K.D.Lang was born: Kathryn Dawn Lang in November 2, 1961[1] in Edmonton, Alberta to Audrey and Fred Lang. The family moved to Consort, Alberta[2] when she was nine months old, and there she grew up with her two sisters and one brother on the Canadian prairies.
Lang was first drawn to country music when she attended Red Deer College[3]. Soon, she became fascinated with the life and music of Patsy Cline and ultimately determined to pursue a career as a professional singer. Lang formed a Patsy Cline tribute band called the Reclines in 1983, and they recorded a debut album, Friday Dance Promenade. Also in 1983, she presented a performance art piece, a seven-hour re-enactment of the transplantation of an artificial heart for Barney Clark, a retired American dentist.[4][5] A Truly Western Experience was released in 1984 and received strong reviews and led to national attention in Canada.
Singing at country and western venues in Canada, she made several recordings that received good reviews and earned a 1985 Canadian Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist. She accepted the award wearing a wedding dress and made numerous tongue-in-cheek promises about what she would and would not do in the future, thus fulfilling the title of Most Promising. Lang has won eight Juno Awards.
Dionne Warwick (born Marie Dionne Warrick on December 12, 1940), is an acclaimed five-time Grammy Award-winning singer, actress, activist, United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, former United States Ambassador of Health, and humanitarian. She is best known for her partnership with songwriters and producers Burt Bacharach and Hal David. According to Billboard magazine, Dionne Warwick is second only to Aretha Franklin as the female vocalist with the most Billboard Hot 100 chart hits during the rock era (1955-1999).[citation needed] Warwick charted a total of 56 hits in the Billboard Hot 100.[citation needed] The artist scored crossover hits on the Rhythm & Blues charts and the Adult Contemporary charts. Joel Whitburn's tome on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts entitled "Top Pop Singles 1955-1999" ranked Dionne Warwick as the 20th most popular of the top 200 artists of the rock era based upon the Billboard Pop Singles Charts.
"Puppet on a String" is the name of the Eurovision Song Contest-winning song in 1967 by British singer Sandie Shaw.[1] It was her thirteenth UK single release. The song was a UK Singles Chart number one hit on 27th April 1967, staying at the top for a total of three weeks.[2]
Shaw had originally performed the song as one of five prospective numbers to represent the United Kingdom in the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest on The Rolf Harris Show. She had never been taken with the idea of taking part in the contest but her discoverer, Adam Faith had talked her into it, saying it would keep her manager Eve Taylor happy. Eve Taylor|Taylor was wanting to give Shaw a more cabaret appeal and felt that this was the right move - and also felt that it would get Shaw back in the public's good books as she had recently been involved in a divorce scandal.
Of the five songs performed, "Puppet on a String" was Shaw's least favourite. In her own words "I hated it from the very first oompah to the final bang on the big bass drum. I was instinctively repelled by its sexist drivel and cuckoo-clock tune." She was disappointed when it was selected as the song she would use to represent the country. Shaw won the contest hands down, though it has always been felt that this was partly down to her existing popularity on the continent (she had recorded most of her hit singles in French, Italian, German and Spanish). As a result "Puppet on a String" became her third Number One hit in the UK (a record for a female at the time) and was a big worldwide smash (the biggest selling single of the year in Germany).
Shaw re-recorded "Puppet on a String" in early 2007 in honour of her 60th birthday. This took place after Shaw visited her friend, musician Howard Jones and found him playing some chords on his keyboard and humming a melody. He encouraged her to continue the melody and before long she realised that it was in fact "Puppet on a String." They recorded the new, slow-tempo electronic version of the song and sent it to producer/mixer Andy Gray who put the final touches on the song. Shaw stated that she loved the new version (having spent a great deal of her life hating the original) and released it exclusively for free download from her official website on the 26th February (her actual birthday). It was available for free download for sixty days. As a result of its popularity, Shaw continued to put out new songs on her website for download for the remaining months of her 61st year.
Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien[1] was born in West Hampstead to an Irish Catholic family[12], and was brought up in the West London borough of Ealing. The name "Dusty" was given to her when she was a child, as she had been a tomboy in her early years. Dusty's mother told her a lot about movies. Her tax consultant father[1] used to tap out rhythms on the back of her hand, encouraging the young Dusty to guess the musical piece. Dusty was brought up listening to a wide range of music, Gershwin, Rogers and Hart, Rogers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller, among others. She was a fan of American Jazz and the music of Peggy Lee, with a desire to sound like her. At age 11, she went into a local record shop in Ealing and made her first record, the Judy Garland Irving Berlin song "When The Midnight Choo Choo Leaves For Alabam".[27]
Elaine PaigeOBE (née Bickerstaff;[2] born 5 March1948) is an Englishsinger and actress, primarily in musical theatre. Paige was raised in Barnet, North London, and trained at the Aida Foster stage school, after which time she made her first professional appearance on stage in 1964. She went on to appear in the 1968 production of Hair, making her West End debut.
