Gwen Renée Stefani is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is a co-founder and the lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl" and "Don't Speak" from their 1995 breakthrough studio album Tragic Kingdom, as well as "Hey Baby" and "It's My Life" from later albums.
Usher Raymond IV is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. He was born in Dallas, Texas, but raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee until moving to Atlanta, Georgia. At the age of 12, his mother put him in local singing competitions, before catching the attention of a music A&R from LaFace Records. He released his self-titled debut album, Usher (1994) but rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way (1997). It spawned his first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "Nice & Slow", among top-two singles "You Make Me Wanna..." and "My Way". 8701 (2001) produced the number-one singles "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad", as well as top-three single "U Don't Have to Call". It sold eight million copies worldwide and won his first two Grammy Awards as Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 2002 and 2003.
Carrie Marie Fisher is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Her debut single, "Inside Your Heaven", is the only country song to debut at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. Her debut album, Some Hearts, was released in 2005. Bolstered by the huge crossover success of the singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", it became the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history, the fastest-selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history and the best-selling country album of the last 16 years. Underwood won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist.
Robyn Rihanna Fenty is a Barbadian singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, and raised in Bridgetown, she was discovered by American record producer Evan Rogers in her home country in 2003, and throughout 2004, she recorded demo tapes under the direction of Rogers; this led to Rihanna securing a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings after she auditioned for its then-president, rapper and hip hop producer Jay-Z. In 2005, Rihanna rose to fame with the release of her debut studio album Music of the Sun, as well as its follow-up A Girl like Me (2006). Both albums peaked within the top ten of the US Billboard 200 and respectively produced the successful singles "Pon de Replay", "SOS" and "Unfaithful".
Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. As one of the world's leading contemporary recording artists, she is known for narrative songs about her personal life, which has received widespread media coverage.
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a recording contract with XL Recordings. In 2007, she received the Brit Awards Critics' Choice award and won the BBC Sound of 2008 poll. Her debut album, 19, was released in 2008 to commercial and critical success. It is certified eight times platinum in the UK, and three times platinum in the US. The album contains her first song, "Hometown Glory", written when she was 16, which is based on her home suburb of West Norwood in London. An appearance she made on Saturday Night Live in late 2008 boosted her career in the US. At the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009, Adele received the awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is known for her unconventionality, provocative work, and visual experimentation. She began performing as a teenager, singing at open mic nights and acting in school plays. She studied at Collaborative Arts Project 21, through New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, before dropping out to pursue a music career. When Def Jam Recordings canceled her contract, she worked as a songwriter for Sony/ATV Music Publishing, where Akon helped her sign a joint deal with Interscope Records and his own label KonLive Distribution in 2007. She rose to prominence the following year with her debut album, the electropop record The Fame, and its chart-topping singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". A follow-up EP, The Fame Monster (2009), featuring the singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro", was also successful.
Ariana Grande-Butera is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She began her career in 2008 in the Broadway musical 13, before playing the role of Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon television series Victorious from 2010 to 2013, and in the spinoff Sam & Cat from 2013 to 2014. Grande made her first musical appearance on the soundtrack for Victorious and was signed to Republic Records in 2011 after music executive Monte Lipman came across one of her YouTube videos covering songs.
Geoffrey Royce Rojas, known professionally as Prince Royce, is an American singer and songwriter. At an early age, Royce took an interest in music, and in his teenage years began experimenting with music and writing poetry. By age nineteen, Royce met Andrés Hidalgo, who became his manager. Hidalgo later introduced Royce to Sergio George, who immediately signed him to his label after hearing three of his demos.
Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. is an American country music singer and songwriter. His father is the singer Rhett Akins. Rhett has released three studio albums for Big Machine Records' Valory Music imprint: It Goes Like This (2013), Tangled Up (2015), and Life Changes (2017). These albums have produced seventeen singles on the Hot Country and Country Airplay charts, with twelve reaching the No. 1 position on the latter: "It Goes Like This", "Get Me Some of That", "Make Me Wanna", "Crash and Burn", "Die a Happy Man", "T-Shirt", "Star of the Show", "Craving You", "Unforgettable", "Marry Me", "Life Changes", and "Sixteen". In addition to much of his own material, Rhett has written singles for Jason Aldean, Lee Brice, Florida Georgia Line, LoCash and Michael Ray among others.
Fifth Harmony is an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and previously Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group signed a joint record deal with Simon Cowell's label Syco Records and L.A. Reid's label Epic Records after forming and finishing third in the second season of the American singing competition series The X Factor in 2012. Rising to prominence by social media, the group's debut extended play and their three studio albums all charted within the top ten of the Billboard 200 in the United States.
Lauren Ashley Daigle (born September 9, 1991. Daigle is a singer and songwriter. After being signed to the label Centricity Music, she released her debut album, How Can It Be, in 2015. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart, has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and produced three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Christian Airplay chart.
Kelsea Nicole Ballerini is an American country pop singer and songwriter. She released her first album The First Time in 2015, and her second album Unapologetically was released on November 3, 2017. She received a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2017 Grammy Awards. Ballerini's two albums have accounted for seven charted songs on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. She has four No. 1 singles on the latter, starting with her debut single "Love Me Like You Mean It", which made her the first female artist to send a debut single to the top of that chart since Carrie Underwood in 2006. It was followed by "Dibs" and "Peter Pan", whose peaks also made her the first female country artist to send her first three singles to the top of that chart since Wynonna Judd. Ballerini's fourth No. 1 single is "Legends".
Maren Larae Morris is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She has released four studio albums. Her 2015 extended play, Maren Morris, charted on two Billboard charts. Her major label debut album, Hero, reached number five on the Billboard 200 chart and number one on the Top Country Albums chart.
Billboard JAPAN is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine Billboard. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link, holding an exclusive licence from Billboard's parent company to the Billboard brand name in Japan, and manages, among others, the web site www.billboard-japan.com and several "Billboard Live"-branded music clubs located in the country.
The 2016 Billboard Music Awards ceremony was held on May 22, 2016, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the first nationally televised event to originate from that venue. It aired live on ABC with hosts Ludacris and Ciara.
Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in The Bronx, New York City, she became an Internet celebrity after several of her posts and videos went viral on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to 2017, she appeared as a regular cast member on the VH1 reality television series Love & Hip Hop: New York to follow her music aspirations, and released two mixtapes—Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
