Share Their World

Mary J. Blige

In 1988, Mary J. Blige recorded an impromptu cover of Anita Baker’s “Caught Up in the Rapture” at a recording booth in a local mall. Her mother’s boyfriend at the time later played the cassette for Jeff Redd, a recording artist and A&R runner for Uptown Records. Redd then sent it to the president and CEO of the label, Andre Harrell. Harrell met with Blige and, in 1989, she was signed to the label; becoming the company’s youngest and first female artist.

Production for Blige’s debut album began in 1991, with Sean “Puffy” Combs (at the time a fledgling A&R executive at Uptown) largely overseeing the project. On July 28, 1992, Uptown Records released What’s the 411?. “You Remind Me”, the album’s lead-off single, peaked at 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number one on the R&B singles chart that summer. The second single, “Real Love”, was released in the fall. It too topped the R&B singles chart, and became Blige’s first top ten Hot 100 single, peaking at number seven. Both singles were also certified Gold. Singles followed into 1993, including “Reminisce”, a cover of Rufus’s “Sweet Thing”, and “Love No Limit”. By the end of the year, What’s the 411? had sold three million copies.

On November 29, 1994, Uptown Records released Blige’s second album, My Life. Darker, moodier, and slightly less uptempo than its predecessor — the set was again overseen by Combs (despite his having recently left the label), who co-produced all but one of the albums tracks, and took over as Blige’s manager. Unlike What’s the 411?, Blige co-wrote a large body of the material, basing it on her personal life. In early 1995, she covered Rose Royce’s 1976 hit “I’m Going Down”, which became her first top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at number 12.

Also in 1995, Blige involved herself in several outside projects; recording a cover of Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” for the soundtrack to the FOX series New York Undercover, and “Everyday It Rains” (co-written by R&B singer Faith Evans) for the soundtrack to the hip hop biopic, The Show. That summer she dueted with rapper Method Man on his song, “I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need to Get By” (which sampled Marvin Gaye’s “You’re All I Need to Get By,” and for which she won a Grammy award.) Later in the year, she also recorded the Babyface-penned and produced “Not Gon’ Cry”, for the soundtrack to motion picture Waiting to Exhale. The platinum-selling single rose to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in early 1996, and became her biggest commercial hit at the time. Blige won her first Grammy Award – ‘Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group’ for her collaboration with Method Man.

In spite of its success and her growing fame, Blige later admitted that she was simultaneously dealing with long time bouts of drug addiction, alcoholism, and depression, as well as an abusive relationship with then-boyfriend K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci.

On April 22, 1997, MCA Records (parent company to Uptown Records, which was in the process of being dismantled) released Blige’s third album, Share My World. By now, she and Combs had dissolved their working relationship. Share My World debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart and spawned five hit singles: “Love Is All We Need” (featuring Nas), “I Can Love You” (featuring Lil’ Kim), “Everything”, “Missing You” (UK only) and “Seven Days.” The album became Blige’s most commercially successful; certified quadruple platinum in the United States and selling over five million worldwide. In early 1998, Blige won an American Music Award for “Favorite Soul/R&B Album.” That summer she embarked on the Share My World Tour, which resulted in a Gold-certified live album released later that year, simply titled The Tour. The album spawned one single, “Misty Blue.”

On August 17, 1999, Blige’s fourth album, titled Mary was released. It marked a departure from her more familiar hip hop-oriented sound; this set featured a more earthy, whimsical, and adult contemporary-tinged collection of songs, reminiscent of 1970s to early 1980s soul. Also featured on the album were high-profile guests, including: Aretha Franklin (who duetted with her on “Don’t Waste Your Time”), Elton John (who played keys on “Deep Inside” (which featured a sample of his ’70s-era hit “Bennie and the Jets”), Eric Clapton (who played guitar on “Give Me You”), and Lauryn Hill (who wrote, produced, and sang background on “All That I Can Say.”) Blige also recorded a cover of Stevie Wonder’s 1976 hit “As” with George Michael, which is featured on the UK release of Mary, and also on the Australian release of his greatest hits album Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael.

On August 28, 2001, MCA released Blige’s fifth studio album, No More Drama. The album’s first single, “Family Affair” (produced by Dr. Dre) became her first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for six consecutive weeks. It was followed two further hit singles, the European only single “Dance for Me” featuring Common and the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-produced title track (originally recorded for the Mary album), which sampled “Nadia’s Theme”, the piano-driven theme song to the daytime drama The Young and the Restless.

The album was re-released on January 29, 2002. The No More Drama re-release featured a new album cover, deleted three of the songs from the original track listing, while adding two brand-new songs—one of which was the fourth single and top twenty Hot 100 hit “Rainy Dayz”, (featuring Ja Rule), plus two remixes; one of the title track, serviced by Puff Daddy and the single version of “Dance for Me” featuring Common. The album sold another million-plus units in the U.S. and five million worldwide. Blige won a Grammy for ‘Best Female R&B Vocal Performance’ for the song “He Think I Don’t Know.”

On August 26, 2003, Blige’s sixth album Love & Life was released on Geffen Records (which had absorbed MCA Records.) Blige heavily collaborated with her one-time producer Sean Combs. Although the album was certified platinum, it became Blige’s lowest-selling and biggest commercial disappointment to date. Blige and Combs reportedly struggled and clashed during the making of this album, and again parted ways upon the completion of it.

Blige’s seventh studio album, The Breakthrough, was released in December 2005. It debuted at number one on both the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Selling 727,000 copies in its first week, it became the biggest first-week sales for an R&B solo female artist in SoundScan history, the fifth largest first-week sales for a female artist, and the fourth largest debut of 2005. Since its release, The Breakthrough has sold over three million copies in the U.S and over seven million copies worldwide, becoming one of the five best-selling albums of 2006.

The lead-off single, “Be Without You”, peaked at number three on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart, while peaking at number one on the R&B chart for a record-setting fifteen consecutive weeks; it remained on the chart for over sixteen months.  It became Blige’s longest charting single on the UK Singles Chart until “One” was released and remains her second longest charting single to date. The album produced three more singles including two more top five R&B hits—”Enough Cryin’”, which features Blige’s alter ego Brook-Lynn (as whom she appeared on the remix to Busta Rhymes’s “Touch It” in 2006), and “Take Me as I Am”, which samples Lonnie Liston Smith’s “A Garden of Peace”.

Blige’s duet with U2 on the cover of their 1992 hit, “One” gave Blige her biggest hit to date in the UK, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart eventually being certified one of the forty highest-selling singles of 2006. The success of The Breakthrough won Blige nine Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, two BET Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, and a Soul Train Award. She also received eight Grammy Award nominations at the 2007 Grammy Awards, the most of any artist that year. “Be Without You” was nominated for both “Record of the Year” and “Song of the Year”. Blige won three: “Best Female R&B Vocal Performance”, “Best R&B Song” (both for “Be Without You”), and “Best R&B Album” for The Breakthrough. Blige completed a season sweep of the “big three” major music awards, having won the American Music Awards in November 2006, the Billboard Music Awards in December 2006, and the Grammy Awards in February 2007.

Blige’s eighth studio album, Growing Pains, was released on December 18, 2007, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 and at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It sold 629,000 copies in its first week, marking the third time since Nielsen SoundScan began collecting data in 1991 that two albums sold more than 600,000 copies in a week in the United States. In its second week, the album climbed to number one, making it Blige’s fourth number-one album.

In 2000, Blige began a relationship with record industry executive Martin Kendu Isaacs (known simply as “Kendu”), who is now her manager. Blige has also credited Isaacs for helping her overcome her addictions to drugs and alcohol. The two were married on December 7, 2003 in a small private ceremony at Blige’s home attended by 50 guests (none of whom were media).

Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Noel Hill is a Grammy Award-winning American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, producer, and film actress. Early in her career, she established her reputation in the hip-hop world as the lone female member of The Fugees. In 1998, Hill released the critically and commercially successful The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which sold over 423,000 copies in its first week and topped the Billboard R&B Album chart for 6 weeks.

The first single off the album was the rap song “Lost Ones” (US #27), released in Spring 1998. The second was “Doo Wop (That Thing)”; it debuted at number one in the United States in the summer of 1998; Other singles were “Ex-factor” (US #21) and “Everything Is Everything” (US #35), and the ballad “To Zion” dedicated to her then 1yr old son. At the 1999 Grammy Awards, Hill was nominated ten times and won five awards: Album of the Year (beating Madonna’s critically acclaimed album Ray of Light), Best R&B Album, Best R&B Song, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist. Lauryn Hill set a new records for ladies in the industry as she became the first lady to win 5 grammys in one night.

On July 21, 2001, Lauryn unveiled her highly-anticipated new material to a small crowd, for a taping of an MTV Unplugged special. The 2002 released MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 album exhibited a new Hill, as she focused on the lyrics and the message she was spreading rather than the musical arrangements. “Fantasy is what people want, but reality is what they need”, she said during the concert. “I’ve just retired from the fantasy part.” Most of the songs featured only an acoustic guitar and her voice, somewhat raspy from rehearsal on the day before the recording. Hill used the set as an opportunity to give information on why she had been absent from the public for a period of time and what she had found while away. Critical reception was mixed, but the album received platinum status.

