Pharrell Williams |
an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. Pharrell Williams was born on April 5, 1973, in Virginia Beach, Virginia,[5][6] the oldest of three sons of Pharaoh Williams, a handyman, and his wife Carolyn, a teacher.[7] His roots extend for generations in Virginia and North Carolina, and one of his ancestors journeyed to West Africa in 1831, prompting other relatives to emigrate from America to Liberia in 1832.[8] He metChad Hugo in a seventh-grade summer band camp where Williams played the keyboards and drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone. They were also both members of a marching band; Williams played the snare drum while Hugo was student conductor.[9][10] Williams attended Princess Anne High School where he played in the school band; there he got the name Skateboard P.[11] Hugo attended Kempsville High School.
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Taylor Swift |
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed with the independent label Big Machine Records and became the youngest songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house. The release of Swift's self-titled debut album in 2006 established her as a country music star. "Our Song", her third single, made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number one song on the Hot Country Songs chart. She received a Best New Artist nomination at the 2008 Grammy Awards.
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Michael Jackson |
Michael Joseph Jackson[2][3] (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. Called the King of Pop,[4][5] his contributions to music and dance, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades.
The eighth child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his elder brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1964, and began his solo career in 1971. In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller", were credited with breaking down racial barriers and with transforming the medium into an art form and promotional tool. The popularity of these videos helped to bring the then-relatively-new television channel MTV to fame. With videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream", he continued to innovate the medium throughout the 1990s, as well as forging a reputation as a touring solo artist. Through stage and video performances, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive sound and style has influenced numerous hip hop, post-disco, contemporary R&B, pop, and rock artists. Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958. He was the eighth of ten children in an African-American working-class family who lived in a two-bedroom house in Gary, Indiana, an industrial city and a part of the Chicago metropolitan area.[ Jackson had a troubled relationship with his father, Joe.[17][18] In 2003, Joe acknowledged that he regularly whipped Jackson as a boy.[19] Joe was also said to have verbally abused his son, often saying that he had a "fat nose".[20] Jackson stated that he was physically and emotionally abused during incessant rehearsals, though he also credited his father's strict discipline with playing a large role in his success.[17] Speaking openly about his childhood in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, broadcast in February 1993, Jackson acknowledged that his youth had been lonely and isolating.[21] Jackson's deep dissatisfaction with his appearance, his nightmares and chronic sleep problems, his tendency to remain hyper-compliant, especially with his father, and to remain childlike throughout his adult life, are consistent with the effects of the maltreatment he endured as a young child.[22] |
John Denver |
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, actor, activist and humanitarian, whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singer, starting in the 1970s. He was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and one of its best-selling artists.[2] By 1974, he was firmly established as America's best-selling performer, and AllMusic has described Denver as "among the most beloved entertainers of his era".[3] After traveling and living in numerous locations while growing up in his military family,[4] Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. Throughout his life, Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed, with total sales of over 33 million.[5]
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Steve James |
Steve is a singer song writer in the Salt Lake Valley. He has performed at most elementary schools and published the Prevention Dimension songs for Utah Elementary Schools. He wrote all the songs then recorded them on CD. They were given to each school.
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Clive Romney |
Clive is a local singer, song writer and head of the Utah Pioneer Heritage Assoc. One of his songs, Diggin' in the Dirt is a favorite of students at Sandy Elementary. Clive has been writing and performing most of his life. An excellent musician who plays many different instruments.
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Kenny Loggins |
Kenneth Clark "Kenny" Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American singer/songwriter and guitarist. He is known for soft rock music beginning in the 1970s, and later for writing and performing for movie soundtracks in the 1980s. Originally a part of the duo Loggins and Messina, he became solo artist and has written songs for other artists.
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The Judds (Naomi and Wynonna) |
The Judds were an American country music duo composed of Naomi Judd and her daughter, Wynonna Judd (born in 1964). Signed to RCA Nashville in 1983, the duo released six studio albums between then and 1991. One of the most successful acts in country music history, The Judds won five Grammy Awardsfor Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and eight Country Music Association awards. The duo also charted twenty-five singles on the country music charts between 1983 and 2000, fourteen of which went to Number One and six more of which made Top Ten on the same chart.
The Judds called it quits in 1991 after Naomi was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Shortly after, Wynonna began her solo career. The two have occasionally reunited for special tours, the most recent of which began in late 2010. |
Kathy Mattea |
Kathleen Alice "Kathy" Mattea (pronounced ma-TAY-a)[1] (born June 21, 1959, South Charleston, West Virginia) is an American country music andbluegrass performer who often brings folk, Celtic and traditional country sounds to her music. Active since 1983 as a recording artist, she has recorded seventeen albums and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. This total includes the number one hits "Goin' Gone", "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses", "Come From the Heart" and "Burnin' Old Memories", as well as twelve additional Top Ten singles.
