Popular music with female singer

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Justin Timberlake

ORIGIN
Memphis, TN
GENRE
Pop
BORN
Jan 31, 1981

Justin Timberlake may be the quintessential pop star of the new millennium, a star
who jumped from platform to platform on his way to establishing himself as
something bigger than a star: he was a self-sustained empire. Timberlake began his
rise as a TV star, performing on The New Mickey Mouse Club as a child in the '90s,
but he earned his superstardom as one of the frontmen for *NSYNC, the most popular
boy band of the turn of the millennium. Justin stepped away from the band just as
its popularity crested, releasing the sleek Justified in 2002, its hit singles "Cry
Me a River" and "Rock Your Body" establishing him as a force outside the group, and
he consolidated that success in 2006 with FutureSex/LoveSounds, the album that
generated his biggest hit, "SexyBack." After reaching this pop peak, he decided to
pursue other ventures, choosing to concentrate on acting and entrepreneurship.
Recurring appearances on Saturday Night Live proved to be among the show's most
popular spots and he received acclaim for his performance in the 2010 Oscar-winning
film The Social Network. After juggling numerous ventures outside the music
industry, Timberlake returned to the top of the charts with help from Timbaland.

Timberlake's journey to stardom began in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was born on

January 31, 1981. He began performing early, appearing on the televised talent
competition Star Search at the age of 11, singing under the name of Justin Randall.
This was his first step into the big leagues, leading to him securing a spot on The
New Mickey Mouse Club in 1993. This cast would prove to be filled with future
stars; in addition to Timberlake there were the pop singers Britney Spears and
Christina Aguilera, actor Ryan Gosling, and JC Chasez, who'd later join Justin in
*NSYNC, the group manager Lou Pearlman assembled in the late '90s. Pearlman formed
*NSYNC after the cancellation of The New Mickey Mouse Club in 1994, taking
Timberlake and Chasez as his anchors and adding Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, and Chris
Kirkpatrick.

*NSYNC began their march toward stardom in 1996 when their first album appeared in
Europe. Two years later, their eponymous debut was released in the U.S. and the
group scored hits with "Tearin' Up My Heart," "I Want You Back," and "(God Must
Have Spent) A Little More Time on You." The latter reached the Top Ten, paving the
way for the smash success of No Strings Attached in 2000. Within one week of its
March 2000 release, the album sold an astonishing 2.4 million copies and set a
record that stood for 15 years. After generating the singles "It's Gonna Be Me" and
"Bye Bye Bye," the group set to work on its next album, 2001's Celebrity. It was
another massive hit, launching the Top Ten singles "Pop," "Gone," and "Girlfriend,
but it proved to be the group's last album, as Timberlake's popularity was quickly
eclipsing that of the rest of the group.

It didn't take long for Justin to release his first solo album. Justified appeared
a little over a year after Celebrity and its gleaming, stylish surfaces --
partially produced by the Neptunes and partially produced by Timbaland -- suggested
a new, mature, adventurous musician who was as much an R&B vocalist as he was a pop
singer. Timberlake supported the album with a co-headlining tour with Christina
Aguilera in 2003 and he ruled the airwaves with the singles "Like I Love You," "Cry
Me a River," Se�orita," and "Rock Your Body," not to mention the "I'm Lovin' It"
jingle for McDonalds. He weathered a scandal in early 2004 when he tore off part of
Janet Jackson's costume during their half-time duet at Super Bowl XXXVIII, but he
bounced back nicely, winning Grammys that year for Justified and "Cry Me a River."
He also launched William Rast, a clothing line.

As he worked on his second album with producer Timbaland, Timberlake found time to
resume his acting career, taking on key roles in Southland Tales, Black Snake Moan,
and Alpha Dog. Before any of these films appeared, his second album,
FutureSex/LoveSounds, was released, preceded by the single "SexyBack," a cool
synthesized groove in the vein of Prince that established the tone for the album.
"SexyBack" stayed at number one for seven weeks and its two sequels, "My Love" and
"What Goes Around.../...Comes Around Interlude," also reached number one over the
following year, a year that also saw Justin launch an international tour in support
of the album.

Following the completion of the FutureSex/LoveSounds tour, Timberlake slowly

stepped away from music, though he was featured on three major 2007-2008 pop hits:
Timbaland's "Give It to Me" (number one), 50 Cent's "Ayo Technology" (number five),
and Madonna's "4 Minutes" (number three). He had other musical endeavors over the
next few years, but his main focus was acting. In 2007 he had a voice role in Shrek
3, and in 2008 had a lead part in Mike Myers' The Love Guru. Two years later,
Timberlake had his greatest acting success as Sean Parker in David Fincher's The
Social Network; he quickly followed this with roles in Bad Teacher and Friends with
Benefits. During this period, he also appeared several times on Saturday Night
Live.

In January 2013, after investing in three Los Angeles and New York restaurants, he
released a new single, "Suit & Tie," co-produced with Timbaland. Along with a
glitzy performance at the 2013 Grammy Awards and another SNL appearance, it set the
stage for The 20/20 Experience, released that March. It debuted at number one on
the Billboard 200 and eventually went double platinum, driven by Top Five showings
for its singles, "Suit & Tie" and "Mirrors." Two months later, the Coen Brothers
film Inside Llewyn Davis, in which he co-starred, premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film
Festival and won the Grand Prix. Part two of The 20/20 Experience, recorded during
the same session that resulted in the first, was released that September. It
followed the first to the top of the charts, and produced three Top 40 singles,
"Take Back the Night," "TKO," and "Not a Bad Thing." In 2014, Timberlake returned
to the Top Ten as a featured guest on "Love Never Felt So Good," a track from
Michael Jackson's posthumous album Xscape. "Can't Stop the Feeling!," recorded for
the soundtrack of Trolls (a DreamWorks production in which Timberlake provided one
of the lead voices), topped the pop chart months ahead of the film's 2016
theatrical release. Timberlake also co-composed the soundtrack for The Book of
Love, a film co-produced and co-starring his wife Jessica Biel, released later that
year. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

======

V�RIT�

GENRE
Pop

V�rit�'s moody electro-pop is the brainchild of singer/songwriter Kelsey Byrne,

whose 2014 debut single "Strange Enough" became a viral hit. While growing up in
New York's Orange County, Byrne listened to '90s alt-rock stars such as Nirvana,
Green Day, the Breeders, and the Cranberries, and learned piano at an early age;
she began performing live with her rock musician father while still in grade school
and formed an all-girl punk covers band in middle school. She began writing her own
songs at age 16, and graduated from SUNY Purchase with a Bachelor of Arts in studio
composition. After graduation, she began making music as V�rit� with
drummer/producer Elliot Jacobson while working full-time as a waitress at the Times
Square Applebee's. Byrne released the track "Heartbeat" on YouTube in 2014, and the
project's social media following grew dramatically with that July's "Strange
Enough," which reached number one on Hype Machine. Another single, "Weekend,"
arrived that August and also appeared on the Echo EP, which was released that
October. In 2015, the singles "Wasteland" and "Colors" -- which was produced by MS
MR's Zach Nicita -- preceded the June release of the Sentiment EP. On 2016's single
"Underdressed" and Living EP, Byrne pushed V�rit�'s boundaries, working with
producers including Stefan Graslund, Tim Anderson, and Peter Thomas. Later that
year, Byrne's cover of the 1975's "Somebody Else" became another viral hit. Early
in 2017, she collaborated with Phantoms on the song "Just a Feeling," while the
"Phase Me Out" single appeared in advance of V�rit�'s debut album Somewhere in
Between, which was released that June via Kobalt Music. ~ Heather Phares

https://itunes.apple.com/ru/artist/v%C3%A9rit%C3%A9/900063435?l=en

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Tom Grennan

ORIGIN
Bedfordshire, England
GENRE
Alternative
BORN
1995

London-based singer/songwriter Tom Grennan first entered the wider public as a

guest vocalist on Chase & Status' track "When It All Goes Wrong." Far from being an
electronic musician, Grennan's early solo shows consisted of just vocals and
guitar. Grennan released his debut single, "Something in the Water," in 2016. The
track was produced by Charlie Hugall (Florence + the Machine, Ed Sheeran, Kaiser
Chiefs). ~ Liam Martin

https://itunes.apple.com/br/artist/tom-grennan/1089156574?l=en

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Skizzy Mars

ORIGIN
New York, NY
GENRE
Hip-Hop/Rap
BORN
Jun 8, 1993

Skizzy Mars (born Myles Mills) is an MC based in Manhattan who specializes in

jocular, melodic, slightly left-of-center rap. Born and raised in Harlem, he got
into modern rock bands, later immersed himself in the output of rappers like Kid
Cudi and Kanye West, and traced back to A Tribe Called Quest. While still a
teenager, he uploaded "Douchebag," a track that caught some attention and prompted
him to expose more material that attracted a publishing deal. A couple mixtapes,
Phases and Pace, followed respectively in 2013 and 2014. The Red Balloon Project, a
seven-track EP supported by major distribution from WEA, was released in February
2015 and debuted at number 35 on the Billboard 200 chart. Alone Together, Mills'
proper debut album, followed in April 2016 with appearances from JoJo and Rome
Fortune, among others. It landed at number 50. ~ Andy Kellman

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/skizzy-mars/907986865

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Ashanti

ORIGIN
Glen Cove, NY
GENRE
R&B/Soul
BORN
Oct 13, 1980

With hitmaker Irv Gotti at the helm, Ashanti blasted into the urban music scene in
2002, topping the charts with multiple singles at once. She quickly became a
sensation, gracing the covers of magazines and dominating urban radio. Ashanti
built her reputation with duets, where she would complement an already popular
rapper -- Ja Rule ("Always on Time"), Fat Joe ("What's Luv?"), the Notorious B.I.G.
("Unfoolish") -- contrasting the tough-guy male perspective with her own. It didn't
take the young vocalist long to make a name for herself though: her debut album
topped the Billboard album chart just as her debut solo single, "Foolish," was
topping the Hot 100 chart. Her presence was inescapable.

Ashanti's overnight jump to superstardom followed that of Ja Rule, a similar urban

music sensation helmed by Gotti. The New York producer took notice of Ashanti
initially because of her beauty, dancing, and acting. She trained as a dancer at
the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center, learning a number of dance styles. She
danced most notably in Disney's Polly, which starred Phylicia Rashad, and also
appeared in a number of big-name music videos, in addition to other dance work. As
an actress, she made a name for herself with roles in Spike Lee's Malcolm X and
Who's da Man before that. The multi-talented vocalist was causing quite a stir, and
Gotti did what he could to bring her into his Murder Inc fold. After showcasing her
swooning voice on Big Pun's "How We Roll" and the Fast and Furious soundtrack --
both in 2001 -- Gotti put Ashanti to work on her debut album, which he produced.

Success came quickly. A duet with Ja Rule, "Always on Time," hit number one on
Billboard's Hot 100 chart in early 2002 just as a duet with Fat Joe, "What's Luv?,"
was creeping toward the same number one position. These two airplay-heavy singles
set the stage perfectly for Ashanti's self-titled debut release. The album's lead
single, "Foolish," raced up the Hot 100 chart, entering the Top Ten in March
alongside "Always on Time" and "What's Luv?," giving her three Top Ten songs in the
same week, including the number one and two positions -- a quite spectacular feat.
And then Ashanti's album debuted at number one on the album chart, selling an
astounding 500,000-plus copies in its first week. With all this chart-topping,
Ashanti set some sales records and her success continued. Gotti readied a remix of
"Foolish," titled "Unfoolish," that featured the Notorious B.I.G. and again
overtook urban radio, where no artist was more omnipresent throughout 2002 than
Ashanti.