Despite Hill’s intentional departure from the media and celebrity, she continued to create commercially and critically successful music. Her song “Mystery of Iniquity” was nominated for a Grammy without promotion or radio airplay and used as an interpolation by hip-hop mega-producer Kanye West for his single “All Falls Down” (eventually recorded by Syleena Johnson).

Alanis Morissette

Alanis Nadine Morissette (born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-born singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. MCA Records released Morissette’s debut album, Alanis, in Canada only in 1991, and Morissette co-wrote every track on the album with its producer, Leslie Howe. The dance-pop album went platinum, and its first single, “Too Hot”, reached the top twenty on the RPM singles chart. In 1992, she released her second album, Now Is the Time, a ballad-driven record that featured less glitzy production than Alanis and contained more thoughtful lyrics. With her two-album deal with MCA Canada complete, Morissette was left without a major label contract.

In 1993, after graduating from high school, Morissette moved from Ottawa to Toronto. Living alone for the first time in her life, she met with a number of songwriters, but the results frustrated her. A visit to Nashville a few months later also proved fruitless. In the hopes of meeting a collaborator, Morissette began making trips to Los Angeles and working with as many musicians as possible. During this time, she met producer and songwriter Glen Ballard, and within ten minutes of meeting each other, they had begun experimenting creatively. According to Morissette, Ballard was the first collaborator who encouraged her to express her emotions. The two wrote and recorded Morissette’s third album, Jagged Little Pill, and by the spring of 1995, she had signed a deal with Maverick Records.

Maverick Records released Jagged Little Pill internationally in 1995. The album was expected only to sell enough for Morissette to make a follow-up, but the situation changed quickly when a DJ from KROQ, an influential Los Angeles radio station began playing “You Oughta Know,” the album’s first single. The song instantly garnered attention for its scathing, explicit lyrics, and a subsequent music video went into heavy rotation on MTV and MuchMusic.

“All I Really Want” and “Hand In My Pocket” followed, but the fourth U.S. single, “Ironic”, became Morissette’s biggest hit. “You Learn” and “Head over Feet”, the fifth and sixth singles, respectively, kept Jagged Little Pill in the top twenty on the Billboard 200 albums chart for more than a year. According to the RIAA, Jagged Little Pill is the best-selling international debut album by a female artist, with more than fourteen million copies sold in the U.S.; it sold thirty million worldwide, making it the third biggest selling album by a female artist, and the biggest selling debut album of all time, even though it was actually her third album.

Morissette and the album won six Juno Awards in 1996: Album of the Year, Single of the Year (”You Oughta Know”), Female Vocalist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Best Rock Album. At the 1996 Grammy Awards, she won Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Song (both for “You Oughta Know”), Best Rock Album and Album of the Year. The video Jagged Little Pill, Live, which was co-directed by Morissette and chronicled the bulk of her tour, won a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Long Form.

She recorded the song “Uninvited” for the soundtrack to the 1998 film City of Angels. Although the track was never commercially released as a single, it received widespread radio airplay in the U.S. At the 1999 Grammy Awards, it won in the categories of Best Rock Song and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, and was nominated for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

Later in 1998, Morissette released her fourth album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, which she wrote and produced with Glen Ballard. Most of the tracks, including “Would Not Come” and “Unsent”, challenged traditional song formulas: they included one-chord drone melodies and Morissette singing over letter-like prose texts; some songs lacked choruses or took a long time to reach them. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 469,000 copies—a record, at the time, for the highest first-week sales of an album by a female artist.

The album received positive reviews, including a four-star review from Rolling Stone. In Canada, it won the Juno Award for Best Album and was certified four times platinum. “Thank U”, the album’s only major international hit single, was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Morissette herself directed the videos for “Unsent” and “So Pure”, which won, respectively, the MuchMusic Video Award for Best Director and the Juno Award for Video of the Year. The “So Pure” video features actor Dash Mihok, with whom Morissette was in a relationship at the time.

Under Rug Swept debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually going platinum in Canada and selling one million copies in the U.S. It produced the hit single “Hands Clean,” which topped the Canadian Singles Chart and received substantial radio play; for her work on “Hands Clean” and “So Unsexy,” Morissette won a Juno Award for Producer of the Year. A second single, “Precious Illusions,” was released, but it did not garner significant success outside Canada or U.S. hot AC radio.

Morissette released her sixth studio album, So-Called Chaos, in May 2004. She wrote the songs on her own again, and co-produced the album with Tim Thorney and pop music producer John Shanks. Morissette released the greatest hits album Alanis Morissette: The Collection in late 2005. The lead single and only new track, a cover of Seal’s “Crazy,” was a U.S. adult top 40 and dance hit, but it achieved only minimal chart success elsewhere, as did the album.

A limited edition of The Collection features a DVD including a documentary with videos of two unreleased songs from Morissette’s 1996 Can’t Not Tour: “King of Intimation” and “Can’t Not.” (A reworked version of “Can’t Not” had also appeared on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie.) The DVD also includes a ninety-second clip of the unreleased video for the single “Joining You.” Morissette contributed the song “Wunderkind” to the soundtrack of the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

Morissette’s seventh studio album, Flavors of Entanglement, which was produced by Guy Sigsworth, was released in mid 2008. She has stated that in late 2008, she would embark on a North American headlining tour, but in the meantime she would be promoting the album internationally by performing at shows and festivals and making television and radio appearances. The album’s first single was “Underneath”, a video for which was submitted to the 2007 Elevate Film Festival, the purpose of which festival was to create documentaries, music videos, narratives and shorts regarding subjects to raise the level of human consciousness on the earth.

As of May 2008, Morissette was halfway through writing a memoir that will focus on women’s issues. It will have chapters on sexuality, beauty, relationships and work and was partially inspired by young women who regularly come up to her and tell her their stories of personal pain.

Sarah McLachlan

Sarah McLachlan was born on January 28, 1968, and adopted in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As a child, she took voice lessons, along with studies in classical piano and guitar. When she was 17 years old, and still a student at Queen Elizabeth High School, she fronted a short-lived rock band called The October Game.

The signing prompted McLachlan to move to Vancouver, British Columbia. There she recorded the first of her albums, Touch, in 1988, which received both critical and commercial success and included the hit song “Vox”. During this period she also contributed to an album by Moev, and embarked on her first national concert tour as an opening act for The Grapes of Wrath. Her 1991 album, Solace, was her mainstream breakthrough in Canada, spawning the hit singles “The Path of Thorns (Terms)” and “Into the Fire”. Solace also marked the beginning of her partnership with Pierre Marchand. Marchand and McLachlan have been collaborators ever since, with Marchand producing all of McLachlan’s albums and occasionally co-writing songs.

1994’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy was an immediate smash hit in Canada. From her Nettwerk connection, her piano version of the song “Possession” was included on the first Due South soundtrack in 1996. Over the next two years, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy quietly became McLachlan’s international breakthrough as well, scaling the charts in a number of countries. Following the success from Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, McLachlan returned in 1997 with Surfacing, her best selling album to date. Earning her two Grammy awards and four Junos, the album has since sold over 11 million copies worldwide and brought her much international success. Still in the spotlight from the album, McLachlan launched the highly popular Lilith Fair tour which showcased female musicians in the late 1990s. Her song “Angel”– which was inspired by the fatal overdose of Smashing Pumpkins touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin– made sales skyrocket.

On July 29, a press release announced McLachlan would be releasing a new album October 17 titled Wintersong on Arista Records. Wintersong debuted at No. 42 on the Billboard 200 album chart the week ending November 4, 2006. It has peaked at #7 and has sold 759,162 copies in the US to date. For the week of December 5, 2006, it was the #1 album on iTunes. Worldwide the album has sold 1.1 million copies to date. It has been certified Platinum in the U.S and 2x Platinum in Canada. Wintersong was nominated for both a Grammy Award, in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category, as well as for a Juno Award, for Pop Album of the Year.

Through her career, she has also received many awards, primarily in recognition of her efforts in launching Lilith Fair. She was awarded the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Visionary Award in 1998 for advancing the careers of women in music. In 1999, she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada by then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson in recognition of her successful recording career, her role in Lilith Fair, and the charitable donations she made to womens shelters across Canada. In 2001, she was inducted to the Order of British Columbia. As of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide.

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American Idol Winners!

Season 1

Kelly  Clarkson made her debut under RCA Records after she won the first season of the television series American Idol in 2002. She was originally marketed as a pop musician with her debut album Thankful (2003). With the release of her multi-platinum second album Breakaway (2004), Clarkson moved to a more pop rock-oriented style of music.

Clarkson won the first season competition of American Idol on September 4, 2002, earning 58% of the audience vote over Justin Guarini. Clarkson performed the ballad “A Moment Like This”, the song written for the winner of American Idol, which would subsequently appear on her debut album Thankful. The song’s music video was filmed at Pantages Theater in Hollywood, and incorporated short scenes of Clarkson performing on Idol.

When released as a single in October 2002, it set a then record on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart when it rose from number fifty-two to number one. This achievement was largely due to the impact from Idol as the CD single managed to sell 236,000 copies in its first week of sales in the U.S.; it spent five weeks at number one in Canada.

Clarkson’s third album, entitled My December, was released on June 26, 2007. Her fourth album is due in fall 2008. Clarkson has sold over 19 million albums worldwide. Clarkson is the most successful American Idol alumna, with eight of her singles becoming Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2008, she joined Vh1’s list of 10 sexiest women of the new millennium at #8. She also hit #28 on Vh1’s Top 30 Hottest Rock Front Women.