Following minor roles, Paige was selected to play Eva Perón in the first production of Evita, bringing her to public attention in 1978. In 1981, she originated the role of Grizabella in Cats, and had a Top 10 hit with "Memory", a song from the show. Paige later appeared in the original production of Chess in 1986, and released "I Know Him So Well" with Barbara Dickson, which remains the biggest-selling record by a female duo in the Guinness Book of Records. Paige made her Broadway debut in Sunset Boulevard in 1996 when she played the lead role of Norma Desmond, winning critical acclaim. She appeared in The King and I from 2000 to 2001, and six years later she returned to the West End stage in The Drowsy Chaperone.
Paige has been nominated for and won many awards for her theatre roles and has become known as the First Lady of British Musical Theatre. Away from the stage, she has released 20 solo albums, which include 8 consecutive gold and 4 multi-platinum albums. Paige has sung in concerts across the world and she also hosts her own show on BBC Radio 2.
Rosemary, Betty, and brother, Nick, all became entertainers. In the next generation, some of her own children, including Miguel and Rafael, and also her nephew, George Clooney (Nick's son), also became respected entertainers. In 1945, the Clooney sisters won a spot on Cincinnati's radio station WLW as singers. Her sister Betty sang in a duo with Rosemary for much of her early career.
Clooney's first recordings, in May 1946, were for Columbia Records as a singer with the big band of Tony Pastor. She continued working with the Pastor band until 1949, making her last recording with the band in May of that year and her first as a solo artist a month later, still for Columbia. In 1951, her record of "Come On-a My House" became a hit, her first of many singles to hit the charts — despite the fact that Clooney hated the song passionately. She had been told by Columbia to record the song, and that she would be in violation of her contract if she did not record it.
Around 1952, Rosemary recorded several duets with Marlene Dietrich.
In 1954, she, along with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Vera-Ellen, starred in the movie White Christmas. In later years, Clooney would often appear with Crosby on television, such as in the 1957 special The Edsel Show, and the two friends made a concert tour of Ireland together. Crosby opined that Clooney was "the best in the business." In 1960 she and Crosby co-starred in a 20-minute CBS radio show that went to air before the midday news every weekday.
In 1956, she starred in a half hour syndicated television musical variety show The Rosemary Clooney Show. The show featured The Hi-Lo's singing group and Nelson Riddle's orchestra. The following year, the show moved to NBCprime time as The Lux Show Starring Rosemary Clooney but only lasted one season. The new show featured the The Modernaires singing group and Frank DeVol's orchestra.
Beginning in 1977, she recorded an album a year for Concord Records, which continued until her death. This made her something of an anomaly, because most of her generation of singers had long since stopped recording regularly by then.
In the late-1970s and early-1980s, Clooney was also a pitch-person for Coronet paper towels, for which she sang a memorable jingle that goes, "Extra value is what you get, when you buy Coro-net." Jim Belushi later parodied Clooney and the commercial while as a cast member for NBC's Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s.
In 1994, Clooney guest starred in the NBC medical drama ER, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award.
In 1999, Clooney founded the Rosemary Clooney Music Festival, held annually in her hometown of Maysville, Kentucky.[1] She performed at the festival every year until her death. Proceeds benefit the restoration of the Russell Theater in Maysville, where Clooney's first film, The Stars are Singing, premiered in 1953.[2]
Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an Americansinger, songwriter, and pianist. She is known to her fans "The Queen of Soul" and is also affectionately called "Sister Ree". She is renowned for her soul recordings but is also adept at jazz, rock, blues, pop, gospel, and even opera.[1] She is widely acclaimed for her passionate, soulful vocal style, which is aided by a massive and powerful vocal range.
Franklin is the second most honored female singer in Grammy history (after Alison Krauss). She has won twenty Grammy Awards, which includes the Living Legend Grammy and the Lifetime Achievement Grammy. Aretha won eight consecutive awards between 1968 and 1975,[2] during which time the category of Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was nicknamed "The Aretha Award".[3]
Bette Davis Midler (born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress and comedian, also known to her fans as The Divine Miss M. She is named after the actress Bette Davis although Davis pronounced her first name in two syllables, and Midler uses one (/bɛt/). During her career, she has won four Grammy Awards, three Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards. She is currently performing a new concert show, The Showgirl Must Go On, live five nights a week as a headliner at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is a Grammy Award-winning country musicsinger/songwriter, author, actress and philanthropist. To date, she remains one of the most successful country artists, with 26 number-one singles (a record for a female performer) and 42 top-10 country albums (more than anyone else).