She returned the following year with Chapter II, which likewise topped the
Billboard album chart on the heels of its hot lead single, "Rock wit U (Awww
Baby)." The album's success was somewhat eclipsed, however, by all the negative
drama surrounding the Murder Inc camp at the time (i.e., an FBI investigation and a
G-Unit feud). A Christmas album followed late that year. Concrete Rose appeared in
December 2004 and debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200. Though she remained
with The Inc for 2008's The Declaration, she sought out a number of songwriters and
producers outside the label's in-house team, including Akon, Babyface, and Mario
Winans. Highlighted by "The Way That I Love You" and "Good Good," it debuted at
number six. Ashanti and the label subsequently parted ways. During the summer of
2009, Ashanti starred as Dorothy in a New York City stage production of The Wiz.
Additional acting gigs and television appearances followed, including a role in the
series Army Wives. In March 2014, over two years after its intended lead single
("The Woman You Love") was released, Ashanti released Braveheart, her first album
for the eOne label. ~ Jason Birchmeier

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ashanti/416248

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The Black Eyed Peas

ORIGIN
Los Angeles, CA
GENRE
Hip-Hop/Rap
FORMED
1995

The Black Eyed Peas transcended hip-hop to become one of the most commercially
successful pop groups of the 2000s. Their career began modestly, with a pair of
albums inspired by the positive-minded likes of A Tribe Called Quest and De La
Soul. After adding Fergie, the group's pop instincts reached full flight. Ignited
by the Top Ten hit "Where Is the Love?" and the Grammy-winning party anthem "Let's
Get It Started," the group scored three multi-platinum albums in 2003's Elephunk,
2005's Monkey Business, and 2009's The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies). While still
connected to hip-hop, the group's sound turned toward dance-pop -- a savvy move
that transformed them from a cult act into a mainstream phenomenon.

The group's earliest connections go back to the early '90s, when high schoolers
will.i.am (William James Adams Jr.) and apl.de.ap (Allan Pineda Lindo Jr.) were
part of Tribal Nation, a breakdancing crew. Eventually the pair focused more on
music and split off on their own as Atban Klann, their esoteric name an acronym for
A Tribe Beyond a Nation. Eazy-E's Ruthless Records signed the group in 1992, but
many in the Ruthless camp were puzzled by the group and the enthusiasm of Eazy, who
had no problem reconciling his own gangsta style with the affable, peace-minded
spirit of Atban. Although an album was recorded, Ruthless shelved it, unsure how to
market a group whose style wasn't dependent on violent braggadocio like that of
N.W.A.

The death of Eazy-E in 1995 signaled the end of any further deals with Ruthless.
Undaunted by the experience, will.i.am and apl.de.ap recruited another dancer/MC,
Taboo (Jaime Luis G�mez), and reappeared as the Black Eyed Peas. BEP began playing
shows around their native L.A., impressing hip-hop fans with their mike skills and
dazzling them with their footwork as well. In 1998 their debut, Behind the Front,
was released on the Interscope label to critical acclaim -- not only for the trio
of MCs, but also for their live band and backing vocalist Kim Hill. It was a modest
commercial success, but it did not leave much of an impact, peaking at number 129
on the Billboard 200. BEP's 2000-issued sophomore release, Bridging the Gap,
featured guest appearances from Jurassic 5's Chali 2na, De La Soul, and Macy Gray.
"Request Line," a single that reached number two on Billboard's rap chart, helped
the album perform significantly better than the debut.

A corner was turned soon after the addition of Fergie (Stacy Ann Ferguson).
Formerly featured on the television program Kids Incorporated and a member of Wild
Orchid (a late-'90s all-woman trio pitched somewhere between Lisa Stansfield and En
Vogue), she replaced Kim Hill and took on a prominent role with her confident,
forthright vocals. BEP's first album with Fergie, 2003's Elephunk, stormed the Top
40 with three singles -- "Where Is the Love?" (a Top Ten hit), "Hey Mama," and
"Let's Get It Started." Two years later, the quartet returned with Monkey Business,
which pushed BEP into the pop stratosphere courtesy of the hit singles "Don't Phunk
with My Heart" and "My Humps." In the U.S., it went triple platinum. Fergie
released a solo album, Dutchess, the following year. It was no slouch either, as it
racked up three number one singles. The album was executive produced by will.i.am
-- by that point an in-demand producer for the likes of Kelis, Diddy, John Legend,
Ciara, and Nas -- who reentered the solo game with the 2007 album Songs About
Girls. Technically his third solo project, it followed a pair of adventurous, low-
key affairs issued on the BBE label earlier in the decade.

After the hiatus, the Black Eyed Peas announced their return in March 2009 with
"Boom Boom Pow," the first of three number one singles -- which, together, topped
the charts for half of the entire year -- featured on The E.N.D. (Energy Never
Dies), an album released that June. They quickly followed it up, issuing The
Beginning the following year. Despite a boost from Oprah, who selected the album as
one of The Oprah Winfrey Show's Favorite Things for 2010, as well as a Top Ten
debut, The Beginning didn't sell nearly as many copies as the group's previous
work. ~ Andy Kellman & Wade Kergan

https://itunes.apple.com/ru/artist/the-black-eyed-peas/360391?l=en

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Camila Cabello

ORIGIN
Cojimar, Cuba
GENRE
Pop
BORN
3 Mar 1997

Vocalist Camila Cabello is a pop, R&B, and Latin-influenced performer who first
came to prominence as a founding member of the girl group Fifth Harmony. Born Karla
Camila Cabello Estrabao in Cojimar, Cuba, Cabello moved to Miami, Florida at the
age of six. Growing up in a Spanish-speaking environment (her mother is Cuban and
her father is Mexican), she fostered her love of music by listening to Celia Cruz
and Alejandro Fern�ndez. At the age of 15, she auditioned for The X Factor in
Greensboro, North Carolina. Even though she was eliminated (along with her four
future groupmates), the judges brought her back. Simon Cowell combined the girls
into a quintet and formed Fifth Harmony.

Despite finishing in third place, they went on to be the most successful

contestants from that season. The group's debut EP, Better Together, was released
in October 2013, with acoustic reworkings, Spanish versions (Juntos and Juntos
Acoustic), and a remix album following a month later. Their debut single, "Miss
Movin' On," was the highest-charting U.S. X Factor single at the time, a feat
beaten only by each successive Fifth Harmony single.

The group's debut LP, Reflection, was released in early 2015, featuring the hits
"Sledgehammer" (written by Meghan Trainor) and "Worth It," featuring rapper Kid
Ink. While backstage on Taylor Swift's 1989 world tour, Cabello wrote a duet with
Canadian singer/songwriter Shawn Mendes. "I Know What You Did Last Summer" was
released in November 2015 and immediately hit the Billboard Top 20. Fifth Harmony's
sophomore set, 7/27, was issued in 2016, supported by a world tour and the hit
single "Work from Home."

Outside of Fifth Harmony, Cabello paired with rapper Machine Gun Kelly for the
October 2016 single "Bad Things." Well received, the track made a slow climb toward
the top of the Billboard singles chart, and ultimately garnered the singer her
first Top Ten song as a solo artist. That December, Cabello announced her departure
from Fifth Harmony. Following her exit, Cabello collaborated with Cashmere Cat on
"Love Incredible" and Pitbull and J Balvin on "Hey Ma" from the Fate of the Furious
soundtrack.

In May 2017, Cabello released her debut (non-album) solo single, the Sia Furler co-
written "Crying in the Club," which peaked in the Top 40 of the U.S. Billboard Hot
100. She also joined Bruno Mars as the opening act on his 24K Magic World Tour. In
early 2018 she returned with her debut full-length solo album, Camila. Featuring
production by Frank Dukes, Jarami, and others, the album included the singles
"Havana" featuring Young Thug and "Never Be the Same." ~ Neil Z. Yeung

https://itunes.apple.com/nz/artist/camila-cabello/935727853

====

Marshmello

GENRE
Dance

Enigmatic masked DJ/producer Marshmello makes groove-oriented, synth- and bass-

heavy electronic dance music. In the spirit of other masked DJs like Deadmau5 and
Daft Punk, Marshmello (whose real identity remains a mystery) appears wearing a
full-head-covering marshmallow mask. Despite the anonymity, Marshmello's career
blew up in 2015 when he began releasing tracks online, including remixes of Zedd's
"Beautiful Now," Jack �'s "Where Are U Now," and others. From there came shows at
New York's Pier 94, Pomona, California's HARD Day of the Dead festival, and Miami
Music Week. In 2016, Marshmello released a compilation of his previously released
tracks, Joytime, which reached number one on a digital top electronic albums chart.
Included on the album was the single "Keep It Mello," featuring rapper Omar LinX.
He continued to perform and release singles throughout the year, later starting his
own Joytime Collective record label. In 2017, Marshmello released collaborations
with Ookay, Noah Cyrus, Khalid, and Blackbear. ~ Matt Collar

https://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/marshmello/980795202

===

Enrique Iglesias

ORIGIN
Madrid, Spain
GENRE
Pop
BORN
8 May 1975

At the dawn of the new millennium, Enrique Iglesias was the best-selling Latin
recording artist in the world. The son of multi-million-selling singer Julio
Iglesias, Enrique was born in Madrid, Spain, where he lived with his mother, his
brother Julio, and his sister Chabeli. In 1982, his mother sent them to live in
Miami with their father. While there, Enrique was exposed to three different
cultures and musical influences: Hispanic, European, and American.

Iglesias' own career started when he was still attending Gulliver Private School, a
very prestigious school in Miami. He made his singing debut in a production of
Hello, Dolly, after which he began practicing his singing without his parents
knowing. After a year studying business at the University of Miami, he decided to
follow his passion for music. In 1995, he sang in person for his soon-to-be
manager, who at Iglesias' insistence of not wanting to use his family name, first
shopped his demos as an unknown Central American singer named Enrique Martinez. It
wasn't until he earned a record deal with Fonovisa that Enrique told his father and
mother of his aspirations. Then he flew to Toronto, where no one knew him and he
could concentrate just on music, to record for five months.

That first album, Enrique Iglesias (1995), sold more than a million copies in three
months (it earned him his first gold record in Portugal in a mere seven days) and
to date has sold more than six million worldwide. The second album, Vivir (1997),
enjoyed global sales of more than five million discs and launched his first world
tour, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel. In a
mere three years, Iglesias had sold more than 17 million Spanish-language albums,
more than anyone else during that period. (The U.S. was his biggest market.) He
also won the 1996 Grammy for Best Latin Performer, 1996's Billboard Artist of the
Year, Billboard's Album of the Year for Vivir, two American Music Awards, a World
Music Award, eight Premio Lo Nuestro awards, two ACE Performer of the Year awards,
and ASCAP prizes for Best Composer of 1996 and 1997, in addition to countless
accolades around the world.

With 1998's Cosas del Amor, Iglesias moved to more mature content; his earlier
material had been written when he was 17 years old. Then came Enrique, his first
Interscope album and first in English. It achieved gold or platinum status in 32
countries and brought his global album sales to a total of more than 23 million. In
2001 he released the follow-up, Escape. Iglesias alternated Spanish- and English-
language albums during the next two years, first offering the ballad collection
Quiz�s in 2002, then the mainstream English record 7 in 2003. Four years later the
single "Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)" announced the coming of his 2007 album,
Insomniac.

