R. Kelly

R. Kelly

R. Kelly was born on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, and attended Kenwood Academy High School, where his music teacher-mentor Lena McLin inspired him to become a singer. He used to sing on street corners. He started off his career with a group by the name of Public Announcement. R. Kelly a master producer, composer, and performer and is often associated with music that can be described as spiritually inspirational and extremely sexual. R. Kelly won acclaim with his production of the late Aaliyah's debut album, "Age Ain't Nothin but a Number." Aaliyah, then 15, soon found herself with a hit album and fending off rumors of an alleged nuptial to Kelly who was then in his mid-20s. Their marriage was annulled shortly afterward, and all ties between Aaliyah and Kelly were severed. Kelly went on to produce several more smash hit albums and songs for soundtracks, such as "I Believe I Can Fly" from Space Jam (1996); "World's Greatest" for the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia; and a duet with French-Canadian pop diva Céline Dion, which catapulted him to more success. Kelly soon married Andrea Lee, who was a former back-up dancer, and had two daughters and one son.

R. Kelly, at the pinnacle of his success, decided to team up with another music industry leader, the hip-hop MC Jay-Z, after great commercial successes on other collaborations with tracks such as Jay-Z's "Not Guilty" and Kelly's "Fiesta Remix." In 2001 to do an entire album together. Slated to be a guaranteed success, "The Best of Both Worlds" was the most highest anticipated album for 2002. Shortly after that year began began, and right before the release of "Best of Both Worlds," an alleged videotape of Kelly with a 14-year-old girl surfaced on the Internet and the streets of major cities.

Allegedly, Kelly was involved in sexual intercourse with a minor on the tape submitted to Chicago Police by former protégé, R&B singer Sparkle. Sparkle claimed the girl was her niece and the God-daughter of R. Kelly's wife. This opened up an avenue of backlash from radio stations and fans across the USA, who refused to continue to play, buy, or support R. Kelly's music. "Best of Both Worlds" was a commercial failure in comparison to its previous rumors of certain success. Jay-Z refused to comment or release a video for their record, and he also thought it would be better for Kelly to take time to sort out his problems. In a May 2002 BET News interview with Ed Gordon, R. Kelly denied the allegations vehemently, stating he would not watch the videotape; he declined to comment on his relationship with Aaliyah. He also stated that he had been receiving help for his "problem" from the Chicago reverend James Meeks, and he wasn't the monster that the public was making him out to be.

On June 5th, 2002, rumors surfaced that Kelly would be indicted on 21 counts of child pornography. After an alleged agreement between Kelly's attorneys and the Chicago Police for Kelly to be able to turn himself in, a fugitive warrant was issued for his arrest in Florida, and R. Kelly was arrested and was extradited to Chicago. Even though the attorney for the four women who were suing R. Kelly--one a former back-up dancer who also appeared on the scandalous videotape (who was an adult during the making of the tape)--stated that she thought that due to the weak legal system, Kelly would not be convicted but did hope he got some help. Kelly could have faced up to 15 years in prison and be forced to pay a fine of US$100.000, register as a sexual offender, and pay millions more in damages. Kelly reportedly stated that he had faith in the justice system and was happy to finally get a chance to defend himself in court. Kelly was eventually acquitted.

In 2003, Kelly released the song "Snake," from the successful album "Chocolate Factory," which became the basis for the reggae riddim called "Baghdad." 2004, Kelly once again teamed up with Jay-Z for the album "Unfinished Business." Like their previous album recorded together, this one also flopped. In 2005, however, Kelly released the album "TP.3," which included the first five chapters of an extended song called Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 1-12 (2005) (V). A strange, bold, and daring experiment in a sort-of R&B aria-meets-soap-opera, an unintended homage to and heavily influenced by The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), the entire saga, which has no end in sight but currently has twelve released chapters--and supposedly as many as 34 chapters have been recorded, might be one of the most unusual experiments in pop music of the decade, further testament to Kelly's undeniable talent.

source : www.imdb.com

Katy Perry

Katy Perry

Katy Perry was born October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California. After having three record deals fall apart, she signed with Capitol in 2007. Later that year, she released her first single, "Ur So Gay." Still, her career did not fully take off until the release of her next single, "I Kissed a Girl". Her album Teenage Dreams was released in August 2010.

