Def Leppard was formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement in Sheffield, England. Rick Savage (bass), Pete Willis (guitar), and Tony Kenning (drums), all students at Tapton School in Sheffield, formed a band called Atomic Mass in 1977. Following a chance meeting with Willis after missing a bus, 18-year old Joe Elliott tried out for the band as a guitarist. During his audition, however, it was decided that he was better suited to be the lead singer. Soon afterward they adopted a name proposed by Elliott, "Deaf Leopard", which was originally a band name he thought up while writing reviews for imaginary rock bands in his English class. At Kenning’s suggestion, the spelling was slightly modified in order to make the name seem less like that of a punk band and perhaps also as an indirect homage to Led Zeppelin. In 1980 Def Leppard released it’s debut album, On Through the Night. Then on July 11, 1981 they released High ‘n’ Dry. Its title song "High ‘n’ Dry" made #33 on VH1’s 40 Greatest Metal Songs and was a moderate success. But, it wasn’t until their 1983 release, Pyromania that the band would find super stardom. It broke the band across North America and in Japan, and would sell over 10 million copies in the US alone. It featured new guitarist Phil Collen and was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Def Leppard has since released eight more studio albums and have enjoyed record sales in excess of sixty-five million units.
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Brad Paisley was born on October 28, 1972 in Glen Dale, West Virginia. Brad Paisley graduated from John Marshall High School in Glen Dale, West Virginia, studied briefly at West Liberty State College (WV), and later was awarded a full-paid ASCAP scholarship to Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee (from 1993 to 1995). While in college, he met Frank Rogers, a fellow student who went on to serve as his producer. Paisley also met Kelley Lovelace, who became his songwriting partner. After graduating from Belmont, Brad Paisley signed a songwriting contract with EMI Music Publishing and he wrote David Kersh’s top 5 hit "Another You", as well as David Ball’s 1999 single "Watching My Baby Not Come Back". In 1999, he released his debut album, Who Needs Pictures. It features four singles, "Me Neither", "Who Needs Pictures", "He Didn’t Have to Be" and "We Danced". All of which became hit singles. Brad Paisley has since released seven albums. All of his albums certified gold or higher by the RIAA. In addition, he has charted twenty-three singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, fourteen of which have reached Number One. His style crosses between traditional country and pop-rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references.
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Prince is the stage name of Prince Rogers Nelson born on June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was born to pianist John L. Nelson and jazz singer Matti Shaw. He was named after his father, whose stage name was Prince Rogers, and who performed with a jazz group called the Prince Rogers Trio. On April 7, 1978 he released his debut album For You. It originally only sold 150,000 copies in the U.S. and 430,000 copies worldwide but with his latter success would eventually go on to sell almost a million copies. Between 1979 and 1981 he released three albums but his breakthrough album would come in 1982 with the studio release entitled 1999. It was his first top ten album on the Billboard 200 charts in the United States (peaking at number nine) and became the fifth best-selling album of 1983. Prince released his sixth album and his best selling through Warner Brothers in 1984. It was titled Purple Rain and it has gone platinum thirteen times over. Since the start of his career, Prince has won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award. He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the first year he was eligible in 2004.
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Better known as Enrique Iglesias, Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler was born on May 8, 1975 in Madrid, Spain. He has dual citizenship in Spain and Maltese. He is the son of singer Julio Iglesias and philipina socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. In 1995, he released his self titled debut album, Enrique Iglesias. The album has sold more than five million copies worldwide and spawned five hit singles which include Si Tú Te Vas, Experiencia Religiosa, Por Amarte, No Llores Por Mí and Trapecista. In 1997 he released his sophomore album, Vivir. The album has since been certified platinum. On the success of Vivir, Enrique Iglesias released Cosas del Amor, which peaked at number 64 on the Billboard charts. In 1999 he released his debut English album entitled simply Enrique. The album debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 album chart and would go on to be certified Platinum in the United States. The album was a success in Canada too, where it became 8 times Platinum and in Spain 10 times Platinum. Enrique Iglesias has sold over 60 million albums worldwide and holds the record for producing 19 number #1 Spanish-language singles on the Billboard’s Hot Latin Tracks.
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Toni Braxton is an American R&B singer that was born on October 7, 1967 in Severn, Maryland. Toni Braxton’s first performing experience was singing in her church choir. She then attended Bowie State University to obtain a teaching degree but decided to sing professionally after she was discovered by William E. Pettaway Jr. who heard her singing to herself while pumping gas. On July 13, 1993, LaFace Records released Braxton’s self-titled debut album, Toni Braxton. It spent two non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200 and has sold over eight million copies in the U.S. alone. In 1996, Braxton released her second and most successful album, Secrets. The album was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards and has sold eight million copies in the U.S. In 1998, Toni Braxton filed for Chapter 7 protection from a reported $3.9 million debt. All of her personal household possessions were tagged and marked for sale to pay off her creditors, including her prestigious awards. Despite this personal setback Toni Braxton would go on to release four more albums, starting with the highly success "The Heat" in 2000. "The Heat" opened at number two on the Billboard 200 selling 199,000 units its first week. To date, the album has been certified double platinum and has sold over two million copies in the U.S. and six million copies worldwide.
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Sean Kingston is the stage name of Kisean Jamal Anderson. He was born on February 3, 1990 in Miami, Florida, though he was predominantly raised in Kingston, Jamaica, after moving there at the age of six. Sean Kingston later moved back to the U.S.A. in Los Angeles, California in his mid-teenage years. Sean Kingston, through a venture between Epic Records and Koch Records, released the single "Beautiful Girls" in May 2007. This song was #86 on MTV Asia’s list of Top 100 Hits of 2007. The song stayed on the Canadian Hot 100 number one spot for over six weeks before getting knocked down to third place by the Plain White T’s. Then in July of that same year he released his self titled debut album. The album entered the U.S. Billboard 200 chart at #6 and fell to #13 the following week. Sean Kingston is currently working on his sophomore album, Tomorrow. It has a tentative release date of August 25, 2009. Over the course of his career, Sean Kingston has been nominated for several awards which include a Teen Choice Award in 2007 for the Track "Beautiful Girls" and a Image Award in 2008 for Outstanding New Artist.
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