Season 2

Christopher Ruben Studdard rose to fame as winner of the second season of American Idol. “A lot of people don’t realize how hard I was trying to get into the business before American Idol,” Studdard related several years later. “I was making demos and just working so hard.” A back-up singer from Just a Few Cats asked him to accompany her to Nashville, Tennessee for an audition on the 2003 second season of “American Idol”.

On American Idol, he impressed viewers with his performances of the Leon Russell/Bonnie Bramlett song “Superstar” (originally a hit for The Carpenters and Luther Vandross) and the Peabo Bryson/Regina Belle duet “A Whole New World”; during his time on the show, Studdard received praise from music legends such as Lionel Richie, Neil Sedaka, Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, Luther Vandross, and Gladys Knight. He won the contest over runner-up Clay Aiken by only 134,000 votes out of 24,000,000 cast in the May 2003 finale, becoming the second American Idol winner and the first and only male (as well as the oldest winner) to hold that title until 2006, when fellow Birmingham native Taylor Hicks won Idol’s season five.

Studdard released his first single, a cover of Westlife’s “Flying Without Wings”. Fueled largely by sales, it debuted at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In December 2003, advance orders for his album Soulful topped the 1 million mark before it was released into stores. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart that month, selling over 400,000 copies in its first week and attaining the highest first-week sales of any American Idol winner. The single “Sorry 2004″ from this album found substantial airplay, reaching #9 in the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. Studdard received a Grammy Award nomination in December 2003 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for “Superstar”, nominated with his idol Luther Vandross (Vandross won that category). In March 2004, Ruben won the NAACP Outstanding New Artist award.

Studdard released the gospel album I Need an Angel on November 23, 2004. The title track and first single “I Need an Angel” was a cover of a 2002 single performed by R&B singer Daniel DeBourg and written by R. Kelly. The album sold over 96,000 copies in its first week, it also entered the Gospel charts at #1, opened at #20 on the Billboard 200 chart, it since has sold over 500,000 copies. It was also #1 on the 2005 Billboard Year-End Gospel Albums Chart. As of June 2007, Studdard is the fifth-best selling American Idol performer with more than 2.4 million albums sold in the U.S.

Studdard’s third album, The Return was released in October 2006; it goes back to his R&B roots, but is different from his previous efforts. Studdard is collaborating with the artist Ne-Yo on this album, along with a variety of producers. The single “Change Me” was released ahead of the album. The Return sold 71,000 copies in its first week to open at #8 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Studdard appeared on the finale of American Idol season 6 in May 2007. He spent a few weeks touring with Robin Givens in the comedy-drama Heaven I Need a Hug and prepared to take on the role of Fats Waller in a national tour of Ain’t Misbehavin’ in 2008. The tour is scheduled to begin November 17, 2008 in Atlanta, GA and end May 14, 2009 in Syracuse, NY.

Season 3

Fantasia Monique Barrino (born June 30, 1984), or simply Fantasia, is an American R&B/soul singer and Broadway actress who rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the television series American Idol in 2004. Fantasia made an immediate impression on American Idol with her stylized, gospel influenced sound, and her explosive stage presence.

Her audition version of Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary” made her an early favorite in the competition. Her standout performance during the course of the show was a heartfelt staging, begun seated, of the Porgy and Bess standard “Summertime” that left her in tears from “feeling the song” and earned praise from the judges, as well as landing her on the Emmy Awards’s 2004 list of greatest television moments. “Summertime” was also labeled by idol judge Randy Jackson as the best performance in the shows history.

Fantasia released her debut studio album, Free Yourself, in November 2004. It debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 pop album chart, selling 240,000 copies in its first week. To date, it has sold over two million copies worldwide, and was certified platinum in the U.S. The singles “Truth Is” and “Free Yourself” became R&B hits, reaching number two and number three respectively on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks chart.

Barrino did even better on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay, where she was the first artist of any kind to simultaneously have two of the top three songs, and “Truth Is” spent fourteen weeks at the number one position. Barrino was named the number-one artist of the Adult Urban Contemporary format for 2005 according to the December 13, 2005 Billboard Magazine.

September 2005, Fantasia published her memoirs (which she dictated to a freelance writer), Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. The book quickly became a New York Times Bestseller, reaching number seven on the list.

In 2006, Fantasia was nominated for four Grammy Awards for her debut album. Though she didn’t win any of them, she performed at the 48th annual telecast with several artists including Aerosmith, Joss Stone, John Legend, Maroon 5, and Ciara in an all-star tribute to Sly and the Family Stone during the Grammy Award show.

In August 2006, Fantasia played herself in a Lifetime Television film based on her autobiography Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. The film was directed by Debbie Allen and debuted on the women’s cable network on Saturday, August 19, 2006. The movie received nineteen million viewers throughout its debut weekend. Life Is Not a Fairy Tale: The Fantasia Barrino Story has also become Lifetime’s second most viewed program of all time.

February 2007, Fantasia appeared and performed on American Idol, and announced that she would be starring in the lead role of Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple, the hit musical based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker. After appearing on American Idol and the Oprah Winfrey Show, the musical received a boost of over two million in pre-ticket sales in one week. Leading up to her first performance on April 10, 2007 the play garnered a total of 6.5 million in pre-ticket sales.

The Color Purple Box Office saw a 34 million dollar jump in sales since Fantasia started in the show, a third of the play’s 100 million dollar earning since its debut in 2005. Fantasia was cast by Oprah Winfrey as Celie in the film adaptation of “The Color Purple” musical, which is to begin production after the release of her third album.

Fantasia received three Grammy nominations for her sophomore release, Fantasia and is currently in the studio working on her third album to be released early 2009. She stated on the red carpet of the 2008 Grammy Awards that the style of her new album will be a blending of the avenues she has touched musically, which include, American Idol and Broadway.

Season 4

Carrie Underwood is an American country singer-songwriter. She rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, and has become a multi-platinum selling recording artist and a multiple Grammy Award winner. Her debut album, Some Hearts, was certified seven times platinum and is the fastest selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history. Some Hearts yielded three number one hits on the Billboard Country charts in the United States and Canada: “Jesus, Take the Wheel”,“Wasted”, and her biggest hit to date, “Before He Cheats”.

Her second album, Carnival Ride, was released on October 23, 2007. It has so far sold about 2.3 million copies and has produced three number one country hits, “So Small”, “All-American Girl”, and “Last Name”. Her current single “Just a Dream” is at #11 on the Billboard “Hot Country Songs” chart. Underwood’s Christmas single, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” peaked at #2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts. Aside from her vocals, Underwood’s success is attributed to what many fans recognize as her wholesome image. To date, Underwood has sold over 11 million records worldwide. Underwood was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry on May 10, 2008.

Idol Success

The last three season of American Idol have brought even more successful contestants. Their hits can be heard on the radio and concerts are performed all over the world. The winner of Season 5, Taylor Hicks signed to Arista Records, under which his self-titled major label debut was released on December 12, 2006. His energetic stage performances and influences derived from classic rock, blues, and R&B music had earned him a following of devout fans, who have been dubbed the “Soul Patrol.” He is currently on Broadway in “Grease” playing Teen Angel, the role originated by Frankie Avalon.

Another Idol contestant Chris Daughtry was voted off of the show but made a hit with fans. Daughtry had auditions to form a new band and simply named the group ‘Daughtry’ because of the name recognition from American Idol. He had a part in writing/co-writing all but two songs on the album (Feels Like Tonight and What About Now). Chris fully wrote Home, Breakdown and Gone. Hit writers Dr. Luke and Max Martin contributed to the album. Session drummer Josh Freese played drums on all the tracks for the album.

Their self-titled debut album sold more than four million copies and was named the number one selling album of 2007 by Billboard. Their album is also the fastest-selling debut rock album in Soundscan history. The first single from the album, “It’s Not Over”, was the eighth most played song across all formats on U.S. radio in 2007, and their second single from the album, “Home“, was the tenth most played song in the U.S. of 2007. Their debut album was certified Triple Platinum on June 21, 2007. It has since reached Quadruple Platinum.

Jordin Sparks winner of Season six,  the youngest of the Idol Winners, is also making her mark with hits like ‘Tattoo’ & ‘No Air’ duet with Chris Brown. Runner up David Archuletta who was a contestant on American Idol season seven was a fan favorite and has signed with 19 Recordings/Jive Records/Zomba Label Group, May 2008. David Cook, winner of season seven  is also working on his upcoming album which will be released November 2008.

From Idol Contestant to Oscar Winner

Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American actress, singer and fashion model. She first gained notice as one of the finalists on the third season of the FOX television series American Idol. Hudson was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Darnell Hudson and Samuel Simpson, who was a bus driver. She was raised Baptist and attended Dunbar Vocational Career Academy and graduated in 1999. She cites Whitney Houston as her musical and movie influence, as well as Aretha Franklin. She has also cited on multiple occasions that Celine Dion is one of her favorite artists.

