The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music history in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records.
Garry Marshall Shider was an American musician and guitarist. He was musical director of the P-Funk All-Stars for much of their history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.
Michael Whitaker Smith is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when "Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Over the course of his career, he has sold more than 18 million albums.
William Holly Johnson is an English artist, musician, and writer, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who achieved huge commercial success in the mid-1980s. Prior to that, in the late 1970s he was a bassist for the band Big in Japan. In 1989, Johnson's debut solo album, Blast, reached number one in the UK albums chart. Two singles from the album – "Love Train" and "Americanos" – reached the top 5 of the UK Singles Chart. In the 1990s, he also embarked on writing, painting, and printmaking careers.
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The group was founded in 1943 as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was changed to the Oak Ridge Boys in the early 1960s, and they remained a gospel group until the mid-1970s, when they changed their image and concentrated on country music.
The Clark Sisters are an American gospel vocal group originally consisting of five sisters: Jacky Clark Chisholm, Denise "Niecy" Clark-Bradford, Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark, Dorinda Clark-Cole, and Karen Clark Sheard. The Clark Sisters are the daughters of gospel musician and choral director Dr. Mattie Moss Clark. They are credited for helping to bring gospel music to the mainstream and are considered pioneers of contemporary gospel.
The Blind Boys of Alabama, also billed as The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, and Clarence Fountain and the Blind Boys of Alabama, is an American gospel group. The group was founded in 1939 in Talladega, Alabama, and has featured a changing roster of musicians over its history, the majority of whom are or were vision impaired.
Joshua Otis Turner is an American country and gospel singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to MCA Nashville Records. That same year, his debut album's title track, "Long Black Train", was his breakthrough single release. His second album, Your Man (2006) accounted for his first two No. 1 hits, "Your Man" and "Would You Go with Me", while 2007's Everything Is Fine included a No. 2 hit, "Firecracker". Haywire, released in 2010, produced his biggest hit, the four-week No. 1 hit "Why Don't We Just Dance" and another No. 1 song, "All Over Me". It was followed by Punching Bag (2012), whose lead-off single, "Time Is Love", was the biggest country hit of 2012 according to Billboard Year-End.
Rising is a 1995 album by avant-garde artist Yoko Ono. Released on 7 November by Capitol Records, it features the backing band IMA, which included Ono's son Sean Ono Lennon, Timo Ellis, and Sam Koppelman. It was her first album of new material since 1985's Starpeace. The album has sold 11,000 copies in the U.S. to date.
Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark is an American, Grammy Award-winning gospel singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, musician, and evangelist. Clark is best known as a member of the American gospel singing group the Clark Sisters. Clark is known as the "Mother of Contemporary Gospel Music". In addition to singing, Clark is a heralded musician. Known as the "Queen of the B3 Hammond Organ", she is a member of the Hammond organ Hall of Fame Class of 2014. In 2012, Clark was honored by Judith Christie McAllister and the International Music Department of the Church of God in Christ, as a living legend and influencer during the 105th International Holy Convocation, where Clark also received an honorary doctorate of sacred music from Dr. Tony Lewis and the Christian Bible Institute and Seminary (CBIS).
The English rock band The Cure have released thirteen studio albums, six live albums, two remix albums, seven compilation albums, eight box sets, twelve extended plays, and forty-six singles on Fiction Records and Geffen Records. They have also released twelve video albums and forty-four music videos.
London Boys were a German-based British dance-pop duo composed of Edem Ephraim and Dennis Fuller. They are best remembered for the UK Top 5 hits "Requiem" and "London Nights".
"Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" is a traditional African-American spiritual first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina. The best-known recording was released in 1960 by the U.S. folk band The Highwaymen; that version briefly reached number-one hit status as a single.
The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. They were formed in 1993 in Orlando, Florida.
Tanya Trotter is an American actress, musician and author.
Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke is a British singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the British television series The X Factor in 2008, and has been signed to Epic Records, RCA Records and Syco Music.
Overcome is the debut studio album by British singer Alexandra Burke, released 19 October 2009 on Syco Music. The release of the album came a year after Burke won the British talent show, The X Factor, with the recording process taking place between 2008 and 2009. Critics praised the album for showcasing Burke's vocal charm and characterisation, comparing her vocal to American singers Anastacia and Whitney Houston and its contemporary finish; using a variety of acclaimed producers including RedOne and Ne-Yo.
"Better Than a Hallelujah" is a digital MP3 single released in 2010 to promote Amy Grant's album Somewhere Down the Road, which was also released in 2010. The single for "Better Than a Hallelujah" was released to radio for airplay and additionally released commercially as a digital MP3, as the same version to appear on the album. The radio single reached number 8 on the Christian charts.
Love 4 Unity is the third studio album by the London Boys, a British dance pop duo. It was released in 1993. Both "Moonraker" and "Baby Come Back" were released as singles in Germany. Baby Come Back peaked at #27 in Austria.
The Mercy River Boys were an American Christian country music band who performed from 1979 to 1985. They were nominated for a Grammy Award for their first album, Breakout. The album was also a finalist for the Gospel Music Association's Dove Award for Album of the Year, 1979–80, and won a Dove Award for backliner notes, written by Merlin Littlefield.