After a Spanish compilation in 2008, Enrique released Euphoria in 2010, which

gained attention on the strength of the singles "I Like It" and "Heartbeat."
Besides touring, he released three non-album singles in 2012. In 2013 he began to
issue pre-release singles for his next full-length. There were four in all, three
in collaboration with other artists -- "Loco" (featuring Romeo Santos), "Heart
Attack" and "El Perdedor" (featuring Marc Antonio Sol�s), and "I'm a Freak"
(featuring Pitbull) -- all of which charted. The album, Sex and Love, was released
in March of 2014, promptly hitting the Top Ten in the U.S. on its way to platinum
status in nine countries. He followed that with the stand-alone single "Duele el
Corazon" featuring Reggaeton artist Wisin, which became an international hit for
his new label, Sony, in 2016. In January 2017, Iglesias traveled to Cuba with Zion
y Lennox and Descemer Bueno to film the video for his Cuban-themed single "Subeme
la Radio," which was released the following month. ~ Ed Nimmervoll

https://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/enrique-iglesias/90895

===

Carrie Underwood
ORIGIN
Muskogee, OK
GENRE
Country
BORN
10 Mar 1983

It's true that Carrie Underwood sprang to fame as an American Idol winner, but her
career needs to be defined in the context of country superstars instead of reality-
show contestants. Her millions of records sold, her dozens of awards, her many
record-breaking feats on the charts, and her status as one of the most powerful
people in the music business all testify to her staying power beyond American Idol.

Underwood grew up in the small town of Checotah, Oklahoma, and began singing with
her church at the tender age of three. She performed throughout her childhood,
eventually moving on to festival gigs in several states. Along with developing her
singing, Underwood learned to play guitar and piano. She graduated from high school
as her class salutatorian and majored in mass communication at Northeastern State
College with an eye on a career in broadcast journalism, but continued her singing
career throughout her studies.

As a senior just a few credits short of her degree, Underwood heard about the
auditions for the 2005 season of American Idol. She tried out for the show at the
St. Louis, Missouri auditions, and her innocent charm and pure, pretty voice ended
up winning her not only a place among the 12 finalists, but the title of 2005's
American Idol. Her debut single, "Inside Your Heaven," was released that summer,
and she finished recording her debut album after completing the American Idols
Live! tour. Some Hearts was released later that fall and became a smash hit,
selling over 300,000 copies in its first week and eventually going platinum a
whopping seven times. The album's lead single, "Jesus, Take the Wheel," was also a
big success, topping Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart for six weeks.

Acclaim for the album and single spilled over into 2006, when Some Hearts re-
entered Billboard's Top Ten after Underwood's appearance on the 2006 American Idol
finale. Meanwhile, "Jesus, Take the Wheel" won Single Record of the Year at the
Academy of Country Music Awards (where she also won Top New Female Vocalist); a
Dove Award from the Gospel Music Association; and Breakthrough Video and Best
Female Video at the CMT Awards, making her the only double winner at the event.
Despite her hectic career as a country music star -- which included carrying her
tour through the fall of 2006 -- Underwood found the time to finish her degree.
"Before He Cheats" was released as Underwood's third single late in 2006, and
became her third country number one and her fourth total number one hit. That
December, she won five Billboard Music Awards: Album of the Year, Top 200 Female
Artist of the Year, Female Country Artist, New Country Artist, and Country Album of
the Year.

Early in 2007, Underwood began work on her second album, while "Wasted" became the
fourth single taken from Some Hearts; she performed it on an episode of American
Idol that March, and the following month it hit number one on the Hot Country Songs
Chart. Underwood gathered more accolades by winning two awards at the 2007 CMT
Awards -- Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Before He Cheats" --
and taking home two Grammys. She also took home three 2007 ACM Awards in May, which
included Album of the Year for Some Hearts and Top Female Vocalist. She made
another trip to American Idol late in the month for the sixth season finale, where
she sang "I'll Stand by You" to a standing ovation. During the show, Clive Davis
recognized Underwood's sextuple-platinum sales; Underwood was the first country
artist to sell that many copies of a debut album since LeAnn Rimes did it in 1996.
She also appeared on Brad Paisley's album 5th Gear, which was released in June
2006.
Riding on that swell of support, Underwood released her sophomore effort Carnival
Ride in October 2007. Four of the album's tracks hit the top of the country charts,
pushing the album to multi-million sales and earning her two additional Grammy
Awards. Two years after the album's release, Underwood released her third studio
effort, Play On, which found her devoting more focus than ever to her songwriting
abilities. She co-wrote seven of the album's tracks, including the leadoff single,
"Cowboy Casanova." Underwood's fourth studio album, Blown Away, released in the
spring of 2012, was produced by her longtime collaborator Mark Bright, and driven
by its hit lead single, "Good Girl," it showed her continued growth from American
Idol to savvy country-pop star.

Underwood undertook her first big starring role in 2013, when she signed on to play
Maria in a live televised production of The Sound of Music on NBC. Airing on
December 5, 2013, the broadcast was accompanied by a studio soundtrack. The year
2014 was relatively quiet for her, although in September she released the single
"Something in the Water," and three months later the compilation Greatest Hits:
Decade #1. A heavily spiritual single with the theme of baptism, "Something in the
Water" topped the country and Christian charts, and also reached the pop Top 40.
Early in 2015, it earned her a Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance. Later that
summer, Underwood announced the October release of Storyteller, her fifth studio
album, which was preceded by the single "Smoke Break." ~ Heather Phares & Steve
Leggett

https://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/carrie-underwood/63399334

===

Major Lazer

ORIGIN
Kingston, Jamaica
GENRE
Electronic
FORMED
2008

A conceptual EDM act based around a fictional character, Major Lazer launched in
2008 as the digital reggae/dancehall project of Diplo, the globetrotting, taste-
making DJ/producer whose previous collaborations included work for M.I.A. and
Santigold. Recorded at Jamaica's Tuff Gong studios, Major Lazer's debut album, Guns
Don't Kill People... Lazers Do, featured producer Switch as a member. Vocal
contributions came from noted dancehall stars including Vybz Kartel, Busy Signal,
Mr. Vegas, and Turbulence, as well as Santigold, Nina Sky, and rapper Amanda Blank.
Much anticipation and online chatter were fueled in part by the novelty video/song
"Zumbi," featuring the comedian Andy Milonakis, the frenetic, legitimate lead
single "Hold the Line," and a goofy, invented back-story about a renegade Jamaican
commando with prosthetic laser arms who was allegedly a Zombie War veteran and
vampire-fighting C.I.A. operative (but was demonstrably a rampant Twitter user).
The album was released in June of 2009 as a joint venture between Downtown Records
and Diplo's Mad Decent label. Lazers Never Die, an EP with two new songs and three
remixes, followed in 2010, along with Lazerproof, a collaborative mixtape with the
English electropop duo La Roux.

In 2012, Snoop Dogg joined Diplo for the digital reggae single "La La La," released
under the name Snoop Lion, while Switch announced he was leaving the project.
Likewise, hype man Skerrit Bwoy left in order to pursue religion. Diplo carried on
with producer Jillionaire, joining the group for Free the Universe, the group's
sophomore album. The 2013 release featured Wyclef, Bruno Mars, Vybz Kartel, and
Shaggy on its long guest list. Sean Paul and Pharrell Williams joined the party for
the 2014 EP Apocalypse Soon, which was also the first Major Lazer release to
include Walshy Fire, who had replaced Skerrit Bwoy as the group's live MC. The 2015
album Peace Is the Mission featured the massive hit "Lean On," plus chart-topping
guests like Ariana Grande, Ellie Goulding, and 2 Chainz. It was also supported by
an animated series that aired on the FXX cable television network. An extended
edition of Peace Is the Mission appeared in November of 2015, sporting five bonus
songs. In 2016, Major Lazer scored their biggest pop hit yet with "Cold Water"
(featuring Justin Bieber and M�), which topped the charts in over a dozen
countries. The first single from their forthcoming 2017 LP, "Cold Water," was
followed in late 2016 by "Believer," which featured production by the Dutch duo
Showtek. "Run Up," the album's third single, arrived in early 2017 and was a
collaboration with Nicki Minaj and PartyNextDoor. The six-song EP Know No Better
appeared in June; its title track featured Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and Quavo.
Other guests on the release included Sean Paul, Busy Signal, Konshens, and Jidenna.
~ K. Ross Hoffman

https://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/major-lazer/315761934

===

Edith Piaf

ORIGIN
Paris, France
GENRE
French Pop
BORN
Dec 19, 1915

Edith Piaf is almost universally regarded as France's greatest popular singer.

