Anastacia is the stage name of American singer & songwriter Anastacia Lyn Newkirk. She was born on September 17, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois to Robert Newkirk and Diane Hurley. Anastacia soon became interested in dance despite being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when she was thirteen. She first gained prominence stealing the show from D. L. Hughley while he was hosting BET’s Comic View, singing Oleta Adams’ "Get Here" in 1992. During the early 1990s, she appeared regularly on Club MTV and in a couple of videos for the female hip hop group Salt-n-Pepa. In 1999, she attracted the interest of record labels after making the finals of MTV talent show The Cut. Anastacia signed a contract with Daylight Records, a custom label of Sony BMG’s Epic Records in March 1999. On March 27, 2001, she released her debut album, Not That Kind. While the album only reached number one hundred and sixty-eight on the U.S. Billboard 200, it entered the top five and the top ten on the majority of the charts in Europe. Anastacia has since released three more albums which include Freak of Nature in 2001, Anastacia in 2004 and her recent album, Heavy Rotation in 2008.
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JoJo is the stage name of Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque. She was born on December 20, 1990 in Brattleboro, Vermont, and raised in Keene, New Hampshire. At the age of seven, JoJo appeared on the television comedy show, "Kids Say the Darndest Things: On the Road in Boston" with American comedian and actor Bill Cosby and she sang a song from singer Cher. After auditioning in the television show Destination Stardom, JoJo sang Aretha Franklin’s 1967 hit Respect & Chain of Fools. Soon after, she performed on Maury and performed. In 2003 JoJo has signed with Blackground Records/Da Family and begin working with some producers on her first debut album entitled JoJo. The album debuted and peaked at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart selling 95,000 copies in its first week. It spawned three hit singles, Leave (Get Out), Baby It’s You and Not That Kinda Girl. It was certified platinum by the RIAA on November 15, 2004. On October 17, 2006, JoJo released her second studio album, The High Road. It debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on November 28, 2006. JoJo’s latest studio album is All I Want Is Everything which was released in 2009.
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Shaggy is the stage name of Orville Richard Burrell. He was born in Kingston, Jamaica on October 22, 1968. His family moved to the United States from Jamaica and they settled in the neighborhood of Flatbush, Brooklyn, a borough in New York City. Shaggy joined the United States Marine Corps as a Field Artillery Cannon Crewman with 5th Battalion, 10th Marines in 1988. While enlisted in the Marines he served during Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War. It was during this time that Shaggy perfected his signature singing voice, breaking the constant monotony of running and marching cadences with his flair for inflection. It is also where he got the inspiration for his song "Mr. Boombastic". Upon his return from the Arabian Gulf, Shaggy decided to go for a music career. In 1993, he hit it big with the song, "Oh Carolina". It was the first of Shaggy’s four UK number one singles spending two weeks at the top in March 1993. The song didn’t do as well in the U.S., peaking at number fifty nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He had further big hits, including "Boombastic" in 1995, the theme tune of a popular Levi’s commercial. Shaggy has released nine albums, three of which have gone platinum.
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Better known by her stage name Katy Perry, Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson was born on October 25, 1984 in Santa Barbara, California. The middle child of two pastors, she has an older sister and younger brother. Baptized a born again Christian, Katy Perry was incorporated to her parents’ ministry, and she started singing in their church from age nine to sixteen. At age 15 she was brought to Nashville, Tennessee by country music veterans to polish her song writing skills. She signed to the Christian music label Red Hill, under which she recorded her first album which was released in 2002 and entitled Katy Hudson. It was named after her legal name which she later changed due to the fame of actress Kate Hudson. On June 17, 2008, she released her breakthrough album, One of the Boys. The album features the hit singles "I Kissed a Girl", which reached number one on the Billboard 100 and "Hot N Cold". The album has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. Perry’s songs, particularly "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl", have generated controversies upon their release. On May 16, 2009, Perry performed at the opening ceremony of the annual Life Ball in Vienna, Austria.
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Brooke Hogan is the stage name of Brooke Ellen Bollea who was born on May 5, 1988 in Tampa, Florida. She is the oldest child of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and his ex-wife, Linda Bollea. She appeared on the reality-television series Hogan Knows Best, which focused on her family, and which premiered on July 10, 2005 on VH1. She has also starred in a spin-off reality series called Brooke Knows Best which focuses on her life now independent from her parents and living with two roommates. Brooke Hogan was signed to Trans Continental Records in 2002 and her first song in the United States singles charts was "Everything to Me". Produced and written by Shep Goodman and Kenny Gioia as part of her album This Voice. The single appeared at #97 on the Billboard Hot 100, but within the next two weeks it sank off the charts. Due to the failed single, all plans were canceled and Brooke Hogan’s debut album never got its official release. Then in 2005 she recorded her next album, Undiscovered. It was released on October 24, 2006, and has sold a total of 127,000 copies. Brooke Hogan is currently scheduled to release her third album entitled "The Redemption" in the summer of 2009.
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Bryan Adams was born on November 5, 1959 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. In 1978, at the age of 18, Adams sent a few demo recordings to A&M Records in Toronto, who later signed him. His self-titled debut album was released in February 1980. It spawned two singles, ”Hidin’ From Love" and ”Give Me Your Love”. In 1981 Bryan Adams released his second album, You Want It You Got It. The album was well received but his big breakthough album wouldn’t be released until 1983. That album was entitled Cuts Like a Knife. The album peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 and it spawned three hit singles, "Straight from the Heart", "This Time" and "Cuts Like a Knife". Bryan Adams has since released 8 studio albums, 3 live albums and 3 compilation albums. has been nominated for several Grammy Awards; and was first nominated at the 28th Grammy Awards for Reckless and "It’s Only Love" and won the Grammy and in 1992 won the award for "Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media". In April 2006, Bryan Adams was inducted into the Music Hall of Fame at Canada’s Juno Awards. He was nominated for his fifth Golden Globe in 2007 for songwriting on the film Bobby which was sung by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige, and has been nominated three times for Academy Awards for writing music in film.
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