Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "the Voice", she is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with over 220 million records sold worldwide. In 2023, Rolling Stone named her the second-greatest singer of all time. Houston influenced many singers in popular music, and was known for her powerful, soulful vocals, vocal improvisation skills, and use of gospel singing techniques in pop music. She had 11 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and is the only artist to have seven consecutive number-one singles on the chart. Her accolades include eight Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards, two Emmy Awards, and 30 Guinness World Records. Houston's inductions include the Grammy Hall of Fame (twice), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, the New Jersey Hall of Fame, and the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.
Donna Adrian Gaines, known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music gained a global following.
Faith Renée Evans is an American R&B singer, songwriter and actress known as "The Godmother of Hip Hop Soul". Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B. Sure! and Christopher Williams, she became the first female artist to contract with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records in 1994 at age 20. On the label, she featured on records with several label mates such as 112 and Carl Thomas, and released three platinum-certified studio albums between 1995 and 2001: Faith (1995) and Keep the Faith (1998), and Faithfully (2001).
Ruben Studdard is an American singer. He rose to fame as the winner of the second season of American Idol and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2003 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his recording of "Superstar". In the years following Idol, Studdard has released seven studio albums, including his platinum-selling debut, Soulful, and the top-selling gospel follow-up, I Need an Angel. He is most well known for his recording career, which has produced hits including "Flying Without Wings", "Sorry 2004", and "Change Me", but he has also segued into television and stage work. Most notably, he starred as Fats Waller in a national tour revival of Ain't Misbehavin', which spawned a Grammy-nominated soundtrack.
Natasha Anne Bedingfield is a British singer and songwriter. She released her debut album, Unwritten, in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed international success with more than 2.3 million copies sold worldwide. Bedingfield received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the title track "Unwritten", and at the 2005 and 2006 Brit Awards, she was nominated for Best British Female Artist. Unwritten also produced her only UK number one, "These Words".
Izora Margaret Rhodes-Armstead was an American singer-songwriter. Known for her distinctive alto voice, Armstead first achieved successful as one half of the duo Two Tons O' Fun, along with Martha Wash, as they sang backup for American disco singer Sylvester. The duo obtained their own record deal as Two Tons O'Fun in 1979. They released three consecutive songs that were hits on the Dance Chart. The duo was renamed The Weather Girls in 1982 after the release of their single "It's Raining Men", their most successful single. As a duo, The Weather Girls released five albums and were also featured on Sylvester's albums.
Angela Laverne Brown known professionally as Angie Stone, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as member of the hip hop trio The Sequence. In the early 1990s, she became a member of the R&B trio Vertical Hold. Stone would later release her solo debut Black Diamond (1999) on Arista Records, which was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and spawned the single "No More Rain ".
Chanté Torrane Moore is an American singer-songwriter, television personality, and author. Rising to fame in the early 1990s, Moore established herself as an R&B singer.
Kelly Cherelle Price is an American R&B and gospel singer. She started her singing career in 1992. Price originally garnered attention by singing backing vocals for Mariah Carey on multiple songs, including her Billboard Hot 100 number one singles: "Fantasy" and "All I Want for Christmas Is You"; before rising to greater prominence after making uncredited guest appearances on the number one single "Mo Money Mo Problems" by The Notorious B.I.G., as well as "Feel So Good" by Mase, which prompted her to release her own music. Her debut album Soul of a Woman (1998), was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Yolanda Yvette Adams is an American gospel singer, actress, and host of her own nationally syndicated morning gospel show. She is one of the best-selling gospel artists of all time, having sold over 10 million albums worldwide. In addition to achieving multi-platinum status, she has won four Grammy Awards, four Dove Awards, five BET Awards, six NAACP Image Awards, six Soul Train Music Awards, two BMI Awards and sixteen Stellar Awards. She was the first Gospel artist to be awarded an American Music Award.
Franchell "Frenchie" Davis is an American Broadway performer and a soul, dance/electronica, and pop singer. She came to public attention in 2003 as a contestant on the singing competition show American Idol. Davis began performing in Rent on Broadway soon afterward, and was a member of the cast for four years. In 2011, Davis reached the top 8 on the first season of singing competition The Voice.
Ke'Tara Shavon "Keke" Wyatt is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. After performing in a number of girl bands and working as a songwriter during her teenage years, in 2000 she garnered national attention after her successful collaboration with fellow R&B singer Avant, In 2001 her rendition of "Nothing in This World" led to a nomination for the Best New R&B/Soul/Rap Artist award at the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards. After a number of charting collaborations and solo releases, in 2012 she starred as a cast member in TV One's R&B Divas: Atlanta, which featured the lives of five 1990s chart-topping R&B singers. She was featured in all 3 seasons of the show. She also performed with the group at events such as Essence Music Festival.
Martha Elaine Wash is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the Two Tons O' Fun, who sang backing vocals for the disco singer Sylvester including on his signature hit "You Make Me Feel ". After gaining their own record deal, they released three consecutive commercially successful songs which all peaked at number two in the dance charts. The duo was renamed The Weather Girls in 1982 after they released the top-selling single "It's Raining Men", which brought them to mainstream pop attention. The Weather Girls released five albums and were heavily featured on Sylvester's albums.
Marion Hall is a Jamaican singer and songwriter whose career has spanned over two decades. Formerly known as the Queen of Dancehall, she is the first female deejay to be certified as a triple-platinum and Grammy Award-winning artist.
She Works Hard for the Money is the eleventh studio album by American singer Donna Summer, released on June 13, 1983, by Mercury Records. It was her most successful studio album of the decade, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and its title track became one of the biggest hits of her career and her biggest hit of the decade, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"I Wanna Be Where You Are" is a song written by Arthur "T-Boy" Ross and Leon Ware for Michael Jackson, who took the song to number 7 in Cash Box and number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. It also reached number 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in 1972.
"Love to Love You Baby" is a song by American singer Donna Summer from her second studio album, Love to Love You Baby (1975). Produced by Pete Bellotte, and written by Italian musician Giorgio Moroder, Summer, and Bellotte, the song was first released as a single in the Netherlands in June 1975 as "Love to Love You" and then released worldwide in November 1975 as "Love to Love You Baby". It became one of the first disco hits to be released in an extended form.
WOW Gospel 2000 is a gospel music compilation album in the WOW series. Released February 8, 2000, it features thirty-two songs on a double disc set. The album hit number 93 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2000, and number one on the Top Gospel Albums chart, making it the first gospel album to peak on that respective chart.
Kimberly Michelle Pate is an American singer and television personality. She is best known for appearing as a regular cast member on the VH1 reality television series Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta during its first two seasons, later returning to the show during its fifth season. Michelle subsequently signed with Atlantic Records. Her debut studio album, Rebellious Soul, debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, and number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Her second studio album Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart? was released on December 9, 2014. The album debuted at number six in the US and spawned three singles "Love 'Em All", "Maybe I Should Call" and "Hard to Do". The album sold 87,000 copies in its first week in sales.
Shari Ann Addison, is an American gospel musician and artist. Shari is the first runner-up on Sunday Best She started her music career, in 2009 with the release of Shari Addison by Verity Records, Zomba Records, and BET Records. This album was her breakthrough on the Billboard magazine charts, which it placed on The Billboard 200 and Gospel Albums charts.
