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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Bowling for Soup was formed in Wichita Falls, TX in 1994 by Jaret Reddick (vocals, guitar), Erik Chandler (bass, vocals), Chris Burney (guitar, vocals) and Lance Morril (drums, vocals). Morril left the band in 1998 (on good terms) and was replaced by Gary Wiseman of Gary and the Wisemen. The band’s name, Bowling For Soup was derived from a comedy act by Steve Martin. In 1998, the band relocated to Denton, Texas and recorded their third studio album Rock on Honorable Ones!! (a reference to S.H. Rider’s motto "ROHO"–Ride On Honorable Ones) in 1998 for Denton music label FFROE. Bowling for Soup released their first EP, Tell Me When to Whoa!, through FFROE later that year. The album sold over 10,000 copies, prompting Jive Records to sign the band. Let’s Do It for Johnny! , Bowling for Soup’s major label debut, was released on Jive in 2000. The album mostly contained re-recordings of their previous material along with a few new tracks and a cover of Bryan Adams’ song "Summer of ’69." Drunk Enough to Dance is Bowling for Soup’s second album with Jive Records, released August 6, 2002. Since 2002 they have released five studio albums, one compilation album, one extended play, one live DVD, and fourteen singles.
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Jesse Abraham Arthur McCartney, known simply by Jesse McCartney was born on April 9, 1987 in Ardsley, New York. At the age of ten he joined the national tour of The King and I before moving to Los Angeles at the age of eleven to pursue an acting career. From 1998-2001, JesseMcCartney played Adam Chandler Jr. in the ABC soap opera All My Children, a role for which he earned a Daytime Emmy nomination. In 1999, McCartney joined the pop boy band named Dream Street, and was a member until he left in early 2002. Than in September of 2004 he released his debut album, Beautiful Soul. The album made it to the 15th spot on the Billboard 200 and has spawned 4 singles. To date the album has gone platinum. In 2006 he released his second albu entitled Right Where You Want Me. The album has sold over four hundred thousand copies and debuted at the number fifteen spot on the Billboard 200. On May 20, 2008 Jesse McCartney released his third album, Departure. The album has sold over a quarter million copies to date. The album was re-released on April 7, 2009 under the name "Departure: Recharged".
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Incubus is a band that hails from Calabasas, California. It was formed by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer Jose Pasillas while in high school in 1991. Incubus would later include bassist Alex Katunich and Gavin Koppell, though both of them would end up being replaced by bassist Ben Kenney and DJ Kilmore. On November 1, 1995 Incubus would release it’s debut album entitled "Fungus Amongus". It was later re-released under Epic/Immortal on November 7, 2000 after popular demand. On September 9, 1997, they released their second studio album, S.C.I.E.N.C.E. The album has sold 740,000 copies in the US to date. In 1998, Incubus participated in the Ozzfest and Family Values Tour concerts and toured with System of a Down and Ultraspank during the fall. The band started branching out creatively and earned mainstream recognition with the release of their 1999 album Make Yourself. In 2001, Incubus became hugely successful with the single "Drive" and their follow up album Morning View. Their latest studio album, Light Grenades, debuted at #1 in 2006 and has received Gold certification in the U.S. Incubus has sold 18 million albums worldwide, and are set to release their first greatest hits album Monuments and Melodies in June 2009.
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Bruce Springsteen was born on September 23, 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey. His full name is Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen. Springsteen signed a record deal with Columbia Records in 1972, with the help of John Hammond, who had signed Bob Dylan to the same record label a decade earlier. His debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., was released in 1973 and sold about 25,000 copies in the first year. It was also in 1973 that he released his second album, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. As with his first album, it was well-received critically but had little commercial success at the time. Then on August 25, 1975, Bruce Springsteen released his third album, and what many consider to be his breakthrough album, Born to Run. It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and reached high positions on charts worldwide. Two singles were released from the album: "Born to Run" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out". Bruce Springsteen has since released fourteen more studio albums, five live albums and sixty-six singles. He has sold over 65 million albums in the US and 120 million worldwide. He has also earned numerous awards for his work, including nineteen Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award.
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