Kenneth Brian Edmonds, better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career and has won 12 Grammy Awards. He was ranked number 20 on NME's 50 of The Greatest Producers Ever list.
Toni Michele Braxton is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won seven Grammy Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards, and numerous other accolades. In 2011, Braxton was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. In 2017 she was honored with the Legend Award at the Soul Train Music Awards.
"When You Believe" is a song by American singers Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. The song was made for the 1998 DreamWorks musical animated feature The Prince of Egypt. It was written and composed by Stephen Schwartz. A pop single version of "When You Believe", with additional music and lyrics by writer-producer Kenneth Edmonds (Babyface), was also recorded for the film's end credits and its soundtrack album by DreamWorks Records. Additionally, the song serves as the soundtrack's lead single on November 2, 1998 and for both Houston's fourth studio album, My Love Is Your Love by Arista Records and Carey's first compilation album, #1's by Columbia Records. The original version of the song, featured in the narrative portion of the film, is performed by Sally Dworsky, Michelle Pfeiffer, and a children's choir soloist Andrew Bryan. "When You Believe" is described as a big ballad, with meaningful and inspirational lyrics, describing the ability each person has to achieve miracles when they reach out to God and believe.
Anoushka Shankar is a British born Indian-American sitar player and musician, as well as occasional writer and actor. She performs across multiple genres and styles—classical and contemporary, acoustic and electronic. In addition to releasing seven solo studio albums beginning with Anoushka (1998), she has also worked alongside a wide variety of musicians, including Karsh Kale on the full-length collaboration Breathing Under Water (2007) and her father Ravi Shankar. She has received nine Grammy Awards nominations and was the first musician of Indian origin to perform live and to serve as a presenter at the ceremony. She was the youngest and first woman to receive a British House of Commons Shield.
Casandra Elizabeth "Cassie" Ventura is an American singer, songwriter, model, actress, and dancer. Born in New London, Connecticut, she began her musical career after meeting record producer Ryan Leslie in late 2004, who signed her to his record label, NextSelection Lifestyle Group. Two years later, Ventura released her debut single "Me & U", which was discovered by rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs; Leslie agreed to partner his NextSelection imprint with Combs' Bad Boy Records for the commercial release of her debut album. As the song marked her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, it soon peaked at number three on the chart by July 2006.
Kate Todd is a Canadian actress and singer-songwriter. She is best known for her roles as Lily Randall in Radio Free Roscoe and Sally in Life with Derek. She is also known for her continuing role as Erica in the movie and series My Babysitter's a Vampire and had a recurring role in the Canadian drama series The L.A. Complex as Katee.
Adam Plack is an Australian-born didgeridoo player, composer and producer, originally from East Brighton in Melbourne. He moved to New York City in 1991 and released four albums before moving into production and composition for meditation music in partnership with Deepak Chopra.
The Liberace Museum Collection is a private museum collection that includes many stage costumes, cars, jewelry, lavishly decorated pianos and numerous citations for philanthropic acts that belonged to the American entertainer and pianist Wladziu Valentino Liberace, better known as Liberace.
Cecilia is a classical crossover singer, originally from Norway, who is known for her rendition of "Amazing Grace". She has released seven albums, two via Universal Music, and performed worldwide, selling several hundred thousand albums with virtually no mainstream publicity.
Misty Danielle Copeland is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 75-year history.
Khalif Malik Ibn Shaman Brown, known professionally by his stage name Swae Lee, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Known for his wide vocal range and genre-bending, Lee first saw mainstream recognition as one half of the hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd, which he formed with his brother Slim Jxmmi. They signed with Mike Will Made It's EarDrummer Records, an imprint of Interscope Records to release hit singles including "No Flex Zone," "No Type," and "Black Beatles", the latter of which topped the Billboard Hot 100. In 2017, he guest featured on French Montana's single "Unforgettable," which earned him his first top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 as a soloist, and was later certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Chloe x Halle are an American duo composed of sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey. At a young age, the sisters performed in minor acting roles before moving from their hometown of Mableton, Georgia to Los Angeles in 2012. The two began posting music covers to YouTube and were acknowledged by Beyoncé, who became their mentor and later signed them to her label, Parkwood Entertainment. They subsequently released the EP Sugar Symphony (2016) and the mixtape The Two of Us (2017).
