The music of Minnesota began with the native rhythms and songs of Indigenous peoples, the first inhabitants of the lands which later became the U.S. state of Minnesota. Métis fur-trading voyageurs introduced the chansons of their French ancestors in the late eighteenth century. As the territory was opened up to white settlement in the 19th century, each group of immigrants brought with them the folk music of their European homelands. Celtic, German, Scandinavian, and Central and Eastern European song and dance remain part of the vernacular music of the state today.
Thompson Twins were a British pop band that formed in April 1977. Initially a new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the mid-1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States, and around the world. In 1993, they changed their name to Babble, to reflect their change in music from pop to dub-influenced chill-out. They continued as Babble until 1996, at which point the group permanently dissolved.
Alexander O'Neal is an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger from Natchez, Mississippi.
Cameo is an American soul-influenced funk group that formed in 1974. Cameo was initially a 14-member group known as the New York City Players; this name was later changed to Cameo.
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most notably Janet Jackson. They have written 31 top ten hits in the UK and 41 in the US.
Joseph Thomas Elliott Jr. is an English singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and radio presenter, best known as the lead singer and one of the founding members of the English hard rock band Def Leppard. He has also been the lead singer of the David Bowie tribute band the Cybernauts and the Mott the Hoople cover band Down 'n' Outz. He is one of the two original members of Def Leppard still in the band and one of the three to perform on every Def Leppard album. Elliott is known for his distinctive and wide ranging raspy singing voice.
The Time, also known as Morris Day and the Time and The Original 7ven, is an American musical group that was created in Minneapolis in 1981 by Prince. Their work has been a part of the formation of the Minneapolis sound, featuring a mix of soul music and dance music with funk, rock n roll, and more. Led by singer-songwriter Morris Day, the band members are known for having been close Prince associates, and are arguably the most successful artists who have worked with him, achieving particular popularity with R&B fans with tracks such as "Jerk Out" and "Jungle Love". Former members Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis went on to a prominent production career after they left the band in 1983, while Day and guitarist Jesse Johnson recorded solo material in addition to their work with the Time.
The Family was a band formed by Prince, and one of the first signed to Prince's record label, Paisley Park Records. The band reformed as fDeluxe in 2011.
Garry George "Jellybean" Johnson, is an American drummer, guitarist, songwriter, producer and musician based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. A member and drummer of the band named The Time who worked along with famed producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, he went on to help record several songs with other artists including Alexander O'Neal, Cherrelle and most notably with Janet Jackson. In 1990, the two co-produced Jackson's #1 single, "Black Cat."
Roger O'Donnell is an English keyboardist best known for his work with The Cure. O'Donnell has also performed in The Psychedelic Furs, Thompson Twins and Berlin, as well as having an active solo career.
The Gear Daddies are a rock band originally from Austin, Minnesota. Randy Broughten, Nick Ciola (bass), Billy Dankert, and Martin Zellar played their first shows together in 1984. They released singles and albums between 1986 and 1992 and became an important part of the Twin Cities music scene. Most songs were written by Zellar, but Dankert had several of note, including crowd favorite "Time Heals".
Robert Troy Kimball is an American singer and songwriter best known as the original and longtime frontman of the rock band Toto from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1998 to 2008. Kimball has also performed as a solo artist and session singer.
Cynthia Johnson is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and producer. She is best known as the lead singer of the band Lipps Inc. with the worldwide smash hit "Funkytown".
Spencer Bernard is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. He is a long-time associate of hitmakers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and a part of the Flyte Tyme Productions crew. Throughout his career he has done session work for Janet Jackson, Cherrelle, Nona Hendryx, and New Edition. He also wrote songs for his wife Lisa Keith, Janet Jackson, and many others. He first joined Flyte Tyme while the bass player for Minneapolis-based band King's English.
Tymes 4 were a four-piece girl band from London. They released two albums and three singles.
Flyte Tyme was a funk/R&B band from Minneapolis that launched the careers of vocalists Cynthia Johnson, Alexander O'Neal and producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Many of the group's musicians would later work with Prince. The band's name is a sensational spelling of the phrase "flight time."
Buddy Spicher is an American country music fiddle player. He is a member of The Nashville A-Team of session musicians, and is Grammy-nominated. He was nominated as Instrumentalist of the Year by CMA in 1983 and 1985. He was the first fiddler in the "Nashville Cats" series of the Country Music Hall of Fame. He recorded with virtually every major country star of the sixties, seventies, and early eighties, including Faron Young, Johnny Paycheck Little Jimmy Dickens, Reba McEntire, George Jones, Don Williams, Dolly Parton, Crystal Gayle, Loretta Lynn, Bob Wills, Asleep at the Wheel, Don Francisco, Ray Price, Willie Nelson, George Strait, Bill Monroe, David Allan Coe, and Emmylou Harris.
Stephen T. McClellan is an American concert promoter and educator. For 30 years he worked at a series of nightclubs housed in a former bus depot at the corner of First Avenue and 7th Street in downtown Minneapolis, promoting the careers of local musicians and expanding the reach of talent from around the world. These clubs—beginning with The Depot, Uncle Sam's, and Sam's —eventually became the First Avenue & 7th St. Entry nightclub that contributed to the development of alternative rock and independent music, and buoyed the Minneapolis sound.
Fragile is the debut album by American singer Cherrelle. It was released on April 8, 1984 by Tabu Records and was the first of four records for the label.
PeR is a Latvian pop and beatboxing band formed in 2007. The original line-up was Ralfs Eilands, Emīls Vegners, and Pēteris Upenieks. Vegners left the band in 2007 and was replaced by Edmunds Rasmanis. But when Upelnieks left the trio in 2011, he was not replaced, rendering the band a duo consisting of just Eilands and Rasmanis. After three failed attempts in earlier years to represent Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest, PeR won the 2013 Dziesma contest and represented the country in the 2013 Contest with the song "Here We Go" and placed last in the second semi-final.