Hudson auditioned for the third season of American Idol in Atlanta, Georgia. Jennifer Hudson struggled to gain popularity in the early stages of the live shows, receiving the second-lowest number of votes in two of the first three shows. However, after a change in song choices, she soon became a favorite to win, receiving the highest number of votes in the Top 9 after her performance of Elton John’s “Circle of Life” on April 6, 2004. Among Hudson’s worthy performances on the show was her rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing”. American Idol judge Simon Cowell commented that she “finally proved why she was among the Top 12″ and referred to the performance a week later as “sensational”.

In November 2005, Hudson was cast in the prized role of Effie White, the role originally created in a legendary Broadway performance by Jennifer Holliday, for the film adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls, which also starred Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, and Eddie Murphy. This role marked Hudson’s debut screen performance. Hudson won the role over hundreds of professional singers and actresses, including American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino, and Raven Symone. She said in an interview on The View that Fantasia called her and said:”Girl, you stole my part”. Filming of Dreamgirls began on January 9, 2006, and the film went into limited release on December 25, 2006 and national release on January 12, 2007.

Hudson has won particular praise for her show-stopping onscreen rendition of the hit song, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”. The New York Observer described Hudson’s performance of the song as “five mellifluous, molto vibrato minutes that have suddenly catapulted Ms. Hudson… into the position of front-runner for the best supporting actress Oscar.” Newsweek said that when moviegoers hear Hudson sing the song, she “is going to raise goose bumps across the land.” Variety wrote that Hudson’s performance “calls to mind debuts like Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl or Bette Midler in The Rose, with a voice like the young Aretha.”

As Effie White, Hudson has garnered twenty-nine awards from film critics as Best Supporting Actress and Breakthrough Performer of 2006. She won the Golden Globe Award as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In addition, she has been named Best Supporting Actress by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and also by the Screen Actors Guild. On February 25, 2007, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in this film.

At 25 years old, Hudson became the eighth-youngest winner of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Upon winning this award, Hudson also became one of the very few performers ever to win an Oscar for a debut screen performance. As of 2007, she is also the only person to have gone from participating in a reality television series to becoming an Academy Award winner.

In September 2007, Hudson began work on Sex and the City: The Movie, as Louise, Carrie Bradshaw’s assistant. Filming finished in December 2007 and the movie premiered on May 30, 2008. In 2008, Hudson is scheduled to appear as Kathy Archenault in Winged Creatures, a film based on the novel by Roy Freirich, with Forest Whitaker, Guy Pearce, Kate Beckinsale, Dakota Fanning, Josh Hutcherson, and Jackie Earl Haley. In January 2008 Jennifer began filming her fourth film The Secret Life of Bees as Rosaleen, the mother figure of Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning). Also starring in the film are fellow Oscar nominees Queen Latifah and Sophie Okonedo, as well as Alicia Keys.

In January 2008, it was announced that Hudson would be returning to the studio to record new material for her debut album. During an interview in May 2008, Hudson confirmed that her debut album, which will be self titled, would be released on September 30, 2008 under the Arista Records label. She also announced that later this month her debut single “Spotlight (Jennifer Hudson song)” would be released in order to promote her debut album. “Spotlight (Jennifer Hudson song)” was written by Ne-Yo, who co-produced along with Stargate. Additional contributors on the album include Timbaland, Robin Thicke, the Underdogs, Diane Warren and Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, among others. She has performed the song “All Dressed In Love” for the Sex and the City: The Movie soundtrack, which was released on May 27, 2008. Hudson performed the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention in 2008.

‘Idols’ from the Land Down Under

Australian Idol made its debut on July 27, 2003 and is now in its sixth season. The first season started off with a bang when extremely talented Guy Sebastian took the title of Australian Idol and he has been making waves ever since. Sebastian has released four top four albums and seven top twenty singles and has sold over a million albums and singles in Australia alone. He has also had substantial success overseas with number one hits in New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore. He never had any formal voice training but was influenced by artists such as Stevie Wonder, Ben E. King, Prince and Al Green.

Seasons two through five Australian Idol winners were Casey Donovan, Kate DeAraugo, Damien Leith and Natalie Gauci. As with all the Idol winners, they still seem to have competition from other Idol contestants after their win. For instance, runner up from season two, Melbourne Australia born Anthony Callea did not make it through the first round of ‘Idol’ competition, he was invited back as a “Judge’s Choice Wildcard”, where his performance earned him a place in the final twelve. Although Callea didn’t win the competition his magnetic performances garnered a massive fan base.

Callea was immediately signed to Sony/BMG Records, and his first single,”The Prayer” was released in December 2004. It debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number one, and remained there for five consecutive weeks. Within seven weeks, it had become the highest-selling Australian single of all time, as it was certified four times platinum, selling in excess of 280,000 copies. His next single, the double A-side “Rain / Bridge over Troubled Water” spent two weeks at number one. His self-titled album debuted at number one on the week of 4 April 2005, and remained at the top of the chart for three weeks. His third single “Hurts So Bad” debuted at number ten on the ARIA Charts, while the album’s final single, “Per Sempre (For Always)” debuted at number five.

Callea released the single “Live for Love” on November 4, 2006, the first from his second album A New Chapter, the only song on the album which he did not co-write. Both the single and the album, released on November 25, 2006, debuted at number 9. The second single “Addicted to You” debuted at No 19 when released in February 2007.

Damien Leith was the winner of Season four. Leith was selected by the judges as one of the final 24 contestants, and was the first person voted into the competition’s top 12 as the result of a nationwide viewer vote. He was praised by the show’s judges for his falsetto technique, which he used regularly in performances. For the first time, Australian Idol 2006 permitted contestants to perform with instruments, and Leith accompanied himself on guitar for his renditions of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, Alex Lloyd’s “Never Meant to Fail” and Ben Harper’s “Waiting On an Angel”, and on piano for his rendition of Split Enz’s “Message to My Girl”. Leith also played piano for the non-competition round “Up Close and Personal” night, when he performed his original song “Sky”.

Leith signed a recording contract with Sony BMG and his debut single, “Night of My Life”, was released as a paid digital download from Bigpond Music soon after the conclusion of the grand finale, with an official CD release on November 28, which included an original composition written and produced by Leith titled “Come to Me”.The single was certified “Gold” (35,000 copies sold) within 72 hours of its release. On December 3, 2006, the single debuted at #1 and continued to stay in that position for 4 weeks, having Platinum accreditation (70,000 copies shipped) awarded in the first week of release. It was the fastest-selling debut single released during 2006, and also the most added song to radio. The video of “Night of My Life” debuted on national television on Saturday December 9, 2006. Set in the urban streets of Chippendale, New South Wales, the video was produced by Cutting Edge Productions.

Leith’s second single “22 Steps” was released to Australian radio on June 22, 2007 and then was in stores on July 21, which debut and peaked at #11 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The studio album Where We Land followed and was released on August 18, 2007. It debuted at number one on August 27 in the ARIA Albums Chart. This is his second number one album within seven months. Damien is also the first Australian Idol winner to score two consecutive #1 albums. At age 30, Leith became the second oldest winner (the oldest known Idol winner is Glenn Lyse of Norway, who won at age 33 in 2007) of any Idol series in the World.

Natalie Gauci and Matt Corby are the fifth season winner and runner up. Immediately after declared the winner of Australian Idol 2007, Gauci released her debut single, “Here I Am” as a digital download, and later as a CD single on November 28, 2007, which included her original B-side track, “All in My Mind”. It debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number two, behind “Apologize” by Timbaland featuring OneRepublic. It was the first debut single from an Idol winner that did not reach number one in its first week. “Here I Am” sold only 7,463 copies in its first week, lower than all previous Australian Idol winners’ singles.The single was certified Gold for shipments of 35,000 in its second week on the chart. “Here I Am” received harsh criticism and therefore, was declared a commercial failure due to low sales.

On January 2 of 2008, Gauci began her national Winner’s Journey Tour with Idol Runner-Up Matt Corby that lasted just under a month. The tour featured almost every track from The Winner’s Journey album, excluding On My Mind and Orange Coloured Sky. Additional original material and a cover of “No One” by Alicia Keys who Gauci had cited as a major inspiration. Gauci also performed a number of original compositions, including All In My Mind (the b-side to the Here I Am single), I’m Ready, Back to Life, Secrets and Free Falling.

Matt Corby auditioned in Sydney, New South Wales. He was the last person to audition in 2007. He was selected by the judges as one of the final 24 after strong performances throughout the theatre rounds. Matthew was in the first male group to perform and the following night he was voted as the first person through to the top 12.

On the 12th of November Corby was voted into the Final 2, joining Natalie Gauci. He recorded the winner’s single, “Here I Am” along with Natalie Gauci at Kings Cross studio in Sydney, and performed the song at the Grand Final. It was also at this point that Matt Corby was announced as the Runner Up to the Australian Idol competition.

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Men Who Command The Stage

New Edition

New Edition is an American R&B/Pop group formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1978, that was most popular during the 1980s. The group was formed by Bobby Brown, Michael Bivins and Ricky Bell in 1978, while living at the Orchard Park housing projects (or what the group and residents of the area calls them popularly as “The Bricks”).  Bell soon brought his best friend Ralph Tresvant in on the act, who quickly became their lead singer. They would soon meet a young local group manager/choreographer named Brooke Payne, who would give them the name, ‘New Edition.’ . After winning a talent show in 1980, Payne rounded out the line-up by bringing in his nephew, Ronnie DeVoe.