Still revered as an icon decades after her death, "the Sparrow" served as a
touchstone for virtually every chansonnier, male or female, who followed her. Her
greatest strength wasn't so much her technique, or the purity of her voice, but the
raw, passionate power of her singing. (Given her extraordinarily petite size,
audiences marveled all the more at the force of her vocals.) Her style epitomized
that of the classic French chanson: highly emotional, even melodramatic, with a
wide, rapid vibrato that wrung every last drop of sentiment from a lyric. She
preferred melancholy, mournful material, singing about heartache, tragedy, poverty,
and the harsh reality of life on the streets; much of it was based to some degree
on her real-life experiences, written specifically for her by an ever-shifting cast
of songwriters. Her life was the stuff of legend, starting with her dramatic rise
from uneducated Paris street urchin to star of international renown. Along the way,
she lost her only child at age three, fell victim to substance abuse problems,
survived three car accidents, and took a seemingly endless parade of lovers, one of
whom perished in a plane crash on his way to visit her. Early in her career, she
chose men who could help and instruct her; later in life, with her own status
secure, she helped many of her lovers in their ambitions to become songwriters or
singers, then dropped them once her mentorship had served its purpose. By the time
cancer claimed her life at age 47, Piaf had recorded a lengthy string of genre-
defining classics -- "Mon L�gionnaire," "La Vie en Rose," "L'Hymne � l'Amour,"
"Milord," and "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" among them -- that many of her fans felt
captured the essence of the French soul. Piaf was born Edith Giovanna Gassion on
December 19, 1915, in M�nilmontant, one of the poorer districts of Paris. According
to legend, she was born under a street light on the corner of the Rue de
Belleville, with her mother attended by two policemen; some have disputed this
story, finding it much likelier that she was born in the local hospital. Whatever
the case, Piaf's origins were undeniably humble. Her father, Louis Gassion, was a
traveling acrobat and street performer, while her Moroccan-Italian mother, Anita
Maillard, was an alcoholic, an occasional prostitute, and an aspiring singer who
performed in caf�s and on street corners under the name Line Marsa. With her father
serving in World War I, Edith was virtually ignored by both her mother and
grandmother; after the war, her father sent her to live with his own mother, who
helped run a small brothel in the Normandy town of Bernay. The prostitutes helped
look after Edith when they could; one story goes that when five-year-old Edith lost
her sight during an acute case of conjunctivitis, the prostitutes shut down the
brothel to spend a day praying for her in church, and her blindness disappeared
several days later. Edith's father returned for her in 1922, and instead of sending
her to school, he brought her to Paris to join his street act. It was here that she
got her first experience singing in public, but her main duty at first was to pass
the hat among the crowd of onlookers, manipulating extra money from whomever she
could. She and her father traveled all over France together until 1930, when the
now-teenaged Edith had developed her singing into a main attraction. She teamed up
with her half-sister and lifelong partner in mischief, Simone Berteaut, and sang
for tips in the streets, squares, caf�s, and military camps, while living in a
succession of cheap, squalid hotels. She moved in circles of petty criminals and
led a promiscuous nightlife, with a predilection for pimps and other street toughs
who could protect her while she earned her meager living as a street performer. In
1932, she fell in love with a delivery boy named Louis Dupont, and bore him a
daughter. However, in a pattern she would repeat throughout her life, she tired of
the relationship, cheated, and ended it before he could do the same. Much like her
own mother, Edith found it difficult to care for a child while working in the
streets, and often left her daughter alone. Dupont eventually took the child
himself, but she died of meningitis several months later. Edith's next boyfriend
was a pimp who took a commission from her singing tips, in exchange for not forcing
her into prostitution; when she broke off the affair, he nearly succeeded in
shooting her. Living the high-risk life that she did, Edith Gassion almost
certainly would have come to a bad end had she not been discovered by cabaret owner
Louis Lepl�e while singing on a street corner in the Pigalle area in 1935. Struck
by the force of her voice, Lepl�e took the young singer under his wing and groomed
her to become his resident star act. He renamed her "La M�me Piaf" (which in
Parisian slang translates roughly as "the little sparrow" or "the kid sparrow"),
fleshed out her song repertoire, taught her the basics of stage presence, and
outfitted her in a plain black dress that would become her visual trademark.
Lepl�e's extensive publicity campaign brought many noted celebrities to Piaf's
opening night, including Maurice Chevalier; she was a smashing success, and in
January 1936, she cut her first records for Polydor, "Les Momes de la Cloche" and
"L'�tranger"; the latter was penned by Marguerite Monnot, who would continue to
write for Piaf for the remainder of both their careers. Tragedy struck in April
1936, when Lepl�e was shot to death in his apartment. Police suspicion initially
fell on Piaf and the highly disreputable company she often kept, and the ensuing
media furor threatened to derail her career even after she was cleared of any
involvement. Scandal preceded her when she toured the provinces outside Paris that
summer, and she realized that she needed help in rehabilitating her career and
image. When she returned to Paris, she sought out Raymond Asso, a songwriter,
businessman, and Foreign Legion veteran; she had rejected his song "Mon
L�gionnaire," but it had subsequently been recorded by Marie Dubas, one of Piaf's
major influences. Intensely attracted to Piaf, Asso began an affair with her and
took charge of managing her career. He partially restored her real name, billing
her as Edith Piaf; he barred all of Piaf's undesirable acquaintances from seeing
her; he set about making up for the basic education that neither Edith nor Simone
had received. Most importantly, he talked with Piaf about her childhood on the
streets, and teamed up with "L'�tranger" composer Marguerite Monnot to craft an
original repertoire that would be unique to Piaf's experiences. In January 1937,
Piaf recorded "Mon L�gionnaire" for a major hit, and went on to cut the Asso/Monnot
collaborations "Le Fanion de la L�gion," "C'est Lui Que Mon Coeur a Choisi" (a
smash hit in late 1938), "Le Petit Monsieur Triste," "Elle Frequentait la Rue
Pigalle," "Je N'en Connais Pas la Fin," and others. Later that year, Piaf made
concert appearances at the ABC Theater (where she opened for Charles Trenet) and
the Bobino (as the headliner); the shows were wildly successful and made her the
new star of the Paris music scene. In the fall of 1939, Asso was called to serve in
World War II. Early the next year, Piaf recorded one of her signature songs,
"L'Accord�oniste," just before its composer, Michel Emer, left for the war; she
would later help the Jewish Emer escape France during the Nazi occupation. In
Asso's absence, she took up with actor/singer Paul Meurisse, from whom she picked
up the refinements and culture of upper-class French society. They performed
together often, and also co-starred in Jean Cocteau's one-act play Le Bel
Indiff�rent; however, their relationship soon deteriorated, and Piaf and Simone
moved into an apartment over a high-class brothel. By this time, the Nazis had
taken over Paris, and the brothel's clientele often included Gestapo officers. Piaf
was long suspected of collaborating with -- or, at least, being overly friendly to
-- the Germans, making numerous acquaintances through her residence and performing
at private events. She resisted in her own way, however; she dated Jewish pianist
Norbert Glanzberg, and also co-wrote the subtle protest song "O� Sont-Ils Mes
Petits Copains?" with Marguerite Monnot in 1943, defying a Nazi request to remove
the song from her concert repertoire. According to one story, Piaf posed for a
photo at a prison camp; the images of the French prisoners in the photo were later
blown up and used in false documents that helped many of them escape. Before the
war's end, Piaf took up with journalist Henri Contet, and convinced him to team up
with Marguerite Monnot as a lyricist. This proved to be the most productive
partnership since the Asso years, and Piaf was rewarded with a burst of new
material: "Coup de Grisou," "Monsieur Saint-Pierre," "Le Brun et le Blond,"
"Histoire du Coeur," "Y'a Pas D'Printemps," and many others. Her affair with Contet
was relatively brief, but he continued to write for her after they split;
meanwhile, Piaf moved on to an attractive young singer named Yves Montand in 1944.
Under Piaf's rigorous tutelage, Montand grew into one of French pop's biggest stars
within a year, and she broke off the affair when his popularity began to rival her
own. Her next prot�g�s were a nine-member singing group called Les Compagnons de la
Chanson, who toured and recorded with her over the next few years (one member also
became her lover). Now recording for the Pathe label, she scored a major hit in
1946 with "Les Trois Cloches," which would later become an English-language smash
for the Browns when translated into "The Three Bells." Later that year, she
recorded the self-composed number "La Vie en Rose," another huge hit that
international
audiences would come to regard as her signature song. Piaf embarked on her first
American tour in late 1947, and at first met with little success; audiences
expecting a bright, gaudy Parisian spectacle were disappointed with her simple
presentation and downcast songs. Just as she was about to leave the country, a
prominent New York critic wrote a glowing review of her show, urging audiences not
to dismiss her out of hand; she was booked at the Caf� Versailles in New York, and
thanks to the publicity, she was a hit, staying for over five months. In that time,
she met up with French boxer Marcel Cerdan, an acquaintance of about a year. In
spite of Cerdan's marriage, the two began a passionate affair, not long before
Cerdan won the world middleweight championship and became a French national hero.
Unfortunately, tragedy struck in October 1949, when Cerdan was planning to visit
Piaf in New York; wanting him to arrive sooner, she convinced him to take a plane
instead of a boat. The plane crashed in the Azores, killing him. Devastated by
guilt and grief, Piaf sank into drug and alcohol abuse, and began to experiment
with morphine. In early 1950, she recorded "L'Hymne � l'Amour," a tribute to the
one lover Piaf would never quite get over; co-written with Marguerite Monnot, it
became one of her best-known and most heartfelt songs. In 1951, Piaf met the young
singer/songwriter Charles Aznavour, a future giant of French song who became her
next prot�g�; unlike her others, this relationship always remained strictly
platonic, despite the enduring closeness and loyalty of their friendship. Aznavour
served as a jack-of-all-trades for Piaf -- secretary, chauffeur, etc. -- and she
helped him get bookings, brought him on tour, and recorded several of his early
songs, including the hit "Plus Bleu Que Tes Yeux" and "J�z�bel." Their friendship
nearly came to an early end when both were involved in a serious car accident (as
passengers); Piaf suffered a broken arm and two broken ribs. With her doctor
prescribing morphine for pain relief, she soon developed a serious chemical
dependency to go with her increasing alcohol problems. In 1952, she romanced and
married singer Jacques Pills, who co-wrote her hit "Je T'ai Dans la Peau" with his
pianist, Gilbert B�caud; B�caud would soon go on to become yet another of the pop
stars launched into orbit with Piaf's assistance. Meanwhile, Pills soon discovered
the gravity of Piaf's substance abuse problems, and forced her into a detox clinic
on three separate occasions. Nonetheless, Piaf continued to record and perform with
great success, including appearances at Carnegie Hall and Paris' legendary Olympia
theater. She and Pills divorced in 1955; not long afterward, she suffered an attack
of delirium tremens and had to be hospitalized. As an interpretive singer, Piaf was
at the height of her powers during the mid-'50s, even in spite of all her health
woes. Her international tours were consistently successful, and the devotion of her
massive French following verged on worship. She scored several more hits over 1956-
1958, among them "La Foule," "Les Amants D'un Jour," "L'homme � la Moto," and the
smash "Mon Man�ge � Moi." During that period, she also completed another stay in
detox; this time would prove to be successful, but years of drug and alcohol abuse
had already destabilized her health. In late 1958, she met another up-and-coming
songwriter, Georges Moustaki, and made him her latest lover and improvement
project. Teaming once again with Marguerite Monnot, Moustaki co-wrote "Milord," an
enormous hit that topped the charts all over Europe in early 1959 and became Piaf's
first successful single in the U.K. Later that year, she and Moustaki were involved
in another car accident, in which her face was badly cut; in early 1960, while
performing at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, she collapsed and began to vomit
blood on stage, and was rushed to the hospital for emergency stomach surgery.
Stubbornly, she continued her tour, and collapsed on-stage again in Stockholm; this
time she was sent back to Paris for more surgery. Piaf was soon back in the
recording studio, eager to record a composition by the legendary French songwriter
Charles Dumont. "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" became one of her all-time classics and
a huge international hit in 1960, serving as something of an equivalent to Frank
Sinatra's "My Way." Piaf went on to score further hits with more Dumont songs,
including "Mon Dieu," "Les Flons-Flons du Bal," and "Les Mots D'Amour." She staged
a lengthy run at the Olympia in 1961, and later that year met an aspiring Greek
singer named Th�o Sarapo (born Theophanis Lamboukis), who became her latest project
and, eventually, second husband. Sarapo was half her age, and given Piaf's poor
health, the French media derided him as a gold digger. Nonetheless, they cut the
duet "� Quoi �a Sert l'Amour" in 1962, and performed together during Piaf's final
engagement at the Olympia that year. Despite her physical weakness -- on some
nights, she could barely stand -- Piaf had lost very little of the power in her
voice. Piaf and Sarapo sang together at the Bobino in early 1963, and Piaf also
made her final recording, "L'Homme de Berlin." Not long afterward, Piaf slipped
into a coma, brought on by cancer. Sarapo and Simone Berteaut took Piaf to her
villa in Plascassier, on the French Riviera, to nurse her. She drifted in and out
of consciousness for months before passing away on October 11, 1963 -- the same day
as legendary writer/filmmaker Jean Cocteau. Her body was taken back to Paris in
secret, so that fans could believe she died in her hometown. The news of her death
caused a nationwide outpouring of grief, and tens of thousands of fans jammed the
streets of Paris, stopping traffic to watch her funeral procession. Her towering
stature in French popular music has hardly diminished in the years since; her grave
at P�re-Lachaise remains one of the famed cemetery's most visited, and her songs
continue to be covered by countless classic-style pop artists, both French and
otherwise. ~ Steve Huey

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/edith-piaf/82055

=====

Justine Skye
ORIGIN
Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY
GENRE
R&B/Soul
BORN
24 Aug 1995

