Christa Päffgen, known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, musician, model, and actress. She had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) and Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls (1966). Reviewer Richard Goldstein describes Nico as "half goddess, half icicle" and writes that her distinctive voice "sounds something like a cello getting up in the morning".
James Martin Hannett, initially credited as Martin Zero, was an English record producer, musician and an original partner/director at Tony Wilson's Factory Records. Hannett produced music by artists including Joy Division, the Durutti Column, Magazine, John Cooper Clarke, New Order, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Happy Mondays. His distinctive production style embraced atmospheric sounds and electronics.
Pavement is an American indie rock band that formed in Stockton, California, in 1989. For most of their career, the group consisted of Stephen Malkmus, Scott Kannberg, Mark Ibold (bass), Steve West (drums) and Bob Nastanovich. Initially conceived as a recording project, the band at first avoided press or live performances, while attracting considerable underground attention with their early releases. Gradually evolving into a more polished band, Pavement recorded five full-length albums and ten EPs over the course of their decade-long career, though they disbanded with some acrimony in 1999 as the members moved on to other projects. In 2010, they undertook a well-received reunion tour, with another international tour scheduled for 2022 and 2023.
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill with their cousin Matthew Followill.
Lloyd Polite Jr., is an American R&B singer. Born in New Orleans and raised in Atlanta, he initially began his musical career as a member of the preteen-boy band N-Toon. The band disbanded in 2001 and Polite embarked on a solo career in 2003. He subsequently signed a record deal with American music executive Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Records, under the aegis of Def Jam Recordings. In 2004, Polite released his solo debut single "Southside", the title-track from his debut album, Southside (2004). The single quickly charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, and became a top 40 hit. His second album Street Love, was released in 2007 and featured the top 20 hits "You" and "Get It Shawty".
Johntá Austin is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, vocalist and rapper, signed to Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings. He is known for collaborating with producers Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri and the production duo StarGate. He was awarded two Grammy Awards for his work on the songs "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey and "Be Without You" by Mary J. Blige.
Ashley Michelle Tisdale is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatrick in the Disney Channel teen sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005–2008). This success was heightened when she starred as Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series (2006–2008). The success of the films led to Tisdale's signing with Warner Bros. Records and subsequently releasing her debut studio album, Headstrong (2007), which was a commercial success, earning a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Tisdale played the voice role of Candace Flynn in the Disney Channel animated series Phineas & Ferb (2007–2015).
Theatres des Vampires is an Italian gothic metal band, mostly noted for the predominant theme of vampirism within their lyrics. The band's early material was credited as melodic black metal or symphonic black metal, but the group completely abandoned all black metal influence by the mid-2000s. Theatres des Vampires have released eleven full-length albums.
Richard Preston Butler Jr., better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American record producer, songwriter, singer, and rapper. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but split his childhood between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and New York City's Harlem neighborhood. He attended Florida A&M and, while visiting Atlanta, Georgia, worked his way into the music industry through connections with Usher, who would become one of Love's frequent collaborators.
Zoë is a British pop singer and songwriter, who had brief success in 1991 with two hit singles, "Sunshine on a Rainy Day", which climbed to number 4 on the UK Singles Chart, and "Lightning", which reached number 37. Zoë has released two solo albums and five singles.
Kashif Saleem was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, record producer, artist, composer, author, director and educator from New York City. As a teenager, Kashif joined the funk group B. T. Express. He studied Islam and changed his name from Michael Jones to Kashif. He later signed with Arista Records enjoying success as a solo artist.
Diana Gordon, previously known by her stage name Wynter Gordon, is an American singer and songwriter. She began her career writing music for other artists, later signing with Atlantic Records where she started to work on her own album. Gordon has performed backing vocals in the studio and she continues to collaborate on writing. Her debut album With the Music I Die was released in 2011.
Cassadee Blake Pope is an American pop and country singer. She was the lead vocalist and songwriter of the pop band Hey Monday, with whom she released one studio album and two EPs. Pope embarked on a solo career in early 2012 and released the EP Cassadee Pope in May 2012. She took part in the third season of The Voice and became the first female winner in December 2012. Her debut solo country album, Frame by Frame, was released in 2013 to a top 10 Billboard 200 charting. It debuted at No. 1 on Top Country Albums, with 43,000 copies sold in its first week.
Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in film music, including for O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Cold Mountain (2004), Walk the Line (2005) and Crazy Heart (2010); and won another Grammy for producing the studio album Raising Sand (2007), in which he united the contemporary bluegrass of Alison Krauss with the blues rock of Robert Plant.
Reeve Jefferson Carney is an American actor and singer-songwriter. He is best known for originating the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark on Broadway and playing Orpheus in the original Broadway cast of the Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown. He also played Dorian Gray in the Showtime series Penny Dreadful, and Riff Raff in the Fox musical television film The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again.
Jessica Lois Ware is an English singer, songwriter and broadcaster. Ware came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album, Devotion (2012), which peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart, produced the single "Wildest Moments", and was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. In 2013, Ware was nominated for the Brit Award for Best New Artist. Her second studio album, Tough Love (2014), reached number nine in the UK and produced the songs "Tough Love" and "Say You Love Me", which was followed by her third studio album, Glasshouse (2017), which reached number seven in the UK. Her fourth studio album, What's Your Pleasure? (2020), was released to critical acclaim, and reached number three in the UK. Ware has been nominated for a total of six Brit Awards, four of them being for British Female Solo Artist. Ware also presents a food podcast titled Table Manners with her mother, Lennie Ware, which was launched in 2017.
Karen Marie Aagaard Ørsted Andersen, known professionally as MØ, is a Danish singer and songwriter. She signed a recording contract with Sony Music Entertainment in 2012, releasing her debut extended play, Bikini Daze (2013), and her debut studio album, No Mythologies to Follow (2014).
Leland Tyler Wayne, professionally known as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer, record executive, and DJ. Raised in St. Louis, Wayne began a production career while in high school and became known for his successful recordings with Atlanta hip hop and trap artists such as Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, Gucci Mane and Migos in the mid-2010s. In 2017, Forbes called him "easily one of the most in-demand hitmakers in the world", while Stereogum described him as "one of the most original, vivid, important voices in rap right now."
Scarlet Pleasure is a Danish R&B, soul, funk and pop musical trio made up of Emil Goll as lead vocals, Alexander Malone on bass and Joachim Dencker on drums. The formative years of the all-Danish trio was in New York City. They released their 2014 EP Mirage, 2016 album Youth Is Wasted on the Young and 2017 EP Limbo all charting on Tracklisten, the official Danish Albums Chart. The band is signed to Copenhagen Records.
Teen Suicide is an American indie rock band from Baltimore, Maryland.