The group would perform all around Massachusetts and would eventually land a spot at a talent show which ran by Maurice Starr, where the first prize was $500.00 and a recording contract. New Edition came in 2nd place, but Starr decided to bring the group to his studio the following day and would record their debut album, Candy Girl. Recorded in late 1982 and released in 1983, on Starr’s Streetwise Records, the album featured the hits: “Is This The End,” “Popcorn Love,” “Jealous Girl” and the title track, which went to number one in both the American R&B singles chart and the UK singles chart.

Due to financial reasons, New Edition parted company with Starr in 1984. The group, meanwhile, went on to sign a major label deal with MCA Records, which released their self titled second album the same year. Eclipsing their debut album, New Edition spun off the top five hit “Cool It Now” and the top twenty “Mr. Telephone Man,” and went on to be certified double platinum in the United States. New Edition’s third album, All for Love, was released in the latter half of 1985. While not duplicating the success of its predecessor, the album was certified platinum, and spawned the hits: “Count Me Out,” “A Little Bit of Love (Is All It Takes),” and “With You All The Way.” The growing popularity of the group led to a guest appearance (as themselves) in the 1985 film Krush Groove, performing “My Secret.”

In December 1985, under pressure from MCA and their management, the group was forced to vote Bobby Brown out, due to behavioral problems. During this era of the group’s evolution, the group appeared in the episode of Knight Rider titled ‘Knight Song’, performing “Count Me Out.” As 1986 wound to a close, they recorded a cover of The Penguins 1954 hit, “Earth Angel” for the soundtrack to The Karate Kid, Part II. The song peaked at #21, and inspired the group to record Under the Blue Moon, an album of doo-wop covers.

New Edition’s future became uncertain when murmurings began to surface that lead singer Ralph Tresvant was eyeing a solo career as well. To pad his potential departure, singer Johnny Gill was voted into the group by Michael Bivins, Ricky Bell and Ron DeVoe in 1987, despite Tresvant’s ultimately deciding to remain in place. A native of Washington, DC, Johnny Gill is the only non-Boston native among the group’s six members.

New Edition’s fifth studio release, Heart Break—which also featured Gill as the co-lead vocalist—was released in the summer of 1988. Primarily produced by the production team of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, the album was a departure from the group’s previous bubblegum sound, and instead took on a smoother, stronger, and more adult resonance. Spinning off five hit singles: “If It Isn’t Love,” “You’re Not My Kind of Girl,” “Can You Stand The Rain,” “Crucial” and “N.E. Heartbreak”; Heart Break became New Edition’s most commercially successful album up to that point, certified double platinum in the United States, with worldwide sales of close to four million. The success of Heart Break would launch the group on a very successful concert tour as well in the closing months of 1988.

After the run of Heart Break, New Edition went on hiatus to pursue side projects away from the group. At the suggestion of producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis—Bell, Bivins and DeVoe formed a trio, Bell Biv DeVoe. Their 1990 debut album, Poison, went triple platinum. The same year, lead singers Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill (who had already recorded as a solo act prior to joining New Edition) also released self-titled solo albums, which too also achieved multi-platinum success. Later that year, the group (including Bobby Brown) had a semi-reunion of sorts when they performed at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards.

However, after having promised fans that there would be a reunion—and still contractually owing MCA Records another New Edition album—the group (with Bobby Brown) reunited to record Home Again, their first new album in eight years. The album debuted at number one on both The Billboard 200 and R&B Albums chart, and became the most commercially successful album of the groups career; selling over four million copies worldwide. Home Again, meanwhile, produced several hits, including: the top ten pop hits: “Hit Me Off” and “I’m Still In Love With You.”

In the fall of 2004, New Edition’s seventh studio album and Bad Boy debut, One Love, was released. Though the album debuted at number twelve on The Billboard 200, it had a steady descent from the chart. The leadoff single, “Hot 2Nite,” underperformed—peaking at number thirty-five R&B and number eighty-seven Pop. The group soon had a falling out with Combs. Ultimately, the group asked to be released from their Bad Boy contract. Despite the messy divorce with Bad Boy, New Edition soldiered on, touring with other recently reunited groups like Guy, BLACKstreet and SWV throughout 2005.

In the fall of 2005, New Edition performed a medley of hits at BET’s 25th Anniversary Special. During their set, they brought Bobby Brown out onstage for an impromptu rendition of their 1985 hit “Mr. Telephone Man.” It was later announced on BET and Access Hollywood that Brown has reconciled with New Edition and rejoined the group and will be on the next New Edition album. By January 2006, New Edition announced that the group would launch a new album and tour in 2008.

New Edition became a pop phenomenon, and were big enough to have Madonna as an opening act during their early days. In the early 1980s, they sold more units in the United States than any other teen singing group. New Edition paved the way for upcoming boy bands New Kids on the Block, N Sync, 98 Degrees and Backstreet Boys.

Rebirth of Boy Bands

Boy bands became popular once again in the nineties during a rebirth. R&B Male Groups began to take center stage by setting clothing trends along with skyrocketing record sales for this genre of music. Groups like Jodeci, Dru Hill and Jagged Edge had great harmony and electric performances on stage leaving their female fans gasping for more. By using sensuality in their music and stage performances, these male groups had mass appeal and mega hit songs.

‘Pop’ Boy Bands also became teen favorites and a teen craze as these groups were in an unspoken competition of ‘who can make the most girls scream’. These male groups were usually comprised of about 4 or 5 handsome males of certain height or stature to attract females. Award-winning Grammy nominated boy bands N Sync, Backstreet Boys and 98 Degrees are known to be some of the best selling boy bands of all time with record sales collectively exceeding 100 million and sold out concerts.

New Kids Return

New Kids on the Block (also known as NKOTB) are an award-winning American pop group that enjoyed success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Assembled in Boston in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr, the members consisted of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood. The group went on to sell over 70 million albums worldwide and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in concert revenues.

In the early 1980s, Maurice Starr discovered R&B/Pop quintet (later sextet) New Edition and guided their early success. After breaking ties with them, Starr and his business partner, Mary Alford, sought to create a white counterpart act. Auditions were held around Boston, at which some five hundred teenaged boys auditioned. Among them was 15-year-old Donnie Wahlberg, who immediately impressed Starr and Alford with his dancing ability and showmanship, becoming the group’s first member. Wahlberg assisted in helping to recruit other members. Among them were his younger brother Mark, and his best friend Danny Wood. He also coaxed one-time schoolmate Jordan Knight, who sang an exceptional falsetto, into auditioning as well. Upon Knight’s passing the audition, his older brother Jonathan (also possessing a strong singing voice) was accepted into the group as well. Mark became disillusioned with its bubble gum direction, and opted to quit. Seeking a Donny Osmond-esque singer to sing the high solos, Starr replaced him with 12-year-old Joey McIntyre.

In April 1986, Columbia Records released the group’s self-titled debut album. The album, almost exclusively written and produced by Maurice Starr, featured mid 80s bubblegum pop material. The first single, “Be My Girl” received minor airplay around the group’s native Boston, but failed to capture nationwide attention. The album’s second single, “Stop It Girl,” fared even worse. The album, however, would later go on to be certified triple platinum by the RIAA, largely on the strength of the popularity the group attained with their next album.

Dissatisfied with the excessively bubblegum sound of their first album, the group wanted to have more input on their look, direction and song material. As a result, Donnie, Danny and Jordan received associate producer credit on the final product. The album’s first single was “Please Don’t Go Girl,” a ballad released in the spring of 1988. A radio station in Florida began playing the song. Scoring listener approval, it soon became the most requested song on their play list. When Columbia caught wind of the positive response, they decided to keep the group on its roster and put more effort into promoting the single. National attention soon followed and it eventually climbed to #10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Chart—becoming the group’s first hit.

New Kids on the Block’s second album, Hangin’ Tough, was released to modest fanfare in September. At year’s end, the album’s second single “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” was released. The song was given a huge boost when MTV took notice of the group and began playing the video in regular rotation. “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever),” reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in June.

More top five singles from Hangin’ Tough followed into the summer and fall, including: the title track and “Cover Girl.” Columbia Records also released, from the groups previously overlooked debut album, “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind).” The song went top ten on the strength of the group’s popularity and effectively jump-started the sales of that album as well. By the end of 1989, Hangin’ Tough had climbed to number one on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and had gone eight-times platinum. They, subsequently, became the first ‘teen’ act to garner five top ten hits from a single album.

By early 1990, New Kids on the Block had become one of the most popular acts in the world. The following May, they followed up Hangin’ Tough with Step by Step, which featured slightly more than half of the songs co-written and produced by the members themselves. The first single, the title track, raced to number one on the Hot 100 Singles Chart and became their biggest selling single. It was followed up with the top ten “Tonight,” which extended the consecutive top ten singles chart run to an amazing nine records. The album was eventually certified triple platinum, selling close to twenty million copies worldwide.

New Kids on the Block’s official fan club had a membership of over one hundred thousand names, and received thirty-thousand letters a day. Approximately one hundred thousand calls per week were dialed to 1-900-909-5KIDS, the Official NKOTB Hotline, as well. The group topped Forbes list of highest paid entertainers of 1990, beating out the likes of Michael Jackson and Madonna.