Conservative Upbringing

Singer, songwriter, and musician. Born Katheryn Hudson on October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California. Known for her over-the-top fashions, quirky stage props, and catchy songs, Katy Perry has become a pop music sensation. 

Fans might be surprised to learn that the singer who writes about sexual exploration in "I Kissed a Girl" grew up in a very conservative family. Both of her parents are pastors, and they refused to let her listen to any rock or popular music. "The only things I was allowed to listen to were the Sister Act 1 and 2soundtracks," Perry toldEntertainment Weekly. She and her two siblings were also not permitted to watch such cable channels as MTV and VH1. 

Perry started taking singing lessons around the age of 9 and learned to play guitar when she was 13. Around this time, she began rebelling against her strict upbringing by piercing her own nose. She soon became interested in pursuing a career in music. With her mother, Perry made several trips to Nashville to record a gospel album, Katy Hudson, which was released in 2001. "It reached literally maybe 100 people, and then the label went bankrupt," Perry explained to Entertainment Weekly. 

Early Musical Influences

As a teenager, Perry was exposed to other musical influences. One friend introduced her to the music of Queen, which remains one of her favorite groups. "I'm very inspired by Freddie Mercury and how flamboyant and theatrical he was," she told fashion magazine WWD. In high school, she strove to be her own person, choosing not to limit herself to one social group. "I was a hop-around. I hung out with the rockabilly crew, the guys who were trying to be rappers, the funny kids," she told Seventeen magazine.

Focused on her music, Perry got her GED and moved to Los Angeles to work with producer and songwriter Glen Ballard, who had worked with such artists as Christina Aguilera and Alanis Morissette. She was only 17 years old at time, and being on her own proved tough. "It was five years of living in L.A. with no money, writing bad checks, selling my clothes to make rent, [and] borrowing money," she told Seventeen magazine. Perry also experienced a string of disappointments before getting her big break. She and Ballard were unable to find a record company willing to take them on, and her 2004 collaboration with music producers-turned-performers The Matrix was scrapped shortly before the project was to be released. After having three record deals fall apart, Perry finally signed with Capitol in 2007. 

Breakout Songs

Later that year, Perry released her first single, "Ur So Gay." Pop superstar Madonna became a fan of the song, calling it one of her favorites of the moment. The song drew comparisons to the likes ofLily Allen, another singer known for her quirky, cheeky lyrics. Perry said the single was inspired by the emo scene, and the "guys with guy-liner who use flatirons." Still, her career did not fully take off until the release of her next single, "I Kissed a Girl," which reached the top of the charts during the summer of 2008. With that song's success, her debut album, One of the Boys, made it into the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song also earned Perry a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. 

Katy Perry also became famous for her theatricality. On the Warped Tour, she performed "I Kissed a Girl" with a giant tube of lip balm, referencing a line in the song. Perry has also jumped into a larger-than-life cake and appeared in a number of wild outfits while onstage. She has described her style as "Lucille Ball meets Bob Mackie. It's about innuendo. I want everybody to get the joke, but I want them to think about it for a minute," she explained to Esquire magazine. 

Continued Success

In 2009, Perry appeared in her own acoustic special on MTV. The soundtrack from the show, Katy Perry: MTV Unplugged, was released around the same time. That same year, Perry made tabloid headlines for her relationship with British comedian Russell Brand. The couple became engaged over the New Year's holiday while on a trip to India. On October 23, 2010, the couple married in India in a traditional Hindu ceremony. According to The Times of India, the wedding featured a procession of camels, elephants and horses, plus fire jugglers, snake charmers, dancers and musicians. Perry had previously dated Travis McCoy from the band Gym Class Heroes. 

The young pop star has great ambitions for her future. "Ultimately I want Katy Perry to be as much of a household name as Madonna," she told Entertainment Weekly. Her album Teenage Dreams was released in August 2010. The single from the album, "California Gurls," quickly rose through the charts to #1 on the Billboard charts. With a signature perfume and film role opportunities heading her way, she may just make her dream come true. 

source : http://www.biography.com/people/katy-perry-562678

Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne

Avril Ramona Lavigne (born 27 September 1984) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more than $2 million. In 2002, when she was 17 years old, Lavigne broke onto the music scene with her debut album Let Go.

