Donald McLean III is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his 1971 hit song "American Pie", an 8-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early rock and roll generation. His other hit singles include "Vincent", "Dreidel", a rendition of Roy Orbison's "Crying", a rendition of the Skyliners' "Since I Don't Have You", and "Wonderful Baby".
David Allan Coe is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville. He initially played mostly in the blues style, before transitioning to country music, becoming a major part of the 1970s outlaw country scene. His biggest hits were "You Never Even Called Me by My Name", "Longhaired Redneck", "The Ride", "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile", and "She Used to Love Me a Lot".
Sir William Connolly is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin. Known for his idiosyncratic and often improvised observational comedy, frequently including strong language, Connolly has topped many UK polls as one of the greatest comedians of all time.
Kenny Ray Rogers was an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, record producer, and entrepreneur. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted more than 120 hit singles across various genres, topping the country and pop album charts for more than 200 individual weeks in the United States alone. He sold more than 100 million records worldwide during his lifetime, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His fame and career spanned multiple genres: jazz, folk, pop, rock, and country. He remade his career and was one of the most successful cross-over artists of all time.
Ronnie Lee Milsap is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. He became one of the most successful and versatile country "crossover" singers of his time, appealing to both country and pop music markets with hit songs that incorporated pop, R&B, and rock and roll elements. His biggest crossover hits include "It Was Almost Like a Song", "Smoky Mountain Rain", "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me", "I Wouldn't Have Missed It for the World", "Any Day Now", and "Stranger in My House". He is credited with six Grammy Awards and 35 number-one country hits, third to George Strait and Conway Twitty. He was selected for induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
Shane Steven Filan is an Irish singer and songwriter. He is one of the two lead singers of boy band Westlife, which was formed in 1998, disbanded in 2012, and regrouped in 2018. Westlife have released thirteen albums, embarked on twelve world tours, and won several awards, becoming one of the most successful musical groups of all time.
"Light My Fire" is a song by the American rock band the Doors. It was recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967 on their eponymous debut album. Released as an edited single on April 24, 1967, it spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and one week on the Cash Box Top 100, nearly a year after its recording.
Morris Mac Davis was an American country music singer, songwriter, and actor. A native of Lubbock, Texas, he enjoyed success as a crossover artist, and during his early career he wrote for Elvis Presley, providing him with the hits "Memories", "In the Ghetto", "Don't Cry Daddy", and "A Little Less Conversation". A subsequent solo career in the 1970s produced hits such as "Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me". Davis also starred in his own variety show, a Broadway musical, and various films and TV shows.
"Is That Love" is a new wave song by Squeeze that was released on the band's fourth album, East Side Story. Written by Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, the song features lyrics about Difford's marriage and features a quick tempo with a piano-based ending.
James Morrison Catchpole is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist from Rugby, Warwickshire. In 2006, his debut single "You Give Me Something" became a hit in Europe, Australia, Japan and Iran, peaking in the top five in the UK and claiming the No. 1 spot in New Zealand. His debut album, Undiscovered (2006), debuted at the top of the UK Albums Chart. In 2007, Morrison won the Brit Award for Best British Male.
After the Rain was the first album by Irish girl group Bellefire, recorded in 2001. It was prevented from being widely released in 2002 by Virgin Records' sudden decision to axe the group. This was in spite of the recent success of their single "All I Want Is You". By that time, the album had only been released in Japan.
"You Light Up My Life" is a ballad written by Joseph Brooks, and originally recorded by Kasey Cisyk for the soundtrack album to the 1977 film of the same title. The song was lip synced in the film by its lead actress, Didi Conn. The best-known cover version of the song is a cover by Debby Boone, the daughter of singer Pat Boone. It held the No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for ten consecutive weeks in 1977 and topped Record World magazine's Top 100 Singles Chart for a record 13 weeks.
Charles William Murphy was a prolific British composer of music hall and musical theatre tunes.
......And They Said It Wouldn't Last is a commemorative box set released to celebrate Cliff Richard's fifty years in the music business. It was released on 15 September 2008. Its release was preceded on 8 September by a new single called "Thank You for a Lifetime" which doesn't appear in the set. The set includes eight CDs, a reproduction of Cliff's first single, a 52-page photo book of Cliff's fifty years in music, and a gold-plated coin bearing the 'Cliff's 50 Anniversary' graphic.
Johnny Duhan started his career as a fifteen-year-old front man in the Limerick beat group Granny’s Intentions. After achieving some success in Dublin, they moved to London and were signed to the Decca/Deram record label, releasing several singles and one album, Honest Injun. However, the band disbanded before Duhan was twenty one. Despite offers to front other bands, Duhan turned his back on the popular music industry and started writing folk songs, poetry and prose. He has condensed his various works over 40 years into a quartet of albums: Just Another Town, To The Light, The Voyage and Flame. These correspond with the four chapters of his lyrical autobiography, To The Light. His songs have achieved notability, largely thanks to the focus put on them by Christy Moore, The Dubliners, Mary Black and many other Irish and international singers. The Duhan song "The Voyage" has become a modern classic. Christy Moore stated that "The Voyage" has been performed at over a million weddings worldwide.
"(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" is a song written by new wave musician Elvis Costello and recorded by Costello with his backing band the Attractions. The song appeared on Costello's 1978 second album, This Year's Model. Written by Costello while working as a computer programmer, the song was lyrically inspired by films Costello had been watching as well as childhood trips to Chelsea. Musically the song featured influence from bands such as the Who and the Kinks and is notable for Bruce Thomas's prominent bassline.
"We Laughed" is a three-track single by English musician Billy Bragg as part of the Rosetta Life project. The single was released in 2005 in the UK and peaked at No. 11. It also reached No. 38 in Ireland in 2006. For the three songs on the single, Bragg collaborated with three patients of Trimar Hospice in Weymouth, who each wrote lyrics based on their illness and feelings. The songs were produced by English guitarist Robbie McIntosh.
+ is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 9 September 2011 by Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. The album is considered Sheeran's commercial breakthrough. He previously released five EPs independently. Jake Gosling and Sheeran produced the majority of the album, with additional production by American hip hop producer No I.D.
Hans Duhan was an Austrian operatic baritone. He belonged to the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera for 26 years and was the first Count Almaviva and the first Papageno of the Salzburg Festival.