In 1993, after having split from Maurice Starr, the group shortened their name to the acronym NKOTB. In January 1994, their fourth studio album, Face the Music, was released. NKOTB went on tour to support the album, playing smaller venues such as clubs and theaters, as opposed to the arenas and stadiums they were once accustomed to. Group member Jonathan Knight departed the tour early, after experiencing increased panic attacks and anxiety. Shortly thereafter, the remaining four decided to cancel the rest of the tour, and the group disbanded altogether in June 1994.

NKOTB reunited and In May 2008, the group released “Summertime”, as a download single on various online digital music services. The group released “Single” on August 12, their second single from their latest album entitled The Block which was released on September 2, 2008 in two editions: a 13 track standard album, and a Special Edition which came with a fold-out poster and 4 bonus songs. The group’s reunion tour (New Kids on the Block Tour) is scheduled to begin at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre on September 18, 2008. They will be touring in the US with Natasha Bedingfield. There are seven concerts scheduled for Canada and forty-one in the US.

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Soundtrack Hits

The Way We Were

The Way We Were is a 1973 American film which tells the story of Katie Morosky, an intense Jewish woman, who marries Hubbell Gardiner, a carefree but talented WASP, following World War II. Fundamental differences in outlook and personality – as revealed in their responses to the rise of McCarthyism – eventually pull them apart. Starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, along with Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles, Patrick O’Neal and Viveca Lindfors, the film is both a romance of star-crossed lovers and a morality tale about the importance of commitment.

In addition to the title song’s Oscar win, Barbra Streisand’s rendition of “The Way We Were” was a tremendous commercial success, becoming her first number-one single in the United States. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1973 and charted for 23 weeks, eventually selling over a million copies and lasting three weeks at number one in February 1974. It was Streisand’s second number-one hit after “People” in 1964. Billboard named “The Way We Were” as the number-one pop hit of 1974. “The Way We Were” was also the title song of a Streisand album that also hit number one (distinct from the soundtrack album of the movie, which peaked at #20.

Rocky

Rocky is a 1976 film written by and starring Sylvester Stallone and directed by John G. Avildsen. It tells the rags-to-riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but good-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in Philadelphia. Balboa is also a club fighter who gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship when the scheduled contender breaks his hand. The film, made for only US$1.2 million, and shot relatively fast in 28 days, was a sleeper hit; it made over US$117.2 million, won three Oscars, including Best Picture, the film was reviewed very well and launched Stallone’s career into the stratosphere. The film spawned five sequels: Rocky II, III, IV, V, and Rocky Balboa.

“Gonna Fly Now”, also known as “Theme from Rocky”, is the theme song from the movie Rocky, composed by Bill Conti with lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, and performed by DeEtta Little and Nelson Pigford. Released in 1976 with the movie Rocky, the song became part of American popular culture after main character Rocky Balboa completed his daily training regimen while the song played. The song finishes as Rocky completes his famous run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and raises his arms in a victory pose. The song is also often played at sporting events.

The song (whose lyrics have a total count of 30 words) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in the 49th Academy Awards. The version of the song from the movie, performed by Conti with an orchestra, hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977, while a version by jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson hit the top 30. Disco versions by Rhythm Heritage and Current were on the chart at the same time. Conti’s single was certified gold by the RIAA.

Tootsie

Tootsie is a 1982 comedy film that tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to go to extreme lengths to land a job. Not having worked in four months, he eventually hears of an opening on the soap opera Southwest General Hospital (a parody of General Hospital) from his friend Sandy Lester (Teri Garr), who initially tries out for the role but doesn’t get it. In desperation, he cross-dresses, auditions as ”Dorothy Michaels” and eventually wins the part. The movie stars Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, with a supporting cast that includes Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, Sydney Pollack, George Gaynes, Lynne Thigpen and Geena Davis.

In 1998 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film “culturally significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. The theme song to the film, “It Might Be You” by singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop, was a Top 40 hit in the U.S. Bishop’s recording peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on May 7, 1983 and spent eight weeks in the Top 40. It also spent two weeks at #1 on the adult contemporary chart.

Back to the Future

Back to the Future is a 1985 science fiction–adventure-comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg. Zemeckis wrote the story, along with Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox as teenager Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as scientist Dr. Emmett L. Brown. The film’s basic storyline involves the premise of time travel being used to bridge the generation gap. In a time machine invented by Dr. Emmett L. Brown, Marty accidentally travels back to the year 1955 when his parents were teenagers. Having interfered with their first meeting, Marty must ensure that his young parents fall in love so that he will be born. Furthermore, the Dr. Brown of 1955 must find a way to return Marty to 1985 without the plutonium necessary to fuel the journey.

“The Power of Love” is the title of a 1985 single by Huey Lewis and the News written for and featured in the film Back to the Future. It gave the band their first number-one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and later peaked at #9 in the UK, while appearing on UK editions of the band’s fourth studio album, Fore!. The song was nominated for an Academy Award at the 58th Academy Awards.

The song appears early in Back to the Future as Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) skates to school, then when he and his band played the song for a Battle of the Bands auditions (which Lewis, himself, is judging), and later when Marty returns to his neighborhood. In the sequel, Back to the Future Part II, the 2015 version of Marty barely plays the song on his guitar just after being fired, but because his hand was damaged from his 1985 accident with a Rolls Royce, he cannot play the guitar well. It is hard to tell that he is playing “Power of Love.” Finally, it can be briefly heard playing in the car where Needles and his buddies are driving when Needles challenges Marty to the fate-determining car race near the end of Back to the Future Part III.

The Bodyguard

The Bodyguard is a 1992 romantic-suspense film directed by Mick Jackson, written by Lawrence Kasdan, and starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. In her film debut, Whitney Houston plays Rachel Marron, a pop music superstar. It seems that one of her fans is stalking her and has threatened to kill her, so Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner), a professional bodyguard and former Secret Service agent, is hired to protect her.

Singer Whitney Houston covered the song for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard her film debut. Houston was originally to record Jimmy Ruffin’s “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” as the lead single from The Bodyguard. However, when it was discovered the song was to be used for Fried Green Tomatoes, Houston requested a different song and her co-star Kevin Costner brought her Linda Ronstadt’s 1975 cover version of the tune from her album Prisoner in Disguise.

During recording of the song “I Will Always Love You”, there was some difficulty arranging the cover until someone suggested that Whitney Houston sing the first verse without instrumental backing, and that version became the one used in the film. Houston re-arranged the song as a soul ballad. Her record label did not feel a song with an a cappella introduction would be as successful. Houston and Costner, however, insisted to maintain an a cappella intro.

The soundtrack to the film is one of the best selling soundtracks of all time. The Bodyguard soundtrack sold over 17 million copies sold in North America and 42 million worldwide. Houston’s cover version of “I Will Always Love You” is the most successful cover tune ever.

Titantic

Titanic is a 1997 disaster film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic. It features Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, and Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater, two members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ill-fated 1912 maiden voyage of the ship. The main characters and the central love story are fictional, but some supporting characters (such as members of the ship’s crew) are based on real historical figures.

The film received steady attendance after opening in North America on Friday, December 19, 1997. By Sunday that same weekend, theaters were beginning to sell out. The film debuted with $8,658,814 on its opening day and $28,638,131 over the opening weekend from 2,674 theaters, averaging to about $10,710 per venue, and ranking #1 at the box office. Titanic had increased in popularity and theaters continued selling out. Its biggest single day took place on Valentine’s Day 1998, making over $13 million on that day, more than six weeks after it debuted in North America. After it was released, it stayed at #1 for 15 consecutive weeks in the U.S. box office, an undefeated record 1998 US box office.

By March 1998, it was the first film to earn more than $1 billion worldwide. Some theaters in Australia, India, and South Africa ran it for more than one year. The movie stayed in theaters in North America for more than nine months before finally closing on Thursday October 1, 1998 with a final domestic gross of $600,788,188, and making more than double that amount overseas with an international gross of $1,248,025,607. The film accumulated a grand total of $1,848,813,795 worldwide, and to this day Titanic retains the record as the most successful box office film in history. Titanic eventually won nearly 90 awards and had an additional 47 nominations from various award-giving bodies around the world.

“My Heart Will Go On” is the theme song of the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. With music by James Horner and lyrics by Will Jennings, it was recorded by Céline Dion. “My Heart Will Go On” is Céline Dion’s biggest hit and one of the best-selling singles in history. It reached number 1 all over the world and on the United World Chart. Although in the U.S. it debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed in that position for 2 weeks, it spent 10 weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay. It was also number 1 for 2 weeks on the Hot 100 Singles Sales. Only a limited number of copies were released - 687,000 - which were sold out in a few weeks. The single was eventually certified gold in the U.S.  It dominated the Grammy Awards of 1999, winning Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. “My Heart Will Go On” won also the Golden Globe Award in 1998.

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Why Sex Sells Music

Sex is woven into every pattern of our lives. Sex is so synonymous with television sitcoms that every joke, conversation, or underlying message between characters is about sex. TV Commercials use scantily clad women to sell cars, clothes, tools, food, electronics, soft drinks, cologne and more. Billboard advertisements planted along our streets, highways and expressways often feature a relation to sex with their ads.

Although this is the case, there are people who complain about such things and every once in awhile get results. Such as the medication for sexual dysfunction billboards that were recently put up throughout Australia. The Advertising Standards Bureau was receiving at least 5-15 complaints per week and has announced that the billboard ads will be removed.

