William Ray Cyrus is an American singer, songwriter and actor.
The Black Eyed Peas is an American musical group, consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo and singer Jessica Reynoso. Originally an alternative hip hop group, they subsequently changed their musical sound to pop and dance-pop music. Although the group was founded in Los Angeles in 1995, it was not until the release of their third album, Elephunk, in 2003, that they achieved high record sales. Since that time, the group has sold an estimated 76 million records, making them one of the world's best-selling groups of all time. As of 2011, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the Black Eyed Peas were the second-best-selling artist/group of all time for downloaded tracks, behind Rihanna, with over 42 million sales.
Hot Hot Heat were a Canadian indie rock band from Victoria, British Columbia, formed in 1999. The band was signed by Seattle label Sub Pop in 2001 and released its first EP, Knock Knock Knock, and first full-length album, Make Up the Breakdown, the following year. The band released five full-length albums, the last being the self-titled Hot Hot Heat in 2016. The band's style makes use of electronic and traditional instruments and has variously been categorized as dance-punk, post-punk revival, new wave, and art-punk. They made an appearance on Yo Gabba Gabba, with the song, "Time to go Outdoors". It was featured on the "Talent" episode.
Billy Talent is a Canadian rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with Benjamin Kowalewicz as the lead vocalist, Ian D'Sa on guitar, bassist Jon Gallant and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. There have been no lineup changes, although Aaron is currently taking a hiatus from the band due to an MS relapse, and Jordan Hastings from Alexisonfire, Cunter and Say Yes is currently filling in for him. In the 25 years since their inception, Billy Talent sold well over one million albums in Canada alone and nearly 3 million albums internationally.
Billy Talent is the debut studio album of Canadian band Billy Talent, after their first, Watoosh!, was released under their old name of Pezz in 1999. Billy Talent was certified 3 times platinum in Canada in January 2007. The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at 2004 Juno Awards. The album was recorded at The Factory in Vancouver, British Columbia.
"Just the Way You Are" is a song by Billy Joel from his fifth studio album The Stranger (1977). It was released in September 1977 as the album's lead single. It became both Joel's first US Top 10 and UK Top 20 single, as well as Joel's first gold single in the US. The song also topped the Billboard Easy Listening Chart for the entire month of January 1978.
Ian D'Sa is an English-born Canadian guitarist for the band Billy Talent. He is of Goan background.
Serena Ryder is a Canadian musician. Born in Toronto, she grew up in Millbrook, Ontario. Ryder first gained national recognition with her ballad "Weak in the Knees" in 2007. An accomplished songwriter and musician, she also possesses a three-octave vocal range and is considered a mezzo-soprano. Her timbre has been described as slightly nasal with a raspy lower register.
Billy Talent II is the second studio album by Canadian band Billy Talent, released on June 27, 2006. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 48,000 copies in its first week. The album also reached No. 1 on the German albums chart. Despite its great success in Canada, the album was not as successful in the United States, where it peaked at No. 134 on the Billboard 200 music chart, selling just 7,231 units in its first week.
"Fallen Leaves" is the third single released from the Canadian rock group Billy Talent's second album, Billy Talent II.
The Operation M.D. (formerly The Operation) is a Canadian garage rock band created by Doctors Dynamite (Cone of Sum 41) and Rocco (Todd Morse of H2O) as a side project to their other bands. The band's debut album, We Have an Emergency, was released in February 2007 by Aquarius Records. Their second album Birds + Bee Stings was self-released by the band's own label "Mouth To Mouth Music" in June 2010.
Shadrach Kabango, better known by his stage name Shad or Shad K., is a Canadian alternative hip hop recording artist and broadcaster. He hosted Q on CBC Radio One from 2015 to 2016, and hosts the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series Hip-Hop Evolution.
"Turn Your Back" is the first demo single by Billy Talent from their third studio album, Billy Talent III. The song debuted live at The Norwegian Wood Festival in Oslo, Norway, on June 14, 2008 during their performance. Later performances of the song would be accompanied by Justin Sane and Chris #2 of Anti-Flag, who also appear as guest vocalists on the single. Lead singer Ben Kowalewicz told Kerrang!: "This is about being accountable for your actions - socially, politically and environmentally."
Billy Talent III is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Billy Talent. It was released on July 10, 2009 in Europe, July 13 in the United Kingdom, July 14 in Canada, and September 22 in the US. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling over 40,000 copies in its first week. It also peaked at #107 on the Billboard 200, making it Billy Talent's highest charting album to date. A demo version of one of the album's songs, "Turn Your Back", was released as a single in September 2008 and featured the band members of Anti-Flag, with the first legitimate single spawned by Billy Talent III is "Rusted from the Rain", which premiered May 17, 2009 on Triple J. The album version of "Turn Your Back" does not include Anti-Flag's vocals, as the single version does.
"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.
"Rusted from the Rain" is the first official single by Billy Talent off their album, Billy Talent III. It was released on May 19, 2009. Lead singer Ben Kowalewicz has said that the song is very "tin man-esque" and evolved from an "epic Soundgarden-like riff". The lyrics are about marital breakdown, Kowalewicz told Kerrang!: "Nowadays, I'm seeing a lot of people who got married young are now getting divorced. It seems to be a new fad. Divorce is the new black." The song was nominated for Single of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards, but lost to Michael Bublé's "Haven't Met You Yet".
"Africa" is a song recorded by the American band Toto in 1981, for their fourth studio album Toto IV, and released as the album's third single on September 30, 1982, through Columbia Records. The song was written by band members David Paich and Jeff Porcaro, and composed by Toto. The soft rock and jazz fusion song lyrically incorporates themes of love and location, but is described by Porcaro as being about "a white boy [writing about] Africa, but since he’s never been there, he can only tell what he’s seen on TV or remembers in the past."
Birds + Bee Stings is the second album by garage rock side project The Operation M.D., and is the follow-up to their first album We Have an Emergency. It was released digitally on the band's own label Mouth to Mouth Music on June 29, 2010, and was later re-released as a physical CD release in Canada on November 30, 2010.
"Stand Up and Run" is a song by Canadian band Billy Talent. It was released in February 2013 as the third single from the band's fourth studio album, Dead Silence. The song's music video was released on February 6, 2013 on YouTube. The song was very successful, peaking at #90 on the Canadian Hot 100 and holding the #1 position on the Billboard Canadian Rock Chart for six weeks straight.