She is known for her distinctive mountain soprano, sometimes bawdy humor, flamboyant dress sense, and her voluptuous figure.
Parton began performing as a child, singing on local radio and television programs in East Tennessee. At age 9 she was appearing on The Cas Walker Show on WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee, and at 13, she was recording on a small record label, Goldband, and appearing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. It was that night at the Opry that she first met Johnny Cash, who encouraged her to go where her heart took her, and not to care what others thought. [6] The day after she graduated from high school in 1964 she moved to Nashville, taking many traditional elements of folklore and popular music from East Tennessee with her.
Parton's initial success came as a songwriter, writing hit songs for Hank Williams, Jr. and Skeeter Davis. [7] She signed with Monument Records in late 1965, where she was initially pitched as a bubblegum pop singer, [8] earning only one national chart single, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby," which did not crack the Billboard Hot 100. Additional pop singles also failed to chart including "Without Love" and "Damn".
The label agreed to have Parton sing country music after her composition, "Put It Off Until Tomorrow," as recorded by Bill Phillips (and with Parton, uncredited, on harmony), went to No. 6 on the Country Charts in 1966. Her first country single, "Dumb Blonde" (one of the few songs during this era that she recorded but didn't write), reached No. 24 on the country charts in 1967, followed the same year with "Something Fishy," which went to Number 17. The two songs anchored her first full-length album,"Hello,I'm Dolly"
Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961, in Leavenworth, Kansas) is an Academy Award-winning and two-time Grammy Award-winning Americanrocksinger-songwriter and musician.In 1982, Etheridge moved from Leavenworth, Kansas to Los Angeles to break into the music business. She got some small gigs performing at The Candy Store on the Sunset Strip, as well as two lesbian bars, the Executive Suite in Long Beach and Vermie's in Pasadena. Some of her early fans from Vermie's gave her demo tape to Bill Leopold, a friend's husband who worked in the music business. Etheridge auditioned for Leopold, who was so impressed that he offered to represent her on the spot.
As Etheridge continued performing in lesbian bars in Los Angeles, Leopold arranged for music executives to come see her play. Eventually, she caught the attention of A&M Records, who hired her as a staff songwriter. For two years, Etheridge wrote music for A&M and many of her songs were recorded by mainstream artists. In 1985, Etheridge sent her demo to Olivia Records, a lesbian record label, but was ultimately rejected. She saved the rejection letter, signed by "the women of Olivia," which was later featured in Intimate Portrait (TV series), the Lifetime Television documentary of her life.
In 1986, Etheridge was signed by Island Records, but her first album was rejected by the label as being too polished and glossy. Given four days in the studio to re-record, she cut ten tracks which was released as her eponymous debut album.
Etheridge is a Bruce Springsteen fan, and she has covered his songs "Thunder Road" and "Born to Run" during live shows. She is also a fan of the Dave Matthews Band and has expressed interest in collaborating with them.
In October 2004, Melissa Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the 2005 Grammy Awards, she made a return to the stage and, although bald from chemotherapy, performed a tribute to Janis Joplin with the song Piece of My Heart. Etheridge was praised for her performance, which was considered one of the highlights of the show. Etheridge's bravery was lauded in song in India.Arie's "I Am Not My Hair."[1]
On September 10, 2005, Etheridge participated in ReAct Now: Music & Relief, a telethon in support for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. ReAct Now: Music & Relief, part of an ongoing effort by MTV, VH1, CMT, seeks to raise funds for the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and America's Second Harvest. Etheridge introduced a new song specially written for the occasion called "Four Days." The a cappella song included themes and images that were on the news during the aftermath of the hurricane. Other charities she supports include the Dream Foundation and Love Our Children USA.
On November 15, 2005, Etheridge appeared on the Tonight Show to perform her song "I Run For Life", which references her own fight with breast cancer and her determination to overcome it, as well as encourages other breast cancer survivors and their families. After her performance, Jay Leno told her, "Thanks for being a fighter, kiddo."
On 7 July2007 Etheridge performed at Giants Stadium at the American leg of Live Earth. Etheridge performed the songs "Imagine That" and "What Happens Tomorrow" from The Awakening, Etheridge's tenth album, released on September 25, 2007, as well as the song "I Need To Wake Up" before introducing Al Gore. On December 11 2007, she performed on the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway together with a variety of artists, which was broadcast live to over 100 countries.[4]
Gloria Estefan (born Gloria María Fajardo on September 1, 1957) is a Cuban American singer and songwriter. Named the "Queen of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 of best selling music artists with over 90 million albums sold worldwide.[1] With five Grammy Awards and several number one hits she is the most successful crossover performer in Latin music to date.