Sex is everywhere and there is no wonder that sex also sells music. You, however, may want to purchase music that is not steeped in sex. Maybe you’re searching for fun pop songs or mellow music without all of the sexual innuendos. You may be surprised to know that there are recording artists with great style and cool songs that strive not to rely on sex to sell their music.

Beautiful Lyricist

India.Arie

India.Arie (born India Arie Simpson on October 3, 1975) is an American soul, R&B, and neo soul singer-songwriter, record producer, guitarist, and flautist. She absorbed musical skills early in life as she was encouraged by both parents. Her mother Joyce is a former singer (she was signed to Motown as a teenager and opened for Stevie Wonder and Al Green) and is now her stylist. Her father is former ABA and NBA basketball player Ralph Simpson.

Arie had taken up a succession of musical instruments throughout her schooling in Denver, but her interest in the guitar while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, led to a personal revelation about songwriting and performing. “When I started tapping into my own sensitivity, I started to understand people better. It was a direct result of writing songs”, she said at the press release of her debut album, Acoustic Soul. Her one-song turn on a locally-released compilation led to a second-stage gig at the 1998 Lilith Fair. In 1999, a Universal/Motown music scout spotted her and made an introduction to former Motown CEO Kedar Massenberg.

Acoustic Soul was released on March 27, 2001 and debuted at number ten on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Within months, without the concentrated radio airplay that typically powers pop and rap albums, Acoustic Soul was certified double platinum, selling 1,970,000 copies in the U.S. and 2,799,000 worldwide. As a capstone to the album’s success, Arie had the distinction of having the most total Grammy Award nominations of any single artist that year. Fans and peers alike were stunned when she was not awarded a Grammy Award in any of the nominated categories.

Arie followed the success of her debut in 2002 with the release of Voyage to India. Debuting at number six on the Billboard 200 and number one on the R&B chart, it eventually earned her two Grammy Awards in 2003—”Best R&B Album” and Best Urban/Alternative Performance” for the song “Little Things”. Soon after its release, Voyage to India was certified platinum selling 1,200,000 copies in the U.S. and 2,083,000 worldwide.

Arie’s third studio album, Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship, was released on June 27, 2006. It gave Arie her first number-one spot on the Billboard 200 and was her second chart-topper on the R&B chart. This album was also the first number-one album for Motown in twelve years since Boyz II Men’ 1994 II. Its first-week sales of 161,000 copies are Arie’s best sales week to date and was certified gold in August 2006, selling 730,000 in the U.S. It has also sold 1,484,000 worldwide. Her acclaimed cover of Don Henley’s “The Heart of the Matter” from this album has returned in 2008 as a feature in the trailers to the film Sex and the City: The Movie.

Arie is also featured on Stevie Wonder’s album A Time to Love, released on October 18, 2005. Arie and Wonder duet on the title track “A Time to Love”, written by Arie, which was nominated for “Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals” at the 2006 Grammy Awards.

Arie  has performed several duets with recording artists and musicians such as with rock singer-guitarist John Mellencamp on the song “Peaceful World” for his 2001 album Cuttin’ Heads. Arie performed a duet with jazz singer Cassandra Wilson on the song “Just Another Parade” for her 2002 album Belly of the Sun. She performed a duet with Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes on the title song “Timeless” for his 2006 album Timeless. Arie performed the vocals for “It Might Be You” on Dave Koz’s 2007 album At the Movies and also performed a duet with singer Anthony David for his song “Words” for his 2008 album Acey Duecy.

Modern Taste of Music

Chris Brown

Christopher Maurice Brown (born in small town of Tappahannock, Virginia on May 5, 1989) is a Grammy nominated American R&B and pop singer-songwriter, dancer, music video director and actor. Brown was influenced by the artists his parents played on the home radio, such as Michael Jackson, Donny Hathaway, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. A dancer since the age of two, Brown was not aware of his vocal talents until the age of eleven.

At thirteen, Chris Brown was discovered by a local production team who visited his father’s gas station searching for new talent. Since then, he began his recording career and moved to New York, staying there for two years. At the age of 15, Brown was then sent to perform for L.A. Reid and was subsequently signed in 2004 to Jive Records. By early 2005, Brown began work for his debut album.

Brown left school in late 2004 to begin working on his self-titled debut album which was released on November 29, 2005. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 selling over 155,000 copies in first week of sales. His debut single, “Run It!”, was #1 in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. Following “Run It!”, “Yo (Excuse Me Miss)” became Brown’s second top 10 hit in the U.S., peaking at #7, and #13 in the UK. It has been certified platinum by the RIAA.

His third single, “Gimme That”, was released in March 2006 which featured Lil Wayne for a remix, originally not featured on the album, but was later included. The single debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at #80 and climbed the charts quickly peaking at #15. Brown also co-directed his music videos for “Yo (Excuse Me Miss)” and “Gimme That”. His fourth single is the ballad “Say Goodbye”, which is also a part of the Step Up soundtrack.

Brown quickly began production for his second studio album, Exclusive, which was set to be released on August 28, 2007 until it was pushed to November 6, 2007. The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 and number 2 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums selling nearly 300,000 copies in its first week domestically, 140,000 more copies than his debut album.

According to MTV News, Brown stated: “I am still going to keep it so my younger fans can continue to listen to my music, but I got a couple of joints on there that’s for some of the older people.” The album’s first single, “Wall to Wall”, debuted on the ‘Billboard Hot 100 at #96, and peaked at #79 and #22 on the Billboard R&B and Hip-Hop Chart becoming his lowest charting song to date. “Kiss Kiss”, featuring and produced by T-Pain, was released as the second single. “Kiss Kiss”, has become more successful surpassing the success of “Wall To Wall”, reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 to become Chris’ second #1 single and his highest chart peak since “Run It!” in 2005.

On December 4, 2007, Brown released the third single from “Exclusive”, entitled “With You”, a song produced by Stargate. So far, “With You” has reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has entered the charts in various countries around the world, becoming one of Brown’s most successful released to date, entering the top ten in Croatia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, the United States, Cyprus, Ireland, France, the United Kingdom, Malta, Malaysia, Australia, and the United World Chart.

In addition to his solo commercial success, Brown has been featured on several hits such as “No Air”, a duet with singer Jordin Sparks, “Shortie like Mine” with the rapper Bow Wow. The songs have peaked on number three, number nine  on the Billboard Hot 100 respectively. Due to his vocal and dance routines, Brown has been compared to renowned R&B artists such as Usher and Michael Jackson, citing both as large influences on his music.

Coldplay

Coldplay are an alternative rock band formed in London, England on 16 January, 1998. The members of the band met at the University College London (UCL) in September 1996. Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland were the first members of the band, having met one another during their orientation week. They spent the rest of the college year planning a band, with their efforts culminating in a band called Pectoralz. Later, Guy Berryman, a classmate of the two, joined the band without considering what musical direction it was taking. The band’s lineup was complete when Will Champion joined the band to take up percussion duties. The band declared an all-for-one approach: Coldplay was a democracy, and profits were to be shared equally, taking a page from bands like U2 and R.E.M. Second, the band would fire anyone who used hard drugs.

Coldplay scored their first Top 40 single, “Shiver”. Released in March 2000, it reached a modest #35 on the UK Singles Chart and earned the band their first airplay on MTV. June 2000 was a pivotal moment in Coldplay’s history: the band embarked on their first headlining tour, which included a triumphant return to Glastonbury. More notably, the group released the breakthrough single, “Yellow”. The song shot to #4 on the UK Singles Chart and placed Coldplay in public consciousness.

Having found success in Europe, the band set their sights on North America, and Parachutes was released there in November 2000. The band embarked on a US club tour in early 2001, beginning with a show in Vancouver, Canada, which was coupled with appearances on Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and The Late Show with David Letterman. Whilst Parachutes was a slow-burning success in the US, it eventually reached double-platinum status. The album was critically well-received, earning Best Alternative Music Album honours at the 2002 Grammy Awards.

Coldplay returned to the studio in October 2001 to begin work on their second album, once again with Ken Nelson producing. A Rush of Blood to the Head was released in August 2002. The album spawned several popular singles, notably “In My Place”, “Clocks”, and the ballad “The Scientist”. In December 2003, they were named by readers of Rolling Stone magazine as the best artist and the best band of the year. A Rush of Blood to the Head won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2003 Grammy Awards. At the 2004 Grammy Awards, Coldplay earned Record of the Year for “Clocks”.

X&Y was released in June 2005 in UK and Europe. This new, delayed release date had put the album back into the next fiscal year, actually causing EMI’s stock to drop. It became the best-selling album of 2005 with worldwide sales of 8.3 million. The lead single, “Speed of Sound”, made its radio and online music store debut on 18 April and was released as a CD on 23 May 2005. The album debuted at #1 in 22 countries worldwide and was the third-fastest selling album in UK chart history. Two other singles were released that year: “Fix You” in September and “Talk” in December.

The band began to work on their fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. Some songs, such as “Violet Hill”, contain distorted guitar riffs and bluesy undertones. On 15 June 2008, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends topped the UK album chart, despite having been on sale for only three days. In that time, it sold 302,000 copies — making it “one of the fastest-selling records in UK history”. By the end of June, it had set a new record for most-downloaded album ever.

