Aretha Louise Franklin was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Queen of Soul", Rolling Stone magazine twice named her as the greatest singer of all time.
Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s.
Gladys Maria Knight, known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer. A ten-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten.
Fantasia Monique Barrino-Taylor, known professionally by her mononym Fantasia, is an American singer and actress. She rose to prominence in 2004 for her performance of the Porgy and Bess standard "Summertime" during the third season of American Idol, and eventually became that season's winner. Following her victory, Barrino became the second woman to have her first single debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, following Lauryn Hill, when her debut single "I Believe", launched atop the chart. Her accolades include two Billboard Music Awards and a Grammy Award, along with nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award. In 2024, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people.
LaToya Renee London is an American R&B and soul singer and stage actress who was fourth-place finalist on the third season of American Idol. Her debut album, Love & Life, was released in September 2005 and spawned a number of moderate R&B chart hits. She has concentrated on stage work, including originating and performing the role of Nettie in the national tour of the Broadway musical The Color Purple from 2007 to 2010, for which she won an Ovation Award. She was the lead in the U.S. regional debut of The Bodyguard, a musical based on the 1992 film.
Jennifer Kate Hudson, also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer and actress. Having received numerous accolades for her work in music, film, television, and theater, Hudson became the youngest woman and third African-American recipient of all four major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT) in 2022. She was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013, and Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and shortly became the biggest selling Motown single up to that time.
Blue Magic is an American R&B and soul group, and one of the more popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. Founded in 1972, the group's original members included lead singer Ted Mills with Vernon Sawyer, Wendell Sawyer, Keith Beaton, and Richard Pratt. Their most notable songs included smooth soul ballads such as "Sideshow", "Spell", "What’s Come Over Me", "Three Ring Circus", and "Stop to Start".
"Midnight Train to Georgia" is a song most famously performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips, their second release after departing Motown Records for Buddah Records. Written by Jim Weatherly, and included on the Pips' 1973 LP Imagination, "Midnight Train to Georgia" became the group's first single to top the Billboard Hot 100. It also won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus and has become Knight's signature song.
In the Groove is the eighth studio album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released on August 26, 1968 on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. It was the first solo studio album Gaye released in two years, in which during that interim, the singer had emerged as a successful duet partner with female R&B singers such as Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell. In the Groove was reissued and retitled as I Heard It Through the Grapevine after the unexpected success of Gaye's recording of the same name, which had been released as a single from the original album.
American Idol Season 5: Encores is compilation album released on May 23, 2006 and contains one cover song from each of the top 12 finalists during season 5 of the television show American Idol. It is the only American Idol album that does not feature an ensemble track by all the contestants, and is the first year in which several individual finalists made the popular music charts. The album sold over 154,000 units in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, behind the Disney Channel Original Movie's High School Musical Soundtrack and the Dixie Chicks' Taking the Long Way, thus becoming the best-selling debut any American Idol compilation disk. It was also number two on Top Soundtracks, number four on Top Digital Albums and number six on Top Internet.
American Idols Live! Tour 2006 was a summer concert tour in the United States featuring the top 10 contestants of the fifth season of American Idol, which aired in 2006. It was sponsored by Kellogg Pop-Tarts. The tour started on July 5 and ended on September 24 covering 60 dates, the biggest tour thus far. Initially 39 dates were planned, but 21 extra dates were later added due to demand. It followed in the tradition of other American Idol summer tours following the completion of each season in May.
The 1988 Soul Train Music Awards were held on March 30, 1988, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live in select cities and aired later in other areas. Dionne Warwick hosted.
Melinda Marie Doolittle is an American singer who finished as the third place finalist on the sixth season of American Idol. Prior to her appearance on American Idol, Doolittle worked as a professional back-up singer for, among others, Michael McDonald, Kirk Franklin, Aaron Neville, BeBe and CeCe Winans, Alabama, Jonny Lang, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Carman, and Anointed.
The Dresden Soul Symphony is a German concert show. The musicians reinterpret soul hits and combine them with classical music. The musical ensemble contains the singers Joy Denalane, Bilal, Tweet and Dwele; the radio orchestra of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk; four backing vocalists; the MDR children's choir and four instrumentalists, who do not belong to the orchestra. The performance venue of the show is Dresden, Germany. The premiere was on April 26, 2008.
"Share Your Love with Me" is a song written by Alfred Braggs and Deadric Malone. It was originally recorded by blues singer Bobby "Blue" Bland. Over the years, the song has been covered by various artists, most notably Aretha Franklin who won a Grammy Award for her 1969 rendition. Other artists who covered the song include The Band in 1973, Kenny Rogers in 1981, and most recently, Van Morrison in 2016.
Billboard Hot Soul Hits is a series of compilation albums released by Rhino Records in 1995, compiling 50 hit soul music recordings, which were popular in the 1970s. Five albums were released, containing ten songs from a specific year from 1970 through 1974. This series follows Rhino's Billboard Top R&B Hits series which covers the years 1955-1969. It is followed chronologically by Billboard Hot R&B Hits, covering the years 1980-1989, skipping the years 1975-1979.
Benjamin F. Wright Jr. is an American record producer, composer and arranger.
Soul Train: The Dance Years is a series of compilation albums released by Rhino Records in 1999 and 2000, and spun off from the long-running syndicated television series Soul Train.
Leah LaBelle Vladowski was an American singer. She rose to prominence in 2004 as a contestant on the third season of American Idol, placing twelfth in the season finals. In 2007, LaBelle began recording covers of R&B and soul music for her YouTube channel. These videos led to work as a backing vocalist starting in 2008 and a record deal in 2011 with Epic in partnership with I Am Other and So So Def Recordings. LaBelle released a sampler, three singles, and a posthumous extended play (EP).