She was briefly married to Phil Kearns, and, in December 1975, gave birth to a severely brain-injured daughter, Valerie.[3] Snow resolved not to institutionalize her but instead care for her at home, which she did until Valerie died on March 18, 2007 at the age of 31. Snow's efforts to care for Valerie greatly and negatively affected her professional career, nearly ending it; it also adversely affected her personal life.[4]
Snow continues to take voice lessons and studies opera informally. She resides in New Jersey.
With a vocal range spanning three octaves, she was noted for her purity of tone, phrasing and intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. She is widely considered to have been one of the supreme interpreters of the Great American Songbook.[2]
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was an American Academy Award-, Tony Award-, Grammy Award-, and Golden Globe-winning actress (film and stage) and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in both musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage.
After appearing in vaudeville with her sisters, Garland was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. There she made over two dozen films, including nine with Mickey Rooney, and the film with which she would be most identified, The Wizard of Oz (1939). After 15 years, Garland was released from the studio but gained renewed success through record-breaking concert appearances, including a critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall concert, a well-regarded but short-lived television series and a return to film acting beginning with A Star Is Born (1954).
Despite her professional triumphs, Garland battled personal problems throughout her life. Insecure about her appearance, her feelings were compounded by film executives who told her she was unattractive and overweight. Plied with drugs to control her weight and increase her productivity, Garland endured a decades-long struggle with addiction. Garland was plagued by financial instability, often owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes. Married five times, four of her marriages ended in divorce. She attempted suicide on a number of occasions. Garland died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of forty-seven, leaving children Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft and Joey Luft.
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946 in Tucson, Arizona) is an American popular vocalist and entertainer who has earned multiple Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, a Tony Award and Golden Globe nominations. A singer-songwriter and record producer, she is better known as a definitive interpreter of songs.[1][2] Ronstadt has recorded over 30 studio solo albums, and has made guest appearances on over 100 other albums.[3] She became the first female artist in music history to have highly anticipated arena and stadium tours - coinciding with a string of blockbuster albums, thus making her able to command sell-out concerts.[4][5]. Solidifying her role as one of rock and pop's most successful solo female acts of all time, and for a time, the highest paid woman in rock.
Ronstadt has recorded studio albums in many genres outside the rock field and is known throughout the music industry as one of the most versatile, durable, and commercially successful female pop singers of all time. Branching out, she has recorded Traditional Pop, mariachi, jazz, folk, Broadway and opera. However, her most commercially successful period was during the 1970s and 1980s. As she moved on to other genres in the 1980s she maintained her consistent commercial success and remained one of the best-selling solo album artists of this decade. From the 1990s on till the 2000s Ronstadt has continued her success, releasing many Grammy winning recordings and remaining one of the most celebrated recording artist to date. Ronstadt has charted over 30 albums on the Billboard 200 pop album chart, 10 of which have reached top 10, and three of those have peaked at No. 1. She also has 21 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, 10 of which have reached the top 10, three peaking at No. 2, and the No. 1 hit, "You're No Good."
Cher rose to prominence in 1965 as one half of the pop/rock duo Sonny & Cher. She subsequently established herself as a solo recording artist, releasing 25 albums, contributing to numerous compilations, and tallying 34 BillboardTop 40 entries in the United States during her career, both as a solo artist and with Sonny. These include eighteen Top 10 singles and five number one singles. Cher has had 16 Top 10 hits in the UK Singles Chart between 1965 and 2003, four of which reached number one.
She became a television star in the 1970s and a film actress in the 1980s. In 1987 she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the romantic comedy Moonstruck.
With a career lasting over 40 years and showing no signs of abating, Cher is an enduring pop icon and one of the most popular female artists in music history.[2] She has sold, as a solo artist, 200 million records worldwide and 75 million as Sonny and Cher.[3][4][5] She is one of the biggest-selling artists of all time.
Natalie Cole (born Natalie Maria Cole on February 6, 1950) is an influential Americansinger-songwriter and performer who has won eight Grammy Awards throughout her career. She achieved success in her early career as an R&B star, but smoothly changed her repertoire towards a more jazzy orientated musical style since the early 90's.
Her debut album in 1975, Inseparable, resulted in chart success with the single "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" (#1 R&B, #6 Pop). Her performance of the song won her a 1976 Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, a category that had heretofore been monopolized by Aretha Franklin. She also was awarded the Best New Artist Grammy of 1976. She gained a new generation of fans when American Idol finalists Jasmine Trias and Kimberley Locke sang "Inseparable" on the show to extremely good reviews.
More hits followed through 1980, including her biggest Pop hit, 1977's "I've Got Love On My Mind," as well as "Sophisticated Lady (She's A Different Lady)" (1976), "Our Love" (1978), and "Someone That I Used To Love" (1980). "I've Got Love On My Mind" and "Our Love" both earned certifications as Gold singles.
Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1945) is an American singer/songwriter and musician. She is also an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and two-time Grammy Award winner. Simon was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994.