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Nineties Style of Music

From the early raves of 1990 to about 1996, electronic music gradually gained widespread recognition as a new genre in its own right. Hip-hop culture grows; by the end of the decade hip hop gained more and more popularity. Alternative rock overtakes Grunge in popularity around 1995. Teen pop makes a comeback in the mid-1990s. R&B Music and hip-hop influenced R&B are big in the 1990s. Female R&B groups achieve great success in the 1990s with groups such as Destiny Child, En Vogue, TLC and All Saints.

Popular styles include alternative rock (Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins), grunge (Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden), post-grunge (Matchbox Twenty, Soul Asylum, Collective Soul, Third Eye Blind, Everclear, Creed, Foo Fighters, Our Lady Peace, Stiltskin, Silverchair), heavy metal and alternative metal (Helmet, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Pantera, Tool).

In America, country music becomes more mainstream with popular chart topping artist such as Garth Brooks, George Strait, Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes, Sara Evans, Faith Hill, and Tim McGraw. During most of the 1990s, anything “Eighties” was considered to be ultimately uncool. As a result, people start wearing straighter hair, darker clothes and acoustic music becomes popular in opposition to the bright synthpop of the 1980s. The most noticeable 80s backlash being glam rock, hair metal and glam metal’s sudden loss of popularity and eventual demise. Some recording artist were blowing up the airwaves in the nineties.

‘Pop’ Divas

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born August 9, 1963) is a Grammy Award-winning American pop and R&B singer, actress, film producer, arranger, songwriter, and former fashion model.

In 1990, the pop singer decided to take a more urban direction in her music. I’m Your Baby Tonight, Houston’s third studio album, was released in November 1990. Houston was given more control as she had a hand in production and choosing producers. As a result, the album featured productions from Babyface and Antonio Reid, Luther Vandross, and Stevie Wonder. The album showed Houston’s versatility on a new batch of tough rhythmic grooves, soulful ballads and up-tempo dance tracks. Reviews were mixed. Rolling Stone felt it was her “best and most integrated album”.

The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to be certified four times platinum in the U.S., selling ten million worldwide. The first two singles, the new jack swing “I’m Your Baby Tonight” and the soul ballad “All The Man That I Need” each hit number one on both the pop and R&B singles charts respectively. The third and fourth singles: “Miracle”, and “My Name Is Not Susan” peaked at numbers nine and twenty, respectively.

In November 1992, Houston made her big screen debut, opposite Kevin Costner, in The Bodyguard, which became a huge success at the box office thanks in large part to the accompanying soundtrack. Houston recorded six songs for the film’s adjoining soundtrack album, which featured productions from David Foster. The soundtrack’s lead single was a cover of the Dolly Parton country hit “I Will Always Love You”. It peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record-breaking 14 weeks and topping the charts in nearly every other country including the big markets of the UK, Germany, France and Australia.

The song has sold approximately ten million copies worldwide, making it the best selling single by a female solo artist. The soundtrack debuted at number 1 and remained there for twenty consecutive weeks. The follow-up singles “I’m Every Woman”, a Chaka Khan cover, and “I Have Nothing” both peaked in the top five. The album was certified 17x platinum in the United States with worldwide sales of forty-two million, and went on to become the best-selling soundtrack album ever. Houston won three Grammys for the project including two of the Academy’s highest honors, Album of the Year and Record of the Year.

In December 1995, Whitney co-produced, with Babyface, the critically acclaimed cultural phenomenon Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album. Though Babyface originally wanted Houston to record the entire album, she declined. Instead, she “wanted it to be an album of women with vocal distinction” to go along with the film’s strong women message. As a result, the album featured a range of contemporary R&B female recording artists including Aretha Franklin, Toni Braxton, Brandy, and Mary J Blige. Houston herself contributed three songs including the smash “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)”.

After debuting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song spent a record 11 weeks at the #2 spot. Houston also contributed two other songs: the top 10 hit “Count on Me”, a duet with friend Cece Winans and the top 30 hit, “Why Does It Hurt So Bad”. The album debuted at #1, has since been certified seven times platinum in America, and has sold thirteen million worldwide, according to her official site. The soundtrack received strong reviews. It has since ranked it as one of the 100 Best Movie Soundtracks. Newsday called it “the most significant R&B record of the decade.”

After spending much of the early and mid 1990s working on films, with their adjacent soundtrack albums as an outlet for new music, Houston’s first studio album in eight years, the critically acclaimed My Love Is Your Love was released in November 1998. The album’s first single, the Academy Award-winning “When You Believe” (a duet with Mariah Carey for 1998s The Prince of Egypt soundtrack) didn’t do as well as expected and only reached the Top 20 in the U.S.

As a result, the album debuted at #13. However, the next three singles, “Heartbreak Hotel”, which featured Faith Evans and Kelly Price; “It’s Not Right but It’s Okay”, which won Houston her sixth Grammy Award, and “My Love Is Your Love” all reached the U.S. Top 5 and became international hits. Whitney Houston’s voice continues to be heard with over 170 million albums, singles and videos sold worldwide.

Mariah Carey was born in Long Island, NY on March 27, 1970. Her nationality includes an African-American/Venezuelan Father and Irish-American Mother. Mariah began singing at the tender age of four and began writing songs in junior high school. Although the innate desire for music was there from early on, her mother’s profession as an Opera Singer was a positive influence which led to Mariah’s ultimate destiny as a powerful vocalist.

In 1990 Mariah’s self titled debut album was one of the biggest first hit albums of all time. Between this album and her follow up Emotions she obtained a staggering 5 No. 1 singles in a row. With songs like ‘Vision of Love’, ‘Someday’, and Emotions’ taking over the radio airwaves, there seemed to be no end to the hits. The world of music was to find out that her string of chart toppers was just the beginning. In 1993, Mariah released her third album Music Box which ultimately sold 10 million copies. This Album spawned hits like, ‘Dream Lover’ and ‘Anytime You Need A Friend’. In 1995 Mariah musically became a triple threat. Her Album Daydream debuted at #1 with single ‘Fantasy’ debuting at the top of the single charts, the first ever to be accomplished by a female artist. On the same album another single, ‘One Sweet Day’ sung with male vocal group ‘Boys II Men’ remained on the billboard hot 100 singles chart for a phenomenal 16 weeks!

Carey’s next album, Butterfly (1997), yielded the number-one single “Honey”. She stated that Butterfly marked the point that she attained full creative control over her music. “My All” (her thirteenth Hot 100 number-one) gave her the record for the most U.S. number-ones by a female artist. The song “When You Believe”, a duet with Whitney Houston, was recorded for the soundtrack of The Prince of Egypt (1998) and won an Academy Award.

Rainbow, Carey’s seventh studio album, was released in 1999 and comprised more R&B/hip hop-oriented songs, many of them co-created with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. “Heartbreaker” and “Thank God I Found You” (the former featuring Jay-Z, the latter featuring Joe and boy band 98 Degrees) reached number one in the U.S., and the success of the former made Carey the only act to have a number-one single in each year of the 1990s. A cover of Phil Collins’s “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” went to number one in the UK after Carey re-recorded it with boy band Westlife.

Carey’s tenth studio album is, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). The album earned Carey a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and the single “We Belong Together” won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. “We Belong Together” held the Hot 100’s number-one position for fourteen weeks, her longest run at the top as a solo lead artist. Subsequently, the single “Shake It Off” reached number two for a week, making Carey one of fewer than a dozen music acts to have simultaneously held the Hot 100’s top two positions, and the first female to do so with two lead vocals.

E=MC² (released April 2008) is the eleventh studio album by American pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 with 463,000 copies sold, making it the biggest opening week sales of her career. The first single from the album, “Touch My Body”, reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Other singles include “Bye Bye”, “I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time”, and the forthcoming “I Stay in Love”.

Carey continues to top the charts with her eighteenth number one single second only to the Beatles who has twenty number-one singles.

Toni Braxton (on October 7, 1967) is an American singer and actress. With Braxton’s low register sounding similar to that of Anita Baker, Reid and Babyface recruited her to record a demo of “Love Shoulda Brought You Home”, a song that they had written for Anita Baker for the soundtrack of Eddie Murphy’s film, Boomerang. Baker, who was pregnant at the time, didn’t record the song but suggested that Braxton record it. Her recording was later included on the soundtrack along with “Give U My Heart” - a duet by Braxton and Babyface. Braxton, meanwhile, was signed to Reid and Edmonds’ Arista-distributed imprint, LaFace Records, and immediately began recording her solo debut album.

On June 29, 1993, LaFace Records released Braxton’s self-titled debut album, Toni Braxton. The album, which was primarily produced by Reid, Babyface, and Daryl Simmons, peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 albums chart. The first single, “Another Sad Love Song”, peaked at number seven and number two on Billboard’s Hot 100 and R&B Singles charts respectively. The album’s second single, “Breathe Again” peaked in the top five of both the Hot 100 and R&B singles charts and no 2 in the UK. More singles from Toni Braxton were released in 1994, including “You Mean the World to Me”, “Seven Whole Days”, and “How Many Ways”.

Braxton’s debut album won her several awards, including three Grammy Awards (for “Best New Artist” and two consecutive awards for “Best Female R&B Vocal Performance” in 1994 and 1995). She also won two American Music Awards (for