Let Go made Lavigne the youngest female soloist to reach No. 1 in the UK, and the album was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. By 2009, over 16 million copies had been sold worldwide. Her breakthrough single, "Complicated", peaked at No. 1 in many countries around the world, as did the album Let Go. Her second album, Under My Skin was released in 2004 and was her first album to peak at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, eventually selling more than 10 million copies worldwide. The Best Damn Thing, Lavigne’s third album, was released in 2007, becoming her third No. 1 album in the UK Albums Chart and featuring her first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single, "Girlfriend". Lavigne has scored six number-one singles worldwide, including "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi", "I'm with You", "My Happy Ending", "Nobody's Home", and "Girlfriend". With more than 30 million copies of her albums sold worldwide, Lavigne is one of the top-selling artists releasing albums in the U.S., with over 10.25 million copies certified by the RIAA. Her fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby, was released in March 2011. Goodbye Lullaby gave Lavigne her fourth top 10 album on the U.S. Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart and her third No. 1 album in both Japan and Australia. Three months after the release of Goodbye Lullaby, Lavigne began work on her fifth album, which will be released on Epic Records following her departure from RCA Records.

Lavigne branched out from recording music, pursuing careers in feature film acting and designing clothes and perfumes. She voiced a character in the animated film, Over the Hedge, in 2006. That same year, she made her on-screen feature film debut in Fast Food Nation. In 2008, Lavigne introduced her clothing line, Abbey Dawn, and in 2009, she released her first perfume, Black Star, which was followed by her second perfume, Forbidden Rose, in 2010 and her third perfume, Wild Rose, in 2011. In July 2006, Lavigne married her boyfriend of two years, Deryck Whibley, lead singer and guitarist for Sum 41. The marriage lasted a little over three years, and in October 2009, Lavigne filed for divorce. Whibley and Lavigne continued to work together, with Whibley producing her fourth album, as well as Lavigne's single, "Alice", written for Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland.

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avril_Lavigne

Muse

Muse 

A trio consisting of three high school friends named Matthew Bellamy (born on June 9, 1978 in Cambridge, England), Dominic James Howard (born on December 7, 1977 in Stockport, England), and Christopher Tony Wolstenholme (born on December 2, 1978 in Rotherham, Yorkshire, England), Museactually resulted from the idea to overcome the boredom of their life in the sleepy town of Teignmouth, South Devon, England. The band's incarnation originally was materialized in the form of a duo called Gothic Plague established by Dom and Matt in January 1994, but it was later changed to Fixed Penalty when Chris joined in, then to Rocket Baby Dolls under which they enrolled in a local Battle of The Bands competition. Initially pessimistic of the chance of winning due to their different sounds with other contestants, the troupe surprisingly were named the winner, fueling the personnel to continue their pact in professional way. 

With Dom on drum, Chris handling the bass, and Matt taking the lead vocal, guitar, also keyboard, the threesome began to look for a better stage name and finally settled to call themselves Muse after their art teacher told of the muses from Greek mythology. They confidently commenced their journey through a number of performances at the local venue for some time. The band gradually were able to draw quite large audience, which led them to come into the attention of Dennis Smith, the owner of Sawmills studio and Dangerous Records label. Not only offering them a chance to record their materials, the man also willingly set up a few showcases in the U.S. to ultimately get them signed under Maverick Records in 1998, much to the group's delight. Other deals soon followed with Motors in Germany, Naive in France, and notably, Mushroom Records in England through which they happily saw their full-length debut album, "Showbiz", touching the U.K. market in 1999 after the releases of their two EPs entitled "Muse EP" and "Muscle Museum EP." 

Produced by John Leckie, who previously had been involved in the making of Radiohead's "The Bends", the LP had a more-than-satisfying outcome as it managed to enter the top 30 of U.K. albums chart while generating some modest hits like "Sunburn", "Unintended", "Cave", and "Uno". On the other hand, comparisons inevitably were drawn to Radiohead thereafter, leading to an accusation that Muse were mere copycat. Going unaffected, the band kept moving on their path to  hold tour around the world which ran successfully for one and half year before coming up with their sophomore effort, "Origin of Symmetry", in 2001. More expanded and experimental than its predecessor, the album received wonderful response, so positive that the album really did not encounter much difficulty to break worldwide sale above 1.3 million copies, thanks to its tracks like "Plug in Baby", "New Born", "Bliss", and "Hyper Music". 

