The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's final lineup consisted of Omar Rodríguez-López, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Juan Alderete (bass), Marcel Rodríguez-López and Deantoni Parks (drums). The band formed following the break-up of Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala's previous band, At the Drive-In. They were known for their energetic live shows and their concept albums.
"Life on Mars?", also known as "(Is There) Life on Mars?", is a song by David Bowie, first released in 1971 on the album Hunky Dory and also released as a single. The song, with cryptic lyrics by Bowie and prominent piano by Rick Wakeman. When released as a single in 1973, "Life on Mars?" reached number three in the UK Singles Chart and stayed on the chart for thirteen weeks. A music video was filmed by Mick Rock to promote the single release.
"I Am God" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Veronica Mars, and the fortieth episode overall. Written by Diane Ruggiero and Cathy Belben and directed by Martha Mitchell, the episode premiered on UPN on April 11, 2006.
"Am I Evil?" is a song by British heavy metal band Diamond Head released on their 1980 debut album Lightning to the Nations. The song was written by vocalist Sean Harris and guitarist Brian Tatler and released on Happy Face Records, a label owned by the producer Muff Murfin of The Old Smithy studio of Worcester. The song was immediately popular among the heavy metal circles in the United Kingdom around the time of its release, but only rose to international prominence after Metallica covered it as a B-side on their "Creeping Death" single in 1984; the cover was re-released on their 1998 covers album Garage Inc.. The song was influenced by the Black Sabbath song "Symptom of the Universe."
"The Kill" is a song by American band Thirty Seconds to Mars, the song was released on January 24, 2006 as the second single from their second album, A Beautiful Lie.
Apollinaris Mons is an ancient shield volcano in the southern hemisphere of Mars. It is situated near the equator, south of Elysium Planitia and north of Gusev crater. Elysium Planitia separates it from the volcanic province of Elysium to its northwest. The volcano's caldera is named Apollinaris Patera; this name formerly applied to the whole edifice.
"Wavin' Flag" is a song by Somali-Canadian artist K'naan from his album Troubadour. The song was originally written for Somalia and aspirations of its people for freedom. The original single was a hit in Canada and reached #2 on the Canadian Hot 100 as the third official single from the album, after the singles "ABCs" and "Bang Bang", which were minor hits.
"Nothin' on You" is the debut single by American rapper B.o.B from his debut studio album, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray. He co-wrote the track with its producers Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine of The Smeezingtons. Mars also contributes additional vocals to the song. It was first released on December 15, 2009 via digital download by Atlantic Records. "Nothin' on You" was initially written for Lupe Fiasco, but Atlantic Records' chairman, Craig Kallman, gave the song to B.o.B after being displeased with Fiasco's version. The song took several months to finish and was born from a hummed melody by Mars and Lawrence.
Peter Gene Hernandez, known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and dancer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship and for performing in a wide range of musical styles, including R&B, funk, pop, soul, reggae, hip hop, and rock. Mars is accompanied by his band, The Hooligans, who play a variety of instruments, such as electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums and horns, and also serve as backup singers and dancers.
The Smeezingtons were an American songwriting and record production team, consisting of Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine. The Smeezingtons were established in Los Angeles, California. Their production and writing services had been increasingly in demand since 2009. Eventually, the trio split, and Mars and Lawrence formed a new production trio called "Shampoo Press & Curl", which includes Christopher Brody Brown.
"Grenade" is a song by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars from his debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010). A pop and R&B ballad, "Grenade" was written and produced by The Smeezingtons with additional songwriting by Brody Brown, Claude Kelly, and Andrew Wyatt. The song was developed from an unreleased track with similar lyrical themes played by record producer Benny Blanco to Mars. "Grenade" was completely rearranged and re‑recorded two days before the album's release. The song's lyrics carry a message of unrequited love and how Mars' heart was broken, despite his best efforts to show her his love. Initially released as a promotional single on September 28, 2010, it was later announced as the album's second single, released by Atlantic and Elektra Records.
#willpower is the fourth studio album by American recording artist and record producer, will.i.am. It was released on April 19, 2013. The album was originally titled Black Einstein and scheduled for release at the end of 2011. It was then renamed #willpower and delayed several more times. The album's first single "This Is Love" features Eva Simons, the second single "Scream & Shout" features Britney Spears, and Justin Bieber is featured on the third single "#thatPower". There is a remix of "Scream & Shout" that features Lil Wayne, Hit-Boy, Diddy and Waka Flocka Flame. Other guest appearances on the album include Afrojack, Juicy J, Chris Brown, Miley Cyrus, Skylar Grey, Nicole Scherzinger, Korean pop group 2NE1, Baby Kaely and will.i.am's The Black Eyed Peas bandmate apl.de.ap.
Curiosity is a car-sized rover designed to explore the crater Gale on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission (MSL). Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011, at 15:02 UTC and landed on Aeolis Palus inside Gale on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05:17 UTC. The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the center of the rover's touchdown target after a 560 million km (350 million mi) journey. The rover's goals include an investigation of the Martian climate and geology; assessment of whether the selected field site inside Gale has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability studies in preparation for human exploration.
"Reach for the Stars", alternately subtitled "Mars Edition" and "NASA Edition", is a song written, produced and recorded by American recording artist will.i.am in commemoration of the landing of the Curiosity rover on the planet Mars. First released on August 28, 2012 as a promotional single, the song also appears on the deluxe edition of his fourth studio album #willpower (2013). "Reach for the Stars " became the first song in history to be broadcast from another planet, completing a journey of more than 300 million miles between Mars and Earth.
"Locked Out of Heaven" is a song by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars from his second studio album, Unorthodox Jukebox (2012). It was released as the lead single from the album on October 1, 2012. The song was written by Mars, Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine. It was produced by The Smeezingtons, Mark Ronson, Jeff Bhasker and Emile Haynie. "Locked Out of Heaven" is a reggae rock song influenced by new wave and funk. The song's lyrics are about the rapturous feelings brought about by a relationship infused with positive emotion as well as euphoria from sex.
"When I Was Your Man" is a song by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars for his second studio album, Unorthodox Jukebox (2012). Atlantic Records released the song as the third promotional single and as the second official single, taken from the album, to mainstream radio in the United States on January 15, 2013. "When I Was Your Man" was written by Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine and Andrew Wyatt. The former three produced the track under the name The Smeezingtons. The track was inspired by the time Mars was worried about losing his girlfriend, Jessica Caban.
Music in space is music played in or broadcast from a spacecraft in outer space. According to the Smithsonian Institution, the first musical instruments played in outer space were an 8-note Hohner "Little Lady" harmonica and a handful of small bells carried by American astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas P. Stafford aboard Gemini 6A. Upon achieving a space rendezvous in Earth orbit with their sister ship Gemini 7 in December 1965, Schirra and Stafford played a rendition of "Jingle Bells" over the radio after jokingly claiming to have seen an unidentified flying object piloted by Santa Claus. The instruments had been smuggled on-board without NASA's knowledge, leading Mission Control director Elliot See to exclaim "You're too much" to Schirra after the song. The harmonica was donated to the Smithsonian by Schirra in 1967, with his note that it "...plays quite well".