New York's Justine Skye is a talented singer and model known for her dance-oriented
R&B and hip-hop-influenced sound. Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1995, Skye first
gained notice in her teens when she tagged along with her mother, an entertainment
lawyer, to a music panel held by performance rights organization BMI. During the
question-and-answer session, Skye surprised everyone in attendance by asking to
sing. In front of various music executives, she performed a cover of Sam Sparro's
"Black and Gold." The Brooklyn native subsequently took singing lessons and honed
her songwriting, then worked with August Rigo (Justin Bieber, One Direction, Musiq
Soulchild) and Eric Hudson (Kanye West, Diddy, August Alsina). Their sessions led
to Everyday Living, a confident contemporary R&B EP released on Atlantic in August
2013. The brief collection featured a cover of Aaliyah's "I Don't Wanna." A year
later, Skye returned with the slow-jam single "Collide," a DJ Mustard production
that involved a guest verse from Tyga. Her second EP, Emotionally Unavailable,
appeared in 2015. In 2016, Skye returned with her third EP, 8 Ounces, featuring
songwriting collaborations with The-Dream and Tricky Stewart. The EP included the
track "Fun," featuring Wale. ~ Andy Kellman

https://itunes.apple.com/in/artist/justine-skye/685830864

-----

Hayley Kiyoko

ORIGIN
Los Angeles, CA
GENRE
Pop
BORN
3 Apr 1991

A multi-talented American actress, pop singer, and songwriter, Hayley Kiyoko

Alcroft was born on April 3, 1991, in Los Angeles, California. The daughter of
actor/comedian Jamie Alcroft and Japanese-Canadian figure skater Sarah Kawahara,
Kiyoko began acting in commercials and taking drum lessons while still in her
single digits. Her middle- and high-school years were spent participating in
student government, acting in plays, and creating and choreographing the award-
winning Aurora High Step Team. After graduating, she focused on her music and
acting career, with notable roles as Stella Yamada in the popular Disney Channel
film Lemonade Mouth, and as Velma Dinkley in a pair of live-action Scooby Doo
films. In 2007 she joined the pop girl group the Stunners, releasing an EP and a
handful of popular singles including "Bubblegum" and "We Got It." In 2013 she
issued her first solo EP, A Belle to Remember, which included the single "Rich
Youth." Arriving in 2015, the This Side of Paradise EP proved to be Kiyoko's
breakthrough, with the evocative electropop single "Girls Like Girls" and its
accompanying video garnering over 40 million YouTube views. In 2016 Kiyoko
unleashed her major-label debut EP, Citrine, which included the airy pop
confections "Pretty Girl" and "Palace." ~ James Christopher Monger

https://itunes.apple.com/in/artist/hayley-kiyoko/325569584

-------
Ansel Elgort

ORIGIN
Manhattan, New York, NY
GENRE
Pop
BORN
Mar 14, 1994

New York's Ansel Elgort is an in-demand actor known for his various film roles who
also makes dance-oriented electronic pop. Born in Manhattan in 1994 to opera
director Grethe Barrett Holby and fashion photographer Arthur Elgort, Ansel became
interested in performing around age nine. Initially interested in dance, he became
attracted to acting while attending the Professional Performing Arts School,
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, and Stagedoor Manor summer camp. During this
period, he gained early stage experience performing in school productions Hairspray
and Guys and Dolls. In 2012, he made his professional Off-Broadway stage debut
appearing in Matt Charman's Regrets. He then made his feature film debut in a 2013
remake of Carrie. However, his two co-starring appearances the following year --
alongside Shailene Woodley in Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars -- are what
propelled him into the public eye. From there, he nabbed roles in such films as
2015's Paper Towns and 2017's Edgar Wright-directed Baby Driver.

Along with acting, Elgort is an avid musician with a bent toward electronic
productions. Initially recording under the pseudonym DJ Ans�lo, he self-released a
handful of remixes including songs by Lana Del Rey, Zedd, and Galantis. In 2014, he
delivered his first original song with "Unite," followed by 2014's "Totem"
featuring Tom Staar and 2015's "To Life" featuring Too Many Zooz. Also in 2015, he
signed a recording contract with Island/Universal Records and dropped the DJ Ans�lo
moniker. A year later, Elgort made his label debut with "Home Alone." His second
single for Island/Universal, "Thief," followed in 2017. ~ Matt Collar

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ansel-elgort/836418932

===

Dua Lipa

ORIGIN
London, England
GENRE
Pop
BORN
22 Aug 1995

English pop singer Dua Lipa showcased a throwback vibe and a knack for catchy pop
with soulful grit, much like Sia, Jessie J, or P!nk, and a slyly rebellious air
like Charli XCX and Marina & the Diamonds. Born and raised in London to Kosovar-
Albanian parents, the sultry-voiced Lipa attended Sylvia Young Theater School (Rita
Ora, Amy Winehouse) until the age of 13, when she relocated to Kosovo with her
family. However, the move wouldn't last very long, and she was back in London by
age 15, living on her own and pursuing a singing career. Her first demos were
released in 2012, attracting the attention of Lana Del Rey's management team, who
signed her and linked her up with Emile Haynie (Lana Del Rey, Bruno Mars). Her
shimmery debut single, "New Love," was followed up with the soulful "Be the One."
Longlisted for the prestigious BBC's Sound of 2016, Dua Lipa released "Hotter Than
Hell" and "Blow Your Mind (Mwah)" in 2016, coinciding with a tour throughout the
spring and summer. While "Hotter Than Hell" went on to break the Top 20 in the
U.K., in 2017 she earned the distinction of having three simultaneously charting
singles in the U.K. Top 15 with "Be the One," "Scared to Be Lonely" with Martin
Garrix, and "No Lie" with Sean Paul. Dua Lipa, her debut full-length, arrived that
summer. In addition to her previously released singles, the album included "Lost in
Your Light," a duet with Miguel. ~ Neil Z. Yeung

https://itunes.apple.com/ru/artist/dua-lipa/1031397873?l=en

===

Taylor Swift

ORIGIN
Wyomissing, PA
GENRE
Pop
BORN
Dec 13, 1989

Taylor Swift is that rarest of pop phenomena: a superstar who managed to completely
cross over from country to the mainstream. Other singers performed similar moves --
notably, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson both became enduring mainstream icons based
on their '70s work -- but Swift shed her country roots like they were a second
skin; it was a necessary molting to reveal she was perhaps the sharpest, savviest
populist singer/songwriter of her generation, one who could harness the Zeitgeist
and turn it personal and, just as impressively, perform the reverse. These skills
were evident on her earliest hits, especially the neo-tribute "Tim McGraw," but her
second album, 2008's Fearless, showcased a songwriter discovering who she was and,
in the process, finding a mass audience. Fearless wound up having considerable legs
not only in the U.S., where it racked up six platinum singles on the strength of
the Top Ten hits "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me," but throughout the world,
performing particularly well in the U.K., Canada, and Australia. Speak Now,
delivered almost two years later in the autumn of 2010, consolidated that success
and Swift moved into the stratosphere of superstardom, with her popularity only
increasing on 2012's Red and 2014's 1989, a pair of records that found her moving
assuredly from country into a pop realm where she already belonged.

This sense of confidence had been apparent in Taylor Swift since the beginning. The
daughter of two bankers -- her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, worked at Merrill
Lynch; her mother Andrea spent time as a mutual fund marketing executive -- Swift
was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and raised in suburban Wyomissing. She began to
show interest in music at the age of nine, and Shania Twain wound up as her biggest
formative influence. Swift started to work regularly at local talent contests,
eventually winning a chance to open for Charlie Daniels. Soon, she learned how to
play guitar and began writing songs, signing a music management deal with Dan
Dymtrow; her family relocated to Nashville with the intent of furthering her music
career. She was just 14 years old but on the radar of the music industry, signing a
development deal with RCA Records in 2004. Swift sharpened her skills with a
variety of professional songwriters, forming the strongest connections with Liz
Rose. Taylor's original songs earned her a deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, but
not long after that 2004 deal she parted ways with Dymtrow and RCA, all with the
intent of launching her recording career now, not later.

Things started moving swiftly once Swift came to the attention of Scott Borchetta,
a former DreamWorks Records exec about to launch Big Machine Records. Borchetta saw
Swift perform at a songwriters showcase at the Bluebird Cafe and he signed her to
Big Machine in 2005; shortly afterward, she started work on her debut with producer
Nathan Chapman, who'd previously helmed demos for Taylor. Boasting original song
credits on every one of the record's 11 songs (she penned three on her own), Taylor
Swift appeared in October 2006 to strong reviews and Swift made sure to work the
album hard, appearing at every radio or television event offered and marshaling a
burgeoning fan base through use of MySpace. "Tim McGraw," the first song from the
album, did well but "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Our Song" did better on both the
pop and country charts, where she racked up five consecutive Top Ten singles. Other
successes followed in the wake of the debut -- a Grammy nomination for Best New
Artist (she lost to Amy Winehouse), stopgap EPs of Christmas songs -- but Swift
concentrated on delivering her sophomore set, Fearless.

Appearing in November 2008, Fearless was certified gold by the RIAA in its first
week of release, and the record gained momentum throughout 2009, earning several
platinum certifications as "Love Story," "White Horse," "You Belong with Me,"
"Fifteen," and "Fearless" all scaled the upper reaches of the country charts while
"You Belong with Me" nearly topped Billboard's Top 100. Along with the success came
some headlines, first in the form of an infamous appearance at the 2009 MTV Video
Music Awards where her acceptance speech was interrupted by Kanye West, who burst
on-stage to declare that Swift's rival Beyonc� deserved the award more, but her
romances also started gaining attention, notably a liaison with Twilight star
Taylor Lautner, who appeared with the singer in the 2009 film Valentine's Day.

Her flirtation with the silver screen proved brief, as she then poured herself into
her third album, Speak Now. Released in October 2010, Speak Now was another massive
first-week smash that refused to lose momentum. Hit singles like "Mine" and "Mean,"
which won two Grammys, played a big factor in its success not just on the country
charts but on pop radio as well. Following a 2011 live album called World Tour
Live: Speak Now, Swift turned toward following a pop path on her fourth album,
hiring such mainstream musicians as Dan Wilson, Butch Walker, and Britney Spears
producer Max Martin. This mainstream pulse was evident on "We Are Never Ever
Getting Back Together," the first single from Red. Upon its October 2012 release,
Red shattered expectations by selling over a million copies in its first week, a
notable achievement that was doubly impressive in an era of declining sales. Once
again, Swift's album had legs: it was certified platinum four times in the U.S. and
its international sales outstripped those of Speak Now. She supported Red with an
international tour in 2013 and more hits came, including "I Knew You Were Trouble"
and "22."

As Swift geared up for the release of her fifth album in 2014, she made it clear
that 1989 was designed as her first "documented, official" pop album and that there
would be no country marketing push for the record. "Shake It Off," an ebullient
dance-pop throwback, hit number one upon its August 2014 release. When 1989
appeared in late October 2014, it once again shot to number one and became her
third straight album to sell one million copies in its first week (a new record for
any artist).

Swift gathered many awards during the subsequent year, including Billboard's Woman
of the Year, the Award for Excellence at the American Music Awards, and a special
50th Anniversary Milestone Award from the CMAs. Her 1989 World Tour crossed Asia,
North America, and Europe during the last half of 2015, and she won three Grammy
Awards at the 2016 ceremonies, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album,
and Best Music Video for "Bad Blood." At the end of 2016, she released "I Don't
Wanna Live Forever," a duet with ZAYN from the soundtrack for Fifty Shades Darker.
The single reached the Top Five across the world. Swift returned with her sixth
album, Reputation, in November 2017, preceded by the August single "Look What You
Made Me Do" and its September successor, "...Ready for It?" ~ Stephen Thomas
Erlewine

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/taylor-swift/159260351

=====
Troye Sivan

ORIGIN
Johannesburg, South Africa
GENRE
Pop
BORN
Jun 5, 1995

Australia-based singer and actor Troye Sivan makes lyrical ambient electronic
dance-pop. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1995, Sivan moved to Perth,
Australia with his family when he was two years old. Home-schooled, Sivan began
singing and acting at a young age, but his biggest break came when he appeared as a
young Wolverine in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine. A year later, he appeared in
the South African film Spud. Starting in 2007, Sivan began making videos of himself
singing, and uploaded them to various social media sites, eventually garnering over
two million subscribers. Concurrent to his videos, Sivan also released two
independently produced EPs: 2007's Dare to Dream and 2012's June Haverly. In 2013,
he signed a recording contract with EMI Australia, and one year later released his
third EP, TRXYE. The album hit the Top Ten in Canada, New Zealand, and the U.S. In
2015, Sivan returned with his fourth EP, WILD, which he described as an "opening
installment" of the music he planned to release in the subsequent months. WILD
included a pair of feature appearances (New Zealand's Broods, Australian rapper
Tkay Maidza), and a trilogy of videos accompanied the album. His debut album, Blue
Neighbourhood, was released in late 2015. In addition to the guests who appeared on
his WILD EP, his full-length was also graced by Betty Who, Australian rapper
Allday, and Blue Neighbourhood producer Alex Hope. The album peaked in the Top Ten
in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States and was re-released as a deluxe
edition that featured Alessia Cara on the single "Wild." In 2016, Blue
Neighbourhood (The Remixes) was issued. The collection featured reimaginings by
producers like Filous, Shift K3Y, and RAC, as well as acoustic and live versions of
"Youth," "Wild," and "Happy Little Pill." ~ Matt Collar

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/troye-sivan/396295677

===

Craig David

ORIGIN
Southampton, England
GENRE
Dance
BORN
5 May 1981

During a period of three years, Craig David transitioned from aspiring songwriter
and DJ to major U.K. pop star. When his meringue-smooth, garage-tinged R&B single
"Fill Me In" reached the top of the U.K. chart during the summer of 2000, the
singer, only 19 years old at the time, became the youngest British male solo artist
to achieve the feat. Not only that, but he also achieved mainstream U.S. acceptance
and platinum sales in 18 additional countries. Though he did not sustain that level
of popularity, David released solid modern R&B albums every few years. Through
2015, he had racked up a total of 14 Top Ten U.K. pop hits.