Though already gaining considerable popularity in Europe, Muse were still unable to make a sound in the States, and realizing this fact, they joined forces with U.S. producer Rich Costey to work on their next album, "Absolution". The decision was delightfully proven right for the record, released by March 2004 in the country. The album amazingly made its way to the first rank of Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart besides spawning two top 10 Modern Rock Tracks hits namely "Hysteria (I Want It Now)" and "Time Is Running Out". In the meantime, greater accomplishment was scored in U.K when it topped the number one spot on the country's album chart to then direct the band to obtain a BRIT Award for Best Live Act category in the following year. Amidst the  superb attainment, the trio decidedly preferred to focus more on their live performances instead, and opted not to bring up new compositions until 2006 through singles "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Knights of Cydonia", which later were included in their next album launched by July 3 in U.K., "Black Holes & Revelations". In 2007, the band were named the Best British Band at the ShockWaves NME Awards and Best British Live Act at the BRIT Awards. 

With the title of amusing live act, Muse continued touring around the world, hitting big stadiums and festivals such as Wembley and V. In September 2008, Matt, Dom and Chris all received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Plymouth for their contributions to music. At the same time, the work of their fifth studio album was underway. "The Resistance" was released in September 2009 with singles such as "Uprising" and "Undisclosed Desires". Upon its release, "The Resistance" topped the album charts in 19 countries, becoming the band's third number one album in U.K. and reaching number three on the Billboard 200. Muse were later nominated for three awards at the 53rd Grammy Awards in February 2011 and won a Grammy Award for  Best Rock Album for "The Resistance". With the confidence, Muse headlined a lot of festivals like Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds as well as Lollapalooza. 

In 2011, they began recording their sixth album in London with the help of composer David Campbell, which would make the album "radically different" from the rest. First single "Survival" was released in June 2012 and became the official song of the London 2012 Summer Olympics. It was quickly followed by "Madness" and "Panic Station". Armed with new materials, the band toured around Europe while the album, titled "The 2nd Law", was awaiting its release on October 2, 2012 in the U.S.

source : http://www.aceshowbiz.com

Avenged sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold

The cartoonish metalcore band Avenged Sevenfold, also known as A7X, mix screamed vocals and a hardcore punk-inspired metal guitar attack with pop hooks, creating a musical cocktail as contradictory as the band's political outlook. Claiming to be conservative patriots, the band advocates the traditional heavy-metal lifestyle of strippers, substance abuse and horror-show lyrics.

Singer M. Shadows (b. Matthew Charles Sanders, July 31, 1981, Huntington Beach, Calif.) and guitarist Zacky Vengeance (b. Zachary James Baker, Dec. 11, 1981) were still in high school when they formed Avenged Sevenfold in 1999 in Huntington Beach, California. Later adding guitarist Synyster Gates (b. Brian Elwin Haner, Jr., July 7, 1981, Huntington Beach), bassist Johnny Christ (b. Johnathan Lewis Seward, Nov. 18, 1984, Huntington Beach) and drummer The Rev, aka The Reverend Tholomew Plague (b. James Owen Sullivan, Feb. 10, 1981), the band released its first album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001) on the Belgian indie label Good Life Recordings. The following year, A7X signed with L.A.-based punk indie Hopeless Records, which re-released the debut and followed it with 2003's Waking the Fallen, which reached Number 12 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart. Warner Bros.' signed the band and released City of Evil (Number 30, 2005), which spawned successful rock singles "Bat Country" (Number Two Mainstream Rock, Number 6 Modern Rock, 2005) and "Beast and the Harlot" (Number 19 Mainstream Rock, Number 40 Modern Rock, 2006).

A7X's popularity soared with the release of its 2007 self-titled album, which went to Number Four on the Billboard 200 pop albums chart. The album, which found the band flirting with genres far outside its comfort zone including pedal steel-fueled country ("Dear God") and a Queen-style show tune ("A Little Piece of Heaven"), spawned the popular single "Almost Easy" (Number Three Mainstream Rock, Number Six Modern Rock, 2007).

source: http://www.rollingstone.com