1980 in Hammersmith, West London, England. In 2004 she broke into the charts with "1980" and "Free" and won a Mobo Award for Best Newcomer. "Free" was written with and produced by Jimmy Hogarth. Her first album,The 18th Day charted at number 35 in the UK Albums Chart. In 2008, Estelle broke into international success with her collaboration with Kanye West, titled "American Boy". This song reached the top 10 in many countries worldwide, including the United States and Canada, as well as achieving number-one status on the UK Singles Chart and in Belgium and Israel. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, as well as being nominated for Song of the Year and many other awards worldwide. "American Boy" was #7 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008. Shine was released following the single on John Legend’s HomeSchool label, reaching the albums chart in most countries worldwide, including number six in the UK. Shine sold enough copies to be certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry, and was shortlisted for the prestigious 2008 Mercury Music Prize.
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Paramore is a band that was formed in 2004 in Franklin, Tennessee. It consist of five members, Hayley Williams-lead vocals and keyboard, Josh Farro-led guitar, Jeremy Davis-bass guitar, Taylor York-rythm guitar and Zac Farro-drums and percussion. In 2002, at the age of 13, vocalist,Hayley Williams moved from her hometown Meridian, Mississippi to Franklin, Tennessee where she met two brothers Josh and Zac Farro while she was attending a private school. The band’s first song written together was "Conspiracy", which was later used on their debut album. In September of 2005 they released their debut album entitled All We Know Is Falling. Although failing to chart on the Billboard 200, the album has reached number eight on the U.K Rock Chart. In June of 2007, Paramore released their sophomore album, Riot!. The album was certified platinum in July 2008 by the RIAA in the U.S. and went gold in the U.K. Paramore’s second album spawned four singles, That’s What You Get, Hallelujah, Misery Business and Crushcrushcrush. Paramore has been nominated and have won several awards including MTV Video Music Brasil Award For Best International Artist, Teen Choice Awards For Best Rock Track and the Shockwaves NME Awards 2009 For Sexiest Female In A Rock Group.
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Nirvana was formed in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987 by singer Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting being Dave Grohl, who joined the band in 1990. On June 15, 1989 through the independent record label Sub Pop, Nirvana released it’s debut album, Bleach. It originally faired poorly, only selling 30,000 copies but the success of their second studio album caused fans to rediscover it. It has since been certified platinum by the RIAA. Nirvana’s second album, Nevermind was released in 1991. The album has been certified ten times platinum and released a number of singles including Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium and Polly. Nirvana subsequently released Incesticide in 1992 and In Utero in 1993. Both albums were certified multiple platinum by the RIAA. Nirvana has sold over 50 million records worldwide,with 25 million records sold in the U.S. alone. Nirvana’s brief run ended with Kurt Cobain’s death in April 1994, when he was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head at his Seattle home. Several Nirvana albums have been released since Kurt Cobain’s death. The first came in November 1994 with the release of the band’s performance for MTV Unplugged, MTV Unplugged in New York. Two weeks after the release of Unplugged in New York, a video compilation of Nirvana performances, titled Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!, was released.
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