Prior to his breakthrough, David, a native of Southampton, was a local radio jock
and later found himself spinning records at clubs, which enabled him to cross paths
with some of England's up-and-coming producers. It was during this time that he
hooked up with Artful Dodger's Mark Hill, but his first real break came when he won
a songwriting contest held by the group Damage, who recorded "I'm Ready," the track
he submitted, and released it as a B-side to their 1997 single "Wonderful Tonight."
Two years later, Artful Dodger produced and wrote the mellow yet rhythmically
tricky "Rewind," for which David provided the lead vocal -- the release was billed
as Artful Dodger Presents Craig David -- and the song went to number two on the
U.K. pop chart.

The release of David's first proper solo single, "Fill Me In," came in April 2000.
A collaboration with Hill, the song went to number one and propelled sales of Born
to Do It, the debut album issued four months later. A subsequent stateside deal
with Atlantic also fostered worldwide sales of well over three million and helped
take U.K. garage beyond a national phenomenon (if as a polished, smoothed-out
product relative to the style's beginnings). U.S. superstars Missy Elliott,
Beyonc�, and Usher called themselves fans, and that year David won three MOBO
(Music of Black Origin) awards, though he was snubbed in each of the six Brit Award
categories for which he was nominated. He collected another MOBO in 2001 for Best
U.K. Act, and also received three Ivor Novello awards, further recognition of this
purple patch of songwriting.

Slicker Than Your Average, ironically a slightly grittier album, was issued as
David's second album in November 2002. It would have been nearly impossible to
trump the popularity of Born to Do It, but the album's first four singles all
reached the U.K. Top Ten. The U.S. was still paying attention; the album reached
gold sales there. Nearly three years passed until the release of The Story Goes�, a
set for Warner filled with polite, adult-leaning contemporary R&B. It featured a
Top Five U.K. single in "All the Way," but the album was not released in the
States. The bolder, more upbeat Trust Me, led by the Top Ten, David Bowie-sampling
"Hot Stuff (Let�s Dance)" and the Kano collaboration "This Is the Girl," was
released in 2007. The following year David's achievements to date were underlined
not only by a Greatest Hits compilation but also by an honorary doctorate awarded
by Southampton Solent University.

Acknowledging the influence of Motown artists on his work, David issued the covers
album Signed, Sealed, Delivered in 2010. Next, following a run of international
tour dates and a number of charity initiatives, he began to focus on new material
once again in the studio, issuing collaborations with Subliminal Records owner
Erick Morillo and the house duo Stereo Palma. In 2013, David spread his wings
further by appearing on the judging panel for, as well as performing on, the TV
show South African Idol. By this time, he had also begun to host exclusive parties
at his home in Miami and the DJ sets that he performed on these nights soon
developed into a weekly residency on radio station Capital Xtra. This period also
featured an extensive world tour as well as sessions for a prospective sixth studio
album. The first singles from that set were issued in late 2015 and early 2016.
"When the Bassline Drops," featuring Big Narstie, reached number ten on the U.K.
chart, and "Nothing Like This," produced by Blonde, went Top 20. Around the same
time, David was featured on tracks by Katy B ("Who Am I") and Kaytranada ("Got It
Good"). Following My Intuition arrived in September 2016, reaching the number one
spot on the U.K. Albums Chart. A year later, David dropped an acoustic version of
"Heartline," the first single from his forthcoming seventh LP. ~ Andy Kellman &
MacKenzie Wilson

https://itunes.apple.com/ru/artist/craig-david/772093?l=en

===

Anitta

ORIGIN
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
GENRE
Pop
BORN
30 Mar 1993

Brazilian singer Anitta went from unknown to singing at the Olympic Games, becoming
Brazil's answer to the likes of Rihanna, Beyonc�, or Katy Perry and one of the
country's biggest stars. Born Larissa de Macedo Machado on March 30, 1993 and
brought up in the impoverished neighborhood of Hon�rio Gurgel in Rio de Janeiro,
she began singing in church as a child and learned to dance before getting into
baile funk as a teenager. She took her stage name from the central character in the
TV miniseries Presen�a de Anita (Anita's Presence), based on the 1948 proto-Lolita
novel by M�rio Donato. When she was 17, one of her YouTube videos was discovered by
funk Svengali and super-producer DJ Batutinha, who invited her to audition for him
and subsequently signed her to his label, releasing her first single, "Eu Vou
Ficar" (I'll Stay). In 2012, she was bought out of her contract by entrepreneur
Kamilla Fialho, who became her manager (the two would later go on to become
embroiled in a long-running multi-million-dollar legal dispute). On the strength of
her single "Meiga e Abusada" (Sweet and Abused), Anitta was signed by Warner Music,
who released her eponymous debut album in 2013.

The album combined the sinuous rhythms of her funk roots with a modern, American-
inspired electropop-R&B sound, to great success. Her debut single for the label,
"Show das Poderosas" (Powerful Girls' Show), became Brazil's most-watched YouTube
video ever (130 million views) and that year's number three song on Brazilian
radio. The albums Ritmo Perfeito (Perfect Rhythm) and Bang followed in swift
succession, the latter going to number three in the album chart and selling over
300,000 copies, and a string of popular singles featuring a succession of well-
known guest artists boosted her visibility. With her sweet, silky voice, sexy
image, self-created choreography, and high-profile social media presence, she
quickly became a national celebrity, but had yet bigger plans. Her first step
toward an international career came in 2016, when she was selected to perform at
the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in her home city. In 2017 she recorded in
English for the first time when she featured on rapper Iggy Azalea's "Switch"
single; Anitta also began work on a fourth album, due for release later that year.
~ John D. Buchanan

===

Gryffin

ORIGIN
New York, NY
GENRE
Dance

A New York City-based DJ, producer, and EDM musician, Dan Griffith, who operates
under the nom de plume Gryffin, broke waves in 2014 and 2015 with his remixes of
Tove Lo's "Talking Body," Maroon 5's "Animals," and Years & Years' "Desire." A
classically trained pianist, Griffith honed his musical abilities playing in bands
-- he's also an accomplished guitar player. Upon graduating with an electrical
engineering degree from the University of Southern California, he began immersing
himself in music production, eventually relocating to Los Angeles. In 2016 he
released his debut single, "Heading Home," which featured Aussie singer Josef
Salvat. The Bipolar Sunshine-assisted "Whole Heart" dropped later that August, and
in 2017 he released "Feel Good," which saw him working with West Coast DJ/producer
Illenium and Pittsburgh-based artist Daya. ~ James Christopher Monger
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/gryffin/953311187

===

Cashmere Cat

ORIGIN
Halden, Norway
GENRE
Electronic

Magnus August H�iberg, known as Cashmere Cat, is a downtempo/abstract electronic

music producer and turntablist from Halden, Norway. From 2006 through 2009, under
the alias Final, he represented his country at the DMC World DJ Championship. He
branched into production and remix work; among his most notable early output was
Wildchild's (of the Lootpack) "Stuck in Norway," and Final remixes of tracks by
Classixx and Jaga Jazzist. He gained much more notice in 2012 and 2013, when he
made remixes and edits of tracks by the likes of Lana Del Rey, Jeremih, 2 Chainz,
and Miguel. He also released his own productions, including the Mirror Maru EP
(released on Pelican Fly), and hooked up with Glasgow's LuckyMe label, the outlet
for his 2013 EP, Wedding Bells. The following year he featured on Ludacris' single
"Party Girls." In 2017 Cashmere Cat delivered his debut full-length album, Wild
Love. Included on the album was the single "Adore," featuring Ariana Grande. Also
featured on the album were guest appearances by Selena Gomez, Camila Cabello, 2
Chainz, and others. ~ Andy Kellman

===

Owl City

ORIGIN
Owatonna, MN
GENRE
Electronic
FORMED
2007

Owl City is the musical brainchild of Adam Young, who launched the project in 2007
while living at his parents' home in Owatonna, Minnesota. Troubled by insomnia,
Young began spending his evenings in the household basement, where a computer and
several instruments provided a diversion from his sleeping patterns. He eventually
combined those diversions into a blend of electronica and emo-pop, using little
more than his computer and various keyboards to record the material. Songs were
uploaded to MySpace upon completion, and Young began attracting a surprising amount
of attention on the networking site. Of particular note was "Hello Seattle," a
fabricated ode to the Emerald City whose viral popularity earned Young a record
contract with Universal Republic.

Ocean Eyes, his first album for the label, was released in 2009, coinciding with
the launch of Owl City's first national tour. While on the road, Young watched as
"Fireflies" became one of the year's most popular singles, eventually topping the
charts in several countries (including the U.S.) and selling more than three
million copies. A deluxe edition of the album appeared in 2010, featuring seven
bonus tracks as well as the original track list, and Universal Records capitalized
on the buzz by also reissuing Maybe I'm Dreaming and Of June, both of which had
been self-released several years earlier. An Airplane Carried Me to Bed, an album
of acoustic pop songs that predated the Owl City project, followed in 2010.
Technically a side project, the album was released under a different moniker, Sky
Sailing. Young returned to Owl City in 2011 with All Things Bright and Beautiful,
his first collection of new material in years. The Midsummer Station followed in
2012. A highly collaborative affair, the album featured production assistance from
big-budget producers like Stargate and Robopop as well as cameos from Blink 182's
Matt Hoppus and rising mainstream pop radio star Carly Rae Jepsen. The Midsummer
Station -- Acoustic EP, which featured unplugged versions of three of that album's
songs plus two previously unreleased tracks, arrived in 2013. That year, Owl City
songs appeared on the soundtracks to The Croods, The Smurfs 2 and the VeggieTales
Christmas movie Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas. Young also provided
the music for Oreo Cookies' 2013 television commercial "Wonderfilled." The
following year, he covered "Listen To What the Man Said" on the Paul McCartney
tribute The Art of McCartney, and released the singles "Beautiful Times" and "Kiss
Me Babe, It's Christmas Time" as well as the Ultraviolet EP. Featuring the Aloe
Blacc collaboration "Verge," Mobile Orchestra appeared in July 2015.~ Andrew Leahey

===

Elle Varner

ORIGIN
Los Angeles, CA
GENRE
R&B/Soul
BORN
Feb 12, 1989

One of the most promising R&B artists to emerge during the early 2010s, singer and
songwriter Elle Varner grew up in a musical family -- one that spent much of its
time together in recording studios. Both of Varner's parents were music industry
veterans. Mikelyn Roderick, her mother, was a backup vocalist for Barry White and
has written and recorded with Tevin Campbell and Rahsaan Patterson; she also
released an album on the Dome label in 2007. Varner's father, Jimmy Varner, was a
songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist; he has collaborated with Gerald
Alston, Kool & the Gang, and Will Downing. As a child, Elle Varner accompanied her
parents to sessions, learned the ins and outs of recording, and would be asked for
feedback on her parents' material. Signed to the J label -- home to inspirations
and contemporaries like Monica, Alicia Keys, Marsha Ambrosius, and Jazmine Sullivan
-- Varner, while in her early twenties, debuted in August 2011 with "Only Wanna
Give It to You," featuring J. Cole. The single peaked at number 20 on Billboard's
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Due to label restructuring, the J label was eliminated;
Varner shifted to the RCA roster before year's end. The lyrically and sonically
distinctive "Refill" hit the chart in March 2012 and, within a few weeks, had
nearly topped the debut. A free mixtape, Conversational Lush (its title taken from
"Refill"), was issued prior to Varner's proper debut album, August 2012's Perfectly
Imperfect. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. For her second
album, she recorded with the likes of of Da Internz and Pop & Oak and opted for an
edgier sound that she dubbed "trap jazz." The singles "Don't Wanna Dance" and "F*ck
It All" were released in 2014, while the parent album, 4 Letter Word, was expected
the following year. ~ Andy Kellman