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Gordon McRaeJohnny Nash |
Gordon MacRae (March 12, 1921 – January 24, 1986)[2] was an Americanactor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of twoRodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! (1955) and Carousel (1956), and playing Bill Sherman in On Moonlight Bay (1951) and By The Light of the Silvery Moon (1953). John Lester "Johnny" Nash, Jr. (born August 19, 1940) is an Americanreggae singer-songwriter, best known in the US for his 1972 comeback hit, "I Can See Clearly Now". He was also one of the first non-Jamaican singers to record reggae music in Kingston, Jamaica.[1]
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Elvis Presley |
Elvis Aaron Presley[a] (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as "the King of Rock and Roll", or simply, "the King".
Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Presley and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when he was 13 years old. His music career began there in 1954, when he started to work with Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records. |
Beach Boys |
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in Hawthorne, Californiain 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Emerging at the vanguard of the "California Sound", the band's early music gained international popularity for their distinct vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance. Influenced by jazz-based vocal groups, 1950s rock and roll, and doo-wop, Brian led the band to experiment with severalgenres ranging from pop ballads to psychedelic and baroque while devising novel approaches to music production and arranging. While initially managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, Brian's creative ambitions and sophisticated songwriting abilities dominated the group's musical direction.
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Selena Gomez |
Selena Marie Gomez (born July 22, 1992) is an American actress and singer. Born and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas, she was first featured on the children's series Barney & Friends in the early 2000s. In 2007, Gomez came to prominence after being cast in the Disney Channel television series Wizards of Waverly Place. She portrayed the starring character Alex Russo until its conclusion in 2012. She formed her band Selena Gomez & the Scene after signing a recording contract with Hollywood Records in 2008; they released the studio albums Kiss & Tell (2009), A Year Without Rain (2010), and When the Sun Goes Down (2011) before beginning a hiatus in 2012.
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Johnny Cash |
John R. "Johnny" Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was a singer-songwriter, actor, and author,[2] widely considered one of the most influential American musicians of the 20th century.[3] Although primarily remembered as a country music icon, his genre-spanning songs and sound embraced rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, folk, and gospel. This crossover appeal won Cash the rare honor of multiple induction in the Country Music, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Music Halls of Fame.
Cash was known for his deep bass-baritone voice,[a][5] distinctive sound of hisTennessee Three backing band, a rebelliousness[6][7] coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor,[4] free prison concerts,[8][9][page needed] and trademark look, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black".[b] He traditionally began his concerts with the simple "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash."[c], followed by his signature "Folsom Prison Blues". Much of Cash's music echoed themes of sorrow, moral tribulation and redemption, especially in the later stages of his career.[4][12] His best-known songs included "I Walk the Line", "Folsom Prison Blues", "Ring of Fire", "Get Rhythm" and "Man in Black". He also recorded humorous numbers like "One Piece at a Time" and "A Boy Named Sue"; a duet with his future wife, June Carter, called "Jackson"; and railroad songs including "Hey, Porter" and "Rock Island Line".[13] During the last stage of his career, Cash covered songs by several late 20th-century rock artists, most notably "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails. |
Tiffany Alvord |
Tiffany Lynn Alvord (born December 11, 1992) is an American singer and songwriter.[1] She has been cited as one of YouTube's first "home-grown celebrities"[2] and has a large social presence on YouTube with over 400 million video views and over 2.2 million subscribers,[3] making her channel among the top 50 most subscribed music channels on YouTube.[4] She also has a strong following on social media sites, including more than 2.4 million Facebook fans and over 350 thousand Twitter followers.[5][6] In December 2012, Alvord performed in Times Square on the Nivea stage with Carly Rae Jepsen, Train,PSY and Taylor Swift as part of the 2012 New Year's Eve celebration.[4]
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Bing Crosby |
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby, Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was anAmerican singer and actor.[2] Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation.[3] His laid-back, intimate singing style influenced many of the popular male singers who followed him, including Perry Como,[5] Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin. Yank magazine recognized Crosby as the person who had done the most for American G.I.morale during World War II and, during his peak years, around 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive"
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Andy Williams |
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American popular-music singer. He recorded forty-four albums in his career, seventeen of which have been Gold-certified[2] and three of which have been Platinum-certified.[3] He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a television variety show, from 1962 to 1971, and numerous television specials. The Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri is named after the song he is most known for singing--Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini's "Moon River".
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Lee Greenwood |
Melvin Lee Greenwood (born October 27, 1942) is an American country musicartist. Active since 1962, he has released more than twenty major-label albums and has charted more than 35 singles on the Billboard country music charts.
Greenwood is best known for his single and signature song "God Bless the USA", which was popular when it was originally released in 1984, and became popular again after the September 11, 2001 attacks (becoming his highest charting pop hit, reaching No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100). |