David Walter Foster is a Canadian record producer, film composer, and music executive. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. Foster's career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s before focusing largely on composing and production. Often in tandem with songwriter Diane Warren, Foster has contributed to material for prominent music industry artists in various genres since then, and is credited with production on over 40 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100. He has also chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016.
William James Adams, known professionally as will.i.am, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, and actor. He is best known as the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he formed in 1995 with his close friends apl.de.ap and Taboo. The group, having released nine total studio albums, saw their furthest mainstream success during their 2000s pop rap era with Elephunk (2003), Monkey Business (2005), The E.N.D. (2009), and The Beginning (2010). Adams has served as lead vocalist since its formation, although for the albums, he did so alongside singer Fergie—who joined the group in 2002 and departed after the latter album.
No More Drama is the fifth studio album by American singer Mary J. Blige, released on August 28, 2001, by MCA Records.
"One" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the third track from their seventh album, Achtung Baby (1991), and it was released as the record's third single on 24 February 1992. During the album's recording sessions at Hansa Studios in Berlin, conflict arose between the band members over the direction of U2's sound and the quality of their material. Tensions almost prompted the band to break up until they achieved a breakthrough with the improvisation of "One"; the song was written after the band members were inspired by a chord progression that guitarist the Edge was playing in the studio. The lyrics, written by lead singer Bono, were inspired by the band members' fractured relationships and the German reunification. Although the lyrics ostensibly describe "disunity", they have been interpreted in other ways.
"City of Blinding Lights" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the fifth track on their eleventh studio album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), and was released as the album's fourth single on 6 June 2005. It was produced by Flood, with additional production by Chris Thomas and Jacknife Lee. The song reached number one in Spain, and peaked in the top ten in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. The music video was shot at the General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
"Ready, Set, Don't Go" is a country song recorded by American singers Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus. It was released as the lead single from Home at Last, Billy Ray Cyrus' tenth studio album on August 13, 2007. The song has received different interpretations, although, in actuality, Cyrus wrote the song several years before its release when his middle daughter, Miley, moved to Los Angeles in order to pursue an acting career with an audition for the Disney Channel Original Series Hannah Montana. "Ready, Set, Don't Go" received critical praise, with reviewers complimenting its lyrical content. It also reached positive commercial responses for Cyrus, compared to his downfall in previous years. Peaking at number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100, it became Cyrus' first entry on the chart since "You Won't Be Lonely Now" (2000).
Jake Zyrus, formerly known professionally as Charice Pempengco and under the mononym Charice, is a Filipino singer and television personality.
"It's a New Day" is a song produced and organized by American rapper and producer will.i.am. It was released as promotional single on November 7, 2008, from the political compilation album Change Is Now: Renewing America's Promise (2009). Will performed the song for the first time on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The song was written as a tribute to President Barack Obama's victory. It was used in an episode of the second season of Gossip Girl. A parody of the song was featured on the Boondocks episode "It's a Black President, Huey Freeman". It was titled "Dick Riding Obama", and featured will.i.am, rapper Thugnificent, Gangstalicious and a George Clooney lookalike debating whether Obama's victory was really a success. A scene from the episode was released on YouTube before the episode aired as a form of viral marketing.
Oprah Winfrey's endorsement of Senator Barack Obama was one of the most widely covered and studied developments of the 2008 presidential campaign, as she has been described as the most influential woman in the world. Winfrey first endorsed Senator Obama in September 2006 before he had even declared himself a candidate. In May 2007 Winfrey made her official endorsement of candidate Obama, and in December 2007, she made her first campaign appearances for him. Two economists estimate that Winfrey's endorsement was worth over a million votes in the Democratic primary race and that without it, Obama would have received fewer votes. Then-Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich claimed that the endorsement was so significant in making Obama president-elect that he considered offering Obama's former seat in the Senate to Winfrey.
Oprah Gail Winfrey, also known mononymously as Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which ran in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011. Dubbed the "Queen of All Media", she was the richest African-American of the 20th century and was once the world's only black billionaire. By 2007, she was often ranked as the most influential woman in the world.
The first inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The 56th inauguration, which set a record attendance for any event held in the city, marked the commencement of the first term of Barack Obama as president and Joe Biden as vice president. Based on combined attendance numbers, television viewership, and Internet traffic, it was one of the most-observed events ever by the global audience at the time.
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial was a public celebration of the then forthcoming inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States at the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on January 18, 2009. By some estimates the attendance was over 400,000.
One million invitations to Barack Obama's inauguration were sent out in the first week of January 2009. Printed between December 11, 2008, and January 2, 2009, the invitations invited people to celebrate Barack Obama's inauguration as the forty-fourth President of the United States. The invitations have kept the same basic design of a gold seal and black script since the 1949 inauguration of Harry S. Truman, but this invitation was produced in a green manner, using recycled paper, by companies certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Change is Now: Renewing America's Promise is a compilation album released on April 28, 2009 through Hidden Beach Recordings in conjunction with the Presidential Inaugural Committee. The album includes previously released tracks from Wilco, Stevie Wonder, Death Cab for Cutie, and Common. An accompanying DVD features eight speeches by Barack Obama, starting with the campaign announcement in Springfield, Illinois and ending with the election night victory speech in Chicago. The album sold retail online and at inaugural events in Washington.
"Note to God" is a song written by Diane Warren and first recorded by American R&B singer JoJo in 2006 for her album The High Road. "Note to God" is partly an emotional prayer. The lyrics are composed of things that would be written in a letter to God.
Stronger with Each Tear is the ninth studio album from American R&B and soul singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige. The album was released in the US on December 21, 2009, under Blige's own imprint, Matriarch Records.
The Tenors are a vocal group consisting of Victor Micallef, Clifton Murray, Alberto Urso, and Mark Masri. They perform operatic pop music that is a mixture of classical and pop, featuring songs such as "The Prayer", Panis angelicus, and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.
"American Prayer" is a 2002 song co-written by Bono of U2, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, and Pharrell Williams.
Cassidy Durango Milton Willy Podell, known as DJ Cassidy, is an American DJ, record producer and MC.
Taking the Stage: African American Music and Stories That Changed America is a television special which first aired in the US on January 11, 2017, on ABC. The program was broadcast again in 2020.