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/elle-varner/455276061

===

Siedah Garrett

ORIGIN
Los Angeles, CA
GENRE
R&B/Soul
BORN
1963

A singer/songwriter and back-up singer with Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson, her
solo records included "K.I.S.S.I.N.G." and "Refuse to Be Loose." She has recorded
from 1985, though her only full-length was 1988's Kiss of Life. ~ All Music Guide

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/siedah-garrett/688161

===

Rudimental

ORIGIN
Hackney, London, England
GENRE
Dance
FORMED
2009

London-based electronic outfit Rudimental originally came together in 2009 as the

production name of duo Piers Agget and Kesi Dryden. Years later, they made their
debut as artists with their U.K. number one single "Feel the Love." Agget's DJ'ing
brought him into contact with DJ Locksmith, who joined the pair, followed later by
a chance meeting with Amir Amor at a studio in Hoxton, London. Rudimental's first
release, 2011's dancehall-inspired "Deep in the Valley," appeared on garage, grime,
and dubstep label Black Butter and was quickly followed by "Speeding" and "Spoons."
Picked up by Asylum Records/Warner Music off the back of their first few singles,
2012 saw the release of the drum'n'bass roller "Feel the Love." Championed by Zane
Lowe on BBC Radio 1, the single reached the top of the U.K. charts the same weekend
as the four-piece played on their home turf at the Radio 1 2012 Hackney Weekender.
In 2013, Rudimental's debut album Home arrived. Working with some of the U.K.'s
finest talent, including the voice of 2012, Emeli Sand�, the album's mix of
dubstep, R&B, house, and drum'n'bass received positive reviews and went straight
into the number one spot on the U.K. album chart. Hit singles from the album
continued into 2014, including the U.K. number one "Waiting All Night," which won a
BRIT Award for Best British Single. Rudimental scored another big hit in 2015 with
the Ed Sheeran collaboration "Bloodstream," and geared up for the release of their
second full-length, We the Generation, which included collaborations with Dizzee
Rascal, Anne-Marie, MNEK, Lianne La Havas, Bobby Womack, and several others. The
second Sheeran feature on the album, "Lay It All on Me," became the duo's first
U.S.-charting song and their eighth U.K. Top 40 track. The song also went platinum
in Australia, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand, and the U.K. In 2017, the pair recruited
James Arthur for the single "Sun Comes Up." ~ Rich Wilson

https://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/rudimental/474022504

=======

Fall Out Boy

ORIGIN
Chicago, IL
GENRE
Alternative
FORMED
2001

Fall Out Boy rose to the forefront of emo pop in the mid-2000s, selling more than
four million albums thanks to the band's tabloid-grabbing bassist, able-voiced
frontman, and handful of Top 40 hits. The group's four members first came together
in Wilmette, a bedroom community 14 miles north of Chicago, around 2001.
Vocalist/guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist/lyricist Pete Wentz, drummer Andrew
Hurley, and guitarist Joe Trohman had all taken part in various bands connected to
Chicago's underground hardcore scene. Most notably, Hurley drummed for Racetraitor,
the furiously political metalcore outfit whose brief output was both a rallying
point and sticking point within the hardcore community. As Fall Out Boy, the
quartet used the unbridled intensity of hardcore as a foundation for melody-
drenched pop-punk, with a heavy debt to the emo scene. They debuted with a self-
released demo in 2001, following it up in May 2002 with a split LP (issued on the
Uprising label) that also featured Project Rocket, for which Hurley also drummed.
The band remained with the label for the release of a mini-LP, Fall Out Boy's
Evening Out with Your Girl, but a bidding war of sorts was already in full swing.

Fall Out Boy eventually signed a deal with Fueled by Ramen, the Florida-based label
co-owned by Less Than Jake drummer Vinnie Fiorello, but also received an advance
from Island Records to record a proper debut album. The advance came with a right
of first refusal for Island on Fall Out Boy's next album, but it also financed the
recording of Take This to Your Grave, which occurred at Butch Vig's Smart Studios
compound in Madison, Wisconsin, with producer Sean O'Keefe (Lucky Boys Confusion,
Motion City Soundtrack) at the helm. Take This to Your Grave appeared in May 2003,
and Fall Out Boy earned positive reviews for subsequent gigs at South by Southwest
and various tour appearances. Their breakout album, the ambitious From Under the
Cork Tree, followed in spring 2005, quickly reaching the Top Ten of Billboard's
album chart and spawning two Top Ten hits with "Sugar We're Going Down" and the
furiously upbeat "Dance, Dance." The album went double platinum and earned the
musicians a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.

Fall Out Boy's underground star status -- driven by the especially extroverted
Wentz, who also gained exposure with his clothing line, his Decaydance record label
(an imprint of Fueled by Ramen), and eventually a celebrity relationship with
Ashlee Simpson -- had boiled over into the mainstream. They toured extensively,
supporting the album with international tours, arena shows, TRL visits, late-night
television gigs, and music award shows. Without taking a break, the guys then
hunkered down to work on their follow-up record with From Under the Cork Tree
producer Neil Avron (and, somewhat surprisingly, Babyface). Infinity on High, whose
title was taken from a line in one of Van Gogh's personal letters, appeared in
early February 2007, spearheaded by the hit single "This Ain't a Scene, It's an
Arms Race." The album continued Fall Out Boy's streak, debuting at number one on
the Billboard charts and going platinum one month later. Released in early 2008,
the CD/DVD package Live in Phoenix documented the band's strength as a flashy live
act, while the full-length studio effort Folie � Deux followed later that year.

Recording sessions for Folie � Deux were tough, prompting the band to take an open-
ended hiatus soon after the album's release. Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley joined a
new band, Damned Things, during the interim, while Wentz teamed up with a new
vocalist, Bebe Rexha, to form Black Cards. Stump took the opportunity to launch a
solo career, ditching his band's emo pop music in favor of a more electronic, R&B-
influenced sound.

Stump released his debut solo album Soul Punk in 2011 and, despite some positive
reviews, the album didn't catch fire. Pete Wentz spent time with a new band called
Black Cards, but that also didn't really go anywhere, and it wasn't long before
rumors of a Fall Out Boy reunion began to swirl. In February 2013, the band
confirmed that the rumors were true: they had reunited for a new album called Save
Rock and Roll and an accompanying tour. Preceded by the single "My Songs Know What
You Did in the Dark (Light 'Em Up)," Save Rock and Roll was released in April of
2013 and promptly debuted at number one on the U.S. charts. The band kept busy as
well during the subsequent year, creating a video for each song on the album,
recording the punk-inspired EP Pax-Am Days (with production from Ryan Adams), and
headlining tours that reached America, Europe, and Australia.

In late 2014, Fall Out Boy premiered a new single, "Centuries," the first glimpse
of their sixth album, American Beauty/American Psycho. Produced in part by J.R.
Rotem and SebastiAn, it combined Fall Out Boy's core punk-pop sound with elements
of electronica, R&B, and hip-hop. The album debuted at number one when it was
released the following January and it stayed on the charts thanks to the Munsters-
sampling single "Uma Thurman," which was certified platinum. Fall Out Boy released
a remix version of the album called Make America Psycho Again in October 2015. In
April 2017, the band revealed that their forthcoming seventh album, Mania, would be
released later that year. The announcement was accompanied by the album's first
single, "Young and Menace." ~ Johnny Loftus & Corey Apar

https://itunes.apple.com/nz/artist/fall-out-boy/28673423

===

Tinashe

ORIGIN
Lexington, KY
GENRE
R&B/Soul
BORN
Feb 6, 1993

Contemporary R&B singer and songwriter Tinashe Jorgenson Kachingwe, or simply

Tinashe, was known for her recurring role on the sitcom Two and a Half Men, in
which she appeared during the sixth and seventh seasons. She also worked as a voice
actor and model prior to scoring a Top 25 pop hit with her breakthrough single, "2
On." Born in Lexington, Kentucky, she moved to Los Angeles in the early 2000s.
Toward the end of the 2000s, after she had established her acting career, she
joined the Stunners, a short-lived teen pop group that recorded for Columbia and
Republic and opened for Justin Bieber during his My World tour. After the group's
2011 split, Tinashe went solo with a low-key contemporary R&B direction, released
mixtapes, and ultimately signed with RCA. In 2013, she collaborated with Jacques
Greene on the one-off track "Painted Faces" and released her third mixtape, Black
Water, near the end of the year. In January 2014, she made her RCA debut with "2
On," a rattle-and-snap track on which she was joined by ScHoolboy Q. It reached
number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. Appearances on Erik Hassle's "Innocence Lost"
and RZA's "Doctor" followed through that May. Her debut album, Aquarius, landed in
October and debuted at number 17. Singles such as "Player," "Superlove," "Company,"
and "Flame," along with the mixtapes Amethyst and Nightride, preceded Tinashe's
second proper album, Joyride, planned for 2017. ~ Andy Kellman

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/tinashe/464835513

===

The Chainsmokers

ORIGIN
New York, NY
GENRE
Dance
FORMED
2012
A production duo featuring Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall, the Chainsmokers mix
indie, dance, and pop into a chart-topping sound that spawned hits like "Roses,"
"Closer," and "Don't Let Me Down." Pall and Taggart first made a name for
themselves by creating remixes of their favorite indie bands that garnered tens of
millions of streams. The duo released its official debut single, "#Selfie," which
celebrated and skewered 2010s narcissism, in January 2014. The track's bouncy beats
and self-obsessed words hit number one on the Billboard dance chart and sold over
ten million copies. Meanwhile, "#Selfie"'s video featured cameos by Snoop Dogg and
David Hasselhoff, fueling the song's viral popularity to hundreds of millions of
views. More singles, including "Kanye" and "Let You Go," followed.

In 2015, they issued the Bouquet EP on Disruptor Records, a softer and more indie-
flavored effort that featured the single "Roses," which was certified double-
platinum and hit number one on the Top Dance Songs chart. The song also earned the
Chainsmokers nominations for the Billboard Music Awards in the Top Dance/Electronic
Artist and Top Dance/Electronic Song categories. After playing over 300 shows in
2015, including dates at festivals like Lollapalooza, Firefly, Tomorrowland, and
Ultra, the duo returned in 2016 with the platinum-certified "Don't Let Me Down," a
collaboration with Pittsburgh pop singer Daya that topped the Billboard dance chart
and would later win a Grammy. That year, the Chainsmokers also performed as part of
the Tilt Tour, the first ever fan-sourced tour. In addition, Pall and Taggart host
two SiriusXM shows: Nice Hair, a monthly mix; and the weekly YouTube EDM 15.