Chloe Elizabeth Bailey, also known mononymously as Chlöe, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. She rose to prominence alongside her sister Halle Bailey as Chloe x Halle; the duo released two studio albums, with their second, Ungodly Hour (2020), being met with widespread acclaim upon release. In 2021, Bailey released her debut solo single "Have Mercy", which was certified platinum in the U.S. Her debut album, In Pieces, was released in 2023, to positive reviews from critics.
"Crave" is a song by American singers Madonna and Swae Lee, from the former's fourteenth studio Madame X (2019). The song was written by the two artists and Starrah, while production was handled by Madonna, Mike Deanm and Billboard. It was released by Interscope Records for digital download and streaming as the album's second single on May 10, 2019. The song has been noted as a pop, trap, and hip hop ballad inspired by Fado music, with the lyrics talking about desire and craving for someone who's running away. It was one of the first songs Madonna wrote for Madame X, but she put the work on hold when she began working with other musicians in Lisbon. When she revisited the song, Madonna came to the conclusion that a male voice was needed for inclusion and approached Swae Lee to sing with her, as she was a fan of his voice.
Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus, known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and actress. She is regarded as one of the most commercially successful female rappers of her generation. Born and raised in New York City, she first gained popularity through videos shared on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as a regular cast member on the VH1 reality television series Love & Hip Hop: New York, which depicted her pursuit of her music aspirations, and earned further recognition with the release of her two mixtapes: Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1 (2016) and Vol. 2 (2017).
Kiari Kendrell Cephus, known professionally as Offset, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as part of the hip hop group Migos, alongside Quavo and the late Takeoff. In 2017, Offset released the collaborative album with record producer Metro Boomin and English rapper 21 Savage: Without Warning; it reached the top ten on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single "Ric Flair Drip," which reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, he would co-perform with Canadian rapper Drake on Metro Boomin's single "No Complaints." In 2018, he featured on the hit single "Taste" by Tyga, which marked his first top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 as a soloist, and was later certified 9× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). That same year, he co-performed alongside Travis Scott on another hit single with Kodak Black's "Zeze," which peaked at number two on the Hot 100.
Invasion of Privacyis the debut studio album by American rapper Cardi B. It was released on April 6, 2018, by Atlantic Records. Primarily a hip hop record, it also includes elements of trap, Latin trap and R&B. It features production from 30 Roc, Andrew Watt, Benny Blanco, Boi-1da, Craig Kallman, Cubeatz, DJ Mustard, Frank Dukes, J. White Did It, Keyz, Murda Beatz, Needlz, Tainy, and Vinylz, among others. The album features guest appearances by Migos, Chance the Rapper, Kehlani, SZA, 21 Savage, J Balvin, Bad Bunny, and YG.
"Be Careful" is a song recorded by American rapper Cardi B. It was released on March 29, 2018, as the third single from her debut studio album Invasion of Privacy (2018). The song was written by Cardi B, Jordan Thorpe, and produced by Boi-1da, Vinylz, and Frank Dukes. It contains an interpolation from "Ex-Factor", written and performed by Lauryn Hill, which itself samples "Can It Be All So Simple", written and performed by Wu-Tang Clan. The latter song also samples "The Way We Were". Therefore, Hill, the eight members of Wu-Tang Clan, and Marvin Hamlisch, Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman are credited among the composers.
"Ring" is a song recorded by American rapper Cardi B for her debut studio album Invasion of Privacy (2018). It featuring vocals from American singer Kehlani. It was written by the two said artists, Desmond Dennis, Jordan Thorpe, DeMario Bridges and Nija Charles, along with its producers Needlz and Scribz Riley. It debuted at number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 the week following the album's release, marking Kehlani's highest-charting song so far. It was serviced to rhythmic and urban contemporary radio on August 28, 2018, as the album's fifth and final single.
The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, each of whom spoke about the impact that music had on their lives.