The follow-up single to "Don't Let Me Down" would carry the duo to new heights.
Featuring Halsey on vocals, "Closer" began its slow climb to the top of the singles
chart in the summer of 2016. Once it hit number one, it remained in the top spot
for over ten weeks, breaking the record previously held by Drake's "One Dance." As
their chart dominance continued, they released the Collage EP, which joined their
two Top Three singles with new collaborations featuring Phoebe Ryan, XYL�, and
Charlee. Their debut record, Memories: Do Not Open, arrived in 2017, preceded by
the hit singles "Paris" and the Coldplay duet "Something Just Like This." Memories
debuted at the top of the Billboard chart. ~ Heather Phares

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/the-chainsmokers/580391756

===

Burna Boy

ORIGIN
Lagos, Nigeria
GENRE
World
BORN
Jul 2, 1991

The Nigerian reggae-dancehall singer and songwriter Burna Boy was born Damini Ogulu
in Lagos in 1991. He began making music when he was just ten years old, and while
at school a fellow classmate gave him a copy of the production software
FruityLoops. Armed with these means, he began to create his own beats on an old
computer. After he graduated from school he moved to London to attend university,
but dropped out after two years and moved back to Nigeria. In 2010, the 19-year-old
Ogulu traveled to Nigeria's southern coast where a mutual acquaintance, producer
LeriQ, had some studio space. This marked a period when he began to connect to the
music of his native country, having spent most of his youth immersed in American
acts like DMX. He began to delve into the dancehall and reggae music his father
listened to, and the Afrobeat music that his grandfather preferred (he'd also been
Fela Kuti's first manager). As a result of his new discoveries, Ogulu created a
confluence of genres that would become his signature sound. Alongside LeriQ, they
created "Like to Party," which marked his rise to prominence, and created a local
buzz along the way. 2013 saw the release of his debut studio album. L.I.F.E., which
featured guest slots from Wizkid, Timaya, 2face, and M.I., and drew favorable
reviews from the music press. For his sophomore effort, 2015's On a Spaceship, he
parted ways with both his record company and LeriQ and delivered a record even more
diverse than his first. In 2017, he teamed up with producer Juls for the single
"Rock Your Body." ~ Bekki Bemrose

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/burna-boy/591899010

---

Rita Ora

ORIGIN
Pristina, Kosovo
GENRE
Pop
BORN
26 Nov 1990

Born in Pristina, Kosovo but raised in London, pop singer Rita Ora made her first
official appearance in 2007 when she guested on Craig David's single "Awkward." A
year later she joined Tinchy Stryder on his single "Where's Your Love," but her big
break came in 2009 when an open-mike performance attended by one of Jay-Z's A&R men
landed her a deal with the rapper's label, Roc Nation. In 2012, she provided the
vocals for DJ Fresh's drum'n'bass hit "Hot Right Now," which topped the charts in
the U.K. She returned to the number one spot that same year with her debut solo
single, "R.I.P." Ora also released her debut album, simply titled Ora, which went
straight to the number one spot on the U.K. album charts. ~ David Jeffries

https://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/rita-ora/355898104

===

Drake

ORIGIN
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GENRE
Hip-Hop/Rap
BORN
Oct 24, 1986

Canadian songwriter, producer, rapper, and singer Drake sustained a high-level

commercial presence shortly after he turned to rapping in 2006, whether with his
own chart-topping releases or a long string of guest appearances on hits by the
likes of Lil Wayne, Rihanna, and A$AP Rocky. Each one of the former child actor's
first four proper albums, as well as a 2015 mixtape, topped the album charts in his
native Canada and in the U.S. Though he caroused with his most hedonistic
contemporaries, Drake was frequently praised for his sensitive, introspective
approach to rap and R&B. He also used his platform to support emerging talent like
the Weeknd, and eventually formed his own OVO Sound label.

Known initially for his role as Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation, the
Toronto, Ontario-born Aubrey Drake Graham stepped out as a rapper and singer with
pop appeal in 2006, when he initiated a series of mixtapes. A year later, despite
being unsigned, he scored major exposure when his cocky and laid-back track
"Replacement Girl," featuring Trey Songz, was featured on BET's 106 & Park program
as its "Joint of the Day." He raised his profile throughout the next several months
by popping up on countless mixtapes and remixes, and as rumors swirled about
contract offers from labels, he gradually became one of the most talked-about
artists in the industry. It did not hurt that he had support from the likes of
Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne.

By the end of June 2009, "Best I Ever Had," a promotional single, had climbed to
number two on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. After a fierce bidding war,
Drake signed with Universal Motown in late summer and released an EP (So Far Gone)
made up of songs from his popular So Far Gone mixtape. It peaked at number six on
the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and won a 2010 Juno Award for Rap Recording of the
Year. Thank Me Later, a full-length featuring collaborations with the Kings of
Leon, the-Dream, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne, was issued through Young Money
in June 2010. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and was
certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Still, the
artist felt his debut was rushed, so its follow-up arrived in November 2015 with
the title Take Care, referencing the increased time and effort put into the album's
creation. Receiving critical acclaim, Grammy Awards, and the number one slot on the
U.S. Billboard 200, Take Care cemented Drake's place as one of Canada's biggest
exports.

In 2012, while on tour, Drake announced that he had started work on what would be
his third studio album. Nothing Was the Same was released the following September.
It spawned many singles, topped charts around the world, was shortlisted for the
Polaris Music Prize, and was nominated for a Best Rap Album Grammy. Soon after the
album's release, he hit the road on an extended tour, took part in some
collaborations, and released a few singles, including the Grammy-nominated "0 to
100/The Catch Up." His next release was planned as a free mixtape before Cash Money
decided they would rather charge for it. The decidedly downbeat If You're Reading
This It's Too Late was released in February 2015 and debuted at number one, while
all 17 of its songs entered the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

In late summer 2015, he dropped a trio of new tracks on his SoundCloud page. One of
them, the Timmy Thomas-sampling "Hotline Bling," became a Top Five pop hit in
Canada and the U.S. and something of a cultural phenomenon. Later that year, Drake
hit the studio with Future for a six-day session that yielded the mixtape What a
Time to Be Alive. Upon the album's September release, it became Drake's second
recording of the year to debut at number one. After dropping three singles in the
beginning months of 2016, Drake's fourth album, Views, was released in April and
debuted at number one. It revolved lyrically around his hometown Toronto and
featured production by longtime cohorts Noah "40" Shebib and Boi-1da, among others.
Late that year, Drake issued another trio of singles, including the chart-topping
"Fake Love." They preceded the playlist More Life, released the following March
with appearances from Kanye West, Quavo, Travis Scott, and Young Thug. The release
debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, his seventh chart-topping album in a
row. ~ Andy Kellman

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/drake/271256

===

Tanya Chua

ORIGIN
Singapore
GENRE
Mandopop
BORN
Jan 28, 1975

Singaporean singer Tanya Chua became a star throughout much of Asia around the turn
of the century with a combination of Mandarin- and English-language albums. Born in
Singapore on January 28, 1975, the multilingual singer made her recording debut in
1997 with the English-language album Bored. The following year she became the first
Singaporean to win the Asia Song Festival and was offered a recording contract with
Universal Music Taiwan. Her Mandarin-language debut, Breathe (1999), was well
received critically but didn't propel her to stardom as expected. Stardom,
particularly in Taiwan, came several years later when she switched to Warner Music
and changed her style, resulting in Stranger (2003), her popular breakthrough.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/tanya-chua/387313548

===

MILCK

ORIGIN
Palos Verdes, CA
GENRE
Singer/Songwriter

Los Angeles pop singer/songwriter Milck struck a chord of solidarity in early 2017
when her soulful ballad, "Quiet," became an anthem for victims of sexual abuse. A
first-generation American born to Chinese immigrants, Connie Lim studied classical
piano at a young age, later teaching herself to write pop songs while attending
college at Berkeley. Over the next decade, Lim plied her trade in the music
industry, paying dues, writing songs, and performing under her given name before
reemerging as Milck in 2016. Her first single as Milck, the brooding "Devil,
Devil," found placement on television shows like The Royals and Lucifer, though her
next release, "Quiet," would be the song that eventually brought her widespread
acclaim. Inspired by her own experiences with domestic abuse and trauma as a 14-
year-old, Lim wrote the song in 2016, eventually debuting it live during the
Women's March in Washington, D.C. alongside a choir of strangers with whom she'd
barely rehearsed. A video spontaneously recorded from the crowd soon went viral,
and within a month Lim had appeared on a number of national talk shows and signed a
deal with Atlantic Records. A newly recorded version of "Quiet" was released in
November of that year. ~ Timothy Monger

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/milck/1072440033

===

Caitlyn Smith

GENRE
Pop

A singer and songwriter of country-informed adult pop, Caitlyn Smith released her
solo debut in 2001 when she was only 15 years old. She went on to a Billboard-
charting solo career but established herself as a successful songwriter-for-hire
along the way, penning songs for the likes of Meghan Trainor and John Legend, Kenny
Rogers and Dolly Parton, James Bay, and the TV series Nashville, among others.

Raised in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, Smith started singing in church and playing
piano at an early age and was writing songs with dedication by the time she was 12.
She took up the guitar at 13. Two years later, she self-released her first album,
2001's Learning to Be. Another full-length, Silence, followed in 2004, around the
time Smith relocated to Nashville. The folkier Face Over Heels arrived in 2007.

Over the next several years, in collaboration with a variety of other professional
songwriters, Smith contributed songs to releases by artists such as Jason Aldean,
Rascal Flatts, and James Bay. She also wrote multiple original songs for the music
industry-based television show Nashville, which premiered on ABC in 2012. A duet
with Dolly Parton, the title track of Kenny Rogers' 2013 LP You Can't Make Old
Friends was co-written by Smith. A year later, Skylark Records released her own
Everything to You EP. Also in 2014, "Like I'm Gonna Lose You," a song she wrote
with Meghan Trainor and Justin Weaver for Trainor and John Legend, became an
international hit, reaching number eight on the U.S. Hot 100 and number one in
Australia and New Zealand.

Smith hit the Billboard charts with her own performances in 2016 when her EP
Starfire landed on the Americana/Folk, Independent, and Heatseekers Albums charts.
She followed it with a full-length album of the same title in 2018. ~ Marcy
Donelson

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/caitlyn-smith/48758133

===

Miss Li

ORIGIN
Borl�nge, Sweden
GENRE
Pop
BORN
1982

Linda Carlsson had been a singer her whole life, exploring everything from rock to
blues, jazz, Broadway, even opera and metal, and performing in a variety of shows
and bands, but it wasn't until 2006 that the then-24-year-old Swede launched her
career in earnest, transforming herself into Miss Li and embarking on a string of
releases that was notably prolific and not a little precocious. Accompanying
herself on the piano despite not having played the instrument since she was
required to at school, and recruiting a backing combo including double bassist Clas
Lassbo, drummer Gustav Nahlin (who also helped out with production) and a three-
piece horn section, Carlsson penned a slew of songs drawing on pop, jazz, polka,
country, and rhythm & blues but essentially rooted in a theatrical cabaret/music
hall pop style, with lyrics focused primarily on romantic and sexual escapades and
a campily glorified hedonistic lifestyle. She released both her first single, "Oh
Boy," and album, Late Night Heartbroken Blues, in November of 2006; God Put a
Rainbow in the Sky followed the next May, and Songs of a Rag Doll appeared in
October 2007. Not long afterwards, her label put out Best of 061122 -- 071122,
making Li probably one of the first artists in history to have a greatest-hits
compilation a mere year and a half after her debut release (and a double-disc at
that, including one set of B-sides and outtakes), although considering that each of
her three albums is only ten songs and a half-hour long, there wasn't really all
that much to choose from, so it functions as more of a helpful condensation. It
was, however, her most successful release to date, reaching number 11 on the
Swedish album charts, coincident with "Oh Boy"'s delayed rise to the Top Ten. Li
has also performed duets with her countrymen Lars Winnerb�ck ("Om du L�mnade Mig
Nu" -- a number one hit) and Maia Hirasawa ("Crackers.") ~ K. Ross Hoffman

===